September to Remember

I didn't know that today will be my last trip to the hospital with a huge 38weeks and 6days pregnant belly. I came in today for my required blood draw before my C-Section procedure on the 9th and for my final Fetal Non-Stress Test. It is my husband's dayoff so since San Leandro is quite a ride from Newman, we decided to get there very early and do errands after that. And so I got my blood draw done after an hour of getting there. YES! that's how busy their lab is. Then I headed to the 3rd floor for my NST (good thing I wasnt late for it). I got all the apparatuses set up in my belly, my vital signs are taken and my baby's activities are being monitored for 30 minutes. It was the sweetest 30 minutes of my life because I can sleep while this procedure is going on. Few minutes before the end of the session, the nurse is busy making phonecalls until she approached me and told me that I am on active labor and contracting very hard every 6minutes. And I was like, "really?" and then the nurse told me, "and you are not in pain?" then I smile at her. I told her that I can feel a strong contraction but I can still tolerate it. Based on what I've learned, told and experienced, if a pregnant woman can barely talk or walk with a pattered contraction, then that's active labor. She wanted me to be seen in the Labor and Delivery and I said OK. She they transported me to L&D and without hesitations, its up to me if we wanted to have the surgery today instead of waiting til Saturday. Im almost 39weeks pregnant anyway and considered full term. So without my "prepared" diaper bag, and with my sister-in-law's family came in to watch Shiloh while Vincent is with me in the OR, we finally said yes.

At 2PM, they started prepping me and began the procedure until it lasted for almost an hour. And then finally! I heard my daughter's cry for the first time. Baby out is at 2:51PM. She's so precious and..... SO HEAVY! hahaha having a birth weight of whooping 11.15lbs.. (beating Ate Shiloh's record of 10.14lbs hahaha!!) and 21inches long. And we will call her Saoirse (which means "freedom" in Ireland) Zarra (in Hebrew derived from Sarah, which means "princess") 

We feel so elated to have her. She's her sister's look a like. Those chubby cheeks wouldn't stop me from staring at her. She's truly a blessing to us.

And since it is an unexpected delivery, my husband and my daughter has to leave me for a night. I am just so thankful that the nurses in the L&D are so kind and caring. Plus, a lot of Pinay nurses too so I feel comfortable with them.

What's Inside My Hospital Bag?

Yaaaaas! it's SEPTEMBER📆!! 8 days until I have my CSection Surgery and finally be able to hug and kiss my baby number two. Yes it is going to be a scheduled CS because my OB says that I have less than 50% of chance to go on NSD (Normal Spontaneous Delivery) based on my BMI and seriously I have a gigantic belly😱! lol! Well, not new to me since I had a big belly too with my first born. I guess thats how it is when you are gestational diabetic but anyhow, this will go away immediately right after childbirth.

Anyway, since im almost a week away from my scheduled CS, I already prepared my hospital bag and I want to share it with everybody reading my blog to give ideas to my first-time mom friends. I have a pregnancy app on my phone called Sprout and this is where I got the idea because the app has the checklist of the must haves upon admission.

So first is my duffel bag. This is nothing expensive. I got it from Walmart for $11. Its big and roomy and has lots of pockets and sturdy. I don't have anything  like this so I decided to get one. Most of my bags are tote bags and backpack that aren't big enough to hold my stuff for a 2-3days hopefully except if I will use our luggage lol! which my husband told me not to because im not checking in into a hotel or there for a vacation hahaha!! make sense!..so I just bought this instead..

Next are my essentials.. My bath towel, 2 of my tube top Hawaiian dress for easy access when breastfeeding (or I may just be on my patient's gown the whole time), my toiletries (though the hospital may provide these but better to have some just in case) and lastly, my intimates which are not in the picture😝.

My baby's "going home outfit" or could be her photo session outfit. Yes! the hospital has their photographers who goes to every postpartum mom and would ask if they would like to have their baby's first photo session with a fee and of course, I will not say no to that! :) I will also bring this large tote bag to hold some documents or even other giveaways from the hospitals and gifts from visitors just in case.

Then I also have these newborn, 0-3mos, 6-9mos onesies. I dont know how big she will be because when Shiloh's time, I didnt know she's going to be a 10lbs and 14oz baby and she doesnt fit to the newborn clothes anymore haha!! so just to be on the safe side, I will just bring a lot for babytwo. I also have some leggings, burp clothes, swaddles, receiving blankets and my nursing cover to bring along.

Along with my hospital bag, I will also bring my Ameda Double Electric Breast Pump which I got free from my insurance (and they said I am eligible for another one. Every pregnancy actually. How cool is that? let me know if anyone needs one I can give you my extra breastpump ;) ) I also have some baby bottles which is not really necessary because they encourage breastfeeding but unfortunately that was my struggle/frustration the last time. I don't have much milk and Shiloh doesnt like to latch on me and it was the nurses who introduced that baby bottle nipples to her :( probably because Shiloh is already in need of milk that time and will take some time before she get used to my nipples. And my breastpump came late then (7 days late). But anyhow, I hope this will no longer be an issue for me. I even bought this milk supply drink and hopefully this will help me since being on a CSection may delay my natural production of milk due to the medications.

In addition, I will also bring my phone and charger, my wallet with my hospital card and debit card. So if you guys think that I may be forgetting something, let me know in the comment below. If not, im thankful for your prayers and well wishes:)

Much Love,

Anne

I NEED A GIG!

When I say gig, its an online job for me via Upwork. Lol!.. My current client doesn't have much workload for me for a about 2 weeks now. Ugh! disadvantage of being a freelancer. But then again, I have to understand that. At least I still have a contract with him. Btw, I have been sending proposals to clients, accepting interviews but have not heard anything from them yet. *sigh! I wish to get a new client so that I could have more mollahs to spend for my baby's stuff.

Yep! I am 26 weeks very much pregnant now and dealing with Gestational Diabetes :(. So much sacrifice now for not having too much sugar (or nothing at all) until the last trimester of my journey and this will be gone as soon as my baby is out. So while Im free from Upwork, I keep myself busy monitoring my sugar with my not-so-cool device (glucometer) and doing my research of what are the food types of preparing my meal plan based on my condition. For me who loves sweets, RICE, french fries and any CARBS,I find this so hard! ut then again, there's nothing I would not do for my baby(ies).

Anyhow, right now, me and my husband are just sitting on our couch. Me writing this blog and him watching movies from our Amazon firestick. Its Game4 between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers but he doesnt want to watch the live game coz he thinks he's a jinx whenever he does and we are rooting for GSW! #GSWalltheway!! So once in a while. I peek on the score or check out love and hate post on Facebook hahaha!!..

Ok gotta go now.

Much Love,
Anne

For the first time after a long time!

Ola kumusta?:) it's been a while since my last post. I am currently 13weeks and 6days pregnant  and I have been veeeeery lazy on my first trimester. Too busy that I couldn't find time to update this blog. I was so lazy to work online too (good thing one of my contract with my client ended last January) so I had a plenty of time chillin' at home.  However, in-spite of being lazy, I was busy decorating my daughter's playroom.  Yes! its like thats the only task I wanted to spend time with lol!,, I had a lot of energy going on a Dollar Store trips for some fancy decorations and all that stuff. I had it with a School Themed Playroom so that her learning wouldn't stop during playtime and im glad she is having a good time eventhough she plays alone most of the time. (don't worry baby, im still baking your playmate in my tummy-oven) I will have a playroom tour video once it's 100% done.

So what's up with everyone? My family was on a couple of trips this past months.  We were in Lats Vegas last Mar.2-4,2017 for my Hubby's 9th Annual GI Conference and it was held at Aria hotel where we also stayed. It was a staycation for me and Shiloh while Hubby is in the conference.  It was too warm and sunny in Vegas to walk in the strip in the afternoon but I must admit that I miss this kind of weather. I was able to wear shorts, dress and  light clothing since it was always chilly and raining here in Newman since December 2016. Then after Vegas, we went straight to my relative in San Diego and stayed for a night.  We got to see my Nana and Tita back from the Philippines and also went shopping at the US-Mex Border Outlet.  I'll post pictures soon. (see, im still lazy hahaha!! but those are already posted on my FB account though)

After the Vegas trip, here comes our Monterey Bay Aquarium Tour (Mar. 14-15, 2017) in celebration of my Hubby's Birthday.  Our little Diva had fun of course especially when we took her at the beach for the first time then hung out at the Lodge's Pool. Then got back the next day after lunch because no one is watching after our dog so we really have to be back asap to feed her.

Few minutes after resting from our trip, my Hubby emailed me another reservation.  And now its for a hotel in LA because we are planning to go to Disneyland with my Sister-in-law's family on their kid's Spring Break.. And im like waaaah!! trip again!.. We never really went on vacation lastyear since we spent time and money lol! on getting a house so we are making up for those times that we aren't in a vacation but its all worth it.  Me and my husband are always on the go and we love long walks and long drive.  Sometimes I forget that I am pregnant hahaha!!.. Btw here's a video from our Monterey Bay Aquarium Trip.  Sorry im not good with video editing :(

Monterey Bay Aquarium Tour

But this time, I can say that I am back on track since I got a contract renewed from that previous client so I will be busy and facing my laptop most of the time and my 2nd trimester is not so heavy anymore. I can feel a lot of positive vibes and energy this time :).. Im just grateful and thankful to God that all of my prenatal checkups are ok and all prenatal tests and screenings are all good. I just hope and pray to God to have a healthy pregnancy and baby and also to stay in shape all through the days of our lives :).. 

Ok I guess this is all for now.  I'll see you guys on my next post.

Much Love,
Anne

Baby Number 2!

Remember when I said I was feeling nauseated, dizzy and weird on my Dec.19 post? Well it was all because God answered our prayer already!

I am 6weeks delayed now and based on what I learned in Nursing, it's the best time to take pregnancy tests. And so I did and viola! Thank God it's POSITIVE!!

We just figure it out yesterday. My goodness! I even had a tiring day yesterday because we were at Kangazoom at the Tracy Mall and played with my daughter along with the other kids on the jump-jump bouncers, trampoline and giant slides. Yes! My weight passed the requirement lol! And not to mention, I started Zumba and jogging and cutting down on my calorie intake. So I guess I will continue cutting on carbs and sweets this time since I have the tendency (and I was with my daughter) to become diabetic when pregnant. Aka Gestational Diabetes.

So today I have an OB Appointment today to confirm the pregnancy via bloodtest and to make sure it's intrauterine pregnancy and not ectopic. I pray everything will be ok and we will stay healthy all through out the pregnancy.

However, the OB said it is still too early to see the embryo. I am 6wks delayed and 3wks pregnant. She said most of the time the embryo can be seen at 6-8wks AOG but she said she can see a gestational sac which confirms a pregnancy and we have done another urine and blood HCG tests and both are positive. So we set up another ultrasound appointment next month.