We're Halfway There! :)

Today my baby is exactly 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days old (19 weeks!) And on Friday, we'll be on our 5th month. It's sooo fast! Time flies really fast. We had our check-up yesterday, November 12, 2011 and here's what happened:

We left home around 9 in the morning, stopped at Milflores to buy pasalubong for my doctor and her secretary. Pichi-pichi for my doctor and Cassava cake for her secretary. I drove on our to the hospital by the way, and this is like the second time in 4 months! I missed driving! :D We got to the hospital at 10 in the morning but my doctor is still not there. We had to wait for an hour for her and another 2 hours to wait for my turn and that makes it 3 hours of waiting for a 10-15 minute check-up.

I gained 4 lbs! I was expecting it because my appetite is really... Wow! Haha! My doctor told me that I gained too much. 2 pounds a month is like the normal thing so she's putting me on a diet. 1 cup of rice every meal, lessen spaghetti, pancit, pizza, anything carb. Gosh, all of them are my favorites but I have to obey because it's for my baby and my own good. She said I should not get too fat so I won't have a hard time losing weight after I give birth.

She made me lie down and measured my tummy and I'm glad because she said that the baby and my tummy is just the right size. Then my favorite part comes! Doppler time! Again, my doctor had a hard time looking for my baby. She's probably covered with my fats! Haha! Then, my doctor said "Siguro nakatihaya baby mo" when we heard my baby's very faint hear beat and her secretary agreed. Then a few minutes later we heard my baby's loud and fast heart beat! Wow! :) My doctor said "ayan gumalaw na sya". :)

My doctor still advised me to take Iberet folic acid and Caltrate plus vitamin C and Anmum. Expensive but anything for my little one! I also asked my doctor if I need a Pelvic ultrasound and she said I don't need it anymore. We'll just have one ultrasound for the biometry and gender determination on my 27th week and I'm hoping we can have it in 3d! :) 

Can't wait for December 10 for our next check-up!

Baby Just Kicked Mommy!!!

Today, October 26, 2011, at exactly 3:10 in the afternoon, I felt a movement on my belly for the first time! I'm pretty sure the movement is not from my hungry stomach! It's my baby! My baby just moved! :') After a few more minutes, I was talking to... errr myself (weird, huh?) and I felt another movement, this time it's a bigger movement. I instantly stopped talking and thought to myself  "did my baby just kicked me?" I sent my hubby a text message, turn the laptop on and start blogging while crying. :')

Found this online and it's is so true! "There is not much on this planet that can compare to the amazing thing that is a child in the womb kicking."

Thank you Lord for all the blessings... My hubby said I should to talk to our baby and ask to kick later when he gets home from work. Haha! :)

XO,

Justine

Precious Moments Theme

I'm only on my 4th month of pregnancy and I've already had sleepless nights thinking about my baby's first birthday! Haha! I told my hubby about it and he laughed at me and said I should concentrate on taking care of the baby first. Of course I want the best for my baby! Best health, and the best parties my little one will forever remember. ♥ 

Before my baby's first birthday of course is the baptism. So one by one, I'll be planning my little one's special events and make sure it will be memorable not only for us but also for our dear guests. 

I was thinking of a theme and I thought the lovable Precious Moments will be nice! Invitations and souvenirs and the cake will be Precious Moments, we'll have pastel colored balloons and center pieces. September 15th, 2012 will be the date, two days after my hubby's birthday so he and his friends can have drinks at home after the reception. That's 5 months after I give birth, enough time for us to save for the baptismal. I already listed a few candidates for godparents but I haven't asked my hubby yet. Maybe next year the preparation will get serious ☺ We are preparing for quite a lot before the year ends- my 25th birthday, excited to know baby's gender, our civil wedding, Christmas, of course! And D-Day. I'll just take note of the things I want for my baby's baptism and try not to think about it before I sleep (No more sleepless nights!) ☺

XO,

Justine

Preggy Expenses ☺

Other expenses as of today, October 19th:

First check-up - P500.00 for Dra. Miller's PF
Vitamins - P750.00 vitamins good for a month
Transvaginal Ultrasound (TVS) - P935.00 Hospital of the Infant Jesus
Lab requests - P1,050.00 New World Laboratory

Second Check-up - FREE!
Vitamins - P835.00 good for one month (Folic Acid, Caltrate)

Third Check-up (Emergency check-up) - P300.00
TVS - P935.00 (had to repeat TVS)
Medicine: P580.00 Cefalexine and Uterus relaxant

Fourth Check-up - FREE! But brought kakanin for Doctora P140.00
Vitamins - P835.00 until November 11, 2011 (Folic Acid, Caltrate)

Meet my OB

My OB is Dra. Betty Miller. Her clinic is in the Hospital of the Infant Jesus in Sampaloc, Manila. Very kind, open minded and a good listener and quite expensive. 

Fist Check up PF: P500.00
Follow up check - up: P300.00

We asked her how much should we prepare for our D-Day:
Normal Delivery: P60,000.00
C-Section: P80,000.00

She told us to bring a camera on D-Day because her anesthesiologist is a frustrated photographer! Lol! Which is good!

Dra. Betty Miller
Hospital of the Infant Jesus
02-731-2771

Bleeding during Pedring

I woke up Tuesday morning thinking of baby shower. After a few minutes I decided to go to the bathroom to pee. When I was about to flush the toilet I was shocked to see blood! Plenty of it. No, not spotting. I stared at it for a while then my heart started to pump faster. I went out and told my mom about it. We we're thinking it's probably because of my mild UTI but we don't wanna take chances. I had my breakfast, which I didn't finish, took a quick shower, put on my clothes then we were off. It was around 8:30 in the morning, and it's a good timing because it's a Tuesday. My doctor's schedule is every Tues-Thur-Sat. It was raining hard earlier that's why my mom decided not to go to work and I felt relieved that she's there/ We didn't know that there's flood already and it was high. We're used to floods, you know. We're from Navotas and Malabon. Even if there's no rain but when the tide's high there will always be flood. But that day was different because there's a storm named Pedring plus high tide plus strong winds. We went back home and left our car, took the jeepney hoping it could pass the flood because we really wanna go to the hospital. :(

Mishaps...

The jeepney was full. Some probably will go to the market to buy their days supply and elsewhere. The jeepney driver was driving slowly and talking to some passengers. There's traffic and people walking in the flood said that the water is high and it's not passable already. Our jeepney driver still didn't make a U-turn. We waited because maybe he wants to make sure that it's not passable. The water is already knee-level from where we are. Suddenly there was a very loud thud! One jeepney passenger shouted "Pumutok yung kuryente!" and his voice made us all panic! People walking on the streets ran to safety or probably somewhere that's dry. Then another loud thud. That's it. It made me cry. :( I was really frustrated because I really wanna go to the hospital and I was really worried about my brother Gab. He's left at home with our 8 month old doggy. Then another passenger said "Huwag kayo didikit sa bakal, baka makuryente tayo!" It scared me to death and made me cry even more. Sheeez! 

The driver decided to make already make a U-Turn because the people walking on the street said that the water is waist-deep already. It's a good thing the jeepney's engine didn't fail us and the guy passengers didn't have to push :p or worse, we had to walk back home, wet. Gross! It was a blessing! I was glad we were able to go home to my brother. There's no electricity plus the storm is getting stronger. If we were able to leave that morning, we won't be able to go home to my brother. For sure he'll be scared, hungry and bored to death! 

When we got home, my mom made me change my clothes and said that I should just rest and just tell her if I feel something wrong or different. The storm and the flood has gotten worse but would probably make another blog entry for that. ;) We had to wait for two days for the water to go down and at last, I was able to go to the doctor last Thursday, October 1st. 

When I, my cousins Andrea and Erika got to the hospital there were patients before me so we had to wait for an hour for me to be checked. I told Dra. what happened and she asked me to lie down so she could do an Internal Examination and what she said next made my heart sink - my cervix opened. She said I need to repeat TVS and go back to her immediately. I paid for my TVS for P935 (freakin' expensive in the hospital!). I was very glad to hear my baby's heart beat again and my baby seems to be fine. The Ultrasonographist said that my baby is fine but there is a sub-chronic hemorrhage and said my doctor will probably tell me to rest and she was right. Dra. Miller gave me meds and said I need to rest. That's what I'm doing now (really?) For how long? I don't know. But I'm willing to do everything for my baby and I'm very blessed because my family is very supportive of me. Thank you, Lord!

Grateful
Justine

Second Check-up, Lab Results et al

We had our second check-up last September 17, 2011, a Saturday. My mom and dad went with me because James had work even on Saturdays. We arrived around 8:30 in the morning and we had to wait for the doctor for more than an hour but twas worth the wait! I learned a lot again that day and I was able to ask the doctor questions I mean to ask. I reported that I started throwing up the day before our check up and she said "Oh, dapat patapos ka na!" and numbness which is due to lack of Vitamin B. We used the doppler this time but the doctor had a hard time looking my baby's heart beat. Maybe because of the fats. Hehe! It was funny the doctor had to hear my stomach growling lol! But after a few minutes and tries, the doctor, me, the secretary and my mom (hopefully) heard my baby's strong heart beat! Thank God my baby is fine! :)  Dra. Miller have clay model of babies. She showed me exactly how big a three-month old baby and it was amazing! The organs are complete and in place yet it's only as big as my thumb! My mom and I were amazed and my mom kept saying "Taba pala yan, kasing laki lang ng thumb si baby eh!".

On my 11th week, I started throwing up. September 16, 2011 to be exact. It was in the afternoon at the shop, then in the evening at home. My worst was September 18, 2011, the day we went to church and had to take mom to the airport. I kept throwing up and I couldn't stop! I wasn't able to eat lunch and even drink. Thank God  the other days were just "normal". Normal meaning not severe haha! I would go to the sink in the morning when I wake up or after eating breakfast so I had to take my vitamins after it. Then a few sink visits in the afternoon then a few in the evening. It was exhausting. :( But! Today is different! No sink visit since the morning so I'm guessing yesterday was my last day! Yipeee! I'm lucky I didn't have to go through this "morning sickness" since day 1 of pregnancy. It only lasted a week and two days.

Dra. Miller changed my vitamins for this month. We had Folic Acid (For baby's development) and Vitamin B last month and this month it's still Folic Acid but a different brand and Caltrate for calcium. 

I almost forgot, we already had the lab results and praise God they were fine, results are between normal values! Really, I'm grateful to God because I don't have diabetes! Thank you God! Everything is fine except for my urinalysis, I have moderate bacteria so I have to drink antibiotics and have my urine tested after 7 days of antibiotics. This is very important because the doctor said UTI is one of the many reasons for miscarriage. BTW, my blood type is AB+, a type that's hard to find. Sheez, I'm rare! Haha! It's a good thing me and my husband to be have the same type.

That's it for now! Will update this if something comes up! Ciao!

XO,

Jusitne