Dot is a good Baby :)

I'm currently on my 32nd week. We went to my OB for the check-up. We left the house later than planned. We had to drop by TMC first to get an LOE from Maxicare. By the time we got to my OB's clinic around 930am, I was already fourth in line and Dra. A hasn't arrived yet (she was doing her rounds in the hospital). We were attended to a little past noon already. I actually fell asleep waiting, I'll tell you why in a bit.

Me, so far. I gained 3lbs from the last check-up three weeks ago, about 2olbs since pre-pregnancy weight.
Although the weight I gained is the prescribed weight gain, Dra. A said I should eat more (the healthy stuff, of course) because Baby's weight is now below average :( My tummy also got bigger faster, fundal height is now 31in. Dra. A also said it's nice I haven't developed stretchmarks yet, yay! But I noticed some small kamot marks below the navel, uh-oh.

I was advised to continue with Obimin and twice a day Anmun milk. And added a new vitamin, Iberet, an iron supplement.

We were also able to discuss "money matters" with her which actually relieved me since money talks make me uneasy. :)

Baby Dot, now. My prayers (and others' prayers) were heard because we found out today that Dot has spun to cephalic position (the music and penlight sessions worked!). Now, I am more excited to give birth knowing that everything is in place. Just hoping Dot won't spin again! We also confirmed that Dot is a GIRL! Dot is a Hamburger and not a hotdawg, as my OB puts it, LOL! I'm not running a guess-the-gender contest anymore, since Dot took this long to show, it seems anti-climactic already hehe. She's now about 4lbs and heartbeat is 140bpm.

Last night, I slept a little because her kicks were getting stronger. I was hurt and wanted to cry already. That's why I was so sleepy while waiting for Doc this morning. My mom said, it's better to feel her moving rather than not. She has a point right?

That's it for now. I need to rest now. I am just so elated Dot has been very good and that God is putting everything in place that my worries are slowly going away.

Ciao! :)

Preggy Update - 29 weeks

The Check-up. Had my monthly check-up on Saturday. I hate scheduling OB visits on Saturdays because I have to wake really early lest we fall in line and wait for hours before our turn. But I had no choice, Ane had a Training on Friday. So we woke up early. We got to the clinic before 730am and we were already second in line (there's a list posted on the door)! My OB arrived a little after 8am, probably there were no new deliveries so she went straight to the clinic instead of doing rounds. I was just so glad. I didn't even finish reading the broadsheet from cover to cover! And since the first patient didn't arrive yet, Dra. A, called me in first. Yay! We were done before 9am! Double yay!

We decided to go straight to Trinoma to check-out stuff (so I could do some walking also, heheh) and miss the "sale" crowd. We did some grocery shopping (the Supermarket opens at 9am), then early lunch at Kenny Rogers. After lunch, we were off to look at baby things in Landmark. We ended up buying 2 cribs for Dot and some feeding bottles. We bought the Playtex Drop-in System gift set (3 8oz and 2 4oz bottles) and some liners. If the crowd didn't start to grow, then we would have stayed longer. We were outta there before 1pm.

The rest of the day was spent lazing around. I was starting to feel really sick already.

Me, so far. My OB worries that I caught some colds virus. There's nothing we could do but just depend on water therapy, and refrain from drinking fruit juices first (will worsen the scratchy throat). I gained 5lbs from the time of Congenital Anomaly scan (about 19lbs since the start of pregnancy. It seems like all that weight went directly to Baby Dot! :) Dra. A. commends my discipline, thanks to Ane who watches what I eat for me, heheh. with my progress, I am allowed to gain a pound or two more than the prescribed 1lb a week. I feel restless nowadays and is having a hard time getting a good sleep at night. My legs gets tired even for just a few minutes of walking. And don't ask me about the backpains! Argh! I'm lucky though that I haven't noticed stretchmarks coming out yet! Yay! I hope Lubriderm will keep working for me hehe.

Baby Dot, now. The baby's weight is about 3lbs and 2oz which is normal. The kicks are getting harder but I'm glad Dot is very active. We still cannot confirm the gender, Dot just won't cooperate! The baby is still in breech position, and I'm starting to worry since I'm already on my 7th month. Please help us pray that Dot will still spin to cephalic position soon. We don't wanna go CS, do we? Dra. A suggests we flash a penlight for 15 minutes everyday, just below my navel. And play music from the same area. She also asked Ane to talk to Dot from there and told me to stop singing to the Baby first because babies tend to move towards the mother's voice.

Our next check-up will be on December 5 :)

Dot Update - Congenital Anomaly Scan

We went to my OB's clinic on Wednesday for the congenital anomaly scan. Although my OB, Doc Alfiler was there, it was Doc Pineda who did the scan. We were second in line so we had to wait for an hour or so. It didn't matter because we enjoyed checking out the new clinic's spunky look! :) The main color scheme is green (wow!), so cool to the eyes and I'm liking the over-all effect. Doc A. did a great job designing with the help of her architect. Her office is in lavender (yay, girly!) and the new pedia office (her husband's) is in yellow :) Ane also helped in setting up the AV system. She's still fixing the pictures of the babies she delivered and she will lay it out on the waiting area walls. She also plans to buy a digital frame to showcase the babies pictures :) Next time we just might be able to shoot some pictures, hehe.

Whoa, that's a long introduction to a post, LOL! On the scan...

Dot has grown bigger...from my last check-up when the baby is mid-average to above average :) Dot now weighs 688 grams and the heart is beating normally. I've gained about 13lbs from the time I learned of the pregnancy, so I'm right on track.

We're waiting for the official results but we were told there's nothing to worry about because everything is normal. The head is normal-sized and has no signs of hydrochepalus. Nose has a bridge. Distance of eyes from each other, normal. Kidneys are okay. Heart beating normally. Breathing is normal, the diaphragm working perfectly. Spine has no signs of scoliosis. No cleft on both the lips and palate. Fingers are complete and Dot can close fists. There are ten toes. Lookie at the right foot scan! :D (I realized I need to clean our scanner LOL!). Dot is still in breach position but moves around a lot anyway, so no worries. There are no bumps on the neck, and the cord isn't twisted around it.

Lastly, we know the gender but I'm not announcing yet in this blog :p

Heat and cramps and shoes...

Can you believe how hot the weather has been for the last three days?!?! I complained to Ane on Thursday about it and didn't bring it up again. Until we stayed home all day yesterday, and the heat just really got me! I attributed the feeling to being pregnant but Ane said it was really hot.

I had a hard time sleeping last night because of the heat too. I laid myself on our bed and felt the heat from the mattress, as if someone had heated the sheets with body warmth (shucks, I hate that!). It wasn't a restful night.

And then I woke up around seven in the morning with a left leg cramp. I had to wake Ane to give me an impromptu massage. Man, it was painful, I had to stifle screams. And then the same thing happened to my right leg around 10am. Maybe I should start doing leg and feet exercises from now on, eh?

Speaking of feet, I've always been a snickers-and-flipflops type of girl (I wear heels only when there's an event that calls for it) . Now that I'm pregnant, I'm thinking of getting at least a pair of shoes (something else, yeah!?) that is ultra-comfy for the shopping errands we'll do in the next few weeks *wink*. Oh, that also means exercise for me, LOL! Anyway, I saw this Dansko pair online and it looks perfect, don't you think? Something like this, I think, will withstand long hours walking in the mall! I'll probably look for something similar locally because the shipping alone will take time.

But then again, I'll need Ane's permission to buy a pair of shoes before I blab about it here, huh? :)

Baby Blues

Just wanna share with you some of the amusing things I heard this week, on Babies:

The Department of Health (or at least the featured Hospital, can't remember the name) considers the month of September as the Month of Baby Deliveries (or something to that effect). Think. If Babies are born in September, they were probably conceived during the holiday season which is usually cold. Hehe. Makes sense. Especially if the parents have nothing else to do.

~~~~~

While bloghopping, I came across a mother (Marj), also a doctor, who went to see one of her patients just before getting admitted to the hospital for labor. She even did her rounds prior to her trip to the labor room. Dedication! :) She did give birth hours after that.

~~~~~

A Senator's wife gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, after seven years of waiting. Bliss!!

~~~~~

A young local actress, Camille P, admitted that she is 4mos pregnant. Her manager said that her ward is young (at 22) and the pregnancy was unplanned. She fled to the US and will stay there until she gives birth. If it was unplanned, why engage in unprotected Pre-marital s*x in the first place?

~~~~~

Nature has a funny way of teaching lessons. Those who doesn't want kids get pregnant so easily while there are those who after so many failed attempts (like us) aren't blessed yet with a child. Those who can't afford to give shelter, much more enough food to all their children, have more than six kids (side: I have an uncle who has TEN kids and figured he has one too many AFTER the tenth kid was born! duh?!). While there are some who are capable of raising kids (financially, emotionally, physically and psychologically) miscarry or lose the child after birth. We are so ready yet God is telling us to wait. As a friend once told me, "Be patient, maybe your angel is also still waiting in heaven to be dispatched." Funny way of putting it, huh? So wait it is. :)

Progesterone

It is a word I commonly hear nowadays. Mainly because we are trying to get pregnant that I've listened to two OB-GYNs explain what progesterone means and what it does. I learned this back in highschool (and college!) and never had a relevant meaning to me, until these days. If I understand it correctly, progesterone is the hormone that makes the uterine lining (endometrium) thick and ready for the implantation of the embryo. And if this hormone's level is low, there is a tendency to miscarry or the uterus will flush the lining out prematurely thereby causing an early period. So a woman needs some pills to help her boost the hormone especially when she is trying to conceive.