a big cheek booboo

i have a big bruise and a straight "cut" on my left cheek. wanna see it? check out mom's previous plurk's status with pictures of my booboo.

how and when did it happen? yesterday around lunch time, after nappy changing. mom was just about to throw the dirty diaper in the master bath and i followed her. then bam! i fell and hit my face on the side of the bed frame.

ouchie!

it's still a little bit bruised but it doesn't hurt that bad. mom's just hoping that it won't leave an indellible scar on my face. heehee.

and joel fell down

why do most, if not all babies, fall down from the bed? i, for one, wasn't spared!

it happened last night. i was on the bed already sleeping, with pillows surrounding me. mom went downstairs to skype with my ninong ruprup before going to bed herself. the monitor was on. when they heard me crying, dad immediately got into the bedroom and found me there on the floor, nakadapa. they didn't hear anything, not even a soft thud. i was fine. nagulat lang. so no, mom didn't need to call 911 this time. teehee.

what they suspected was that i managed to go down like the usual without a problem. but when i got to my feet and got my hands on the bed, i probably lost balance or support and fell down. hence, the silent fall. or i was helped and caught by my guardian angel.

i didn't go back to sleep right after. i was under observation for about an hour. i didn't vomit. i was sleepy, because i was still sleepy around that time, at 11pm my friends. but i was my usual playful self. we all went to bed when the hour passed. but although i was totally fine, mom still had to wake up every two hours just to check on me.

i am ok and doing fine. really. i just had to fall down from the bed coz all babies do that. it's a "rite of passage" ya know?!

32nd week updates

it was time for another biweekly appointment with dr. bouchard, so we went there last wednesday. and like the usual, she would answer mom's questions first (her list is getting shorter by the way... and the doctor's probably thanking the heavens for that :D), then she would measure mom and they would all listen to my heartbeat. and like the past appointments, everything's a-ok! despite the fact that mom's uterus is measuring a week-and-a-half more. i guess, you all won't be surprised if i come out a week-and-a-half earlier.

however, we learned from lola mami that my mom came out 8 days later than her due date. does that mean there's a chance for me to come out late too? hmmmm. well, we'll have to find out if dad's on the same boat when he was born.

oh, there's just one whoopsie. mom had some weird rashes spreading on her legs. during the last two week's checkup, dr. bouchard suspected that it was just heat rash and nothing related to mom's pregnancy. she has prescribed some cortisone cream for her dad to apply on her legs. but it didn't work and was just spreading and getting all the more itchy. so she's now being referred to a dermatologist. hopefully she gets seen soon coz the itchiness would often wake her up from deep slumber.

another whoopsie. mom's been swelling a little more now that she had to buy two pairs of sandals that are a size bigger than hers (same style but of different color -- that's how comfy it is, specially with the edema lurking, haha). she could still wear around three pairs of flats that she owns and of course all her flip-flops. but that's all. she should've been happier for this good reason to shop for more shoes, but she never wanted to have pairs that won't fit her anymore after giving birth. also, her engagement and wedding rings (which are now being worn on her left ring finger) are now tight and had been leaving marks when removed. pretty soon, she'll be wearing them on her scapular chain. perhaps she should get nightly hand massages from dad too aside from his soothing leg massages. that might work.

on the carseat end, my folks have finally decided on getting the sterling snugride carseat and the matching metrolite stroller. thanks to all the pieces of advice, inputs and suggestions that you gave. they definitely enlightened my parents and so they'll march to babies r' us after work today to get them. hopefully they're still in-stock.

alrighty! happy weekend everyone! :)

the GD scare

the only thing that kept my parents happy during the last ob appointment on tuesday was hearing my heartbeat once more and seeing the bpm count increasing when i was jiggled by dr. bouchard. she even told mom that she just has to believe that i am fine. the rest of it isn't too promising...

first, mom's uterus was measuring longer than expected (she was at 30cm, when she's supposedly at 28cm only). well, no scan was done so we're not sure if i am bigger than what a 28-week old baby should be.

second, her hemoglobin count is lower than normal and hence falling into the anemic side. it was normal on all of their past appointments, but now she had to take iron supplement asap.

and lastly, and the most dreadful of all, she failed the glucose challenge test. she fasted last night and prepared for her 3-hr glucose tolerance test this morning but almost an hour after she drank that carbonated super sweet glucose drink, she just had to puke (fasting + carbonated drink + pregnant woman = disaster!). so she had to redo the test again on monday. hopefully it'll be successful, or else, she'll just tell dr. bouchard to diagnose her with GD and not undergo this OGTT anymore. mom is actually expecting she might have this since tita tokti had gestational diabetes when she had ate yana. but she's still hoping she won't have it... so, we'll see.

mom is actually ok to have all these as long as i'm not affected by them and i stay healthy... so, please please pray for us ok?

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!

appointment with Dr. S

no, not dr. seuss :) mom and dad saw Dr. S today for their last appointment at ICRM. she measured me once again, and i'm just 7 weeks 3 days today. well, i probably wouldn't be a 6-fotter then. she also made sure that i don't have any clots around my placenta so she kinda assured my mom (despite another bleeding scenario last sunday morning) that i am doing ok and that the bleeding isn't coming from where i'm at. she finally said, "congratulations. you have one healthy pregnancy". by the way, they also told my parents that my birthday will be on september 3, 2008. but of course, i won't be telling when exactly i'd be coming out. it's a secret that we all babies inside the tummy should keep ;)

that would be their last appointment with ICRM, since now, they are sure that i am one healthy baby. so my parents finally "graduated" and will soon be transferring to a regular OB, since she's now a regular pregnant patient. well, she's still special to my dad and me.

they gave my parents this card, with all their signatures and with my latest picture on it.



and as they bid farewell, the NPs hugged my mom and congratulated my parents. they're really sweet. my mom will surely miss them :)

oh, and my mom got me a ticker since she now knows when i'm due (refer to the top of this page). i also am now an official member of babycenter, pregnancy weekly and baby-gaga. mom gets weekly updates about me from these sites.

tomorrow, i'd be 2 months old! woah!

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.

the very first ultrasound

mom and dad were very excited for their first ultrasound this morning. they wanted to know how i am progressing despite that bloody show.

however, everyone saw only my gestational sac, and probably a very very blurry yolk sac. the NP said that the gestational sac forms first, then the yolk sac, then me as an embryo. but no, the embryo wasn't there yet. oh well.

mom was worried when the NP said that they wanted to schedule her for another ultrasound next week just to see if i'd develop or not. i know i shouldn't get nervous. i am though.

bloody show

mom was so scared-to-death this morning. she was about to go to work when she saw some drops of fresh blood when she peed. dad was worried sick too.

they called ICRM and while waiting for directions, they found out from the web that vaginal bleeding can be a sign of miscarriage. though they knew that it can also be normal for some women, they just couldn't get rid of the thought that i might be in danger.

they went to ICRM for another blood draw since the NP said that there's nothing to see from the ultrasound this early. i can't even tell how old i am today. they informed mom however that the hcg count is increasing as expected, so the pregnancy is developing. they said that the bleeding can be coming from the cervix. anyway, she was advised to rest at home for the rest of the week and to call them if there's painful cramping or heavy menstrual-like bleeding. there weren't, but they prayed some more and asked for prayers so that i'd be safe no matter what.

my loving dad was very supportive and pampered mom and gave her a lot of tlc since day 1. he was doing all the household chores and was always at her beck and call. mom was well-rested.

oh, how i wish there's an easy way to tell them that i'm doing ok.

hcg what?

my mom was asked to go back to IRM for another blood test yesterday. apparently, her 1st hcg count (done on the 26th) was on the low side... lower than what they were expecting considering the number of days since i got conceived.

on friday the 27th, my mum got an ept stick and peed on it. 2 lines formed, but the other line was so faint. so yeah, that hcg count maybe right.

my parents researched about this and found out that this is common for ectopic pregnancies. it worried both my mom and dad, eventhough my mom isn't feeling any cramps stronger than what she has when she gets her period. see, i don't exactly know how to tell mum not to worry about me. oh well.

when the NP from IRM called my mom, she said that mum's hcg level did not only double!(the NP said that the hcg count normally doubles every 2 days). it went much higher that my mom's count is already on the expected range. i was happy when i saw the sighs of relief from my mum and dad. the NP called me a late-bloomer. well, i guess i am ;)

my mom peed on another ept stick this morning. at an instant 2 solid bold lines appeared almost at the same time! see?!


just like some other couples, mom and dad decided to keep the little tiny secret within themselves first and make the big announcement after i'm 12 wks old. but they of course planned on telling the families about this great news (yep, ME!) on new year's eve. they too have been waiting a long time for me so i really can't wait to hear their reactions! i'm too excited!