Mommy Chronicles: The Big Change

Change is inevitable. They say that the only permanent thing in this world is change and I couldn’t agree more. There are times we become so complacent with the usual that when a stir happens to our routine we find it hard to adjust. For some, the change is too big that they find it hard to adapt while there are those who welcome the change as a new venue for opportunities, for betterment, that it brings out the best in them. And I am the latter.

I used to love the corporate world - the challenges, the opportunities and all the recognition it brings. My 9-5 stint was my primary mover and I always looked forward to not only performing my tasks but enhancing my skills as well. I loved donning the usual trousers and blazers. Even the seemingly monotonous office set up and schedule gave me comfort.

My life as an employee seems so distant now. A big change has happened and though I’ve convinced myself that this is the best anyone could have and could dream of, I still miss the rush of the morning hours with the dizzying traffics, project deadlines, and the challenge to prove one’s worth.

Motherhood brought about a whole lot of change in me, in my life, in my routines. Now I wake up early not to avoid traffic, but to change a wet nappy. I stay late at night not because of unfinished project but because baby is still awake and still playing and nobody knows when she’d decide to sleep. Now I don’t have much time for myself not because of deadlines but because I need to give my daughter a bath, give her milk, trim her nails, play with her, check her diaper…the list is endless! I am 24-hour on-call to mommy duties. I worry not about a boss getting upset but my baby getting irritable if I don’t feed her on time. I traded Cosmopolitan for Good Housekeeping and Smart Parenting. My Starbucks mug is now meekly hidden beneath the line of feeding bottles. I used to check out latest car models but now it’s the sight of Chicco, Graco, Enfant strollers that make my heart beat faster.

These changes are not petty that they sometimes make me stop and think: Am I happy? Is this what I want? Am I where I want to be?

My answer: It’s true that I wanted to be professionally successful, to have a rewarding career, to travel. But even though motherhood put a halt in all of these at the moment I can truly say that YES, I am perfectly happy with my life now! I have waited very long for this change to happen, even fervently prayed for it. I had the greatest promotion: from being a simple wife to becoming a mom and a spouse. I am prouder with a baby’s bag in my arm instead of a laptop bag. The 13^th month pay/bonuses and the lack of it doesn’t make me sad anymore because each smile from my child, a soft laugh she makes whenever we play together is more than any reward I have ever wanted. Sure I still want to put my skills in good use and be a part of the corporate world, but for now I am content and happier in our own little world called “FAMILY”.  

♥ DADDY & MOMMY ♥

♕ DADDY'S LITTLE PRINCESS ♕

☼☼☼ MOMMY'S LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE ☼☼☼

Mommy Chronicles: Labor, Giving Birth and The First Week

It’s been a week and a day since I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl Hatasia Nadine. Words are not enough to describe how happy I am for having this beautiful angel in our life. There are times when I just stare at her, loving the serenity in her face.

The onset of my labor wasn’t as dramatic as the ones we usually see on tv or movies. Mine started mild and days before the real ones. I was admitted at the hospital and stayed in the Labor Room for 2 days. Wanting to have a normal delivery me and my ob-gynecologist agree that we should wait until I am fully dilated and ready for NSD, however, baby wasn’t to arrive that way. In my previous blog I mentioned how I spoke too soon about certain things. One of the things I thought I could handle really well was labor pains. It was easy in my first few hours in the labor room, but as time passed by the intensity of the pain gets higher and all I could do is cry, grab the bed rails and stare at the monitor beside me and wait for the signal that it is about to subside. I was given epidural on the 2nd day and it worked for few hours but the pain returned about an hour before they transferred me to the OR.

After the seemingly endless wait, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl via Cesarean Section on June 28th at 12:55am. Her Dad was there to witness her arrival and it was him who cut the umbilical cord. All these happened in a hazy memory to me but hubby said I managed to smile when he entered the OR and when he showed me the picture of our baby (she’s just few minutes old and she was already taken out of the OR for picture taking with grandmas and daddy!)

Today baby Hatasia is 8 days old but all those who have seen her said she looks like a month old already. Her hair is naturally thick, her skin not wrinkled but smooth, and her cheeks so plump I can no longer remember how many times I kissed them when she’s sleeping.

The first few days of adjustment aren’t a breeze. The real meaning of motherhood is slowly sinking in. The joys, the feeling of elation every time a mother looks at her child is already a given. But with the reality also comes the sleepless nights, the seemingly endless crying of a newborn especially when you are not able to attend to her needs immediately, and the aches of a recovering body that has recently given birth to an 8.3 lbs baby.

My perception about a lot of things also changed. Now, for me,

- A pump is no longer a word associated to water alone. (Breast pump is one of the best inventions I think).

- Sleep is necessity. Well that was before. Now sleep is a privilege.

- Diapers, cotton balls, baby wipes – you can never have enough. Or at least until your baby starts potty training.

I know there’s still a lot to learn. A long, long way to go. There will be countless sleepless nights, hundreds more of soiled diapers, painful bumpers when milk isn’t expressed at once (moms fully understand this)…but a simple smile from my child will compensate for everything.

Just for laughs:

Let me share something that I find amusing. Well, I find it amusing now but at the time it happened it wasn’t funny at all:

On my 2nd day in active labor a nurse came and checked my progress and the recordings in the monitor (which also registers the frequency and intensity of my labor pains; at that time it registers 100% at 3-5 minutes interval. This means that baby is about to pop out soon). The nurse said, after seeing that the contractions are already 3-5 minutes apart, “o, ang ganda na ng contractions mo!” Gusto kong sabihin sa kanya, “a, maganda ba? Sige palit tayo dito ka at ng maramdaman mo kung gano kasakit”

The Dilemma (and joys!) of a Pregnant Woman

Before and foremost, let me say that I love being pregnant and enjoy it most of the time (its just that sometimes I feel so heavy and tired and nobody likes that). 

Pregnancy is one of the most important events in a woman’s life. Especially in cases like ours where we waited for this for a very long time. I had mixed emotions the moment I saw those 2 lines (positive!) on the pregnancy test. First reaction was disbelief. I thought my eyes are just teasing me or it could be that the test malfunctioned and registered 2 lines by error, so I asked the maid to buy another one just to be sure. Same result. Waiting for this to happen for ages, I was still in shock and just couldn’t believe it. Few days later, I told hubby I want to buy another test just to make sure that it’s still gonna be 2 lines, so we did. Mind you, this was already after check-up with my OB-gyne. I only stopped buying those little strips after my doctor told me that no matter how many tests I do the result will be the same.

When I was already 3 months on the way and supposed to be in the “lihi” stage I was still very energetic, a little yabang actually 'coz I didn’t have nausea spells, cravings in the wee hours nor dizziness. I was saying to myself, “kala ko mahirap maglihi eh parang wala lang pala. Kayang kaya ko to kahit every year”, with a little smirk on my face. Only to realize I spoke too soon. Few weeks after that I was almost always in tears because I felt like throwing up E-V-E-R-Y-T-I-M-E! Foods I used to love no longer appeal to me. Didn’t like anything with oil, sinigang na salmon belly didn’t look as appetizing and even the McDonald’c fried chicken commercial almost make me want to cry because seeing that golden, deep-fried crispy chicken encourages my insides to rumble. Yes, anything with oil I detested.

Thankfully time passed by so fast and with the growing of my belly comes the fading of that stage. At 5-6 months, I was told a lot of times that I am not as big. Yey! (I thought I am one of those lucky sexy preggy moms-to-be.) But again I think I just spoke to soon. Why didn’t I learn the lesson the first time? My body parts just started growing and growing and expanding. I was in denial; I used to wear size Small or Medium, never Large! But how come even large wouldn’t fit me? I grudgingly picked the next bigger size and even that still looked fitted. Huhuhu… And don’t get me started talking about my feet. I’ve always been a size 7, but how come the saleslady is giving me a size 9 and it fits perfectly?!! Waaaahhh!

Now at 9 months, I walk like a penguin. But I am trying so, so hard to walk with more poise because I thought waddling isn’t just acceptable. But what choice do I have, whether I accept it or not I’d be waddling ‘til Mi Bebe comes out. Most of the time I am happy and simply enjoying the last month of my first journey in mommy-hood, but some other times I feel so uncomfortable. Like when we travel it seems like there’s a watermelon bouncing up and down inside me. So 3 hands support my belly: 2 are mine, the other one is hubby’s free hand. When I see photos of swimming pools, nice beaches, I almost feel sorry for myself because I would really want to have a good swim but am scared of risking anything. It also seemed that both air conditioners at home are not working as efficiently as before because even if I set them on their lowest/coldest temperature it’s still not cold enough for me. I even told hubby once we should have them cleaned because maybe the dirt traps the air. He just laughed and said I am the only one who feels that way. True enough, this morning when I woke up he is literally under the blanket. Yes, from head to foot, covered with kumot, while I, on the other hand kept on adjusting the curtains because I thought its trapping the air again that’s why it isn’t cold enough. And then I heard him say, his eyes still closed, “bakit naman kasi sobrang lamig, hindi naman dapat ganito”. Awww, so it must be really cold!

There are perks too when you are pregnant. And I really am enjoying them. I don't get to fall in line anymore when there's a long que in the bank, people seem to be more helpful, and this one I just discovered recently, I can enter in pay restrooms in malls in Araneta Center without shelling out 10 pesos (free for pregnant, QC residents only). How cool is that! But one thing I enjoy immensely at this time is my regained interest in food. I can finish a whole burger, fries and Coke float in less than 15 minutes and would still be imagining which pizza flavor is the best. Fried chicken makes me smile again and cupcakes make my day. Plus the fact that I am just few weeks/days away from actually seeing our little one makes me glow. I am simply too excited to hold our little darling and wrap her in my arms!

Just one last dilemma though, will it hurt that much to give birth? I am so concerned how’d I behave and look at that time so I asked my OB what I should do. “Just don’t forget to pack your lipstick and camera”, says she. Weeee!!! So that means it won’t be that complicated.  

Ginataang Alimasag with Kalabasa and Sitaw

I've been craving for some healthy food lately. Fast food had been present in our table for a couple of times this week because I didn’t have the energy to cook and whatever our househelp prepares doesn’t just seem too appealing to me.

Today my “cook mode” is on again and I whipped up Ginataang Alimasag with Kalabasa and Sitaw for lunch. This is a pretty simple fare, very easy to prepare but is really tasty and healthy. 

Ingredients:

4 pcs. female crabs

Squash (kalabasa) cut in 1-in. thick cube

String beans (sitaw) cut 1 ½-in. long

1 whole onion

3 cloves Garlic

1 tbsp. cooking oil

Coconut milk or coconut powder dissolved in 1 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and sauté garlic and onion. Add squash then string beans. Wait for at least 5 minutes before adding coconut milk. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes then add crabs. Cook for another 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with freshly cooked rice J

Nursery - my work in progress

I spent the whole day yesterday organizing and decorating baby’s room. I only have a few items on hand as of now so the room doesn’t look complete yet. Only a few baby clothes and some decors. It's still 3 months before baby comes out but I’m just too excited to get started! So here’s how it looks so far... 

It's a Beautiful Day!

Good morning!

It always feels great to wake up to a new morning. Even if one had a troubled sleep and a tiring yesterday it all doesn't matter anymore because today is a new day.

It has been a habit of me lately to look out the window after getting up, take in the view from where I stand and fill my eyes with the beauty of everything - The sunshine that's just starting to spread its warmth, the cloudless skies that make me feel that summer is approaching super fast (beaches/swimming, road and food trips and juicy watermelons), the smell of almusal being prepared and thoughts of fresh coffee (Yes, just thoughts ‘coz all I can do now is think and dream about it. My reality is still pre-natal milk). And what’s more, today is Friday! A fact that I'd always cherish when I was still in the corporate world. It meant just a few more hours of slaving over office works and that I am just a day away from a promising weekend.

It is a glorious day and it is just starting! Go ahead and enjoy!

Can't wait to make the most out of this day! So how do you plan to spend yours? :-)

What Do You Do?

When you're sitting beside someone who seems to have left her manners somewhere, what do you do? When that person is so oblivious to everyone around and just doesn't care whether she is already disturbing those nearby with her endless yawning, stretching, removing of shoes to check her nail polish, burping like she's just finished a hearty meal when in fact it’s already 4 hours past noon (and then you catch the smell of her coffee-laden breath), and then back to square 1 - what do you do?

Yes, I just happened to sit beside her, and no, I am not just being "maarte" or "maselan". My building irritation didn't stem from my pregnancy hormones either. It is just that this person seems to not honor the place she's in. If this happened in a mall or anywhere else there will be no problem because I can just walk away. But that moment and place was too sacred and special for anyone to act like that.

My annoyance was short-lived though for I realized that rudeness reciprocated with rudeness only results in...You guessed it right! Rudeness! So in my mind I was silently trying to understand why she acts like that. Maybe she's bored? She's too young to mind her manners? Or she just simply didn't realize that what she was doing, or what was natural to her isn't very acceptable to everyone. We admire those who act prim and proper and can hold themselves gracefully in any given situation. But I guess we should not hate those who don't.

I am just wondering in cases like these, what should we do?  Do we point it out right then and there or just ignore every movement they do?