...birthing story ni binoy (and a lot of other kwento)

..or binognog.. ang itim kasi ehehe.

i actually had two trips to the prelabor and labor room.. the first time, i was already at 3cm since the 16th of october.. so on my checkup on october 20th, my doctor had me admitted to be induced, thinking i was ready to deliver the baby. to make a long story short, i friggin wasn't. i was there at prelabor room with zero contractions.. then i was in labor room for 5 hours, in oxytocin, but my contractions were still coming about 5-6 (sometimes even 9) minutes apart and when the interns asked me to rate the pain i was in, i honestly told them it was just 1 out of 10. i was there so long, i started to learn medical terms.. station 3 pa lang daw ako, dapat station 0, meaning mababa na ang baby. then, i was still at 3cm, 50.. 50 is the thickness of the cervix.. (number should be at 60 or more).. chikahan na kami ng intern ko who was taking note of my almost non-existent contractions, talking to my baby "baby leeee time to go out naaa"..(lee grayson pa ang name ni binog nun, kaya siguro ayaw lumabas, ayaw yung name!).. her name was bam then there was a 2nd intern named Vega..pati mga residente dun, kilala ko na rin.. then at last my doctor came in and told me to rest first in a hospital room, and that we will continue the next day. at 7am i was wheeled in the labor room again, and then stopped at 11:30 cause i was still having zero contractions. i was then asked to just go home.. and wait for the real thing. and that trip cost me 16k. *sighs*

well.. good news, bad news time. bad news was the money, of course. good news were, we were able to attend gavin's halloween party at school, and we were able to go out on family dates in Laya here in Antipolo and another in Cafe Lidia in Marikina..part na rin ng lakad-lakad ko para 'bumaba' na si binoy.. it worked also because on the 25th, i was already experiencing contractions that were 15 minutes apart, although hindi masakit, just the normal 'pagtitigas'.. i fixed my hospital luggage again, and i was fully expecting my doctor to have myself admitted again after my checkup. and i was right! she said i was still at 3cm, but at 60 (so mas malambot na ang cervix).. she told me not to eat any lunch (but i cheated, i drank fresh grape juice and had some miswa soup) and was at prelabor room at 2pm. my contractions were still 15 minutes apart but at least i WAS having some contractions, unlike the first time around. Also, i was becoming a pro with the procedures.. remove all your clothes, put on hospital gown, wiwi in a cup, then 20 minutes tracing with the fetal and contractions monitor, then enema.. where they just shoot something liquid up your ass then after a few minutes, you'll feel the urge to go poopoo.. then you're wheeled to the labor room, where you're hooked up to an IV with oxytocin..

i was recognized by a LOT of the staff.. i got a lot of jokes ("we meet again, mommy".."totoo na toh, this time!").. i even got the same intern (Vega) who monitored my contractions..and same resident (who was very nice, dr. cabrera).. kakatuwa kasi kilala na ako, so nagwoworry rin sila pag mahina contractions ko.. from 2-530ish pm, parang bumababa daw heart beat ni baby binog, so they removed the oxytocin again.. kinabahan na ako when they did that (not again!?) pero i have a theory.. hindi naman talaga bumaba ang heartbeat ni binog, malikot lang ako (or yung baby) so nawawala sa position yung fetal monitor.. i've read sa 'what to expect' in low-risk pregnancies, dapat meh nurse na lang na nagdodoppler every 15 minutes to monitor the heart kaysa sa fetal monitor kasi nga madaling magalaw yung monitor..hindi daw magawa sa states yun kasi kulang ng manpower pero sa pinas, since meh isang intern naman lagi na nagmomonitor sayo, dapat ganun na lang gawin nila sa pinas eh.. anyway, so at 5:30, knowing that they're scanning again, i stayed very still for 30 minutes, as in no movements.. lo and behold, by 6pm, okey na daw ang heartbeat! (though sabi nila, mababa talaga baseline ko, 120-160 kasi ang normal na heartbeat ng baby, asa 120 lang usually si baby).. at 6:30, dumating na ang OB ko, she ruptured my water bag.. you should've seen the metal thingie she used.. sabi nga ng residente.. 'nanlaki ang mata oh!' .. i think it was a foot long! but it wasn't painful at all, mas masakit pa mag IE yung ibang doctor.. when my bag was ruptured, intern Vega came in and said 'ang haba ano!?' and i asked if they inserted the whole thing, and he said 'mga 1/3 lang'.. (nag pause pa ako nun, inisip ko kung ang 1/3 ba eh mas maiksi sa 1/2 or mas mahaba LOL)

after just 10 minutes of rupturing my water bag and giving me back the oxytocin, i experienced super painful contractions that were topping the contractions 'scale' from the monitor.. sabi ko nga keh doc Vega.. "dyahe naman kung humingi kagad ako ng epidural ano?" .. 10 minutes pa lang eh! pero it was really painful.. kasi nagreregister sa monitor is around 127+, sabi ni doc Vega super taas na nga yun.. meh mga mommies nga daw na 60 pa lang ang number, humihingi na ng epidural.. i wanted to ask na, pero i still felt silly about doing so kasi ang bilis nga.. all day i was looking for the pain tapos ngayong andito na, ayaw ko na? lol. but then another 15 minutes i had contractions every 2 minutes and it would last for a full minute kaya halos wala na akong pahinga sa pain.. nakakatawa kasi naaanticipate ko yung contraction from the monitor.. magsisimula sa 40s tas biglang tataas na ang number kaya sasabihin ko keh Doc 'Eto na naman tayooooooooo.. P#taragis' lol. Si resident Dr. Cabrera pumasok na tapos sinabi 'oh ano, may nagpapakamartyr parin ba dito?' .. tapos they convinced me to ask for the epidural na.. i agreed na kasi masakit na talaga.. good thing i did too, kasi baka ndi pa ako maabutan ng epidural kung nagdelay ako.. in that span of 30 minutes i think my cervix dilated from 3cm to 6cm! tanong ako ng tanong keh doc Vega.. "andyan na ba si anesthesiologist?'.. tapos sya na yung natataranta saken, lagi na syang lumalabas para hanapin tapos nung dumating sinabihan nya ko kagad tapos na pa 'YES!' pa ako.. sabi pa ni Dr. Cabrera 'kailangan talagang sumigaw ano?' lol.

i had epi at 7:45pm (mga 1 hour din akong in extreme pain) tapos after the procedure, ni-IE ako, sabi 7 cm na ako!. the epi took 15 minutes to take effect so at 8:01 IE ako, 9cm na daw! (ang bilis talaga ng pangyayari).. i was still having the chills (as in super chills) from the epi.. ganon kasi talaga yun, magchichill ka tapos you'll know the drug is slowly taking effect.. i was wheeled to the delivery room, sabi ng OB ko, dun na tayo maghintay!.. though there wasn't that much time to wait.. i was prepped (shaved, cleaned) tapos meh isang doc inask ako.. "feeling mo ba para kang napupupu?' .. sabi ko..'hindi po feeling.. nagpupupu talaga ako!!' and i could really feel like 3 drops of pupu leaving my pwet.. good thing about this being my 2nd time.. hindi na ako nahihiya! lol! narinig ko lang sabi 'clean up! clean up!'.. tapos ayun.. sinaksakan ako ng demerol ( i think) nung anes to reduce the chills nga (natapunan nya pa ako kasi nga super yung nginig ko.. nangati pa! akala ko mag aallergic reaction ako, pero nawala rin naman, TG).. isang practice sa pag-ire.. i was still feeling a lot of my contractions, though not painful, sa puson na lang.. parang bad case of menstrual cramps na lang.. tapos the real thing.. 3 ire, isang dagan saken, out na si baby binoy!

i could hear him crying loudly and i was so happy.. iniisip ko talaga 'hay salamat nakaraos din ako'.. then they started stitching me up (from the episiotamy) and i could still feel the needle a bit! as in medyo mahapdi pa!

then posing posing sa picture with binoy.. nag attempt mag latch pero hindi pa sya naglatch that moment.

katuwa din yung mood sa delivery room.. ang festive lol. tsaka sa bilis nga ng pangyayari, talagang aware na aware pa ako sa mga nangyayari.. hindi pa ako high sa drugs.. but my anes said he gave me enough drugs to last me til the next day! lol. true sya. i only started itching nga the 2nd day (that's the side effect of morphine once it leaves your system)

two hours in the recovery room, baby Leon was brought to me.. ang naglatch sya successfully! both boobs hehe. 12 am asa room na ako, si mommy lang andun kasi pangs had to go home and take care of tsugtsug. after sleeping for just an hour and a half, tinawagan na ko kagad ng nursery.. papa breastfeed daw keh Leon na kagad! either that or room him in.. eh ang room in sa pinas, walang bawian eh, ikaw na talaga mag aalaga. (or i would give them formula, which was out of the question) i was feeling dizzy but i just pulled myself together and went to the nursery.. ang galing ni binoy, naglatch sya kagad.. i was able to feed him tapos bigla na lang ako nahilo.. i rang for the nurse tapos dali nyang inabot saken yung small basin (intended for binoy's bath.. sorry baby!) sabay suka ako. nyak. hayz. i looked at the basin and thought 'sayang ang soup. hayz'.

pagbalik sa room, tulog tapos tinawagan na naman ako. every 2 hours i would be wheeled to the nursery.. 2nd time, hindi na ako nahilo hehe. on the 2nd day, tumitigas na boobs ko.. (hallelujah!) meaning, it's becoming engorged na with milk! amazing. kay tsug nga nun, sa bahay ko na naramdaman yun.. after 4 days pa siguro. tapos i was feeling much better, faster! siguro dahil asa system ko pa yung drugs, i didn't feel much pain from the contractions (magcocontract ka parin sa uterus eh, saket din yun) and from my stitch sa va-JJ. i was able to pee right away, though nag poop lang ako sa bahay (with the help of dulcolax.. i cheated hehe). i was out of the hospital on the morning of 28th.

woah ang haba na. anyway, binoy's been heavenly. as in. such a good baby! he's been sleeping for 2 hours after every feeding.. he quiets up when i change his diaper.. parang text book baby, so far. even his umbilical cord is hanging by a single membrane na lang today. (it's his 8th day today as i write this post.. this post was a couple of days in the making) he is a bit yellow, cause its been raining these past few days but there was a bit of sunshine today, so nakapag sunbath sya. i'm so blessed na andito si pangs, whose been taking care of tsug so i can focus on binoy.

speaking of tsug, and bait nya keh baby! he would air kiss him tapos magagalit saken pag binababa ko sa car seat! lol. he would shout 'HUG BABY! HUG BABY!' lol. basta inaalala ko yung sabi ng friend ko, nadapat nakafocus parin kami keh tsug. and he's been really well behaved towards his baby brother.. alam na nga nya yung name eh.. beyond my expectations! tapos pag nag cry sasabihin nya lang saken 'cryyyy baby!' tapos gagayahin nya hehe.

*whew* nobela na naman. bye!


Welcome home baby Leon Jacob Arenas aka binoy

...waiting game

was at the doctor's this afternoon.. she said i'm 3cm already.. i guess it could be anytime now.. am still hoping to last the whole week cause i want to see gavin's halloween thingie at his school (this friday).. today i started making his costume, for fear that i might go in labor anytime and i won't be able to do it..

hmm. its so weird, this waiting game. i didn't do this with tsug cause i wanted his birthday to fall on May 1 so i was induced. now it's so scary.. not knowing when exactly it's gonna happen.. like what if i miss a sign.. what if i do #2 and poop out babynoname? lol.

hayyyyy. nuninuninuni.

...storytelling

i had the chance to participate in gavin's school where i was assigned to be the storyteller for the day. i was a bit nervous because kids are hard to predict.. sometimes they can be really nice or really unruly. But they were all very well behaved, including Gavin! He sat on the mat just like other kids and listened to the story.. I read one of his Yo Gabba books, It's Nice to be Nice! Sometimes he would finish the sentence for me that his teachers will say 'Memorize ni Gavin, uh!' lol. I brought all of gavin's Yo Gabba stuffed toys and would bring them out as the story introduced them.. and every time I would bring a character out, (i would ask 'Do you want to meet Brobee?') all the kids' eyes would grow big and they clapped so happily! it was priceless!

will i do it again? ahmm.. i don't know! haha! i might have just had beginner's luck and next time, i could really suck LOL.

here are some pictures c/o Gavin's school:


it's brobee!

it's foofa!



anyway, speaking of reading.. i always read a book (or 4 if it's his spiderman books because those are just 4 pages each) during his bedtime.. lately, he's been wanting to repeat the words as i recite them.. and amazingly, he can now recognize a lot of the words! he know words by sight like 'city', 'spider-man' (lol.. well that's helpful), 'and', 'he', 'amazing' (because it's the amazing spiderman hehe), or 'new york city' LOL. i guess i should change stories haha. namemorize na nya yung stories. but the recognition of words, are really surprising. from the back of his puzzle book.. he pointed to me and said '5 YEARS AND UP!' . i was stumped! ang galing haha! it's so weird cause tsug doesn't speak straight yet. but i think malapit na.. cause yesterday he was facing his alphabet magnets on the fridge.. and he was trying to build the word 'MOM'.. he placed M.. then looked for O.. and he said 'WALA NG O' hehe! of course i'm so happy. it might seem like a little thing but his use of 'NG' is amazing for me cause usually he's just 'MOMMY, sit down. or NO WAY. or LET'S GO or LABAS! .. halos puro one word utos! he has a new NO WAY word, ..'ay waw'.. meaning AYAW. think he got that from his classmates hehe. i'm trying to speak to him in english because we might go back to singapore and i want his teachers to understand him. so when i say 'not ay way, say I don't like!' he would of course, naturally say 'AY WAW' again. oh well. *hands in the air*

is Wiwi a world-wide known thing? lol. i think that's okay. hehe. that's it. i'm still walking around at 1cm, but i'm not feeling anything yet. my doc wants me to reach 38 weeks so she's telling me to take it easy...

bye for now! hopefully i'll have the best news yet on my next post.

...babynoname's first things

i finally bought babynoname's first things! i just bought a dozen newborn tie-side shirts, 6 mittens, 3 footsies and 3 bonnets. all for just 750bucks hehe. I think that's all he needs for now.. his kuya tsug still has a lot of receiving blankets, towels, comforters, every baby paraphernalia that you can think off. oh, i guess he also needs newborn diapers.. forgot that one, but that'll be easy enough to buy.

felt good to buy so few stuff. lol. it feels that i'm really going to be more on budget this time around. although, i did buy some stuff in amazon (i guess technically, those are babynoname's first things).. a new baby furniture that it'll be a hit or miss. i bought this Cradle swing because i like that it can swing from both left to right AND front to back.

another bulky baby furniture.. i just remember when tsug was newly born, he always slept better when he was in his carseat, my theory being he didn't like the feeling of a big open spaced crib around him. i would swaddle him but he still slept longer when he is surrounded by plush fabrics like he is still in the womb. oh well.. i'll let you know if this works hehe.

you can also use it as a sorta bouncer.


you can only use this for 3 months.. before he learns how to roll over.. but personally, whatever gives me more sleep in those first few months, is worth every penny.


tsug still has a LOT of other baby furniture.. he has another swing that just swings front and back, his jumperoo (both of which i did like.. the jumperoo especially because when we were in singapore, it was so helpful that i can leave him so i can pee or cook a quick meal with him entertained and safe).. he still has a portable playpen, a bassinet crib.. his strollerSSSS (lol) and infant carseat. MY God. ang dami talaga. we really did go insane buying tsug's stuff.. excited eh! lol. you know tsug has 2 high chairs? one's in sg, another is here in antipolo. anyway, i plan on reusing all of tsug's stuff as much as possible.. para naman masulit and to justify ourselves from buying too much junk lol.

speaking of tsug, his teacher asked me to make a simple short story of his 'Adventures in Singapore'.. they will be making a book and i just need to provide pictures and the story line. first i was just thinking of a straight forward story like 'This is the merlion, this is the esplanade, etc etc.' but Pangs had a brilliant idea that i make it a fictional story.

syempre natapos ko na.. here it is:

GAVIN'S ADVENTURES IN SINGAPORE

Hi! My name is Gavin. I'm always in search of a new adventure, but when I went to Singapore to find a hidden treasure, my friends were captured by a monstrous creature called the Merlion. It is now up to me, to find and rescue my friends!


I raced through the streets of Singapore...


I climbed a jagged mountain and searched high and low..


I went down in slippery slopes...


I swam through dangerous waters and turbulent weather...



I trekked in the jungle and encountered exotic animals...



I rode a flying dinosaur and soared through the skies...


I asked colorful and extraordinary creatures, but they were of no help..


“Where in Singapore can my friends be?” I asked myself. I looked up and saw the tallest ferris wheel I have ever seen. I went up the ferris wheel and searched the great view below.


“There! I see the Merlion!” I shouted. “It's time to rescue my friends!”


My friends were very happy to escape the clutches of the monstrous creature called the Merlion. They showed me the treasure they have found and it was a big, yummy cake!


We all filled our tummies with the delicious cake. We were happy and ready for our next adventure!



THE END!

...potty training

i finally had the extra energy to start potty training.. (read:medyo nawalan ang katamaran) it has been surprisingly easy.. i mean, not really easy-easy, but it's not turning out to be as difficult as i expected.. when he's at home, i just remove his diaper and he'll wear his pambahay shorts in the house..

first day, he peed twice on his shorts.. he would look at the puddle on his feet, look up to me and say 'wiwi!'.. (delayed reaction, tsug!).. but we would still run to the toilet and i would tell him to point his pututoy at the potty chair and pretend wiwi, so he'll associate going to the toilet with 'wiwi'..

that same day, while he was eating on his highchair, he suddenly said 'wiwi!' to me.. so i quickly got him and we went to the toilet.. then he stood in front of his potty chair, braced his hands on the arm rests and .. umire! pupu pala! it was so gross getting his pupu from the shower floor nyahaha. but i was sooooo proud of him, because at least, he told me he was gonna poop (well, sorta) and he didn't poop on his high chair!

it's the 3rd day now, and there's been a huuuge progress. today, he only peed once on his shorts.. the rest, he would run to the toilet himself, or he would tell me or his ate lilia 'wiwi!'.. OR i was able to urge him to pee before eating lunch, or before his nap.. (but i still put him in diapers for his naptime.. tonight din, nilagyan ko) kakatuwa.. minsan it takes a few seconds before the wiwi comes.. he would say.. 'ahhhm.. no way?' and then i would open a faucet or make the 'whish whish' sound and that's when he would start peeing.. nag thuthumbs up sign sya after hehe.. ('cause i was like praising him and telling him 'aprub!' everytime he goes potty) kanina rin, when he told me 'wiwi', someone was already using the toilet, so we went outside sa meh laundry area, tapos we urged him to pee there.. kakatawa, he was positioned kasi sa medyo gitna, but he ventured nearer sa wall para dun mag wiwi.. sabi nga ng lola nya 'LALAKE Talaga! kailangan sa pader mag wiwi!'.. it must be some inborn male instinct... walls are for peeing. lol.

the problem now is with the pupu, he doesn't seem to want to sit on his potty chair!.. tonight, he stood infront of the potty chair again para umire.. talagang igigitna pa nya si pututoy sa potty chair as if dun nya ineexpect lumabas hahaha.. well, i'm at a loss.. he doesn't want to sit down..('no way' ng 'no way'!) i guess he'll figure it out someday that when it's #2, you sit. for the meantime, i'm just there.. scooping his poop from the shower floor. eww.

... on my 32nd week

ang tagal. inip na ako. on my last checkup, doc said the baby's on the correct position already.. ready na rin sya hehe.. pero wag muna baby L.. pataba ka muna :)

i haven't bought baby clothes yet.. i'll probably just buy a few.. baby L's gonna have to survive on tsug's hand-me-downs.. i've made a conscious effort on controlling how i spend money.. we don't really budget (or we don't KNOW how to budget) our money.. but since my delivery is nearing, we better make sure we have enough for that. so i've made this columnar list of stuff i buy so i'll have an idea where our money goes...and you can't believe how much i spend on gavin's toys and grocery.. i think last month i spent around 15k on groceries and toys. nyak. peso yun uh. at least hindi sgd lol. in fairness to myself, that includes dining out, gas, parking tickets, etc.. but still, i felt a teeeeny bit guilty so i now think twice if tsug really NEEDS a new activity/coloring book or a 200php box of crayons (really, ang mahal na pala ng crayola!).. its soooo friggin hard.. once i enter a bookstore, i just want to buy tsug some sketchpads, activity books, craft materials.. and before you know it, you just spent 800bucks on pencils and paper. waah.

next week pangs will be here for a short visit.. yey! (gastos ulit, haha, oks lang) after that, he'll be back on october.. for my delivery already! woohoo. malapit na talaga. 'ber' na rin pala. can't believe we'll be 4 in our family this christmas. sabi nga ni tsug.. 'happy happy happy!'

...major, major thinking

yeah, i know.. i've jumped on the bandwagon.. but i can't help it! i'm hooked. majorly hooked. hehe. in an interview, Venus Raj said 'nagdala daw ng karangalan sa bansa ang 'major, major' nya'.. i can't help but think.. 'Hello,,.. you ALREADY brought pride for our country WHEN you were announced top 5.. it was the major major that caused your downfall lol.'

oh well.. you win some, and you major major lose some.

napaisip tuloy ako kung ano ba ang biggest mistake ko sa buhay ko. i've made a lot of mistakes.. but nothing (okay, i have to say it! i told you i can't help it) major major too. i definitely know the turning points in my life.. choices that i have made which significantly altered my life. i don't regret any of my decisions, but of course, somewhere (really really) deep inside of me, i'm still curious for the what-ifs. sometimes i want to have a magic looking mirror of some sort where i can just SEE what could've been,.. not necessarily LIVE this alternate life for i know these changes might lead me away from my husband and tsugtsug.. stuff like, what if i accepted this other job.. or if i studied a different course.. (i'm keeping the juicier/controversial choices in my head)

*sighs* i must still be hormonal for being this melancholy. i'm just missing pangs. and some adult conversation. i've been cooped up in our house.. i'm actually only able to see my friends when pangs is here.. its hard to leave tsug alone with my mom.. sometimes she makes me feel like an irresponsible parent if i leave tsug to her.. she's right at some points though.. i'm the parent, i have to take care of my kid.. so that's that. we've already had an argument about it. (which turned really nasty, btw, so i just don't want her to have anything more to say about my parenting style).. oh oh.. i might have just remembered a huuuuge mistake in my life.. teaching my mom facebook and farmville/farmtown. *rolls eyes* .. you have no idea how addicted she is. NO IDEA.

at least i'm with my dad.. i love the time we spend together when we drive tsug to his school.. he's been teaching me to drive again,.. so we drive around the village and then we run some errands before we fetch tsug again at school.. i realize how my dad is getting older.. and i'm happy i can spend this time with him.

weird.. i'm getting teary eyed for no reason. count my blessings, that's what my mom said. buti nga daw dito meh katulong ako, halos wala na daw akong ginagawa. well that's true.. at least i have no household chores to do. but i think i'd much rather do the dishes if it means i can sleep with my husband beside me at night.

haaay. this sucks. major major.

...you can't have everything

...was just thinking about tsugtsug.. i'm already 90% convinced that he really is smart,..i mean, i was (conceitedly) thinking that maybe its because we taught him early.. using his iphone, playing with the apps, teaching him the abcs and his numbers.. but now i've realized he really is smart.. he learns everything so fast.. just show it to him once, and he'll remember it the next time.. he spells and writes a few words (apple, mommy, daddy, his name, ball, dog, cat, cow, fox, pen, girl, boy, etc.).. he knows how to count objects and writes the corresponding number.. he knows simple pattern recognition! (blue, blue, black, blue, blue,.. then what comes next?).. just today we played with an activity book.. it shows a picture and then circle the letter that it begins with (ex. apple, so letter A).. tsug just breezed by it.. he even knew pictures like IGLOO, or UMBRELLA.. i honestly don't know what else to teach him at his age.. maybe science? i'm just thinking of stuff that he can actually use, you know? lol. i mean, i don't think my knowledge of the planets helped me in my life before hehe..

but with all that, he still has his tantrums.. i just attended his first presentation at school.. it was linggo ng wika and they sang AKO'Y ISANG pinoy and danced ITIK ITIK.. his teachers said during practice, he would join the older kids with the singing and dancing.. at the day itself, tsug walked out of the classroom towards the 'stage area' with his classmates and obediently took his seat.. but once he saw us, he made a beeline for us and sat on my lap and refused to participate! wahaha. he was content watching his classmates.. hindi ko na rin pinilit, dun sya nababadmood eh.. when we got home though, i was able to see all his new skills.. he can definitely dance the itik itik (with matching feet) .. he knew the steps both for the boys AND the girls.. he sang his AKO'y ISANG pinoy (though you definitely need an interpreter to understand him).. so inisip ko, pwede na rin! hehe! at least nakita ko parin. so my son is not showbiz.. at least he's smart haha.

oh and one more thing,.. when it was time to eat, the kid who was 3 months younger than tsug was given a plate of pancit tapos lumamon na sya! as in, he just ate the pancit.. and even grabbed the andoks chicken.. ayaw na daw magpasubo sabi ng yaya. i was really amazed. up to this day, tsug only eats by himself IF it's rice & cheese.. if he sees any other color (carrots, sayote, etc..) forget about it.. pika pika lang din ginagawa nya.. so my son still can't eat everything on his own.. at least he's smart haha.

oh, and he's not yet toilet trained. definitely my fault hehe. at least he's smart LOL.

his sentences are still not clear.. maybe the longest is 'mommy, sit down!' or 'mommy, close lights!' .. i was surprised to hear him shout "3 points!" while we were watching basketball on TV.. he definitely got that from his classmates hehe.. he has favorite songs already.. he never tires of gymboree songs (sulit talaga samen ang gymboree.. though he looks slightly bored sa gymboree time nya.. i mean, not really bored but like my sister said.. he has a 'THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE, KIDS' attitude hehe.. i think he needs to go to Level 6 na. maybe mas machachallenge sya dun.

i was thinking of tsugtsug's strengths and weaknesses.. and how we'll adapt for babynoname.. what stuff we would change, or stuff that we'll definitely keep.. things like tsugtsug's routine/schedule for the whole day.. definitely a plus.. it was never a problem for us waiting in the wee hours for tsug to fall asleep.. he has a schedule, and we follow it.. and he expects this schedule so its easier for all of us.. you'll be amazed how he is running/super hyper at 1:30pm then when i put him in his stroller to lie down, he falls asleep in less than 10 minutes... 7 is his dinner time, quarter to 9 his bath time, then at 9pm, it's story then sleeping time.. (like what tsug says.. 'close lights', 'read book'.. he says this once we're in the bedroom).. stuff we'll change is definitely the eating habits.. tsug doesn't really concentrate on his food.. he has to be doing something else while he's fed.. like playing with his iphone or watching tv.. i admit i took the easier route when he was younger.. he was making such a fuss with eating, but when i played barney on tv, he would stop and stare at the tv and i can feed him much easier.. (he'll just open his mouth while his eyes are glued on the tv).. it was a very bad habit because once we were out in restaurants, with no tv, he won't eat anymore! wahaha. he'd have to have a new toy or something.. something on his hands so we can feed him properly.. (up to now, he's like this)..

i'll still definitely breastfeed.. but i might pump more this time.. it was hard not being able to pass the feeding to somebody else.. i'm not sure about the 'growing up milk' though.. even if tsug didn't learn to drink that kind of milk (he was breastmilk.. then just yogurt milk)..he's still doing fine.. he is on the thin side though.. so i'm still undecided for babynoname.. tsug wasn't sickly (never been confined *knock on wood*) but when he does fall sick, i feel he has no body fat allowance.. you know what i mean? lol.. i feel you can easily tell he's lost some weight if he had a fever/something because he wasn't fat to begin with..

hmmm.. i bought a new pump already.. the old medela PISA.. i was thinking of buying the medela freestyle, but there was a 100usd difference .. the freestyle's advantage is that its extremely small compared to the PISA.. but, i'm not really pumping in the office, won't be hauling the pump everywhere so i decided to save the 100usd for other baby stuff.. like this new fisher price cradle swing i also bought! heehee. these are already in ate ging's house to be put in a balikbayan box later.. she's also pregnant so iniinggit ko sya with my new stuff haha.. she's having a girl, btw. YEY! finally.. a girl apo for lola and lolo. and i can finally buy those cutesy girly PINK baby dresses.. i also bought a hands free breast pump bra .. chad (my brother in law) had a good laugh at that, saying it looked like a cow factory).. i'm just remembering a friend's status message.. 'BFing while FBing.. breastfeeding while facebooking' hehe.. i used to do that too.. but now maybe i'll be 'pumping while fbing'.. hehe, still sounds weird.

that's it for now.. laro na kami ni tsug.. surprisingly, he gets bored easily with the toy cars.. he likes writing and drawing more.. i think i've raised a bookish kid.. (definitely mana keh mommy hehe)

bye guys!

...tsug's first day at his new school

...was a sucess! i couldn't believe how well behaved he was.. as the owner said 'not a single tear'.. i guess medyo sanay na rin sya dahil nga meh school sya sa singapore.. he just went in and started playing with the toys and the other kids.. he was really enjoying himself with the singing of songs, the dancing.. i guess it's more fun dancing with kids his age than with an oldie like his mommy hehe.

my presence in the classroom was even a distraction for him.. because everytime he sees me seated at the corner, he would go out of the circle and go to me.. but once his teachers call him, he joins them again.. what surprised me was him following the instructions of the teachers.. commands like 'put your card on the bulletin board' (every student puts his picture on the board, parang attendance), 'sit on your mat', or 'line up with your classmates'.. na-amaze talaga ako ehehe. (bakit saken hindi sya ganong masunurin!?? lol!).. pati nga yung 'taste this'.. (kasi different tastes ang lesson for the day.. ) he really ate the green mango! lol! (katawa lang itsura after) tsug also impressed his teachers because he can easily solve puzzles, he knows his colors (sya nga lang yugn sumisigaw sa teacher pag tinatanong 'what color is this?'), letters and numbers!

we also enrolled tsug in gymboree (hectic ang sched ni tsug! lol).. this time, it's just once a week, every saturday.

tsug's first day in school:

...my parents' "vacation"

in quotes cause it was more like mine.. they came here to help me out with tsug, and boy, have they really helped. some mornings i have been able to sleep til i felt the first signs of hunger.. this was usually around 10:30am.. we didn't go out that much, mostly just around our block (we have a mall, a wet market, hawker centers around us).. was able to watch Eclipse with my mom though! so happy! there's a cinema near us too, it's a bit dingy but one can't be too choosy when you've only got a few hours to spare :).. (at least the lights were off this time when we entered, weren't able to focus on the dirty upholstery hehe)

we did go to Universal studios and Bintan resorts, (with newlyweds tenten and rommel).. it was our first time to go to USS.. there was a LOT of people, so the Express Pass was sooo worth it. as you walk through the express pass lane, you could feel the questioning eyes of the people on the queue like they were saying 'why the hell aren't they lining up?' LOL.

we didn't take much pictures.. but i do love our picture with shrek!



there wasn't much toddler friendly rides (unlike in HK disneyland) but tsug was able to ride these.. and for some reason, tsug didn't want to ride the carousel! so they just sat on those chairs in the carousel like some uncles lol.


syempre pasaway ako.. the perks of having a small tummy when pregnant, no one would DARE ask me if i was hehe. i of course, let raymond try it first, and when he said it was pretty easy, nothing too bumpy, i was thrilled to be able to have a go.. i did feel a bit scared when the ride started hehe.. but it was so fast, the ride was over before the nerves got to you.



At Bintan, it was my.. 3rd time(i think) to go.. tsugtsug's 2nd, and my father's first! we ate, swam, bowled and played table tennis.. and slept. we slept too during tsug's nap time..


i learned a thing or two during tsug's swimming lessons.. the bubbles thingie and dunking him in the water.. my friend (the coach) just told me to not be scared (i was soooo scared the first time she dunked tsugtsug's head underwater) and she's absolutely right.. tsug's first instinct was to blow bubbles and to not swallow the water.

roar like a tiger; bubbles; dive tsugtsug dive!; playing with lolo




tsugtsug bowling.. wala ng ball eh, i have sucky timing



tomorrow we're going back.. wawa si raymond *sighs*.. he'll be staying for a week though, so we'll make the most of it.. swimming ulit with his family naman.. see you guys!

...on breastfeeding

i woke up in the middle of the night again and started thinking about my HS batchmate who just gave birth and announced it in facebook.. i commented with "congrats! don't forget to breastfeed!" then her husband replied with "breastfeeding is good but not for a 'lifetime'" (lifetime was really in quotes).. i didn't reply back because i was afraid i'll appear a die-hard (treehugging) advocate of breastfeeding.. but since this is my blog.. i'll reply here.. "A COUPLE OF MONTHS IS HARDLY A LIFETIME" lol. sorry. i just needed to vent.

i see all these facebook statuses of my friends' babies having allergies, amoebiasis, getting confined and all that stuff..it's just so disheartening.. of course, i can't solely blame the formula.. but i am blaming 80% on it. lol.

sa dami ng kilala kong buntis ngayon, sana meh magbreastfeed sa kanila (paging jane, harbie, anshe, my sister,etc.).. i know it's hard.. but i've encountered every single obstacle in breastfeeding and if i can do it, i see no reason why you guys can't too. never mind the new baby paraphernalia,.. the best gift you can give your baby is your milk. and i hope the husbands are involved too. because without the husband's support, it's just so so so so easy to listen to your crying baby and give in to the pressure of 'ginugutom nyo na daw ang baby nyo' and give the synthetic crap.

every bottle of formula you give to your newborn, tells your body that it doesn't need to supply that amount of milk anymore. and for every time, i hear the excuse 'i didn't have enough milk", "hindi kaya eh, kulang" i just wanted to shout out loud and ask them, "HOW LONG DID YOU TRY??" (but of course i just smile.. but in mind i'm thinking.. "if you say so".. yeah, i'm a bitch lol) you have to give at least 2 weeks of just pure breastmilk before you can even say that. and pumping is NOT the measure of how much milk you can produce. the baby is the best sucker (lol) than any manufactured pump. pump after 2 to 2.5 weeks if you're going to work to introduce the bottle.

i know it's harder for working moms.. but at least give the baby breastmilk when you're still in maternity leave..

don't think 'IF kaya' .. kaya talaga, i don't want to hear 'WALA AKONG milk eh' kasi i'm your friend and i'm gonna tell it to your face. bullsh*t! i'm being a hard ass because breastfeeding may be difficult, but you're going to thank me in the long run when your babies haven't seen the inside of a hospital until he gets his tuli!

...what week am i in again?

i just can't keep track..i just know i'm on my 4th or 5th month.. anyway, lately i've been waking up in the middle of night and having trouble getting back to sleep. it sucks! this happened to me before, when i was pregnant with tsug, but that was much later on the pregnancy, during my 4th trimester.. i can't possibly be starting this early! i just kept on thinking about everything and nothing!

i was thinking of my parent's visit this friday.. i'm so excited.. i miss my daddy (and mommy) so much.. i was thinking of the places we'll visit.. we'll be going to bintan (daddy's first time there), and universal studios sg (USS). was thinking of how to convince Pangs to get the Express pass ticket for USS to avoid the queues, but it's almost double the price. (a ticket already costs 66sgd.. with the express pass it's an additional 48 sgd. ang mahal!) I wasn't able to convince him myself, but he consulted his officemate and his officemate told him it was still the school holidays and it'll be worth it, so there. (thank you, officemate ni pangs!) I was thinking if tsug will enjoy USS, if USS is toddler friendly. I was thinking if we'll see the streetboys (lol). Anshe said she saw them dancing there haha.

I was thinking of our upcoming looooong vacation to Pinas. I don't even know if i should call it vacation or just hiatus from singapore. I'll be there till I give birth to babynoname, and who knows how long after that. I was thinking of how I'll be able to handle a newborn, and tsugtsug.. even with a yaya. and then I began thinking of where I'll get a yaya when so many of my friends are having a hard time getting one too.

Then I began thinking of how I'll replace the stuff tsug and I do here in SG once we're in Antipolo.. what if he wants to play with sand? (I've asked my dad to build a rectangular box and put white sand in it. buti sa pinas, meh garden /yard!) where should we put his playroom in my parents' house? (my parents are already clearing the dining area and daddy even installed a wall mounted fan in the area) .. what about his afternoon stroll to the playground? (afternoon stroll na lang sa kalsada hehe)

Then I began thinking of all the stuff we CAN do once we're in Antipolo.. he can have gardening time with his lolo.. we can set up his mini pool in the garden.. (everyday swimming!).. he can even get a pet! dito ako natuwa... dito kasi sa sg, kahit hamster lang kelangan pa ng license para mag alaga.. sa pinas , kahit ano! woohoo. I was thinking of a hamster or a guinea pig or a rabbit but my friends convinced me a hamster doesn't smell bad (they clean themselves) and was easy to take care of..(and then erlyn had the brilliant idea of a sisiw! cheap, easy, fun! brilliant!)

which made me remember the incident in the playground when tsug saw this little girl holding a hamster and he immediately shouted "mouse! mouse!".. we then watched the hamster (soon a group of children joined us watching the little girl and the hamster) and i, (the auntie.. *sighs*) began interviewing the little girl.. i asked if that was a mouse (hey, i had no idea what it was) and she said it was a hamster.. His name is Alvin, and she feeds him rice. he doesn't take a bath but she brushes him to make him clean. when it was time to go, tsug panicked and suddenly grabbed the poor hamster and squeezed so hard i saw it's pututoy wahahaha. i managed to pull off the hamster and it looked fine. good thing the little girl was nice and she didn't look worried. we said sorry then i hurried tsug out of the playground before it turns into a crime scene.

which made me remember that Criminal Minds, The Good Wife, GG, all my favorite shows are on a break. *sighs*.. but at least Trueblood is back. yey. (Team Ericcccccc *mwah*) and I've been watching season 1 of Supernanny, trying to absorb everything as much as i can. I've realized that even if tsug is only 2 years old, i can already discipline him and make him understand. so i've been using the 'techniques' i've learned from the show when he does something bad like throwing his cereal, etc. I go down to his level, establish eye contact and in a low tone i say 'NO, don't do that. don't throw your corn pops' and then make him help me put the corn pops/cheerios back to his cup. since then I've only had one incident (it usually was everyday) and it feels like i'm in control of tsug. i still don't know if he'll understand the concept of the 'naughty' stool but i'm sure i'll get around doing it. (especially when we're at pinas where everything is 'bawal'.. i've been asking my parents to child proof a bit, so tsug can roam around the house without us constantly telling him 'NO, not that')

i remember how we've stopped the 'letting him fall asleep in the stroller while raymond strolls him around the block' routine during bedtime. what was once an easy routine has become ridiculously tedious because it's hot outside even at night and sometimes raymond will be walking around for almost 2 hours before tsug falls asleep! so i've adapted the supernanny technique.. after his bath, we read him a story, then cuddles and kisses, and put him straight to bed. the first night I sat at the floor while he was on bed but he just kept on crying and crying and calling out 'Mommy, Mommy' (it was the same in supernanny) but i'm too weeeeak to do that so i just laid beside him and turned my back on him. I did ignore him and just let him roll and play in bed.. one time he even tapped, tapped me on the legs (just like what i used to do to him to make him fall asleep) and he even kissed me on the leg! it was so funny i was trying to keep myself from having any reaction whatsoever. it has worked though, less than an hour later he has already fallen asleep on his own. no more hele, no more stroller, no more tap tapping.. *whew* .. we've been doing it now for a week, and each a night, a success! i even get to rest! (sometimes i fall asleep too hehe). now the next thing to do is let him fall asleep on his own bed. (but he still doesn't have his own bed so, i guess buying the bed should be the first step hehe).

and then i remember all sorts of other stuff like tsug not going to playgroup anymore cause he wakes up late.. (he falls asleep at 10:30pm, then he wakes up at 9 or 930am.. he still naps from 2-4pm) and that i was glad the school i was looking into at in Antipolo has a schedule from 10-12:30pm, so its more likely he'll be able to attend everyday.. and i remember the books i've read this week.. Hush hush, pretty little liars, fallen, and other young adult fiction books kasi feeling young adult parin ako. then i worry about the balikbayan box, still sitting in our kitchen (we have to fill it up and send it asap), i worry about my 'bilins' to ate ging ( i have to buy them asap so SHE can send them in a balikbayan box), and i worry that tsug still isn't talking phrases, and i worry, worry, worry,.. and then finally, i fall asleep. ( i guess)

that's a lot to think about at 3:30am.

...ticket, booked

yup, finally booked our ticket to Pinas. we're going home and we'll be staying there for quite some time(me and tsug).. till i have babynoname delivered, and who knows after that. can't wait.. yes, it'll be very hot (at least it rains here in the afternoon), there will be brownouts (hay) but hey... there will also be my parents, mangoes (i've gotten used to the awful mango after taste here! time to eat the real thing!) chowking halohalo, dinuguan, hopefully a good yaya, and i'll finally be able to see our newly acquired Ford ranger pickup hehe. (actually, it's really my dad's but it's technically ours..dad paid for the dp, we're paying for the amortization and it's in raymond's name.. teka, naisahan na naman kami ng tatay ko haha)

this saturday is babynoname's checkup.. hopefully he/she will open his/her legs and we'll be able to see the gender.. i'm secretly hoping for a girl (guess it's no longer a secret) but either way, it's fine. there are a whooole lot of pros if it's another boy.. tsug has tons of stuff he can share and i don't have to worry about him getting pregnant or other worrysome things that just comes along a baby girl. also i have to remind myself to be VIGILANT about the name giving. no more pulling stuff out of the hat while i'm heavily dosed in morphine. (that's why tsug has this awful, awful second name of Laurence.. do you know that they don't abbreviate the middle name here in sg? that's why tsug has this horrendously long name 'GAVIN LAURENCE ESPINOSA ARENAS' every single time) i will get the name finalized ASAP! and husband only gets one veto power. use it once and you're done! lol.

on tsugtsug updates.. he knows how to count from 1-10 (when i show him 11-15, he just says random stuff like 'awa', 'gaba' and pretends to know), knows his alphabet (he has memorized a lot of words too.. when he sees 'D-O-G', or 'P-I-G' spelled he'll read the word and say dog, or pig or duck or whatever.. i credit Word World) , also knows how to draw 'eyes, nose, mouth' and a flower (just a circle with a stem).. circle shaped is a cinch for him, but we're now working on his triangle. he knows his colors (even purple) and sings his twinkle twinkle little star and ABC (you might need an interpreter, though) and knows his Yo gabba characters by name plex (lex), muno (mumo), foofa (ha-ha.. don't look at me, i have no idea how 'foofa' became 'haha'), toodee (dee), broby (broby! favorite nya tlga hehe).

that's it.. i created a wish list in amazon for babynoname.. libre naman mangarap diba? hehe. si pangs nga gusto ng bagong stokke eh! lol!

sige, that's it. meh batibot na ba sa pinas? sana meron na. bye guys!

...super lazy

that's what i've been feeling these past few weeks.. i just want to lie down ALL day which is not even remotely possible. i want to sleep till 10am, eat then lie down again.. watch my favorite shows while lying on bed, maybe eat ON the bed if i can get away with it.. or maybe i can go on some beach resort, drink mocktails (yes, while lying on a hammock) and absolutely do nothing.. *sighs while singing* "pangarap ka na lang baaaa..."

it's not that i'm not getting support from my husband.. far from it.. but i still feel alone sometimes in this pregnancy.. and of course, i have this nagging feeling that i'm not taking care of myself better.. i've been taking babynoname for granted.. i sometimes forget to take my prenatal vitamins.. i haven't been eating well (or at all..) i've been sipping coke and munching on lays.. (just a few sips and a few munches lol) .. i'm not even blogging about him/her that much.. AND his/her ultrascans are all over the house, if not entirely missing. i've been feeling so down with this pregnancy.. i'm at home, hardly any adult interaction, and have been neglecting tsug a bit.. i've been doing it the easy way.. letting him watch tv or play the iphone instead of trying to play with him..i'm aware i'm doing this but its just so hard to find the energy to get off the couch..

at least i've been eating more.. i would be asked "ano pinaglilihian mo?" and my answer would be the same..."nothing". i didn't like anything. everything smelled bad thus everything tasted bad. i had zero appetite. and i would get sick and throw up which is something new to me. with tsug, i only threw up from motion sickness from a taxi ride.. now even brushing my teeth makes me sick.. i have to be very very careful in doing it.. then your husband will tell you "it's all in the mind"..i wanted to scream at him "oh my effing gawd, seriously!? tell that to all the preggers" it's NOT just in my mind.. i woke up one day and the nauseousness was gone. and believe me, i wasn't thinking positive thoughts then. lol. it's what you call "2nd trimester".

haaay. i'm gonna.. guess what? yup.. lie down now.. while watching V.. aliens are extremely entertaining.

...hongkong disneyland hotel

For gavin's early birthday celebration, we went to HK Disneyland and stayed at the HK Disneyland Hotel for 2 nights. Personally, i'm not a fan of victorian design, but this hotel definitely changed my mind a little. It was glorious, and it really felt magical! It was majestic, well-maintained and the staff were all smiles (soooo unlike HK pips). The expansive hotel grounds had speakers all over and after three days i was singing 'unbelievable sightsssss, indescribable feeeeelinggg' for a few more days after that.

Check in was quite hectic but there was a small cove with a tv playing disney (of course) so tsug was entertained. Check in time was on the late hour of 3pm, it was only 11ish when we arrived at the hotel and our room wasn't ready yet. However, we were given a choice to upgrade to an already available Seaview room for additional 100hkd (cheaper actually than if you booked online) so we took it.

Here's our room:

2 queen size beds


only hotel we stayed in (for our HK-macau vacation) that had disney channel


glorious bathroom. bathtub on the left, toilet on the right. the mirror had snow white and the seven dwarfs engraved on it.


view from our room.. the sea was actually on the far left. but the maze still looks great :) ; even tsug had slippers!


The hotel had an indoor and outdoor playground, which of course, we took advantage of. It also had a huuge pool, but we weren't able to take a photo. It looked heated though, cause people were swimming in it even when the weather was a bit chilly.




inside the playroom.. this is where we found snow white too! (but tsug couldn't care less.. think for him it was just a lady with too much makeup lol)


wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii layd layd (slide, slide)

playground


The main reason i chose this hotel was for the breakfast buffet.. they have mickey and his friends go around per table to have your photo taken with them.. no more queing inside the disneyland park! The buffet itself had a lot of choices, and there were mickey pancakes and waffles and pig shaped fried mantao! Actually, i found it difficult to concentrate on eating! I was too excited! I was like "andyan na si mickeeeeyyyyy!" And the characters weren't in a hurry too.. they would play with tsugtsug a bit before posing for the photo.


"woooahhh ang lakiii"

hi5 from pluto; hug from daisy

gavin can say "icky, icky" (mickey) before mommy! arrgh.

gavin eating mickey pancakes


My folks joined us at the 3rd day of our vacation. Initially, we thought we'd meet at the first stop of Airport express but after realizing the taxi fare from HK airport to HK disneyland was pretty cheap, we convinced them to meet us at the hotel instead.
We took some pictures around the hotel while waiting for my parents.


daming flowers!

i'm thinking this is a painting of sleeping beauty's castle; huuuge chandelier

my parents are here! yeyyyy.


the free shuttle bus behind us. this goes to the park and MTR disneyland.


We took the free shuttle bus and took the MTR to go to HK proper. MTR station was really big and had mickey all over!





ganda ng ceiling!


Next time i'll post pictures on disneyland park itself. Bye!