of names and nurseries and everything in between

lola auntie called my folks last week just to ask how we all are. when she found out that i will almost be on my 7th month, she told them to better prepare her labor bag already (she gave birth to my auntie melanie at 7months). and mom said, "labor bag? when kiko doesn't have a crib nor a travel system yet? we won't be allowed to go out of the hospital without a carseat?"

hence, saturday saw them shopping for my crib at burlington. they already know what to buy, so they just bought it plus the matress. they also bought a graco diaper bag coz apparently, those that they give out from the hospitals aren't that good. plus they need to have a bag where they'd put my stuff in before i come out right? the crib was too heavy, and it's still sitting unassembled in our garage. and if it weren't for mom who kept on telling dad not to assemble the crib yet, i would've had my crib now all set in my room. he's that excited! i guess, scaring him that i would come out earlier if my crib is already up kinda worked. mom keeps on asking me to make a promise that i won't come out prematurely by the way. i won't mom, i won't... come out earlier, that is.

and since dad's jut too excited (no, i think that's an understatement, heehee), he ordered the wall borders that they saw online already. they finally found a wall border that would go well with how my dad pictured my nursery. let's just hope that the colors from the web would be the same as reality. once he gets the borders, he'll definitely run to lowe's or home depot to order the matching paints, and will start painting the walls. haha.

if they weren't only pressed for time, they probably have bought my travel system at babies r' us already and have paid a visit at crafts for their diy wall arts for my nursery. they actually started looking at wooden letters to hang, spelling my name, at michael's but they didn't have the letter "A". that's why dad wanted to run to crafts (this store and babies r' us are beside each other and a bit distant from our home).

oh yeah, by the way, i already finally have a name, hooray!... at least they finalized the first name (or is this final dad? mom?). the 2nd name is still in question though. but i'm willing to wait. oh and dad's really funny coz he's kinda cheating. remember when he used to ask me to kick while he mentions a name that i like? he still does that, but he's only asking me that 1st name that they finalized on when i am surely moving. haha. EDIT: my 2nd name would most likely come from a Saint's or Mary's name depending on my birth day. dad has already made a list of all the saints' feastdays from august 25 i think, up to sep 10. haha


anyway, i wish mom and dad could already put up that registry for me. tita sheryll's been asking mom to have the registry up already. and my "ever-feeling" mom's suspecting and so she told tita she that they have to wait for the registry before they throw her a baby shower. nyahaha. honestly, mom's pretty excited for her baby shower. well who wouldn't? this will be the first ever baby shower that's solely for us. heehee.

another update... mom's already started swelling a little bit. dad initially noticed this on her feet and legs when he was giving her a massage one night. and then some of mom's friends also noticed. oh well, i just hope that mom's still ok despite the swelling.

that's it pancit! .. until my next chika!

25th week updates

again, there were just sooo many things happening around me that i will just load this post with snippets...

* on mom's special day
we celebrated mom's birthday last week, just the 3 of us. dad prepared his special carbonara and bbq ribs. i enjoyed the food with them of course. and as always, i obliged when dad told me to greet mom a very happy birthday by giving her a good kick. teehee.

* on mom's pregnant belly
last thursday, when mom was about to prepare for work, she stopped at the mirror, called dad and asked "are these stretch marks or bed marks???". she was pointing at the lower left portion of her belly, where there are some reddish little lines. they both concluded that they're just bed marks. but the next day came and the marks didn't even move, so yeah, they're stretch marks. ugh. it seems like that expensive stretch mark prevention lotion didn't work at all... or did it? since the lines were just few and can still be counted? hmmm... well, mom calls these "red lines of bliss" anyway, so i guess she's fine :)

* on my baptism
eventhough they haven't finalized my name yet nor my godparents, my parents were already inquiring about baptism schedules in our parish. since my lolo dadi and lola mami (and hopefully tito ruprup) will be coming to visit me in september, and won't be able to stay really long, they had to schedule the baptism when my lolo and lola are still here. and since the parish only does baptism every 4th weekend of each month, they already informed the parish secretary that they will have me baptized on that last week of sept. so there! soon, they willbe attending the seminar, and hopefully before i'm born, i already have my own name :)

* on my nursery room
with mom's nesting instinct finally kicking in (mostly because of dad coz it came through to him a lot earlier, heehee), dad and mom were finally starting my room. dad actually started buying modular shelves and drawers for the built-in closet and began to plan further for it. he also borrowed a book from the library and had been surfing the web about nursery rooms. they actually had a solid idea of what my room would look like. they kinda had a theme already. but when they visited lowe's today and that wallpaper specialty store to look at borders and sample designs, they just acquired more ideas. hopefully, they'll finish putting borders and paint on the walls before they get the crib and bigger furniture in. exciting!

alrighty! i hope you all had a great long weekend!

random updates

23weeks and counting! ... i'll just fill you up with random updates since my last post...

** we went to see dr. bouchard today for our monthly appointment. as usual, mom asked quite a number of questions (most of them are just out of paranoia,haha). and as usual, the doctor told them that everything's fine. my heart rate today was measured at 148-151bpm which is great according to her. and she also measured mom's uterus. from the pubic bone to the fundus, it's 23ish cm. so right on spot for my age. by next month's visit, a diabetes test will be done on mom. and before we left, they scheduled our 3wk appointment after next, three 2week appointments, and a series of weekly ones til i come out ;)

** mom thinks that she's too big. she sent some preggy pics to her family and while lolo dadi called her a "butete", my tita tokti was telling her that they both have the same belly size (and she's already due next month). and with a 2-lb weight gain from last week, she got worried. dr. bouchard assured her though that her weight is right on track. alrighty then!

** dad already saw me! finally! hooray! the first time he did was at church last sunday. during the liturgy of the word, mom felt me and told dad right away (yeah, i'm also active at church). and boy was he happy when he saw mom's belly protruding! he can see me more often now though, specially when i have the hiccups! i'm glad i'm making dad happier even with just a few little hiccups here and there. oh, and tito john had a funny question about hiccups. he asked why babies in the tummy still get hiccups when we can swallow lots of amniotic fluid to prevent it! ...makes sense? haha

** we won!!! i am now a proud owner of this. we went to the library last saturday and saw a booth from babies r' us. mom giddily signed up for free coupons and raffle. they didn't expect that they'd win though. they actually don't know if i finally am bringing them luck on raffles/contests (coz i certainly didn't when it comes to winning powerball, haha) or they were the only ones who signed up. haha. so they picked up the price at the store on sunday... refer to the next update then.

** my folks finally stormed babies r' us on sunday. it's another haven for them (but more pricey compared to burlington). they got to see lots of baby stuff and i think that's where they're getting my travel system from coz there were lots to choose from.

but you know what my mom likes about these baby stores? ... the expectant mothers parking space! she longed to park on these spaces one day. so finally, her dreams came true! haha

updates and more updates...

hi, i'm kiko. and i'm 18 weeks (and 4days) old. there were just so much happening around me so i will just share different experiences and stories with everyone...

let's start with how i am... i actually am feeling as good as ever. i may be as big as a huge pickle now. hmmm. my parents will visually find that out on wednesday. i also am still trying hard to make my mom feel me all the time. so far, it's been successful. not everytime though. but that's fine, as long as she's noticing the stretches that i do. it's just funny when she'd feel me coz she would tell dad right away. and my doting dad would really get excited and would talk to me and cheer for me for doing that. ;)

oh, and i have another funny story... whenever my mom or dad would read to me at night, one's been carefully observing (while of course, listening to the bedtime stories) the inflections and diction of the other one. usually it's mom who would always laugh at dad coz he's really creative on how he reads the story that he would sometimes forget how he made a particular character sounded like before or his diction was wrong. i tell yah, there almost wasn't a single night when my mom never giggled. it really makes me always look forward to the next nightly session!

ah, mom considers these as "perks" of having me. and because of these, all the discomforts that she's feeling right now were nothing compared to having ME. awww... talking about discomforts, let me list down some of 'em that mom's feeling now:

- now that i'm getting bigger, mom's uterus is also expanding. hence aches and pains were getting pretty common for mom. she'd sometimes feel sharp pains, or mild cramps on her lower abs and hips. but her dr. told them that as long as it's not prolonged and there's no accompanying bleeding, it's perfectly normal. scary huh?!

- she's also experiencing some difficulty in breathing. and she now easily gets full (and if she eats some more, she would feel the food coming out and she would want to throw up). and all these could be because some of her organs have moved somewhere else? (huh?).

- also, it's getting hard for her to get out of the couch or the bed. tsk tsk. yeah, i am getting heavy. dada's support is always there anyway.

- she is also now finding it hard to sleep. yeah, she can sleep, but she has to find the lying-on-the-left-yet-comfy position first. she'd feel her leg restless or crampy though most of the time. and she'll get scared whenever she would wake up lying flat on the bed (i might not be able to breathe with that position according to her) and would quickly go back to lying on her left.

- the tailbone pain is already making it's presence felt now. not as bad as tita jen's yet. but she has to find a really good sitting position to get comfy.

the list is getting long in addition to those that she'd been feeling before (ie bloated, gas, never-ending constipation, frequent urination etc). but when asked by anyone on how she's feeling, she would simply say she's ok and that she's happy that i never gave her a really difficult pregnancy. yep, she has a realy minute tolerance for pain, but what she's feeling right now are the same ones that other pregnant moms feel according to her. but i guess, nothing beats the overwhelming excitement and happiness that every mom (specially first-time moms) feels, so these are all nothing! mom says, "bring it on!". ammm, mom, i'm not that big yet. wait til the 3rd trimester, then say that again. teehee.

probably she'll get some more humorous tips from laura wolf's diary of a mad mom-to-be (she gets the serious ones from the bible of all pregnant moms, what to expect when you're expecting, of course). she just recently remembered this follow-up book to laura's debut novel, diary of a mad bride (which she read during their wedding preps) recently and borrowed a copy from the library. she once saw this book at powerbooks right after she got married and vowed on reading it once she gets pregnant.

alrighty! that's all folks!... but before i end, i'd just like to greet my dad once more...

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! and i love you too! ;) ... i hope you had loads of fun celebrating your 30th last thursday with just me and mom (and with your superb carbonara and pinoy pork bbq on stick). i sure had a blast!

sing a song

whenever mom is driving herself to and from work, it had been her habit to sing songs out loud. she really loves to sing. she told me once that she's singing for me so that i'd recognize her voice and i'd get to sing like her someday :)

recently, she's been singing kiddie songs like the alphabet song, some batibot and sesame street songs too. she told my dad one night that they had to practice these kinds of songs so that they'd be able to sing these with me easily.

so one night, my mom and dad were singing and found out that the alphabet song, twinkle twinkle little star, and baa baa black sheep, all have the same tune. and to prove that, mom sang twinkle twinkle and dad sang baa baa black sheep at the same time. but my dad's song, went something like this...

baa, baa black sheep
have you any wool?
yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
one for my master,
one for my SELF,
and one for the little boy...
who lives down the DRAIN

mom really laughed out loud! so yeah, they need to practice some more. or else, my would-be playmates would make fun at my songs!


*****

my mom's pinoy officemates really get surprised whenever they'd see my mom's tummy really showing now. well, first because most of them recently just found out, so they were still thinking that i'm too young to show (but i'm already 15 weeks and 5 days old). secondly, my mom was always wearing smocks at work since she's oftentimes at the lab. and lastly, the last pinoy gathering that they went to was in december, after christmas. so for them, it seemed that my mom just swallowed a small watermelon and suddenly had a bump in her tummy. teehee.

mom's getting crazy at work

the last couple of weeks had been really stressful for mom. she's at the peak of their project, that's why. from what she read, it seemed that working longer hours (which is expected during this time at work) is not pregnant-friendly and can put stress on the baby too. but she doesn't know what else to do. her boss knows about her condition and had been trying to treat her specially though.

because of that, she's too grumpy and cranky towards two of her groupmates. her kind boss assigned a different partner for her so that she won't be at "sungit"-mode all day. my dad's worried that i'd wear a frown on my face on my birthday if my mom's sporting the sungit-look. yeah, she's been complaining a lot too. she's just too tired. whenever she gets some alone time in the restroom during bio breaks, she'd tell me how sorry she was about her crazy stressful work.

at night, my dad would make sure that my mom's always relaxed. she's just dead tired when she gets home at night. he would also make my mom smile and laugh all the time. like what my mom said, all the worries and stress at work somehow gets lighter when she gets to spend time with dad. dad would also tell me to just sleep when mom's at work and cranky, and just wake up when we're home so that we'd both just always smile. heehee, dad's so funny!

good thing is, she got the weekend off (their group was supposed to work this weekend, but her boss agreed that she just rest on weekend). so here we are, taking advantage of the couch as we savour the last weekend of the first trimester. can you believe it?! we're already on the last week, woohoo! ;)

some random stories

these are just some random changes that my mom's experiencing while having me in her tummy...

* she still loves eating.
well, she said that she really has a good appetite (and her friends can attest to that). but now that she's eating for her and i, she really eats a lot, and gets hungry almost every two hours. but poor dad, coz she's having a hard time eating leftovers, so he's the one to finish all the leftovers from the fridge.

she also noticed that i don't like the smell of "ginisa" and because of that whenever dad's cooking she has to stay upstairs. and also because of that, she doesn't like "ginisa-based", saucy and oily viands. so my dad's having a difficult time thinking about what else to cook from day to day. but she still loves soup-based food and japanese cuisine.

we both aren't really craving for one thing in particular. but since she's trying to stay healthy for me, she's craving for those that she can't eat like raw sushi, ready-to-eat noodles, canned food, chips, french fries and coffee.

* the mood really swings
the increasing hormones are to be blamed.

she is a cry baby eversince. but now she's 10x that! she cries over any happy or sad scene she sees on tv, or on what she's reading about or thinking about. she cries when somebody teases her at work. she cries when telling stories. she cries with somone who's crying.

she also has a short list of persons that she doesn't want to see or talk to. most of her male colleagues are counted. and boy is she cranky!

and since most of the time, she doesn't feel well, she's too lazy. i guess i'm making her lazy :)

* on things she can't do or take
because of the bleeding scenarios, she doesn't want to exercise nor just walk. she's just too scared. but she needs one specially since she's more constipated now. dad alone does the grocery shopping because of that. or when mom comes with him, they really walk very slowly, as in OA slow :). she doesn't want to shop nowadays (when she was sooo much into it before i came into existence);)

she's too paranoid to apply anything on her face or her body that could probably affect me or my development. so right now she's a pimple with lots of pimple :( but it's all worth it according to her! though she keeps on saying that she doesn't have the preggy glow, she's still the prettiest for me and my dad.

thanks mom for letting me know that these little discomforts, aches, pains and changes are all nothing when you're thinking of your priceless little gem (that's me!). awww, i can't wait to see you both in person too!

by the way, i am 9 wks and 2 days old today! and most of my relatives, some of my parents' friends (tita S, tito M, tito K, tito J, tita J and partners), and mom's prayer buddies (auntie M and auntie E) and spiritual directors know about me already. auntie E even said prayers and blessings for me through my mom's tummy last sunday. and they're as happy!

oh, auntie M told mom to also always invoke my guardian angel. wow, my guardian angel! :)

how the miracle happened

this is my mom's story on how my parents finally got pregnant, after almost 4 years of trying and praying... (copied from her journal)

it's been almost 4 years until the miracle of having a baby is finally granted to us by God. since we got married, we already planned on having a baby. as a maried couple, we've been called by God to be procreators and who are we to decline. so we tried.

we tried for a couple or more months. nada. i went for a checkup to find out if there's something wrong. the OB said that my follicles are smaller and that my uterus was retroverted. i've learned though that retroverted uterus shouldn't be a problem, and that my follicles might be smaller because it wasn't the right time to mature yet. but around that time, i still don't know when i'd be ovulating. i'm pretty regular with my period, within 26-28 days. but i don't exactly know just when's the right time.

i didn't have any followup or anything then since i was also too busy at work. and timing just isn't perfect for the both of us since he is also busy at work and had to endure longer commute everyday. but we never gave up.

when we moved here, i looked for a good ob as soon as we settled. i preferred those referred by my friends. and i found one, Dr. Shearer- Depp, from st. alphonsus. i liked her instantly. she initially checked me internally and saw that my uterus wasn't retroverted at all. but she informed me that the uterus really moves. it wasn't an agressive checkup though. after my blood test results came out and they found out that i'm ovulating, she ruled out any problems and told us to keep on trying.

so we obliged. we really tried, backed up with a lot of prayers. i used those ovulation kits to know when the right timing is. we tried to do the basal method by taking my temp every morning (which did not cooperate as i didn't see any good patterns with that). but it seemed that everyone's getting pregnant around us, except us. in God's perfect timing, is what everyone would tell us. and yes, we do believe that. we were still willing to wait. but we also are praying to God that if this is not something for us, that He'll give us the strength and faith to accept whatever his will is.

after a little over a year, i had my next pap spear appointment with dr. shearer-depp. she referred us to ICRM immediately since 1 year had passed and no baby yet. i really didn't like to see specialists here since they recommend procedures that contradicts with the catholic faith.

we went to ICRM for the 1st checkup. they discussed the protocols and procedures with us, and like what i've said, they do some procedures that are contrary to our faith. so we directly told them that we will never do those procedures since it's not in keeping with our beliefs. we will just be helped by them through the "timed intercourse" program.

with that one, ICRM will monitor my cycle each month. they will agressively increase the chance of getting pregnant through meds if necessary, and they will determine when i'd most likely ovulate to determine when we'll do the "deed". so day 1 is vey critical. when day1 of the menstruation starts, i need to call for an appointment so they'd see me betwen days1-3 to do a base ultrasound (to check if everything's ok in my uterus, ovaries, etc). day 3-7, i need to take clomid (and during the 9th day, some injectables if needed), to increase the number of maturing eggs. on 10th-11th day (days which i normally ovulate based from the ovulation kits i used previously), they will ask me to come for an ultrasound to measure the follicles and if they're about to come out. that day they will inject hcg to make sure that within 12hrs, i will ovulate. then, intercourse must happen between 12-24 hours. to lessen the chance of miscarriage, they have prescribed progesterone suppositories to be taken in a day after the deed, every night for 9wks if pregnant (and to be stopped if not). to determine pregnancy, they will draw blood to check the hcg levels. all of these will happen every cycle.

during the 1st cycle, they found out that my uterine lining is thin. and after prescribing some meds to make it thicker, it was still on the lowest range to allow the fertilized egg to implant, so we failed. the 2nd cycle looked promising since my uterine lining was thicker, but we still failed. my husband was then checked to see if his count is ok, and it was substantial according to them. thank God!

for the 3rd cycle, i was scheduled for an hsg procedure (just google if you want to know more about hsg)just to make sure that my uterus and tubes don't have any obstructions. it wasn't that painful, contrary to what others have said. thankfully, there was no blockage or whatever. and the dr said that 20% of women who underwent hsg got pregnant. so we're very hopeful.

i also had 2 matured follicles on my left ovary for this cycle, so it looked really promising from our end. but we weren't as expecting and as paranoid as we were during the first two cycles. maybe because we got used to negative results. those were TWO negative results already! i even had champagne on christmas day. i never did that for the 1st two cycles since i was too careful. hence, when ICRM called to tell me that i have a wonderful christmas gift since my pregnancy test was positive, i just cried. it was just unbelieveable!

so here we are. after almost 4 years of waiting, $$$ spent on meds and procedures (not covered by my insurance unfortunately), and gazillions of prayers, we've been blessed with this priceless little miracle. words just can't express how we feel right now or how thankful we are. we are just showering little kiko with all the love that he deserves. and all we ask from you for now are prayers, and lots of them.

mom's symptoms

my loving parents are doing everything they can just to make me safe and healthy. mom only eats healthy food now, and dad's been very strict on mom. now, she's not taking any junk food, chips, preserved food, soda, coffee, too much sweets, salty food... i know, a lot! he also tries cooking without msg. i'm just making mom really hungry almost every two hours, so she has to eat something healthy for me every couple of hours. she enjoys eating though and i just love nutritious foods!

but i'm really sorry ma if i'm making you a lot more constipated. though she tries to eat a lot of fiber-rich foods and drink plenty of water, there are still days when she just can't. like this morning. she wanted to because she felt really bloated and gassy. but when she went, she kinda strained. hence, another bloody wipe was on scene. oh, my mom panicked again. if i could only stop that bleeding. i wish the NP can assure my mom that i'm ok during our next appointment.

anyway, mom is also experiencing other symptoms like dizziness, light-headedness, breast tenderness, sleepiness and fatigue. she actually felt this since day 1. she just ignored them because they were the same symptoms that she get whenever her period is about to come. she probably just didn't notice that the symptoms were heavier and more felt now. she also just gets tired easily. and she sleeps longer hours now because i and my dad want her to rest well. plus, i wake her up in the middle of the night to go pee. her bladder is just soo active now that she has to pee every now and then. but, she's thanking me a lot for not giving her nauseous morning sickness. wee!

ah, how i wish i can respond to both of you when you are talking to me. and i also wish i can return the kisses dad often gives me through mommy's tummy.