Too hot to handle

I heard from the news awhile ago that today is the hottest day so far this year wherein it shot up to a scorching 36.6 degrees at around 3:55 pm according to PAGASA. I guess it was a good decision to head on to the mall today to cool off for a bit. Kawawa kasi talaga si baby. Super pawisin pa naman. Kahit nakatutok yung fan pinagpapawisan pa rin. I'm happy to use my ring sling whenever we go malling since less pagod to go around while carrying the baby. It was easier for me to go in and out the jeepney with the baby when she's secured in her sling. Anyway, we lounged first at cha time, one of my favorite tambayan at ali-mall since they have nice couches and it's beside a record store which plays nice music. Dagny quietly slept on the sling while I enjoyed my QQ milk tea while playing candy crush. She woke up after an hour or so. We lounged for another few minutes until she became a bit fussy already. I knew she wanted to drink milk already. We then headed on to the breastfeeding lounge at sm which is located at the 2nd floor near the baby company area. I just love this particular breastfeeding station since it's spacious and clean.

Break Time

I usually have pockets of free time in the afternoon when my little one takes a nap and I'm done doing some chores.  I value these free times I have to myself, no matter how short they are.

I'm a bit tired right now since I just finished (hand) washing her cloth diapers.  I know it takes a bit of effort washing them as compared to disposable diapers but all the other benefits of using cloth diapers (maybe I'll make a separate post for that next time) outweighs that of using disposable diapers.

Hubby has just gone out for work (PM shift) and I'm just really thankful that our little one is peacefully sleeping right now.  I can have my "me-time"! Maybe I can take some snooze time but I'm excited to watch some of my downloaded series.  Maybe I'll watch just one then take a nap (unless the little one wakes up already).

Yesterday was another story when our little one was extra fussy and cried every so often which really tested our patience.  Anyway, we just take it one day at a time. I hope tomorrow I can get another pocket of free time in the afternoon so I can update this blog more.

My birthing story (part 1)

I can’t believe it’s already 1 month since I gave birth to my little one! Trying to remember everything that happened feels so surreal! I hope I can document before I forget any details.

I have always wondered what my birthing story would be.  The build up of anticipation when our little one would come out tremendously grew as each day passed by. Even early on, hubby  and I were guessing when she would decide to come out. Will she come out on Dec 21 “before the world ends”? Or would it be on Dec 24 when everyone’s busy preparing for christmas eve? Or would it be exactly on christmas day? Would I still be able to make it on my bestfriend’s wedding on Dec 28? Or would my due date of Jan 1 be accurate and she’ll have the same birth date as my mom? The waiting game was exciting yet also a bit frustrating.

I had my first internal exam last Dec 17 and I was already 2cm dilated. That got us a bit excited since it’s a signal that any moment, THE DAY would come. I wad advised to do a lot of walking and to take primrose to hasten going into labor. I got a bit worried when OB had a bit of a hard time looking for her heartbeat. I have read some stories of babies losing their heartbeat even if they’re already full term. I was really scared for those few minutes. I don’t know if my belly fats were just too thick that she had a hard time tracking it. I was silently praying that my little one is safe. Good thing she found her heartbeat after a few minutes but was a bit faint. She advised me to have a non-stress test afterwards just to make sure everything’s OK.

The non-stress test was conducted inside the labor room. It was my first time inside and there were 2 ladies who were also there who were in labor. I can hear them whimpering and one was even screaming during contractions. That got me a bit scared and reality started to sink in…one of these days I would be in their shoes as well. I wondered how much it would really hurt. Nyaaaaaaaay! Anyway, good thing my non stress test was ok. My baby was actually very malikot (since I just ate lunch) and her heartbeat was fine. Just like my OB, the intern just reminded me to track her movements every after meal (minimum of 5 movements) since I am diabetic. I was advised to go to the hospital if I observe decreased or no movement after meals.

I posted on FB that I was 2 cm dilated already and got some friends and relatives a bit excited. Some thought I would be giving birth already (I thought so too!). But just like what one friend shared, one can be at 2cm dilated for weeks! I just didn’t know how my dilation would progress. The waiting game was still on.

Everyday, hubby would accompany me to do some walking, either at the mall or around the neighborhood. We would even go to UP so I can walk around the acad oval while he ran. It was really tiring especially with a full term belly but I had to be more patient if I want to help our baby come out. We wouldn’t want her to overstay in my belly since as the day passes the probability that I undergo CS also increases as she grows bigger.

I treasure those moments walking with my hubby since we got to talk and bond more. We would talk anything and everything under the sun. I admit sometimes I’d be stubborn to walk since it’s much easier to just lie down on bed and rest, but I’m really thankful for my patient husband who would always encourage me and cheer me on during those stubborn times. He would remind me that it’s for the benefit of our baby and that would usually be enough to make me get up and walk (but sometimes with a little more whining! hehe!).

All our bags were packed and we’re ready to go. We were just really waiting for our baby’s cue when the right time to go to the hospital would be. I admit to have some sleepless nights especially when I would feel some (irregular) contractions. I would often kid my hubby that I think it’s time already. I would sense a bit of panic every time.

I got a bit excited (and scared) when I saw some white jelly like substance in my underwear on Dec 20. I think that’s part of my mucous plug which I’m starting to shed. It got me more alert on other signs that I may be going into labor soon. As the days went by, I shed more mucous plug which got me more concerned good thing that there are a lot of articles online that I can refer to which pacified me that I don’t have to worry since one can lose their mucous plug and not yet give birth in a couple more days. I just had to watch out for any bloody show.

On Dec 24th I was scheduled to have another non-stress test. My OB was concerned if my baby is still moving enough. Since I am diabetic, there may be possible complications so she wants to monitor how my baby is doing. Thankfully, all is well. I was advised to have an ultrasound by Dec 27 and another non-stress test and was scheduled for a check-up on the 28th. But of course in case I’d have regular contractions or my water bag breaks before that, I should go to the hospital already.

(to be continued)

Hiatus

I’m now a mommy!

Finally, our little one decided to come out last Dec 28, 2012.  I’ll be blogging (soon, hopefully) about my birthing story.  I actually have tons of stuff to blog about, but I gotta prioritize mommy duties for the meantime. It can really get a bit overwhelming at times.  Getting a 4-hr sleep is already a luxury to me and being able to bathe is considered “me-time” already.

Don’t get me wrong, mommyhood can be really tiring, but a simple smile from my baby takes all the tiredness away.

Right now we’re still staying at my parents’ place but by next monday we’ll be going back to our own place.  I know that can be extra challenging since that would mean doing everything on our own.  I’m just really grateful to my parents who have been taking really good care of us.  I’d certainly miss their nutritious homecooked meals!

Anyway, I hope I can blog longer soon.  Right now I still got some laundry to finish before baby wakes up!

Cya around!

Waiting Time

I guess patience is not so much one of my best virtues. Super inip much!!! I really hope baby dagny would come out already. As the days go by, I get more paranoid. I’m really hoping and praying that everything will be ok. My OB always reminds me to take note of baby’s movements, given that I’m diabetic. Even if my sugar level has been controlled, there’s always that impending possible complication *sigh*

I’d really prefer that baby would come out already before she becomes bigger and might be riskier for me to have a normal delivery. I’ve been doing a lot of walking lately, thanks to my very supportive hubby who’s been very patient with me. With my belly growing bigger and heavier by the day, it’s so tempting to just lie down and take lots of naps. It’s a good thing that hubby has been really urging me and encouraging me to do more walking. We’d pick different paths around the neighborhood every night. We even went walking around UP last sunday. Later we’ll probably do several rounds around the mall.

I was already at 2 cm last monday. But we still have to wait and see how this will progress since there are instances that one can last at 2-3 cm for even 3 weeks! Well, I hope that wouldn’t be my case. I’m really hoping I’d give birth before christmas. My OB has prescribed me to drink Eveprim, but I’ve been having a hard time finding one since most drugstores don’t have stocks of this. Good thing that there are alternate brands (naturalle and atc).

Anyway, this morning I already saw some mucous plug discharge. Well, I don’t want to be excited since it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll give birth already. I’m really just getting anxious when baby will decide to come out. I wonder what my birthing story would be…

Nesting

We still got a lot of cleaning to do!!! *sigh*

We plan to stay at my parents’ house by the 1st week of December.  But since my bedroom at my parents’ house has been transformed to a storage room for almost 3 years, there’s just too many stuff we need to organize, throw, clean, and disinfect.  We’ve been going there almost every weekend so we can prepare the room for when Baby Dagny comes.  So far so good.  But it looks like we wouldn’t have enough time to sort out all the cabinets and drawers.

It’s good that an aunt gave us a big plastic drawer for Baby Dagny’s stuff.  I can’t imagine putting her stuff inside the musky cabinets!  We also bought some big plastic bins we can put her other stuff.  It’s amazing how much stuff a baby can have.  We’re just really grateful that a lot of friends and relatives have contributed to Baby Dagny’s stash! We still have a couple of items in our list, though, that we still need to buy like a baby bath tub, a crib/playpen, and stroller.  We’ll probably wait for the baby fair this January to buy those stuff.

Anyway, we also need to clean our current home now to make sure that it’s baby-ready when we get back in January.  There’s still a lot of cleaning to do.  I think our problem is that we don’t have a place where we can put our stuff.  It’s an old house and we didn’t really have much cabinet space where we can put our stuff.  The cabinets have other stuff that my hubby’s family owns.

I bought a couple more big plastic bins to put some of our stuff in (I just got tons of scrapbooking stuff and other arts and crafts stuff begging to be put in their proper place).  Maybe we also need to buy some drawers and shelves.  We just have to make sure that everything has a storage box to go to.  I guess we never got around to that previously since our mindset was that we would be transferring to our condo unit soon so if we would be buying stuff, it should be something we would be using for the condo.  Well anyway, it looks like transferring to the condo would have to wait…

We also need to better utilize the other room which has become a storage space for us.  I still got a long list of things to do, but unfortunately it seems like my energy is waning as the days go by so I’m taking things slowly, lest have the baby come out prematurely.

It’s great that my hubby would start his leave by Dec. 5 and he also has a couple of leaves lined up before that as well so we still got time to do all the cleaning that we need.

Hopefully everything would be baby ready in due time.  Hold on, Baby Dagny! Don’t come out yet!!!

Prepping cloth diapers

I'm very excited to use my stash of cloth diapers for Baby Dagny! I already prepped them last weekend. Here's what I did: Inserts: - Soaked in warm water overnight - Washed with cycles detergent powder the next morning (used up my cycles sample) - Rinsed 3 times - Line dry under the sun Covers: - Soaked in normal tap water overnight - Washed with cycles detergent powder the next morning (used up my cycles sample) - Rinsed 3 times - Line dry under the sun *sayang di ko napiktyuran ng nakasampay. Anyway, here's my newly prepped stash: Current Cloth Diaper stash: 2 bamboo dappy 3 baby leaf 3 next 9 3 alva 5 happy flute I didn't fold the bamboo dappy nappies yet since they were still a bit wet (as expected. since bamboo material usually dries longer) I have 12 more Alva CDs arriving this December which I ordered through group buying. That would be a total of 28 CDs which would be enough if I will be washing them every other day. But then again, I feel like I'd still end up buying a couple more if I wouldn't be able to resist some cute designs. I'm trying to hold back on pink stuff and trying to order some neutral colors so that in case we have a baby boy next time, he'd also be also be able to use them. Anyway, I'm planning to wash these prepped CDs again when my Alva CDs arrive . They say that it's advisable to wash the nappies a couple of times to prep the absorbency of the nappies. I really hope we'll be successful in cloth diapering. I just pray that Baby Dagny wouldn't experience diaper rashing while using them.