Freedom, at last!

I had been on bed rest for almost 4 weeks and I was already expecting the worst after having a few more episodes of spotting. I was hearing about all these horror stories of being on bed rest for the full term and I was starting to feel like I might just end up the same way. For the past few weeks, I have missed weddings, birthdays, and other special occasions due to my delicate condition. It gets tough sometimes and I get restless, but I guess this was a way to prepare me for parenthood which is all about sacrifice anyway.

I was back to the hospital for my next check up not really expecting any major changes in terms of my doctor's orders. Little did I know that it was the day I've been waiting for for almost 4 weeks now! A few minutes later, Dr. Abat lifted my bed rest order because my uterus was free from any subchronic hemorrhages! I was so so happy! All the sacrifice finally paid off. I was even happier when she told us that the baby has now grown and the baby's brain has started to develop! As she was showing us the heartbeat, the baby even started wiggling! Cute!!! :) Here's the latest ultrasound:

Our dancing baby!

The baby's heartbeat was pretty fast at 167bpm. The normal range is 140-160bpm. My doctor advised me to increase my fluid intake as this was a sign of dehydration. I thought wow... I feel like I pee 100x a day and I'm still dehydrated?! Ever since I got pregnant, I think we finish a roll of toilet paper in 1.5 days!!! :)

Today I'm back at my work place - but thanks to my super caring boss a.k.a. Mommy, I'm being given special treatment and may report to work for half the day only. Funny when my doctor actually gave me the go signal to go back to work, it seemed like Vince wasn't convinced so he wanted me to stay in bed for at least another week!

Still no stairs and strenuous physical activities for the mean time, but hey,  I'm not complaining! Happy and satisfied to be able to go to work, eat out and see my friends and their babies!

Thanks for all the prayers, gifts and the visits! You guys know who you are. :)

My Daily Companions

It's been almost 2.5 weeks of bed rest order for me but it honestly feels like I haven't been out for more than a month. At first I really enjoyed all the resting and sleeping but now I just can't wait till I get back to my routine, or at least close to it. I even get super excited with doctor's appointments because it is one legit reason to get out of the house.

To keep me preoccupied and entertained, I've stocked up on reading materials, DVD's and snacks. Visits from relatives and friends are still the most entertaining of course but these things really help me get through the days. First is what every expectant mother (and father) should have - Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel's book on "What To Expect When You're Expecting." Every single mommy/preggy friend of mine recommended this book and it's been so helpful and informative. I would suggest to get this book even if you're just on the planning phase of baby making. It gives a lot of useful advice about ovulation, conception and other steps before really getting there. If you have an iPhone, there's also a "What To Expect When You're Expecting" app available for download. Other sources I've been using are the babycenter app (from babycenter.com) and the smiles factory app. They have daily and weekly updates about the development of the baby and also provide visual guides for the growth of the baby. I now know that at 8 weeks, the baby is about the size of a green olive about 1.6cm long and weighing around 1 gram. :)



The pregnancy bible, What To Expect When You're Expecting

A good read is also a locally published magazine called Smart Pregnancy. It's also from the authors of Smart Parenting. One of my best friends and new Mommy Sarabeth sent me a copy together with a whole bunch of other magazines :) I hope they come out with more issues!




Thanks for the yummy cookies and the kinder bueno too, Betch! :)

A highly entertaining (but absolutely lame, i know) show I've been watching is Keeping Up With the Kardashians. We bought DVD's on several seasons and I would finish a season per day! I especially enjoyed the 4th season where Kourtney was pregnant with Mason. I was fascinated with her maternity style and I thought it was amusing how they took prenatal sex classes! Haha! I've also been into Hell's Kitchen recently since it's something I can watch with Vince. He actually got into it before I did and he loves reality cooking shows like this and Masterchef. It just gets hard sometimes especially when we watch late at night and I start craving for whatever they're cooking! 

 Last but not the least, my snacks!!! :) My doctor advised to me have small frequent feedings and I'm trying to take healthier options so the most reliable ones so far have been my saltine crackers and my fruits! Thank God my parents (and Nanay Irma) raised and taught me how to eat and love fruits so there's really no issue about having it more than chips or sweets (which I'm not allowed to have anymore). My favorite has been oranges and grapes (Thanks to Tomi who brought me my first bunch of seedless oranges and grapes). And occasionally I have a banana with peanut butter or manggang hilaw w bagoong. YUM!

When I get hungry at night, I have a glass of milk and a pack of saltine crackers :)

Fresh fruits from Mom <3

At first I was into "Gingerbon" which are ginger candy chews but after having a few pieces, I had an aversion to it. Many sources say ginger helps with morning sickness and nausea so I made sure I had them handy.   



This is available in Mercury Drug

I'm pretty sure I'll be discovering more things along the way, especially once I get to hit the bookstore/mall. 

But so far, these have been making my bed ridden days more bearable. For my preggy/mommy friends out there, what were your favorites? :)  

6 weeks and 2 days

After 1.5 months, I was back to reality. The day after we arrived, I went back to work for a gruesome 3-day Business Review, then we had a busy weekend celebrating my Nanay Irma's 80th birthday and Alessandra's baptism, then the Black Eyed Peas meet and greet/concert/after party then the day after, we were off to a 6 day trip to China for our Annual Stategic Planning session.

Just 2 days in China and I was already tired and exhausted. I remember stretching my back a lot in between presentations and reports. My body was finally catching up with all the jetlagging, travelling, partying. That same day, I took a piss and upon wiping, I noticed light pink/red discharge. I remember feeling a sense of regret as I told Vince, "Hun I think I got my period already..." Though I started to wonder why it never flowed through... That same day, we decided to buy a pregnancy test. We had been reading about symptoms of pregnancy online and we both came across what they call "implantation bleeding" which usually occurs 7-10 days after conception. True enough, upon testing the next morning, all three tests resulted TWO PINK LINES. Positive!!!




I sent my doctor a text message immediately about this development as well as the bleeding I still had. It was a bittersweet moment as she said pregnancy tests were very accurate, but she also said I had to stay in bed as she was worried that I was having a threatened abortion (miscarriage). I missed out on all the tours and local shopping as I was instructed to observe complete bed rest, just bathroom privileges. It was a blessing that we had 5 other Ob-gyne's in our group to look after me, but so frustrating to be in China where they had different medical practices so even if my doctors knew what I needed, I could not get the medicines without having to be seen by a local Chinese practitioner. We decided to just stay put and wait till I got home to be checked because it was just impossible for them to really understand what was going on due to the language barrier. Thank God the bleeding stopped after my first full day of bed rest.

On November 1st, I was back in VRP's Women's Health Center for my next TVS. I was warned before hand that pregnancy tests may turn out to be a false positive result when there is bleeding, or may be a positive pregnancy of all sorts: a positive normal pregnancy, a positive ectopic pregnancy, a positive lupus pregnancy, etc. At this point, I just prayed to God and asked for strength to accept what I was about to hear. Dr. Abat who conducted the TVS, Tita Nini, a medical resident and of course my supportive husband Vince were there. As she inserted the TVS, Dr. Abat excitedly shared with us the good news... WE'RE PREGNANT!!! It was such a magical, surreal moment as she showed me the cardiac activity of the little sweet pea inside me!

The first photo of the sweet pea!

Due to some contractions and subchronic hemorrhages she noticed, I was then instructed to still stay on bed rest for another week. I also had to take some meds like duvadalin or isoxilan, duphaston and crinone. Plus of course multivitamins (ob mom and polynerv) and folic acid.

I was officially 6 weeks and 2 days! My ob called this a "prized pregnancy" because despite having both my left and right ovaries polycystic, we were able to conceive without any hormonal stimulants. I've never felt so blessed! We are so lucky to have been given this gift at a time when we wanted it the most. :)

The Plans for a Honeymoon Baby!

It took nine months before my husband, Vince, and I went on our honeymoon. His cousin Anna was getting married in Chicago and since we wanted to attend, we decided to delay our travel plans and take a longer trip and not only go to Europe, but also to the US. Timing felt right since it was just too hectic to leave right after the wedding. We moved into our townhouse about 3 weeks after our big day and it took some time to get settled and fully adjust to our new lifestyle as a married couple.

Before getting married, I already knew I wanted to wait a while before we started a family and Vince respected my decision. I am such a planner and major changes like having a baby was something I wanted to be completely ready for. We then made a mutual agreement to give baby making a try as soon as we went on our honeymoon.

And so we did just that. As soon as we left, we got rid of all kinds of contraception and I did my best to keep a healthy lifestyle conducive for conceiving. We were away for almost one and a half months and the trip was all that I imagined it to be - beautiful, stress free, adventurous, romantic. :)

The view of the caldera from Fira, Santorini

At the Colosseo, Rome

The illuminated Eiffel Tower, Paris

Basilica Sagrada de Familia, Barcelona

When we got home, my hopes were truly high because I had already missed my period and I was delayed for two weeks! We went to see the doctor right away with our fingers crossed for some good news. I was getting so anxious to know what was going on - was I pregnant? Why did I have severe cramps? Was there anything wrong? I was being co-managed by my long time ob-gynecologist Dr. Cristina Samson (Tita Nini) and sonologist/infertility specialist, Dr Marinella Abat, because I've always had polycystic ovaries. The polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS is a female endocrine disorder which can cause many symptoms and one of which is ovulation-related infertility. Since 2009, both my left and right ovaries were polycystic and so I was put on the pill and metformin which is used by diabetics but is also believed to treat PCOS by reversing insulin resistance and promoting normal ovarian function.

So moving on, I had a TVS (transvaginal) ultrasound done and unfortunately, I was NOT pregnant yet. In fact, my doctor said I was super fertile and just ovulating! She jokingly told Vince and I to rush home and continue our "business." Tita Nini gave some optimism to our slightly dampened spirits and pointed out that at least, I was ovulating naturally - something quite rare for someone with PCOS. At that point, I was just relieved that although it wasn't the news we wanted to hear, it wasn't bad news either.