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Quick update:

Baby is now 10 months old! How time flies~ He can now roam around a room on his own, tries to stand, walk and climb, can clap his hands, do high fives, and babbles a lot. He can say “Tatay” (Filipino term for Father/Dad), “mama”, “papa”, “baba”, “dede”, but won’t say “Nanay” (Filipino term for Mother/Mom. XD We are so excited for him to learn more words and be able to converse with us~

I also recently joined an online recital for aerial hoop~ I’m so happy to finally be able to attend face-to-face workout classes. Here’s a vlog of my experience with BTS from our photo and video shoot:

5 months

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Time flies! Baby is now 5 months old! I wanted to document all the firsts and every development, but here I am showing up too many months later. I wasn’t even able to blog about his baptism.

Baby can now laugh, roll over, reach for his toys and put toys (and many other things) in his mouth. He has really strong grip, strong enough legs to support his body and stand with assistance and strong enough core to sit (also with assistance). He’s working on his balance and control now. Still can’t believe it’s been 5 months already.

It’s hard juggling everything with caring for the baby but I’m so happy. I no longer just feel him in my tummy, I can now actually play with him! My heart is full.

Newborn

I wanted to be awake during the operation and be able to welcome my baby. BUT, maybe because I was already tired and wasn’t able to sleep the previous night and maybe because of the things injected to me, I fell asleep. They woke me up and I remember them bringing my baby to me and me saying ‘hello’ to my baby, but after that I blacked out. The next time I woke up I was still in the operating room with things attached to me to monitor my pulse and blood pressure, I think, but was alone. I couldn’t feel and move my legs and can only look around from where I was lying. When a nurse came to check on me, I asked how long I will have to stay there before I get to transfer to my room. I asked a few more things and then slept. Later on, my husband told me that my doctor told him I was already okay because I already had energy to ask a lot of questions. Hahaha!

They brought our baby in at around 1 am. The nurse asked if we were first time parents, which we were, and then briefed us about basic newborn care and breastfeeding. Finally, our little one is in our arms!

The next morning, my OB visited us and taught us about recovery and how to clean the operation wound. Baby also underwent newborn testing and hubby ran around to process our papers. At lunch, I finally had my first meal since 7 pm day before my baby was born. That’s more than 36 hours without a meal! Suddenly, hospital food was very delicious. Hahaha! OB also encouraged me to move around already to recover more quickly and to prevent my intestines to stick together.

Two days after baby was born, we were released. Recovery time in the hospital was reduced because of the pandemic. Good thing, walking and moving around really worked and baby was also in good health and condition.

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Baby is Out!

For a month and a half now. Haha!

We’ve been so busy with the baby and didn’t even have the energy to edit the videos that we were planning to put out. It’s true when they say that the first few weeks are hard. But despite that, both hubby and I really enjoy taking care of the little one.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I’ve been having painful contractions already and the intervals are closer. And just 2 days after that, I had contractions that were about 10 mins apart. I tried to sleep it out but wake up from the pain. I tried to stand up and move around, continued to pack my hospital bag, because it still wasn’t ready at this point. XD After about 3 hours, the pain wasn’t going away, I decided to wake husband up and go to the hospital. When they checked, I was only 1cm dilated and so they decided to send me home. I was scheduled for my regular, more frequent, checkup that afternoon, so I went to the clinic. I still had painful contractions from time to time, but it wasn’t as frequent as it was that morning. My OB-GYN reminded me for the things I should look out for and check on before deciding to go to the ER.

That night, I had more intense contractions again. By 1 am, contractions were only about 4 mins apart. I waited for a few to see if it will subside. I tried to sleep it out but I wake up every 4 mins or so. after an hour of monitoring I tried to chat my OB-GYN, but of course she wasn’t able to respond immediately as it was in the middle of the night. Again after about 3 hours, I woke hubby up and we went to the ER. I was still 1 cm dilated when they checked but decided to admit me because I was already having 3 contractions in 10 minutes.

We waited for me to dilate but even after more than 12 hours of labor, I only got to 4 cm dilated. My OB suggested for me to give birth through CS. She said that even if we waited there’s still a possibility that I will have to give birth via CS because my pelvic bones didn’t expand enough for baby to get through. She also couldn’t pop my water to hopefully help the dilation process as I had too much amniotic fluid. If she does pop my water, baby’s position could shift to a wrong position which will force me to have CS. I didn’t want baby to get stressed further and me enduring labor pain would be for nothing if I will still have to give birth through CS in the end. I decided that we already get through it. They prepared the operating room and baby got out at 4:01 pm.

Just a few more weeks to go!

I’m almost 38 weeks along in my pregnancy.

Yesterday, in our most recent check-up, I was having contractions every 6 minutes. These contractions started very early in the morning and continued almost through out the day. The contractions were painless but some were uncomfortable that I wasn’t able to sleep properly that day. The doctor checked on my cervix to see if what I was having as active labor, but it was not and the mucus plug was still intact. She advised me to just continue to monitor my contractions and made some notes for me, things to watch out for to know when to call her and/or go to the hospital.

Today was easier, my contractions have more irregular and longer intervals. I also don’t feel pressure on my pelvis unlike yesterday. I was able to move around more easily today. So I did a bit of cleaning up and adding some things to bring in my hospital bag.

RT-PCR negative test result are now required to be admitted in the hospital. And since the baby might arrive anytime soon, the doctor advised us to get the tested. The result are valid for 5 days only though so if the baby is still in my tummy next week, we will have to test again. Luckily there are home services for this and we won’t have to go out to have ourselves tested.

I’m both excited and nervous. I’m very excited to meet my little one. I find it really cute whenever my baby moves inside my tummy. I can’t wait to actually see those movements and hold him in my arms. I can’t wait to play with him and see his face. I also can’t wait to be able to put him down on his bassinet or give him to his father and rest whenever my arms are tired of carrying him. Hahaha!

Buuuuut, at the same time there are still so many things to do to prepare for baby’s arrival. It’s a bit difficult for me to do them though because there are days that I find it really hard to move around. I also feel tired faster and my feet hurt more easily when I walk. I’m slowly making progress, but I’m not sure if this pace is enough to really prepare everything in time. Also, I read that it’s best that baby stays inside until week 39.

I don’t know. What I’m sure of and really praying for though is for baby to be safe and healthy. I’m praying that my body do what it needs to do to help baby come out easily and safely. Hoping that I figure out how to manage myself through the pain that labor might bring so I can do what I need to do to help baby come out and not strain myself too much for easier and faster recovery.

With what’s happening in our country and all over the world, I pray that we, you, me and our families and friends, stay safe and healthy. Have a good day!

Happy New Year!

2021 is over! How was it for you? Hope you were okay.

For me it was, in general, a happy year. It was in 2021 that we learned that we are having a baby. I had, I think, an easy pregnancy overall. All the tests done on me and on the baby came out okay. We’re all just waiting for him to come out now.

I don’t remember much in 2021 aside from my pregnancy, though. Husband and I were mostly at home because of the pandemic. We only went out for check-ups and really really few errands. All the rest of our needs we just ordered online and have delivered. Still, I’m thankful because our little family of three, as well as our parents and siblings, are all healthy and safe.

We’re still doing last minute preparations for our baby’s arrival. We still have to set up our baby station in our current home. At the same time, we are hoping we can get our new home renovated and ready for occupancy. We are also still ordering some of babies needs, washing some hand-me-down baby clothes, and organizing things around in general.

Hoping we can get everything that needs to be prepared ready before baby’s arrival. Praying for a very positive birthing experience. Excited to meet our little one!

Praying for everyone’s health and safety. Have a great 2022! Happy new year to all~

Last few weeks to go!

So many things happened since I last posted an update.

We had our maternity photoshoot on my 31st week! I’m so happy that I was able to do an aerial photoshoot with the help and support of my aerial momma.

I’ve been preparing for this photoshoot for so long~ I’m super happy that my husband is very supportive. I told him that I wanted an aerial maternity photoshoot even before I got pregnant. So one of the first questions we asked our doctor was whether I can continue practicing aerials while pregnant. Good thing I had low risk pregnancy and so she allowed me to continue and just reminded me not to do tricks that would put pressure on my belly. So I did, I had (online) aerial classes once a week with my aerial hoop mom. I also attended (again, online) stretch classes once a week at first but I stopped at around week 16 (I’m not sure anymore) because some of the exercises done in class trigger nausea. I tried as much as I can to be consistent with my practice and exercise to be sure that I can safely carry myself on the hoop with the additional weight that I gain.

Day after the photoshoot though, I experienced some painful Braxton Hicks contractions and thought (at the time) I was having preterm labor. The doctor advised me to take it easy and rest, so no aerial hoop for now.

I’m now on my 35th week! Baby is still in my tummy. Hahaha! We are super excited to meet our little one but hoping and praying we get to full term first before baby attempts to go out.

Baby’s 28th Week

Today is baby’s 28th week (and 1 day)! I’m on my third trimester! I’m so excited to meet the baby but we still have a lot to do to prepare for his arrival.

Updates

We’ve been visiting our OB-GYN regularly and also already received some vaccination shots. My 2nd dose for COVID 19 vaccine is up next. On our last OB-GYN visit, the doctor checked the baby’s developing parts and measured their size. Everything were good and normal but she noted that my amniotic fluid was larger than it should be. She’s still worried about my sugar level because of that so she recommended closely monitoring it.

We’ve been monitoring my sugar level for 2 weeks now. Although at first we were doing it wrong and we were getting it earlier than should be, all results were in the normal level.

Anyway, we also got a few photos of the baby on our last OB-GYN visit!

I can’t wait to meet this baby~ I’m so excited to do so many things with him already! For now, preparing for his arrival would have to do.

Pregnancy Update

Baby is now 25 weeks in my tummy~

I’m past the nauseous stage now (though I still experience it from time to time). I can eat better. I want to say I can move around more but I feel really heavy sometimes and I just want to rest it out.

I also received my first COVID-19 vaccine shot on my 18th week and my 2nd dose is still 4 weeks from now. I’m so thankful to have the chance to receive this vaccine since the daily new cases was surging at that time and the hospitals were swamped.

Took OGTT I think 2 weeks ago and the results were thankfully normal. I was a bit scared since my OB/GYN told me that I had significant weight gain in a month and that the amniotic fluid was near the higher bound. I was advised to lower my sweets intake.

I still try to do aerial hoops at least once a week. I’m taking online classes so that an expert (and also a mom) could guide me and help me practice safely.

15 weeks (more or less) to go! I’m so excited to meet our baby!

I’m Pregnant!

Today is baby’s 15th week. First trimester is really over. I’m hoping morning sickness is (over), too!

I was already delayed for a few days and decided to do the PT on our 3rd wedding anniversary. It was a really great blessing and such a happy news to receive on our special day.

Pregnancy is generally good. Results for all the initial tests done were all okay. The baby was 5 weeks when we first learned about the pregnancy and morning sickness became more… felt? and frequent on the 6th week. It also became more intense late week 7 until week 13. I felt bloated all the time and I usually just want to have a good burp but I retch instead. Most of the time, I feel like vomiting but nothing comes out. I seldom have actual vomits and when I do it was just liquid most of those times. The retching was really bad sometimes that it was hard to breathe between retches. Sometimes I had to force myself to inhale because the retching won’t stop and I’m already out of air from the motion. Good thing those times are all over now (I HOPE! PLEASE!).

I didn’t have intense cravings. Not the type that I had to eat specific thing right away. I had cravings but it was more like I just miss eating food that I used to eat before the pandemic. I had aversion though, on coffee! Haha! I was a coffee drinker. I used to drink 3 cups a day, one after every meal. When decided that we wanted to start trying to have a baby, I changed 1 or 2 of the cups to decaf. But on week 7, I started to retch just on the thought of having a coffee. Actually, even just writing about it now give me nausea, so I’m going to stop. Hahaha!

Baby at week 6, 8 and 12

I continued to attend stretch classes and aerial hoop classes, both online. I figured that I want to maintain my strength and hoping to still improve my flexibility to help me push the baby out more easily later. I researched online about exercises during pregnancy, asked around and consulted other aerial hoop mommas that I know and, of course, consulted my OB GYN about it and had a go signal from her. I was feeling extra tired during the first trimester and if I didn’t have those online classes, I’m sure I’m not going to push myself to exercise. But I pushed through, and every time I’m surprised with I can still do and I always feel more energized after the workout. I’m really thankful for having really considerate and great teachers to guide me and push me just enough.

Hoping and praying that my pregnancy continue to be good and healthy.