7 RanDoM FaCtS AbOuT Us
I was tagged by sister Abie and decided to put a teeny spin on this meme. :) First, am not going to tag anybody anymore (because I move in the same blog circles, chances are, my blog friends have been tagged already too)... and second, i'm posting seven random things about Jojo and me (actually, these are some of the trivia used in our wedding).

1) Mec and Jojo met online (mirc, dalnet, #dilaan) one March Saturday back in 2000. Jojo thought Mec was gay (because of her nick, DELISYUS). They exchanged numbers that same night and spoke on the phone till morning.

2) Jojo is the first bf Mec watched a sunset with. That was also the first time they broke up (23 June 2000).

3) One reason Jojo was looking forward to getting married was so he can start sleeping in the nude. It turned out that not only would they both be sleeping in the nude (or half-naked), but that Mec would also be mostly clothes-less at home.

4) Mec and Jojo's first visit to Boracay was a trip Jojo won at the Pinoyexchange Survivor Contest. They were there for 5 days. Jojo's Pexer nick was ONETIMER. Mec's is DELISYUS.

5) Jojo once made a newsletter-type love letter for Mec, complete with headlines about the "I Love you Virus", etc. Mec retaliated by making Jojo calling cards with job titles like "Belly Dancer" and "Tantric Specialist".

6) Jojo originally wanted two kids, Mec wanted 7. They have compromised at 5, este 3. But since Mec has had a rough time with their first, she says she's willing to settle for only two if her second pregnancy gives her a hard time too. Now, Jojo teases her a lot about giving her seven kids, and impregnating her asap (as in, when Sac is only two months old).

7) Having mostly spent for their wedding in 2005, and admittedly, not really having savings, the couple honeymooned on a staggered basis all of 2006: Marinduque (Jan 2006, at the Arevalo Family resthouse), Cagayan de Oro (March 2007, mainly to go white-water rafting), Davao (Oct 2006) and Palawan (Oct-Nov 2006). Sac was not conceived in any of those times but they still had great fun. And they will make up for not going anywhere this year in 2008, with Sac in tow.

LaCtO GeNeRo
I have already finished the Little Big Book for Moms... and several other books (mostly novels). I also didn't expect it, but am almost finished with What To Expect (gosh, that chapter on Labor and Delivery is so exhausting to read, lolz). But really, I haven't really been reading TO Baby Sac (read: regularly and out loud). I've found it too tiring to be reading out loud... ahehe.

I'm just banking on the hope that the fact that am reading books anyway will still somehow make him smart... and hello, kami naman ni Jojo ang parents :D Add to that the fact that most kids ARE bright naman (it's only when they hit age 7 or so that they start losing interest in learning) and most firstborns are REALLY BRIGHT :) Wehehe.

So there, am excused :)

But... I have finished the first Harry Potter audio book... and intend to finish all six audio books before I give birth. It's just that the first book is about ten hours long (so good luck sa Order of the Phoenix book, hehe) and I found it also distracts my sleep (because I played it overnight, while I went to sleep) because I also respond to the story. I also intend to re-read all six books in anticipation of the seventh :)

*~*

My preggy friend Tin reads Harry Potter to her daughter (she's due August) too. Our friends kidded us that our kids' first words might be HP incantations...

like Expecto Patronum :D

or that the infant will shout EXPELLIARMUS so that the doctor will be disarmed (with what, his forceps?)

or that we should have our husbands shout ACCIO instead for an efficient delivery of the baby from our vagina to his hands :D

*~*

I googled a Latin-English dictionary for a loose translation and come up with what I think my own Sac will say:

LACTO GENERO!

Produce milk :D

HaPpY FaTheR's Day, My LoVe
I still don't really have a gift for my husband... and the two mini-surprises I planned got delayed. Both really beyond my control... esply since I got sick last week.

And as luck would have it, I had to spend the weekend with my sister instead of my husband... since Jojo had to work (and is only arriving from Quezon tonight). So yeah, you can just imagine the weepy wreck i've been for the past weekend.

I was unable to finish this last week (because I was doing it here at work) and I had to quickly finish it this morning (because it's late already)... but I still hope my Baby will like it.

Because really... one of the main reasons I married him was the fact that I could always see him in the role of father... and fathering MY kids.



One can also download the movie file from here.

*~*

Had to have ultrasound last check-up because I wasn't gaining weight (at 6 months, my weight is the same as when I got pregnant!) and all the movements I was feeling were below my belly button.

Sure enough, Baby Sac was in breech position... which isn't really a cause for worry this early. At least my placenta isn't low-lying anymore. (My cousin, due this July, is placenta previa na, transverse position pa yung baby!)

But Baby Sac is small for his age nga... and my OB, being the vigilant type that she is, instructed me to take additional vitamins and go for a high-protein diet... and i'm to go for another ultrasound again to check if the baby has responded to the beefed-up nourishment.

Oh... Sac wasn't 'facing the cam' during the ultrasound and absolutely refused to budge and err... spread his legs :D My OB said, "it looks like a girl" but again, we're not sure :D

But despite our slight preference for a firstborn son, I was tickled pink na din when hubs texted, "How are my girls?" :) We're starting to use the Girl Baby name we've picked but I have some silly reservation about that pa din, feeling we'd only confuse Sac (who's probably gotten used to being called Sac) by calling him some other girl name... tas boy pala :D

Kadiri si Sac... galaw ng galaw while I was watching THE BUZZ :D So, baka nga girl? :D

FrEaKy WonDerFuL
For the longest time now, I have been slightly anxious about the fact that I haven't yet felt Baby Sac move. Esply since some Moms, even with their first pregnancies, have felt their babies as early as just past four months (and am now going on six!).

And it's a common enough question asked of somebody pregnant... if you've felt your baby move.

I have felt slight flutters... but since I had some gastric problems and movement problems, I couldn't really say if what I feel comes from the baby or not.

So, silently, I kept praying for a positive movement. Something I cannot confuse with anything else.

*~*

Yesterday, my sister spent some 2-3 hours just caressing my tummy (we call it 'meme') as we talked about her duty experiences as a nursing student and our weekend at my in-laws.

Hubs asked me if I wanted anything as pasalubong and I asked for Hawaiian Pizza from Greenwich. After eating three slices though, I felt a weird heartburn-like something so I laid down and let my hubs meme me while watching CSI (he also massaged my temples because i'm sick, colds and allergic rhinitis).

Around 10:36 PM, during a commercial break and while Jojo was caressing my tummy, I asked him if we should already be worried that I still haven't felt movement yet.

He said NO.

I then asked him if he thinks that Sac is OK and there's nothing wrong with him. He said YES.

And then it happened... a very tangible movement (inside, it felt like a small balloon popping) which I saw and felt... right under Jojo's hand!!!

And though it felt like a gas bubble, it was the first time I felt such a thing... and part of my tummy actually moved!!!

At first, I couldn't believe it but hubs was already laughing like a lunatic that it finally happened... and his hands were actually on my tummy when it first happened! :) Syempre, we were beyond overjoyed!

*~*

This morning, I woke up (couldn't really sleep deeply because of my cold) to movement again... I told Jojo about it but Sac has stopped (it's so kakakilig to see your hubs' face all-sleepy suddenly lighting up and touching your belly to feel your Baby again). After an hour, when I was touching my belly and wondering if I should already eat breakfast... Sac kicked again. The first time for me to feel the movement with my hands.

Hay. Ansaya.

*~*

My MIL was so thrilled (because they've been waiting for it too) that Sac has finally manifested that he/she is alive and thriving :)

*~*

My sister was as equally happy. She commented however that it isn't fair that Sac didn't move while she was meme-ing me... I told her maybe it's because we were talking about how Jojo's likely to really spoil our child... while all she kept telling my tummy was how she'd bathe Sac (and maybe Sac will have an aversion to bathing). Wehehehe.

*~*

Part of our vows goes something like this:

(Jojo)These are the hands you will place with expectant joy against your stomach when God blesses us with a child, the same hands that will be so gentle when I hold our baby for the first time.

Sigh. Isn't it grand that I never needed to direct my husband's hands to feel our baby move for the first time, because he was destined to be holding my belly at just the perfect time?

Sigh.

*~*

Syempre am super happy :D It sorta takes away from the fact that am house-bound again because am sick...

Sac... thank you for the anniv (we celebrate anniv dates on the 14th and 28th) gift... and the Father's Day gift. :)

Push Incentives

I believe it's already been established how very loving and supportive my husband has been. But I must acknowledge it again and again because he's just really sweet...

He came home last night with new push incentives (gifts, big or little, to make my pregnancy a little easier, and to make me look forward to the birth): White chocolate baking chips (because he's noticed that i'm slowly getting my appetite back), milk pellets from Thailand (courtesy of his engineers) and this pregnancy belt to help support your back (because i've been saying there's that ngalay feeling half the time).

And like any other baby/pregnancy thing we got... he was the one who opened the pregnancy belt (and yes, he tried it on himself first... but it couldn't encompass his tummy, wehehe).

Sigh.

He's bought me a boomerang-shaped pillow already for back support (which can double as a nursing pillow after i've given birth). He actually wanted to get me a Back 'N Belly pillow but figured it would just take too much space when we don't need it anymore. He even bought me my own table to put my laptop on so I won't have to get up from the mattress (when we were still camping downstairs because I was on bedrest) anymore if I want to check my mails... or when am eating my meals. The table could double as a study/activity table for Baby Sac someday :)

Basta. I could not be more pampered :)

*~*

I did kid him about getting me a push present (gift given as a reward of sorts after giving birth) like what celebrity dads do. Wehehe. But he was quick to tell me he couldn't get me an expensive jewelry anymore because my confinements cost us and we still have to save for the baby's delivery (and also make sure we have actual savings for this year).

I told him to be creative and resourceful and inventive... and reminded him i've never been a sucker for baubles anyway.

Actually, i'm hoping it'd occur to him to get another ruby stone for the engagement ring he gave me (I lost the heart-shaped stone that made that ring perfect around 2 months ago) because my right hand is really missing wearing that ring. Other than that, I really can't think of a material thing i'd want (oh, except for his promise that we'd go travelling again next year, kid in tow). He's push incentive and present enough because I just know he's going to be a really wonderful Dad.

*~*

Not yet Father's Day and already, am senti-mushy about how much a father Jojo already is.

*~*

I'm still no voracious eater, btw, but my taste buds are being more cooperative. Unfortunately, what I love is CARAMEL (caramel sundae, caramel cake, Milky Way, Hershey's kisses with caramel) and MAYONNAISE (on white bread, with tuna or egg or chicken as sandwich spread). I try to control the portions because I really don't want to press my luck where gestational diabetes is concerned...

Sigh. What to do with this Milky Way on my desk?

Sick Baby and Misc. Kwentos

Not Baby Sac... but my orig baby, Jojo. He was running a fever two nights ago... and it was upsetting because I couldn't really take care of him and he couldn't sleep beside me because I can't catch what he possibly might have.

Still, the makulit me kept on taking his temp (bwahaha, twas fun using the digital ear thermometer... it came with a lot of protective caps naman so by the time we'd use it on Sac, it wouldn't be contaminated by us adults) as he tossed and turned...

His fever broke soon enough and he's pretty ok now, except for a stuffy nose. I myself have itchy throat sometimes. And everybody's sneezing in our household... must be the rains threatening us all with colds. Howell.

But at least, my hubby gets to sleep beside me again. It's such a bummer not feeling his warmth beside me...

Must be love indeed if i'd rather have him stealing my bolster pillow while sleeping... than have all the bed and the pillows to myself.

*~*

Twas Jojo who's been antsy about getting an air-con unit ever since we found out we're pregnant. I'm honestly not yet ready for the impact it will have on our electric bill so am willing to forego the luxury till the baby actually arrives (and I figured, since Sac is coming out during the ber months, we may postpone it till summer of 2008 pa)...

Anyway, we finally bought a window-type unit (Gree) at Duty Free last weekend for our bedroom. And hubs came home tonight with a split-type second-hand unit he got from the office. So now, we're air-conditioning our living room as well :D Naks. Good luck with the expense :D

But I really don't intend to raise my child so used to air-conditioned rooms... i've observed that they develop colds more easily because their bodies have a harder time adjusting to temperature changes (like once they play outside). And am not at all averse to just letting a child run around in his diapers at daytime. :)

*~*

Poor hubby. This year has found him missing his weekly 2-bottle nights with his colleagues... and he feels so out-of-touch with them. He feels sad about it because he's always believed that hanging out with them has made his role as Technical Manager easier. He even missed their company outing to Boracay (because I just got out of the hospital a week before).

I'm mostly the reason why he missed his gimiks... because of the difficult pregnancy (plus the nights when i'd have crying jags over missing Py). I do tell him sometimes to go and have fun, reminding him that it'd be harder and i'd need him more once the baby is out... but good husband that he is, he'd go home as soon as he can.

But he's out tonight :) His colleagues are boozing somewhere in Nakpil and I egged him to join them. I hope he has fun and get to unwind... his curfew is 3:00 AM :D