...inventory

i'm doing an inventory of tsugtsug's things.. and let me tell you, it's A LOT! i've filled up about 5 plastic boxes already and tsugtsug's not even born yet!! LOL! Pangs and I didn't have the experience of actually buying something for the baby together.. back in SG, we would go to baby stores, but never really bought anything. you know why? baby stores can be pretty intimidating! there's just TOO much stuff there!! (too much ALIEN stuff) I needed to read a loooot of books and forums just to understand all these unfamiliar baby terms.. (rompers, creepers, layettes, etc) Who knew nipples/teats come in different no. of holes? Or that breast pumps can be electronic/manual? and Anti-colic bottles? (What the hell is a 'colicky' baby?) I learned quite a bit thru googling and from n@wies(yahoogroup for pinoy newlyweds), TG.

Here's a list of tsugtsug's stuff so far (btw, my balikbayan box arrived safely!):
CLOTHES:
6 sleeveless shirts
3 short sleeve shirts
9 shorts
a dozen nappies (for punas punas daw.. also learned that lampins have 2 kinds! and have weird names! gauze and birdseye!)
8 onesies including his going-home outfit



i love SM Mall! ehehe. actually, all Malls here in Manila.. clothes are so cheap compared to SG and i didn't even go to Divi! (was initially planning to, but got so lazy) I bought this set on discount, so cheap and they're even 100% cotton!


This one i bought in SG. It's kiddopotamus (something like that) swaddling something. Swaddling is when you wrap the baby and make it look like a burrito. Apparently, newborns like to be swaddled, like how they used to feel while they were in the womb. This swaddler has velcro and stuff so swaddling can be idiot-proof.

I also bought:
9 mittens (the string kind, i've read in forums that garterized kind easily get off)
9 Bibs
4 caps
7 booties (also bought the string kind, 1 is from the matching set from the photo)
3 receiving blankets (hooded)
3 baby blankets (without a hood.. don't ask.. i'm not sure also why i bought)

BATH GEAR:



I bought a cheap bath tub (around 300 bucks, 10sgd) cause i won't be able to bring this to SG. but i bought the cradle thingie for newborn from safety 1st: (again, who knew? apparently for neck support. you can support the baby's neck with your hand, but at least with a cradle you can use two hands to wash the baby)

3 hooded towels (i thought hooded towels would look literally like a hood, as in little red riding hood's hood.. but its more of just a triangle patch at the corner of a towel.. so i was like, this is it?)
2 in 1 Pigeon Head to Toe wash
3 wash cloths
1 sponge

SLEEPING:
1 playpen




Bought at Sta.Lucia Mall.. its so cheap!(under 200 sgd) 3 in 1 Disney Babies playpen siya. It has a changing table, bassinet and playpen. There's even an organizer for diapers and wipes. It's like a cheap version of Graco pack and play. Again, not sure if we can bring the playpen back to SG so will not buy Graco stuff here. Future Grandpa contributed 3k for the crib (Yey! thanks Daddy!) Actually, I was dead-set already to buy this 3.2k crib we already checked out before. We would pass by the Disney Baby playpen but not ask about it cause it has a tag of 5.5k. But then we saw this awesome, awesome (not Graco, forgot the brand) crib and it was 8.5k.. the salesman made the demo and we were impressed but not with the price.. AND SO, when we looked around again and saw the Disney Baby playpen, it now seemed super INexpensive hahaha! so we went home with it. Also, salesmen for baby cribs are sca-ry. as in. they're so competitive with each other haha. "Ay yan mam (sabay turo sa kabilang crib), madaling masira net nyan eh!" then the other one says "Ay mam, hindi totoo yun, sa kanya plastic yung lining, eto cloth" etc. etc.. LOL! I'm surprised these guys haven't knocked the lights off each other!




with changing table and organizer
Anyway, I also bought 2 comforters for the playpen. Not sure where to buy fitted sheets, perhaps i'll just use regular sheets and tuck it in really well.

FEEDING:
I think i went overboard with the bottles. Think I got too much! Anyway, I'll keep some in boxes so I can give/sell some in case I won't be able to use it.
3 4oz feeding bottle
4 9 oz feeding bottle
2 7 oz feeding bottle
--> It's different sizes cause the 4 and 9oz are Avent ones, and the 7oz are Pigeon bottles. I think someone mentioned some babies like the nipples/teats for Avent, some like Pigeon that's why I bought 2 brands nyahaha.
Also have tongs,bottlebrush for cleaning. Haven't bought the bottle cleanser.. waiting for Reeyuh. AHAHAHA.(*winks*)

I bought the Newborn starter set, then the 3 pack 9oz bottle. got the 4th 9oz one from the Breast pump.


Since I'm keen on breastfeeding, I also bought the Avent Isis IQ Uno Breastpump. I decided on this because its the only reasonably priced electronic pump that I found. (I bought it for 270sgd, about 7.8k)I was first hesitant to buy a pump because some people told me not to buy cause i might not be able to produce milk, etc. but after googling and reading about breastfeeding, napipilit daw yun. :D. And a pump actually helps to stimulate the milk.


Got this breastmilk storage sets as well.


This is the Electronic Sterilizer I bought. Got to remember to read the manual and learn how to use it! ehehe.


Also have Pigeon disposable breast pads (for leaks). Oooh, i have a 'milk story'.
(WARNING to Squeamish and underaged people!)
I saw milk come out from my left boob ehehe. I was so freaked out! ahaha. My nips have been aching lately so I guess I was bored and decided to play with it LOL. I just pinched the whole thing and I saw a teeny bit of liquid come out. I stopped breathing for a whole minute, then tried it again. Liquid still came out! I told my sister right away (Ate! Meh gatas ako tingnan mo oh ahahahaha!) Then that night, I was reading "What to expect on the First year" and saw that you're not supposed to stimulate your breasts as it may cause uterine(?) contractions ehehehehe. I felt really guilty hihihi. I'm not gonna do it again, ok? Was just really happy (and shocked) when I saw the milk.

Okay, back to tsugtsug's stuff...
EVERYDAY CARE
I haven't bought baby wipes yet. It's recommended that you don't use baby wipes until the baby is 2 months old (Alcohol in wipes are harmful daw on baby's skin). So cotton and warm water will do.




Vivian recommended: No-rinse cleansing fluid by Mustela. She swears by it. She said sometimes, even after you wipe the baby's butt it still smells of poopoo and this one gets rid of the smell. So I decided to buy one (it's 20 friggin bucks, almost 600php.) and try it. Tsugtsug's behind is precious. harharhar.

Also have 2 tubes of drapolene cream (for every diaper change to prevent rashes) I couldn't find the DESITIN brand some n@wies recommended. Anyway, ito muna.

I think that's it so far. *whew* OH, I also have this baby laundry detergent by Enfant (again, who friggin knew babies have their own) and a couple of waterproof mats. (for the crib, changing table, etc.)

Today was my check-up (I'm on my 34th week!) and my OB said April 10th is my 37th week already so I can have the baby anytime after that. On my mind when she said that was "noooooooooooo tsugtsug and I will wait for Pangs!!! lol. But at least, I won't worry too much after April 10 with regards to tsugtsug becoming a premature baby. My checkup from now on will be weekly so I hope tsugtsug behaves and waits for his daddy! :D

That's it for now, bye folks!

...ooops mali

the other night, i woke up at 2am because of a veryyy painful stomachache. on my mind was "oh shit, hyperacidity na naman badtrip".. so i went down to our kitchen and ate some blue skies biscuits.. i've had hyperacidity before (more so when i became pregnant) and from past experience, the relief after eating just one biscuit was almost instant.. but this time, i finished the whole thing but it was still very painful.. it was so painful, it made me feel sick and i puked the whole thing again. (water i drank and the biscuits).. i was trying to fight the urge to puke, i puked tuloy in front of my sister's bedroom door so i tried to catch it on my hands hahahaha (ewwwww). after that.. i attempted to eat again another packet (maybe its because its blue skies and not skyflakes that's why it wasn't working??? that's my theory. LOL) but it was about 3am then and i couldn't tolerate the pain anymore. i never went to the doctor before about this and when i asked, they would tell me that prevention was the best cure.. (eat small but frequent meals.. have a light midnight snack an hour before sleeping) but i remember that night, i didn't eat my usual cookie, and hence the hyperacidity. i woke up my mom and she gave me a cup of warm milk but it still didn't work (lalo pa atang sumakit). when she suggested to go to medical city, i was in so much pain i agreed. (big mistake!!! lol). 3:30 we were at the hospital, first time i got to ride a wheelchair haha. all pregnant patients go directly to the pre-labor room so at least, i now know what that looks like harhar. i was asked to put on the dressing gown (which i attempted twice to put on right.. i always forget the opening goes at the back! as if i haven't watched enough hospital shows) and then i lied down and hooked to a fetal monitor to check if i had contractions. 20 minutes daw for them to know. but my oh-so-pasaway-na baby kept on moving so his movements would dislodge the fetal monitor and screw up the monitoring so we had to do it again and again and again. i think it was the 3rd attempt when we were able to complete the test and the doctor said i had one contraction so she needs to do an IE on me. ohmygosh, first time i heard this term (yeah, sorry, my OB in SG never did this to me!!). The doc inserts her fingers in your you-know-what to check if your cervix (or whatever's down there) is open. gawd it was painful, perhaps it's because pangs is away i felt like a virgin again AHAHAHAHA. anyway, doc says my thingie was closed. (good! tsugtsug will wait for his daddy!)

But that's not the reason why my blog is titled as such. its because after the fetal monitor was wrapped around me, after only 5 minutes, every ounce of pain i had felt was gone. as in zero. as in nothing. no more tummyache. (blue skies finally took effect!) so you can imagine how foolish i felt lying there, totally pain free. when someone will check on me and ask me "humihilab ba?" i would murmur "mahapdi pa" HAHAHA. it was very stupid. i was already thinking how much this will cost me. and then another patient came in and she was experiencing pre-eclampsia (right spelling? dunno) which made me feel more shameful that i was taking up some needed manpower when i should just go home and get out of the way so they can focus on this lady. (she was only 26 weeks pregnant, and they were poor. they were transferred there because the clinic they came from didn't have enough facilities. she had medicard but her coverage was only for consultation and not for admission. her baby's heartbeat is slowing down and since she's only 26 weeks pregnant, her baby needs extra care in nursery that will cost them roughly 15k(500sgd) a day! when you're lying and have nothing else to do, you tend to hear everything ehehehe.) so there i was, (i haven't completed the monitoring test during this time) feeling embarassed and thinking why i didn't eat a friggin cookie last night. finally, the doc came in and did the IE thing. She called up my OB and my OB wanted to admit me and i was like "no way! i can't pretend anymore lol" i mean, outloud i said "no, i don't think that's necessary" and they injected me with this medicine to lessen my nausea and prescribed me maalox. haha. maalox lang pala, kainis. anyway, the whole thing only cost me 1100 bucks(35sgd) so at least THAT part wasn't so bad.

*sighs* last night i ate like 3 times after 7 o'clock (pasta, then some minatamis na saging and then the slow-acting-blue-skies) and the night went by without incident. TG!

lessons i've learned:
eat the friggin cookie before bedtime
pregnant women can take maalox
don't take milk when you have hyperacidity! (my mom and i both didn't know okay?)
wear a nicer shirt before going to hospital (don't ask me what i was wearing)

that's it. hope you also learned something from my experience eheheeh.

..tsug-tsug, tsug-tsug, tsug-tsug

i think my heartbeat now is as fast as tsugtsug's! lately, i have been restless and filled with anxiety.. super kabado.. i usually can sleep easily, but now, i can't sleep before 1 am. It's a mixture of how uncomfortable my tummy is now and this funny feeling i get in my stomach (like hyperacidity with indigestion, lol) AND all these thoughts going on in my head. so much stuff like.. how will i know i'm even in labor? LOL. i've had a smoooooth ride so far (no complaints here!) but sometimes, it makes me wonder if i'll ever be feeling any sorta pain or contractions. (i don't even know how braxton hicks feels like) Or like will i be able to breastfeed successfully? Or mundane stuff like what if tsugtsug doesn't like Avent nipples! wahahah. What will i friggin do with all the bottles i bought! (i think i bought 6, plus those that came with the sterilizer) And where is my friggin balikbayan box? It's been 2 weeks already! TG we brought the Quinny with us but that box has tsugtsug's Sterilizer, bottles, breast pump.. baby books.. and my gingersnaps preggy jeans wahahaha. i knoooow i'm an advocate of positive thinking but it IS really tough to stick with happy thoughts when i keep thinking that THAT box contains my 640sgd worth of baby stuff nyahahah!

And then, there's the issue "will pangs be here when i deliver". I dunno why we thought May 1 is okay day for him to travel. That's my friggin 40th week! (okay, getting nauseous now).. He's supposed to buy the infant car seat for tsugtsug! What will tsugtsug use if he's not here L O l. (yun talaga naisip anu!) What if he's still in friggin Japan when i go in labor??? Hay. so many worries. But yeah. writing about it helps.. it makes me read my post and say "We can't do anything about it! Might as well not worry" hehehe. (i'm going locooo)

Yesterday was my first visit at a local OB. I must say, the system kinda sucks here. I went to Medical City and I got there at 9am. I called them before to confirm their opening hours and the receptionist did say 9am-2pm. Lo and behold I got there at quarter to 9 and it was still friggin dark inside the clinic. No one was there yet! I wanted to be early cause the girl said they don't take appointments, its just a first come, first serve basis. I guess I got used to my previous OB's clinic.. when they say they open at 9am, it means the DOCTOR comes in at 9. And you can get listed as early as 8am. Okay, so the girl/receptionist came in at 20 minutes after 9 (no biggie right?) but the Doctor came in at 11am! *sighs* at least I was warned by the girl receptionist to eat first as the doctor will come in at 10 (10 daw! hmpft) so I wasn't THAT hungry. When Doc finally came in, they even chit-chatted for 10 mins before seeing me. (okay, i'm being a b*tch now haha! but like my mom said, they know we've been waiting since 9am, the least they can do is entertain me ASAP) My OB was pleasant enough (mommy-like) and she's my friend's Tita so I have no complaints with HER perce. She just used a doppler to listen to my baby's heartbeat and then just felt my tummy to determine size and position of baby (hehe how old school)

But that's fine. My actual complaint is that when they need your bloodwork done, ultrasound done, or whatever kind of test, she just writes requests in her little notepad and you have to leave her clinic and go to some other level in the hospital and have someone else do the test. (which means one whole day of queueing) i guess these stuff i just took for granted in SG. Its pretty convenient to just go in the clinic, have your blood/urine taken from you and lie next to my ob's ultrasound machine, all in one room. (and yes, pay your bills there as well) I'm pretty ticked with the blood/urine.. that can easily be taken by the doctor and they can send it to the lab. OH WELL. (i'm sure there are pinoy OBs out there who have their own equipment inside the clinic) forgot its not the norm.

oh Pangs, my EVER sweet and thoughtful husband sent me flowers today! I panicked a bit (is it our anniv? is it our gf-bf-anniv? is it MY Birthday!??? lol) but it was him being super supportive.


my loveeeeeely flowers


It came with this message:

Dear Che,

Cheer up pangs! Don't worry too much, I'm sure everything will be ok, with you and tsug-tsug. I'm quite confident that he'll come on time and I'll be there with you in the delivery room.

I miss you pangs, really really miss you. Can't wait to see you this May. I love you so much.

Lastly, happy white day.

Your pangs,

Mond

P.S. Kain ka lagi dami, dont forget your vitamins and drink lots of liquid.


I am so spoiled by my hubby. Miss you a lot! (*tingin sa taas*)

That's it for now. Oh, and white day is like Japanese Valentine's day. So happy white day to everyone!!

...ate's wedding

more of the pictures! these were just taken by my dad (so no photos at the church yet hehe)



bride and groom


drunk bride.. i love her gown! (looks similar to mine ehehehe)


with cousins


me and ate chary


mom and dad.. look at mom's gown, so bongga hehe.


missed my pangs so much.. next day they went to mt. fuji!!! i'm so so so envious. here's his photo


with sir tony and vivian .. its so beautiful!


that's all for now.. bye guys!

...me and my drunk cousins

was my sister's (Ate Ging) wedding yesterday... everyone had a blast, and the open bar was a BIG hit (not to mention, super sulit). even the bride was drunk hahaha!


No, L is not for loser but Lasheng. Lasheng na Lasheng. my cousin doctor (bottom right) went hurling at the toilet after this photo was taken. (gusto mo pang magSerendra uh!)


Was I green with envy? Only a teeny weeny bit.. watching their crazy antics (imagine my cousins shouting to Chad's dad "One MORE SHOTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!") was the next best thing. right, tsugtsug?

more pictures to come! (of the bride, at least!)