mah play area

my parents finally started with step one on babyproofing last saturday by taking the cofee table away from the family room. so this whole area is now mine, all mine. it is filled with all my baby stuff anyway, so yea, all mine!

cofeetable gone!
today, they bought this cool colorful puzzle mat with numbers and the alphabet on it. that way, i wouldn't have to crawl on the carpet (which really makes it all the more hard for me). ah, friction's just not that baby-friendly. excuses! =)

don't you just love how coloful it is?!
i love this place! wanna come and join me at play?

almost ready?

am i ready on my 36th week, the start of the 9th month? well, all i can say is, among the 3 of us, only dad and mom are... well, almost.

from my mom's list, everything is already done except for their childbirth class (which was recently scheduled to aug 23, yeah a month later. and i may or may not be out by then, so it could help, or not. ugh!), the carseat inspection (turns out that dad needed to go to another fire station where most of the carseat inspectors are assigned), and just those that she needed to do (like call matrix and the work personnel) on my birth day.

so just to review... shopping? check! wash and clean everything? check! (well, of course they will continually clean the house). pack postpartum and labor bags? check! (and ready to be grabbed when the right time comes). attend newborn and breastfeeding classes? check! (oh, you can check out the pictures here and videos here and here). do other stuff online? check! (matrix e-filing and preregister at the hospital). nursery ready? check! (it's so pretty and just waiting for me -- but i'm pretty sure that i won't be sleeping there for the first few months). mom and dad also started walking every night within our subdivision, so i'd say item #14 is in progress. see? almost everything's ready!

how about me? from mom's checkup yesterday, i probably have descended (but not so much i guess), since mom's measurement is only a week advanced now. and dr. bouchard said that it didn't mean that i didn't grow as expected, but that i probably have dropped a bit. well, mom's been suffering from significant and really noticeable pains down there since last week so i must have been putting a lot of pressure there. it had been hard for her to walk, climb up and down the stairs, to stand-up, to change positions while sleeping (torture is how she described it), to get up and down from the car (she even stopped driving now). the dr. also has done group B strep test on mom yesterday. then next week, on my 37th, she will be checking her cervix for any signs of effacement and dilation. wow, i still can't believe that i am almost there! :)

so, a few more weeks mom and dad, just a few more! i'm as excited as you are!

finally!

and the 100g OGTT is finally done! yey for mom! she actually tried a lot of things just to get through it successfully. the night before monday, they even woke up at 11:30pm just to have a sandwich thinking that it could probably help. monday came and just a while after she drank that dreaded bottle again (yep, that sweet carbonated drink used for the OGTT), she felt nauseous and would like to vomit. so the staff made her lie down for the rest of the test. dad was with her all the time, trying to make her relax and cheer her up at the same time (she was really pale according to dad). three blood draws and almost 4 hours after, the test was done!

and what's the result?... *drumroll pls*... she passed! thanks for all the prayers! ;) the np said that her glucose level is good. yey! but just the same, she's watching her diet more carefully now. the failing OGCT result was a wake-up call for mom. from now on, she won't be able to sneak through dad's strict diet rules. haha

in other news, dad and mom finally had their prenatal hospital tour at st. alphonsus last night. st. alphonsus family maternity center's amenities are really great! they have labor-delivery rooms that even have double beds in. the family suites for post-op are hotel-like and very roomy. they have a jacuzzi, birthing balls and whatever's needed during labor. they give moms a free 30-min massage after birth and celebration dinners for the parents when the baby arrives. lactation consultants do rounds on each room. they have warm and welcoming staff. thier family waiting rooms are really big and cozy. the atmosphere inside is very laboring-mom-friendly (it doesn't even look like a hospital inside). and they encourage natural births and breastfeeding. plus they offer lots of classes from pregnancy to childbirth to child care. galeng! the tour just made my parents all the more excited.

oh and my nursery is really getting pretty by the day. just last saturday, dad has finally succeeded over mom in putting up my crib. so yes, my nest is already standing high up in my nursery. they also got the swing that tito joemar and tita amy gave me inside the room (so yep, i now have 2 swings). then dad bought the glider that he saw in k-mart (on sale!) that matches the hues in my room. it's now sitting in my room of course and both my parents have tried sitting and gliding on it. it made them sleepy, haha. mom has also finished painting the wooden letters that they'll hang on one side of the wall. mommy's proud of what she's accomplished so far for the nursery (yap, that's it!). she'll just have to tie the pretty ribbons on it and finalize where to hang them exactly.

so there, that's all the good news that i have! :)

my daddy's day

today is my dad's very first father's day, so this day is very special to all three of us ;)

after mass and the special blessing given to all fathers by fr. dennis, we all went to crafts to get the wooden letters (that spell my name of course) and the paint for mom's diy project for my nursery. everything in that room is being worked on by my loving dad, so this was her way to help somehow, haha. by the way, the paint on my nursery is done, and they were finally able to stick the wall borders on. it looks really great, that mom and dad would always take a peek inside the room as they pass by. hooray for dad and mom! you'll have to wait till the whole project's over to see the pictures :). then we went to babies r' us to buy the graco travel system for me, unfortunately though, the one they were eyeing on was now discontinued and out-of-stock. so the search for another one goes on.

when we got home after a hearty father's day lunch at texas roadhouse, dad was surprised to see a gift lying on their bed. it was our gift for dad! (well, actually mom got them for me, but just the same, it made my dad extremely happy and all the more excited for me!). he got everything out and found these...

a pink onesie with "i love daddy" in front and "and daddy loves me" at the butt area; a sleepwear saying "daddy said i can" and a matching bib that has "daddy's little princess" on it... can't wait to wear all of them!
happy happy happy father's day daddy!!! i love you soooo much! as soon as i can, i'll give you all my kisses and cute little hugs! for now though, i'll shower you with kicks to tell you how much i adore and love you. mwwwwaaaaaahhh!!!

PS. tomorrow, mom will attempt to undergo another OGTT, please please pray for her just so she'd be able to get through to the end of the test without puking! (and for her to pass the test of course) :)

nursery teaser

my ever excited dad was itching to start the nursery project since he got the wall borders last week. so as soon as they got the matching paints, he started painting the walls (and yes, he made sure that the paint is free of voc --whatever that is!). here's a teaser...

yep, that would be stripes of 2 colors. guess what the other color is...(not the color of the painters tape :D)
wow, i can't believe i'm already on the 1st day of the third trimester, wowza!