3rd month birthday - Nov. 17, 2014

  Today you woke up earlier than usual at 430 am. You were crying so i fed you and when you feel asleep, i put you on our bed so you, mommy and daddy all slept til 630. 

   Its a working day for Mommy so i had to give you a bath early and leave you with Yaya Jen by 830 am. 

   Mommy and Daddy got home late today and you were already sleeping when we got home. Whenever i would call your yayas they said that you didnt sleep well the whole day and you were fussy. I so wish that i can stay with you the whole day and soothe you so you can sleep befter. I was feeling guilty too that we did not catch you awake earlier because we had to stay af work a little longer, especially since its your birthday. Now, i fully understand what a full time working mom feels. 

   For your 3rd month bday, we got you a cake, chicken, liempo and pancit  

We love you, dear Anika. :)  Happy 3rd month birthday! :) 

60th day of Anika Soleia

  I realized that i dont have much photos with you so after you woke up at 530 this am, i asked Daddy to take a photo of us.

  And you were so cute trying to stop Daddy from showering you with kisses. 

  You had a very busy day. As early as 6 am, you joined mommy and daddy In the market. Since you were bored in the car, you walked around Big C with mommy. 

   Of courae we heard mass. You were so cute in your dress and i just have to take a photo of you and Daddy in church. 

   Since its Ate Grace's bday, we had lunch in Don Henrico's gloriettta and shopping in Landmark. You were so alert the whole time, only napping twice for not more than 30 mins each. You love to be carried facing outwards coz you love to see people and the colors around you. You are very observant and curious that way. 

   And since you got tired from the whole day out, you went to sleep at 630 pm. I put you in your crib after feeding and you cried for a little while but after some "pikpik" you fell asleep. :) 

  Good night, my love. 😀

Anika Soleia - 59th day

 Hi Anika my love. You're growing up too fast and my fear is that i wont remember the details of your evereyday growth. So, mommy decided to create these blogs to remember every blessed day with you.

  

  Today, Nov. 15 you woke up at 430 fussy but sleepy still so i just watched you in the crib while you try to go back to  sleep. You're independent that way. As long as you have your mobile music, you relax and get your sleep. By, 530 you wanted some milk so i took you out of your crib. It was time to lie down on mommy and daddy's bed. :) 

     We played and your smile always puts  joy in my heart. We tried to be quiet to not wake Daddy up but he wanted to play with us. Today you were able to move your neck unsupported. Mommy and Daddy cannot be proudet. You are so good 

     It was a rainy morning so no morning walk but we got to talk to Tito Ninong and Grandma thru Facetime. We saw your new stroller and i am looking forward to a lot of travelling with you on your new ride. 

      You took your vitamins quite well today. Not a lot of vomitting from you today but you pooped so well that you and Daddy shared soiled shirts. :) 

     You enjoyed the bath i gave you but cried while i was dressing you up. Sleep was not your friend today as you napped for only a few hours and would cry as soon as i put you down. You were crying even while you were in your hammock. 

You always want to be carried and now facing front so you can move your neck. It makes it dificult for mommy though since you're getting heavy but i love holding you so i'll just stretcj it out later. 

   Thank you love for behaving while mommy organizes our room. At least mommy was still productive with you ib my arms. Of course, with the help of Yaya Grace. 😆

   This is how you try to sleep nowadays. You pointer finger suck and you scream your heart out when you put in your mouth too much. 😃

   Since Daddy's working late today, i got you ready for bed. I tried a number of times to put you to bed but you wake up everytime I put you down on your crib. Your yaya Grace was the one who put you to sleep but i put you to bed right after. 

  And finally, you are now asleep. 

  We love you, Anika! 😍

The birth of Anika Soleia Dalit

    Saturday, August 16, 2014.... I was obsessed in making a dark chocolate mud pie so I was up at 7 am getting all set to cook for the day.

    Since there's not a lot of area to walk around the condo, I asked Babe to spin some music so I can dance while cooking and so he did. :-) So, I swayed to JLo's songs and he played his music with excitement and fun.

   At around 4 pm, we started getting ready for merienda cena with my college friends, Jing, Jo, Erwin and Pao.  I was feeling some pain but didn't mind it though we started timing it and it was about 30 minutes apart. It didn't feel like contractions... or maybe it did but I didn't mind it so much.

   5 pm, we are at Wildflour Leviste St. for my last baby shower. :-) Lots of good stories... jokes and of course, salted chocolate cake. I was feeling again some pan but I didn't mind it since it was too far apart.

   When we got home from the dinner, the pain was getting worse and we started timing it more consistently. It was 5 minutes apart lasting about a minute long each. Since it was too soon, Dra. Faye said that its probably false labor so we should just monitor it. That night, I barely fell asleep. I remembered watching TV at around 2 am onwards just so I can sit up and sleep a bit.

   Sunday morning, I messaged Dra. Faye and told her that the contractions remain the same, 5 minutes apart of 1 minute contractions each. She said to just monitor as it may just be false labor. So, off we went to Rockwell to join my family for lunch. I noticed that the pain was still 5 minutes apart but it was getting a bit more intense... of course, the weird person in me still wanted to walk around Rockwell, so we did. When the pain was a bit worsening, I told Glenn that maybe we should just go home. When we got home, it was La Salle vs. Ateneo game so I still cheered for my alma mater... Good thing... we won! :-)

   Around 630 pm, I told Glenn that maybe we should check in with Dra. Faye on what to do since it might be difficult to go through the night with worsening pain. So Faye advised us to meet her at her house so she can check.

   Once we got to their house in Cubao at around 830pm, she said, "you're in labor..",  and when she IE'd me, she said "Punta na kayo sa Manila Doctor's, 6 cm na kayo. Mga 1 or 2 am kayo manganganak. Matutulog muna ko. Sunod na lang ako."

   With a bit of excitement and a lot of uncertainty, we checked Waze on how to best get to Manila Doctors Hospital. When we got to the hospital, we went to Admitting section and the person on the desk said, "Sir, mamaya na kayo magpa admit, derecho na kayo sa OB floor." They offered a wheel chair for me but I said I can walk. The attendant with the wheel chair said, that's not possible coz its hospital policy. So even if I can walk, I had to sit on the wheel chair.

  They made me lie down on a bed before transferring me to the birthing room, asked me to undress and put all my clothes and belongings in a plastic bag. So when they checked me, they said "Mam, fully dilated na kayo. Tawagan na namin si Doctora."

   After that, everything happened so quickly, they kept on asking... "Mam, may epidural ba?". I really can't decide coz I was not sure if I can take the pain.... I was also shaking so badly and to calm down, I had to pray the Hail Mary just to stop my shaking.

   When they started wheeling me into the birthing room, I saw my husband Glenn and he said, "I'll see you later."  I somehow felt scared that he won't be with me. I just realized that those few minutes when he was dressing up and I was being prepped seemed so quick and yet so long...

    Again, while about 8 to 10 people were up and about getting the room ready, they were also getting me ready for delivery, the intern asked me again, "Mam, epidural po?", I said yes. When Faye, got in the room, first thing she said... "Sana sumabay na lang ako sa inyo!" I guess that's how fast everything happened.

      For the nth time, they asked me, if I wanted epidural, but this time, they said..."Mam, ang lapit nyo na. Sayang ang epidural.". I only decided when Faye said... "Lysh, wag na tayo mag epid. Malapit ka na." I remember replying, "Basta sabihin mo kaya ko." with then, she said, "Oo naman, kayang kaya mo."  I also remembered telling the intern, "Just coach me on what to do and how to breathe. I follow instructions well."

     And with that, we started the breathing and pushing when I feel a contraction... In less than 10 pushes and within 30 minutes, Anika Soleia was out. :) It was one amazing experience that I will bring with me to the day I die... best part of it, Glenn was with me every step of the way. From holding my hand everytime I feel a contraction coming, to dancing and swaying with me when the pain was a little too much to handle and being with me in the delivery room, without fainting. :)

    I thought that Anika coming out will be painful... apparently the pulling of her level 3 umbilical cord is more painful than getting her out.  Also, the pushing out of the placenta was painful and the 2 hours lying down in the recovery room's boring and I was hoping I can see Glenn already.

    I don't think I'm the bravest person on earth but being physically active while you're pregnant really prepares you for the birth process... It helps too that my husband and our cousin Dra. Faye Cagayan are super supportive of me, every step of the way.

Last Stretch of Pregnancy

    No, I'm not talking about the stretch marks on our tummy. Its the last month of pregnancy... we are almost there.  A few more weeks and we will meet our baby girl.

   Just like new parents, we are excited, anxious, scared and happy all at the same time. Anxious coz we are not really sure what the next few weeks and months will bring but super excited to see our little one. I'm excited to see her eyes, her hands, her feet and hug her like there's no tomorrow. :-)

    Preparing for her clothes and other baby stuff are slowly progressing. There's a lot to think of but what's helping us is just taking everything one day at a time, or what I call, one phase at a time. Right now, we are only preparing for the first three months. Glenn and I know that there will be lots of changes for the first few months of the baby and we're taking it slowly.

    Getting our room ready in the Paranaque and the condo in Makati are the next steps in the preparation process. Of course, we are also watching lamaze classes as well as attending seminars on keeping our marriage happy and thriving with a baby.  As we always say, being a parent is something we need to prepare for but being a wife and a husband is always a priority for us.

    Reading about breastfeeding is already exciting for me. I want to learn about latching and milk supply. I now am also learning about baby wearing....

   When I started the journey of pregnancy, I always tell myself, I will only learn things at a need to know basis. The time has come for me to know these things and its not anymore a stressor but something I enjoy reading and learning about.

   Now I understand why every parent goes through the 9 months of pregnancy. This time is really to prepare you both for the journey of parenthood. Its not an easy process but something that's beautiful to go through together with your husband.

  Its the last stretch of our pregnancy and I'm happy to say that it did not only prepare me and my Babe for our lives as parents but it did strengthen our partnership and love more. I don't think I can do this without him. He has been a supportive husband and partner in all these months. I really cannot ask for more.

Babymoon in Cebu

   "Babymoon? What the heck is that?". That's what I told my couple friends when they mentioned Babymoon to us but when they explained what it is, I got so excited that it made me look forward to one more exciting thing during our pregnancy.

Babymoon is defined as

• 1A relaxing or romantic vacation taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born
• 
  A fantastic idea! That gave me so a reason to plan another trip before the baby comes coz we know that we'll have to stay put with nearer trips for maybe about 6 months after the baby is born and another 3 months while we are on our 3rd term.

    So... off we went to Cebu for our relaxing trip. Beach, nice resort, a little city stuff and a lot of just chillin' by the beach... this is how pregnancy should be! :-)

     What made our babymoon interesting for me is that it really marks the start of serious planning and preparing for how we will be as parents.  Of course it also is a fantastic time to be with my husband and it made me fall in love with him all over again. :-)

     Part of the chillin' time is reading the book with Helen Moon, Cherish the First  6 weeks. We are studying how to prepare a routine for our little sunshine. We love talking about how we want things to be, our expectations, our possible challenges and getting ready for the unknown.We really believe that we should be husband and wife first before we are parents so this time spent together is really precious for me and Glenn.

     We may not be ready for every single thing but this vacation helped us get attuned to each others state of mind and readiness.

     While swimming, I had a realization... no one is truly prepared to be a parent but if Mama Mary gave this gift of a little daughter to us, then, she and Papa Jesus must know how to prepare us and that they are doing everything to get us there. The only preparation we can really do is have faith. 

      

Grocery Grab for High Sugar Pregnant women

Part 2 of my grocery finds to keep my sugar manageable....

   6.  Century Corned Tuna and Century Lite Tuna in Veg Oil

    These products have 0 carbs but high in sodium. Some websites say that canned tuna is better for pregnant women as this has lower mercury level.

  7.  Arla Kids Sticks - Cheese

   Perfect for a snack when you're on the road with crackers or on its own.

 8. Wasa crackers

    I normally eat this with cheese or tuna for afternoon snacks. It tastes like cardboard on its own but with some peanut butter, cheese or tuna, this actually is not a bad alternative.

  9.  Fita crackers

   

    If there's one thing I don't leave home without nowadays, it would be these crackers and my Arla cheese sticks. Though each cracker is 2g, it helps a bit ease hunger in the middle of traffic.

10. Kiwi fruit

    Fruits are high in sugar... True! but you still have to have 1/2 a serving of fruits to get the much needed vitamins. Here's one of my fruit choices. I normally have it for afternoon snack.

11.  Grapefruit

  I'm not a big fan of this fruit but its necessary for my baby's nutrition so I close my eyes and eat them. :-)

12.  Green leafy veggies

   Vegetables were not part of our childhood and growing up years. Thus, its a surprise that I'm looking for them now. I've successfully integrated them into my menu. I usually pair a caesar salad (though vinaigrette dressings are better for your sugar count) with grilled chicken. 

13.  Tofu

     Being vegetarian for a year really helped me a lot as I was able to experiment on different kinds of tofu recipes. I have one recipe in mind that I will try this weekend. I'll share it soon.

14.  Gouda cheese

  

   I have a new love affair with sandwiches and its because of the new Rustan's Deli that opened beside our condo building. I'm experimenting on different types of cheese and deli meat in my sandwiches. Great for lunch!!!

15.  Turkey Ham

    With cheese, tomatoes, sugar free/ whole wheat bread... this is part of a great meal.

  I'm still finding more stuff to add to my weekly menu. The more I research, the more I am comforted by the different healthy options that I have. Suddenly, altering my diet is not so bad and I do enjoy the different dishes.

Menu on Day 1

I had to run to the grocery as soon as I found out that I have high sugar since I needed to alter my diet. The goal is to lower down my sugar and carbs intake.

Thus, my grocery cart suddenly had these:

1. Peter Pan Creamy peanut butter

   Since most of what I researched recommended whole wheat bread and peanut butter for breakfast, I checked every Nutritional Information label in each of the bottle I've held and this has lesser Carbs and Sugar than the Reduced Fat version.

    For every 2 tbsp, it only has 6g Total Carbs and 3g of sugar.

     I just use 1tbsp on my sandwich and its pretty good already and cuts my carbs and sugar in half.

2.  Sugar free Wheat Bread from Walter

    I've been having this bread for some time now so I'm happy to know that there are 22g of carbs per 2 slices and 0 sugar.

3.  Multigrain Cheerios

   I got this because it has the lowest carbs content in the cereals section and because it is multigrain. Make sure to use skim milk or low fat milk.

4.  Wholemeal Penne of San Remo

   125 grams of this is about 77g of Carbs but I noticed that I feel full at 65 grams so I cut down my intake in half but still enjoy the past taste.

5.  Brown rice

  There are a lot of options in the market nowadays. Unlike white rice that you cook it one cup of rice to one cup of water, cooking brown rice takes longer and the proportion is 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water.

 Part 2 later.....

Pregnancy and Menu for High Sugar women

   We are in our 17th week and finally I have a baby bump showing. :-) In addition to getting new clothes and looking for pre-natal yoga and pre-natal massage services, there are a few more things that I have to worry about.

 
 I get it now... pregnancy is not easy! Some breeze thru but mine is just a tiny bit challenging. I was diagnosed with high sugar level.  Thus, I have to alter my diet. I cried for a while as it means that I would not be able to eat white rice, pasta and bread.... most of all, any kind of sweets.

   What's interesting is that God really prepared me for this... All my experiences in preparing menus and my love for cooking helped me in putting together something that would help me maintain my sugar level so that I can make sure that I have a healthy pregnancy.

    Because I want to get gestational diabetes, I have started researching and cutting down on my sugar. With the research that I made, here are some details that helped me.

   A gestational diabetes diet looks something like this:
   -- Don't go over 30-45g of carbs per meal, 15 carbs per snack
   -- Always have protein and/ or fat when you have a carb
   -- 3 meals a day, 3 snacks per day
   -- avoid fruit before lunch

    I'm still in my adjustment phase as I have not completely digested all of the information yet but this is what I have gathered.
   -- Fruits are a high source of sugar so I have to minimize my intake of fruits except for lemon, lime or berries.
   -- Fruit juices are just as high in sugar.
   -- I can still eat carbs as long as they are made of grains. Ex. brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat and sugar free bread
   --  Choose chicken and fish more often
   --  Protein should be the dominant food in your meal but there should about 1/4 cup of carbs
   --  Monitor your sugar and carbs intake.
   -- Don't skip any meal
   -- Its better to cook your meals and portion it already so that you are sure of what's in the dish and the amount that you will be consuming
 
    I will share my meals as often as I can so that pregnant women going thru the same thing so that they don't feel deprived.

   For monitoring, I use My-Fitness Pal. Its primarily a calorie counter but I find it most useful for now as it has a good database of food choices and there's a barcode scanner that can help in the input of the nutritional information. Just make sure to go the Nutrition section and look at the Total Carbohydrates and Sugar lines.

 

13 weeks

  We're almost done with our first term and I'm so excited to be on our second term!

   Not only am I excited to see my baby bump (which still has not shown til now!), but because I'm so tired of being tired. The morning sickness is a little too hard to get over... Again, why do they call it morning sickness when it does not end in the mornings?!?!?!!?

    Fatigue and always being sleepy has characterized my first term. I always ask Glenn, why kaya are other women luckier and they don't feel anything? His answers always touches my heart... he said, "Its because God wants us to feel early on how it is to be parents.".  And so, I accept that this is God's will for us.

     Its been challenging for me... going thru all of this since I'm not used to having little energy and focus everyday but I know that it will be all worth it.

     Our little sunshine might only be as big as a peach but we already love him/ her to the moon and back. :)

Glenn's Birthday Surprise

     Glenn's 42nd birthday, December 21, 2013, changed our lives forever.  This is the day we found out we were pregnant.  :-)
     
    I would like to write about it so that I keep these memories forever. :-)

   We were already on our 5th day of Simbang Gabi already at that time and my prayer is that God grants us a baby in His own time... and yes, everything was on HIS own time.

    I just have to share this... I had this wild thought and dream in my head, that I will wake Glenn up on his birthday with a positive result on the pregnancy stick to surprise him. I really didn't think it would come true but God really made it happen.

     The night before his birthday, Glenn had work and I had some time to walk around the mall and saw that there's Buy One Take One on pregnancy kits in Watson's.  I knew that I will have my period in December so I wasn't expecting anything. I just wanted to stock up on it also knowing that we are going to try harder to get pregnant in 2014, I hoarded and bought 8.  :-)

      So on December 20 night time, while Glenn was at work and I didn't have anything to do, I tried one of the Pregnancy Tests. I placed too much liquid so I threw it away. I thought I'll just try again the next day. I have lots of them anyway! :-)

      And then it happened, I woke up on his birthday morning and thought I'd give it another try. This time, I saw two lines... I can't believe it and I didn't want to believe it. I woke Glenn up and asked him to look at the stick... of course, he had to look for his glasses. haha! He couldn't believe it either. At this point, I remembered that I threw a pee stick the night before... I rummaged thru the trash and found it.... YUP! there were two lines there. We really could not believe it.... not until we called our Doctor who confirmed that we are pregnant but we need to have a check up to be absolutely sure.

      I guess, God has never ceases to surprise us. He surprised us with our marriage and now, He surprised us with our little sunshine. Again, we believe... IN HIS TIME, not ours.  :-)

     .... And God and Mama Mary even made sure, I gave Glenn my "surprise" birthday gift. :)

   

Motherhood Preparation

 


    Motherhood is a blessed calling. I see it in my Mom and I see it in our friends.  Its not the easiest job on earth but they all say that its rewarding.

  Personally, I am petrified of the idea of being a mother. Sure, I understand that it is the greatest legacy you can leave on this planet. It is also the fulfillment of womanhood. YADA! YADA! YADA! BUT... yes, but... it will take away time from my husband and will drastically change the relaxed life that we are living now. I love my husband to pieces and I still enjoy our quiet time together. I don't know how it will change our lives and I don't know how open I would be about sharing my husband's time for me and vise versa.

  Sure I love the babies of our friends and I love my niece dearly.... but after spending some time with them and returning them to their parents, I relish the fact that Glenn and I will come home to a quiet house. Where the two of us can watch tv in peace and decide to go for ramen or coffee at 1:00 am. Hmm... I think I am enjoying being a wife to Glenn too much. haha!

  On the other hand, there is this feeling that if we don't have a baby now, we might regret it eventually. And yet another fear, what if when we decide to have it baby, there are complications in the pregnancy. Too many fears... too many uncertainties... too many!

   There are days when I am excited to hold our baby in my hands and build our family with my wonderful husband with me in the whole journey. But I don't know if I am ready for more than a day of motherhood.

  Yes, I am selfish and I still want to travel the world and be alone with my husband 24/7 but I do pray and trust that God has bigger plans in store for us.  I do pray for my future children that they be a bunch of joyful and grateful people with loving and caring hearts. I do pray for my husband that he still has the energy to keep up with our running toddlers. I pray for my body that I will be ready to receive God's gift for us, in His perfect timing.

  Some photos from www.morphthing.com of possible faces of our babies. Not bad. I just wish this is a guarantee of what our babies would look like. :-)

                    

7th Montheversary

Sharing with you the great work of Halo Media for our wedding video. :-)




And this surprise SDE from Jed Ray Calara of Image Nation Photography:

Salad Spinner

   Before leaving for Singapore last week, I was all set on going to IKEA and getting a few items for our condo. From their website, I saw that they had a salad spinner at less than P300. After going around the different malls in Manila checking out salad spinners, this one from IKEA is the best bang for the buck. Its also perfect for 2 to 3 servings. The others in Landmark, SM, etc... costs about P500 up. I made sure that I didn't forget to go around the Marketplace area to find it.

   I'm lovin' my new salad spinner! Now that I am enjoying my salad with caramelized walnuts, oranges and raspberry vinaigrette every night, this salad spinner is a perfect addition to my kitchen preparation equipment. For anyone who wants to serve salad at home, I recommend a salad spinner to easily remove the water from the leaves before putting it down on the salad plate. It keeps the leaves from being soggy on the plate and it keeps its crunch for the perfect salad bite.