Prenatal Yoga at YogaManila

For my 2nd prenatal yoga session, I went to Chi Spa in EDSA Shangrila and tried YogaManila's class. They offer it twice a week, Monday and Thursdays at 4:30pm. Since I work during the day, the schedule was better for me and the location was a lot closer to me too. The classes are taught by Michelle Reyes-Navarro who has been trained in Thailand and practiced yoga until the ninth month of her pregnancy. I felt like the class was less intense than the one I had at Stillpoint Manila and had less standing poses. I liked her breathing exercises and also the routines we did for the lower back.

The Spa's hallway to the rooms and studios

YogaManila's studio

Sessions are P600 per class or P3000 for a 6 class card. The studio is really nice - very peaceful and calm, well ventilated, and had a good view of Shangrila Hotel's pool area. For more info, you may visit: http://www.yogamanila.com/ortigas-schedule.html

Shanghai Babymoon!

Last December, we were supposed to go on a family trip for my parents 36th wedding anniversary but since I was only 10 weeks pregnant then, my doctor did not allow me to go and advised us to rebook our tickets until I reached my 5th or 6th month.

So just before I reached my 25th week, Vince and I went on a "babymoon" on my birthday weekend! It was going to be our last out-of-the-country trip before Vivienne comes. Promised my doctor I was going to listen to my body and do everything in moderation. Being pregnant while traveling had its perks: special treatment in the airport, seat accommodations, etc! I decided to take advantage of all the benefits since this would probably be the first and last time anyway.

We had a stop over in Hong Kong and the first order of business was to eat roast goose and pork! And we did just that...
  

Brekkie at the HKG airport!

In Shanghai, we stayed at Diamond Court, my Tito Noel's serviced apartment in the Pudong area which was about 20-30 minutes away from the metro. Too bad he wasn't there during our stay but he made it so comfortable for us - airport pick up service, room accommodation, instructional guides, etc! One of Vince's batch mates from La Salle Greenhills, Cholo Neri, also made time to take us around and be our official photog! You'll see him a little later. :)

From the very start, I knew it wasn't going to be a shopping trip, but an eating trip! So for our very first meal, we ate in Quanjude at the Purple Mountain Hotel, a world-renowned peking duck restaurant! Aside from half a duck, we had hot and sour soup, sauteed veggies and crabs with radish. We highly recommend this restaurant for their quality and price! :)

Crablets with radish. The sauce was soooo good!

Half a duck all to ourselves!

The next day we went to Xintiandi, an area for shopping, eating and entertainment! We had lunch at Din Tai Fung, where we also spotted NBA retiree,Yao Ming. The xiao long bao's did not disappoint! We had it with porkchop over rice and sauteed spinach :)

freshly steamed pork xiao long bao's

Yao Ming at Din Tai Fung

After lunch, we walked around Huaihai Road and shopped at H&M and Sephora! Across the street we found Happy Lemon and got a cup of hot chocolate which was perfect for the cold weather. By about 5pm, my preggy body was too tired so we decided to head back to Diamond Court.

After my afternoon nap, we got ready to have dinner at The Lost Heaven which was highly recommended to us by contacts from Shanghai :) Lost Heaven was a nice resto with enchanting decors and delicious Yunnan Cuisine. My fave dishes from this meal include the Yunnan Wild Vegetable Cakes and the Yi-tribe Stir-fry Spicy Beef.

Vegetable Cakes and Prawns

Dali-style Chicken with Chives and Yi-tribe stir fry Spicy Beef

 After dinner, we went to the lounge of Lost Heaven on the 3rd floor with our friend Cholo. We didn't feel like we were in China at all! He also took us to another bar, Barbarossa which was situated in the middle of a lake in a park! It was so beautiful!

At Lost Heaven's cozy lounge!

Barbarossa

 

On our last full day, we started with lunch at One Dragon - a Japanese-Korean restaurant in Diamond Court. Food was good but nothing spectacular. We have way better Jap-Korean restos in Manila with have the price! After lunch, we did a bit more shopping and sight seeing in the city: Science and Technology Museum which had a tiangge of some sort in the basement and Metro which is like their version of S&R. Before dinner, we headed to one of Shanghai's historical sights, the Yuyuan Garden. This extensive garden existed since 1559 during the Ming Dynasty. Today, it remains as a tourist spot with the old traditional ponds, and "Halls" in rockeries. Around it are commercial stores, restaurants and cafes.

Yuyuan Garden

After Yuyuan Garden, we took a stroll along The Bund - which so reminded me of Europe.. The lights, architecture, skyline.. It was so pretty! After taking a few pics, Cholo took us to Dong Bei, a hole-in-the-wall resto which served Manchurian cuisine. We had chicken, veggies and a different kind of sweet and sour pork! :) We always had happy tummy's! :) The guys had a few drinks after at another bar which reminded me of Draft at the Fort then Cholo showed us his apartment. Later on it was time to go to pack our things and to get our must needed rest for next day's travel.

Shanghai's Skyline with the TV Tower and the 2nd tallest building in the world, Shanghai World Financial Center

The Bund

Overall, we had a very relaxing trip! Only problem about traveling to this place while pregnant is cigarette smoking everywhere.. but other than that, I truly enjoyed Shanghai's cold weather (from 1-7 degrees!!!), food, sights and maybe even their crazy taxi drivers... Thanks to Daddy and Mommy dearest for making it happen. :)

The Glucose Tests!

On my 24th week, I was instructed by my doctor to take the glucose test to check on my sugar levels. Being an overweight preggo with a history of PCOS, I was a potential candidate for gestational diabetes. I've heard a lot of horror stories about glucose testing from my mommy friends and relatives as well as experiences on gestational diabetes and having to take insulin so I wasn't very excited about this part of the pregnancy.

Two days ago, I had the first test which was the Oral Glucose Challenge Test (OGCT) and I thought, "Oh it's not so bad!" It didn't require me to fast or anything. I just had to drink a glass of what seemed like 1/2 a kilo of pure sugar with water.. But really it was 50 grams of glucose. Then I had to go back to the laboratory after an hour for blood extraction. The result of the test was high according to my doctor so she told me to have the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) the day after. The OGTT was far from what I expected. It did not only require me to drink double the amount of glucose, it also required 3 extractions - one after every hour!!! Not to mention, I had to fast - nothing by mouth by 12 midnight onwards and until my very last extraction. My only consolation was to at least get normal results! I didn't want to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes!!! :(

sweetest drink ever! yuck! =P

Four hours after the last extraction, I finally got the results - here's the copy of the lab report and my doctors reply about them!

At least my first hour was in the normal range but what about the next two?!

Yikes, Dra. Lantion!!!

So today I went to see the endocrinologist, Dr. Lantion-Ang, whom I also saw sometime last year when I had my thyroid checked. She discussed with me the results of my OGTT and explained to me that my first testing fell on the normal range, the hour after also fell on the normal range but the 2nd hour was beyond the normal range (if I remember right, the upper limit was 8.4 and I got 8.61). She told me I had Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) in pregnancy. In layman's terms she said, this is like "prediabetes" - so I don't have gestational diabetes but I'm at high risk for it. I got scared when she said "I'm almost tempted to start you on insulin but lets try nutritional advise for the mean time"... It was only then that I realized how serious this was! I was THAT close to having gestational diabetes?!?! Yikessss!!!!!!!

Her nutritional advise included the following:
1. No concentrated sweets like cake, ice cream, cookies, etc.
2. 1 small serving of fruit per meal (like a ponkan, a kiwi, an apple) or 7 pcs of "butil-like" fruits (like lansones, grapes) or 3 sections of big fruits (pomelo, langka, etc)
3. Low fat, high calcium milk.

Next week, I have to go back 2 hours after I take my breakfast for my sugar to be checked. Must keep this in mind while we're in Shanghai for our babymoon! Hoping everything will be okay!!!

Prenatal Yoga at Stillpoint Manila

After my failed attempt to attend prenatal yoga class last week, I finally found time to go yesterday! Edwina Dominguez-Garchitorena was recommended to me by my newest mummy (to darling Sevi!) friend Pam Begre who did prenatal yoga herself a few months ago. I was really looking forward to it since I haven't had any form of exercise for the past 5 months! I was a Plana Forma addict before I got pregnant but since I had a delicate 1st trimester, I was not allowed to do anything strenuous until now. On my last check up, Dr. Samson signed my consent form for the class and allowed me not only to go to prenatal yoga class, but also to Shanghai next week! (Another blog on our Babymoon when we get back.)

Was so excited to use my bolso bag again after 5 months! =)

The class was actually harder than I thought! Or maybe because my body just wasn't used to it anymore. The class was not intense at all though - very relaxed, easy going and far from PlanaForma classes I used to take. I really loved the stretches, but found a few positions quite challenging especially when it involved tucking the belly in or leaning over my belly! The class was about an hour and a half and the class size is limited to about 5-6 students per session. Yesterday there were 4 of us, 2 of them were on their 28th week and another one was on her 23rd week just like myself. The last 20-30 minutes was more of meditation so Edwina asked us to lie on our mats facing the left side and we had pillows between our legs and on our heads just like when we go to bed! She played really nice meditative music and I was trying so hard to focus on my breathing but there were times when my mind would go elsewhere and I would catch myself half asleep already! It was quite embarrassing when I opened my eyes and saw everyone else was already in a sitting position while I was still lying comfortably on my mat! I hope I didn't snore or anything! Haha!! :)

It felt nice to use my unused muscles and my back felt really good too! I would definitely go back again. The only disadvantage for me was the time and location - it's all the way in Legaspi Village, Makati and classes are Mondays and Thursdays at 3:30pm. I work full time so I can't commit to it when we have busy days at work. I looked around the Internet for other prenatal yoga classes and saw that YogaManila at Shangrila's Chi Spa offers it too. This might be a better option for me since it's only a few minutes away from the office and starting March 8, they will start offering Thursday classes at 4:30pm! =)

The studio at Stillpoint Manila

Stillpoint Manila is located at:

3C Torre de Salcedo,

184 Salcedo St.

Legaspi Village,

Makati City

You may contact Edwina through: 0926 693 8844

Nursery Planning!

Just wanted to share a few pegs I've put together for the mood board of our nursery. Planning for a girl is so much fun! Even if the other bedroom at home has been barely used, I really don't mind spending for the nursery again because everything is so dainty and pretty!

Color Schemes

For the color, the room is now in a greenish/olive hue but for the nursery, we are leaning towards the teal and pink combo. I want the teal to be more of bluish then grayish - not so dark like the "child doll" peg. 

Wall art 1

Wall art 2

For wall art/painting, both the interior designer and myself like the pegs of wall art2. We'll have trees, branches and birds - and if we'll be able to find cut outs like the butterflies, then that would be even nicer! :) Don't you think the bird cages on the first board are so pretty? I got those pegs from a feature of Cindy Kurleto's nursery!

Frames

For wall frames, I want to have something like the letters of the alphabet in the upper center peg. It will add a youthful feel to the room. I also want to have a corner where I can put different sizes of frames with different portraits of the baby.

Storage

 The next thing I want to have done are the cabinets/closets for the baby's stuff! Aside from a shelf where we can put decorative baby things, I want to have the existing closets redone so we can have smaller compartments for the baby's things. 

Can't wait to see the finished product! =)

The Congenital Anomaly Scan

A few weeks ago, Dr. Abat advised me to have a CAS done. The Congenital Anomaly Scan is a more detailed scan which is often done from the 22nd-24th week of pregnancy to check if the baby is developing normally. It is a purely optional scan for expectant parents.

At first I was having second thoughts about it because based on my research, if ever we see something wrong, there's really nothing you can do at this point to correct it. If for example, the baby had a heart problem or a lung problem, we would have to wait until the baby is born to do something. Vince and I were weighing the consequences and we both knew that if ever there was a serious problem, it would only make me stressed and emotional, but we decided to push through with it anyway and just stay hopeful that everything would be okay.

So today we finally had a CAS and Dr. Cara Dy, VRP Medical Center's Perinatologist did the scan. It was really fascinating to see the baby's eyes, nose, lips, fingers, toes! She also showed us other parts like the chambers of the heart, the left and right kidneys, the brain, the esophagus! Thank God everything was normal. All the parts we had to see were seen and features were intact. The only thing was, the baby is quite smaller than she should be so Dr. Dy advised me to eat more =) My eyes literally lit up upon hearing those words from the doctor! Haha!

Here's a part of the CAS report

I'm so relieved everything is normal with our baby girl! :) Can't wait to see her in less than 20 weeks!!! :)

Tummy Talk

One of the reasons why I wasn’t blogging for sometime was because of a pregnancy journal I had been updating. I found Tummy Talk on Amazon and the brother of a friend of mine was kind enough to bring it home for me from the US. Although we have a supply of cute baby books here in Manila, I never really found a pregnancy book like this one.  

The cover of the journal is hard bound in felt material

Tummy Talk is a complete all-in-one album, scrap book, and keepsake journal that expectant mom’s can use from the time you find out about the pregnancy until the baby’s first homecoming. The journal has 5 sections: pregnancy stories, prenatal progress report, weeks in waiting, baby shower, and the homecoming. As you can tell, it’s much more detailed than a baby book because you journal every step of the way from the pregnancy tests you took, to how you announced the pregnancy, to your food cravings and aversions, name considerations, first baby purchases and gifts, to the baby shower and the baby’s first day at home. I also love the section where family and friends can write messages to the baby. The book gives pre-cut out pieces of paper that you can stick to the pages like a scrap book. It also has a whole section of weekly journaling, so I’ve been filling that up while I try to update this blog. 

The 5 sections of the journal with color coded tabs

This whole section is all about the Baby Shower!

ultrasound prints

cut outs for messages for the baby

 I really wanted to embrace the experience of my 1st pregnancy and it would be nice for our future daughter to read about this journey too. It’s so much fun to fill it up and see the progress of my pregnancy. The only part I dread – answering how much weight I’ve gained for every prenatal visit! =P

Weekly journals

                                                   

Heather's Miracle Story

This entry is about 3 months overdue - went on a blog hiatus for quite sometime but made a promise to myself yesterday that I would write more entries again. Last November, I got an unexpected email from a stranger who happened to come across this blog. Today's blog is about Heather Von St. James - a courageous mother, wife and a survivor of mesothelioma cancer. Heather's first and only child Lily was only three and a half months when she was diagnosed with Mesothelioma cancer, a type of cancer that kills 90-95% of those who have it. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for Heather to accept her illness! As she shared with me, "the first thing that came to mind when I was diagnosed was my baby girl and how I wasn’t going to be able to watch her grow up."

I'd like to share Heather's own blog: http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather/ for those who want to get inspired and for readers out there who could be going through something similar as what she went through because 6 years later, Heather is still here and is cancer free!

Babyplus

One of the first gifts we received for the baby was from our Ninang Wilma who's visiting Manila from Houston."Babyplus" is a prenatal education system and the first educational tool that has been proven effective. It's a curriculum of 16 lessons of natural sounds that mimic the mother's heartbeat. It's literally just a pattern of beats which is believed to be the only true language in a prenatal environment as the spoken language is still too complex for the baby at this age. Expectant mothers can start using it anytime from the 18th-32nd week of pregnancy. I got mine exactly on my 18th week and according to the babyplus calculator, I have to take each lesson for 9 days before moving on to the next. The lessons are designed to be played twice a day for an hour each and preferably the same times of the day so I usually play it around 11am and 5pm.

If you happen to see me at this time of the day and you notice a rather irregular shape in my belly area, it's not the baby but the babyplus! =) Testimonials of mothers who have used the product say the baby is not fussy and is more attentive to adults. Celebrity moms like Gwen Stefanie, Tori Spelling and Nicole Richie have used this for their babies too! Here's a short clip about it!

Babyplus is available online through Amazon or in stores like Babies R Us and Target. I just found out too that they have a distributor in Manila through Quirks Marketing Philippines located at 620 Barcelona Street, San Nicolas, Binondo. Tel. No. (632) 994 0936 and (632) 245 4846 and email info@quirksmarketingph.com.

A little Señorita is coming...

On my 20^th week, we marked another milestone in my preggy journey as we celebrated the great news that we are having a GIRL! Daddy-to-be Vince wanted to make the announcement through text and on FB and Twitter so of course I let him. My heart melted upon seeing his status… She’s already a Daddy’s Girl ♥

I was so emotional minutes after Dr. Abat “confeeeermed” the gender and I was just so grateful to the Lord for always listening and giving me all I ever asked for.  All these blessings are coming at the right and perfect time! 

All we ever really hoped for was to have a healthy and normal baby, but I always said I wouldn’t mind a bonus of having a girl! Lakas ko talaga kay Lord. Both families are excited and thrilled for the coming of the little señorita – the first girl apo of Papa Bons and Mamaba and Lolo Bob and Lola Mel, and the first great grand daughter of Nanay Irma and Lola Ting!

There's the hamburger/pacman! (The left side is the baby's butt then it extends to two legs to the right)

Now that we’ve crossed the half way mark and know the baby’s gender, we can start shopping and planning for the nursery! I’ve also started doing my research on strollers, birthing classes and maternity portraits. Such exciting times ahead!