I have third trimester insomnia.

It is such a daunting task to sleep at night. :(  

I cannot sleep. I have heartburn and i feel like im on a rollercoaster ride with how my baby sommersaults in my tummy. She's very active. I feel like my energy is being zapped from me everyday especially when i started on my 34th and 35th week. My carpal tunnel is worst in the morning when i wake up. My joints so loose i feel like they can detach any moment. And i am so itchy. Arrrgggghhhhhh!!!!! 

The Donut Man

So I was watching food network, I love holidays in Dubai, it's almost Eid and all channels on cable are out =) I saw a Unique Desserts Episode and  they featured donuts from Los Angeles. Look at this donut!

Cream Filled Yumminess!

It's from The Donut Man in Glendora, California. I will definitely bug my bestie Mindy to take me there next year just to have a bite of this yummy looking donut. =)

Look at this cream puff! =)

During my pregnancy, I love peaches and this peach filled donut is
driving me bonkers!!! I WANT ONE NOW! =)

ANd this too, strawberries in a donut =)

@37 Weeks. I Feel Like a Mascot.

I am trying really really really hard to still exercise on  my 37th week.

There's only a very tiny hint of my feet now. =)

You think I'm done with pregnancy symptoms and yet, not yet! Yesterday, on skype, my nephew Vaughn said my tummy looks like a mountain. hahaha. well, it really does! I also noticed that there are some dark lines that have appeared on my neck, and my armpits too! looks disgusting but my mother in law  said that it will disappear when I give birth. I hope so, so much. =)

I am happy my shoe size stayed at 7. Though when i walk or exercise, it swells a bit and looks sausagy fat. My hands still feel a little bit of pain and numb, the doctor recommended I rest them a bit but lately, the nesting bug bit me so bad and I cannot stop scrubbing or cleaning, or washing just about everything I can see and reach.

I tend to hate nights as I can no longer get a good night's sleep. My baby is awake every night, moving, rolling, kicking, squirming, poking, I don't know what else she's doing in there, but she's definitely awake til very late and you'd be surprised, she wakes up early too for breakfast I guess.

I'm enjoying my time blogging away these days, because I know soon, I will not have the time to blog anymore.

I Really Thought I Was Gonna Give Birth this Morning.

Gosh. I had contractions at 4 in the morning today and it lasted for an hour. I felt pain from my bum that radiated to my abdomen. It wasn't very painful , it was bearable but was uncomfortable. I fell asleep after an hour of tossing and turning, so it's definitely a false alarm.

mommy's hospital bag ❤️

I'm done packing my hospital bag. =)
today i'm on my 36th week 4th day.
let the waiting begin.
so excited to see our baby. =)

The Pwera Usog Bracelet

Wikipedia : Usog or balis is a topic in psycho-medicine in Filipino Psychology (but considered just as a Filipino superstition in Western Psychology) where an affliction or psychological disorder is attributed to a greeting by a stranger, or an evil eye hex. It usually affects an unsuspecting child, usually an infant or toddler, who has been greeted by a visitor or a stranger.

--- I'm really not sure whether to believe usog or not. My mom sent me this Anti- Usog bracelet. I remember seeing a different version which is the one with the red and black balls. Well, maybe it too, has revolved through time. Well, there's really nothing to lose when it comes to superstitious beliefs. I have been brought up in the same way, so I guess it's ok. But I believe more in prayers and God's grace for my baby's protection. 

Pinkberry Chocolate Yoghurt is Yum. But Is It healthy?

Omg. I crave frozen yoghurt like everyday and every night. And then I read on the internet that it can cause listeria because of the machine that is being used to dispense the yoghurt. Gosh. What can pregnant women eat that is safe????  Ok, I ate 3 of these during my whole pregnancy I hope that's fine.

I'm on my 36th Week =)

Saw my baby in today's check up and she weighs 3kg as of today =) 2.9 kg to be exact. That explains the back ache sometimes.

….. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Is What I Have =(

Was at the hospital today to have my hands checked and I have nerves being pinched at my wrists that's why it hurts =(

The gel the doctor gave me worked really good though, so im happy again! =)

I am sad today.

It's been three nights that my hands feel bearably painful. I am annoyed at how the joints cramp. =( I am sad because I thought pregnancy symptoms are over and that I will only have to deal with the weight gain and the back pain associated with it. I don't have swollen feet, but my hands hurt. And I am sad because I have just started to enjoy crocheting beanies and booties for my baby and now I guess I have to stop because it makes my hands hurt even more at night after crocheting. =(

I started crocheting small flowers for headbands. I made some beanies and hats as props for my newborn baby. I hope my hands feel better tomorrow.

My First Set of Booties and Beanie

I love the purple color and I love pompoms too.

This is my little one's  Mike Wazowski Beanie and Bootie.
It has yet to be finished.

i want to crochet this for my baby =)

Maternity Keepsakes of Mommy Rio and Daddy Sonnie =) Photos by Carmelo Paras

My hubby agreed to one photo session, and I guess the only reason he did so is because his friend Mel is the photographer. I am really excited to have a maternity photo shoot, but knowing my husband, I know it will only start an argument. But I cannot let this special chapter of our life pass by without having even  one decent photo that I can put in a photo frame and my baby scrapbook. =) I am so over the moon, the photos turned out great, and he was smiling on most of the photos =)

Pregnancy Rant

It is unbelievably outrageous what a woman has to go through to transition from being a woman to a mother. the changes, the adjustments, everything that go through the mind, body and soul to become a mother is absolutely humbling for me. it kind of feels like metamorphosing from a butterfly to a worm. From being someone who takes good care of one's self to someone who lets go and succumbs to the changes that are out of your control and out of this world! To be honest, pregnancy, kind of sucks. don't get me wrong, i know so many women who are trying to become a mom, some take long to be blessed with a little one, others never at all, i do not mean to whine and complain but really, it sucks, but, feels so great at the same time. =)

How did I get myself into this? My husband did this to me. With half of my consent. Yes, half lang talaga. And before I knew it, I was at this peeing- on- a- stick moment alone. Couples vow to do things together forever, and at that terrifying moment where I have to pee on a stick that would change our lives forever, my nerd of a husband could not move away from his World of Warcraft Zone in the house to share the freaking moment with me! omg. my eyes could not believe what was actually unfolding infront of me… slowly, but surely, undeniably eye popping, two lines appeared on the stick! And from that day on, our lives are changed, and from just the three of us, (me, my hubby, and his computer) there will be four of us now! including our little one, who will debut into this world on August =) Come this day, WOW will have to be abolished from our lives, I swear.

Can I whine now? Nobody could ever be prepared for all these. If you say that you are and that you were prepared from the very beginning, then I salute you!  Saludo ako sayo. However for me, there were things that I just could not NOT whine about.

Like, ACNE. huhuhu, tagal ko na nde nagkakapimple and then all of a sudden parang may homecoming reunion sila sa likod ko and sa face din. One day, my hubby looked at me and said: O baket ang kapal ng make up mo?  Sa loob loob ko baka mas ma shock ka pag nakita mokong walang make up! I have never ever used so much concealer and foundation in my life. Nakakaloka ang daming kailangang takpan! I am so happy I bought Etude concealers from Korea . I used Clarins foundation and it worked like miracle for me. I managed to look decent all through out my eight months so far.

Morning Sickness. I had it for 4, yes 4 months! =( Super hirap. I could not hold anything down. I did not have much food aversions but, omg, grabe ang vomitting ko. It starts in the afternoon and drains the sanity off of me. I had to buy a "tabo" coz i managed to injure my tailbone while throwing up daily. It was so freaking hard :(  and depressing too coz i really try my best to eat only to puke everything up later. it saddens me because i feel my baby's not getting the nutrition that she needs. There were so many advice given to me on how to reduce morning sickness but nothing worked really. I just had to bear with it. It was so hard.

Cravings. Being in Dubai, cravings became frustrations. If you crave for something not available here, you try and find an alternative, only to be disappointed. I know my hubby thought i was crazy when i asked him to buy mangoes from Karama and I wouldn't eat it because I didn't like the color. Being a flight attendant made everything worse as there are some food or fruits I've eaten  somewhere that I craved. And I feel so sad like really really sad at the thought that I can't have them. Like the fruit juice of the baobab tree from Dakar Senegal, I dont even remember liking it that much when I had it there but then one night, I can't stop thinking about it. how weird right?  My worst nightmare is that commercial from Jollibee at TFC.  the one where there is a child who got a bucket full of chickenjoy delivery from his mom abroad. it goes something like this: kumusta ka na anak? ganda ng grades mo ah... and then he bites into the crunchiest looking chickenjoy in the planet!!!!! grrrrrrrrr!  i want chickenjoy now na right now na!!! I just had so much craving that could not be satisfied, it's frustrating, I think about food like always and it drove me crazy.

                                                         MY BAOBAB JUICE CRAVING :

This is the Baobab Juice

This is the Baobab Tree 

those are the baobab fruits.

                                                      MY JOLLIBEE CRAVING:

juicilicious chicken joy i want =)

                                                               VINEGAR CRAVING

I also craved vinegar a lot. I wanted to eat everything with vinegar. So i eat green mango and I dip it in vinegar. I ate a lot of paksiw dishes too. =) I liked everything paksiw, like paksiw na bangus, paksiw na galunggong, paksiw na tilapia, paksiw na sapsap, basta, all kinds of paksiw I liked.

paksiw na bangus =)


GREEN MANGO CRAVING

I wanted the green mango like this, with the white seed inside. otherwise,
I wouldn't eat it. so weird right?


MANGOSTENES


I ate a lot of mangostenes too.

Peeing. Bathroom trips are just so frequent, it drives me crazy!!! I go with my friends to the mall and I'm like, I think I pee in ALL of the restrooms from one end of the mall to the other! sigh. and the  paranoid in me just couldn't just pee without sanitizing the toilet seat, so I spray it with biogenic alcohol, wait a few secs until i feel all the germs and bacteria have died down before I pee, i'm too scared they'll reach my baby. In the middle of my second trimester, while I was seated on the couch, I felt the room spin and felt so weak, my baby was also frantic in my tummy and I just knew something was wrong. I was brought to the emergency and we found out I had UTI . Apparently, it is normal for pregnant women to have this. I got so sad and frustrated because I was really trying hard to take good care of myself. I had infection in my pee and my blood too so I got dehydrated, the reason for my feel-faint situation by the couch. They gave me meds, I was so worried for my baby and kept on asking if the meds would affect my baby in any way and they said that it was fine. I took the meds religiously and also drank a lot of cranberry juice and water as advised by the doctor.

Weight Gain. As soon as my morning sickness left me. I ate like a hippoppotamus! so ofcourse, I weighed and started to look like one. I was in Manila for two weeks, came back to Dubai overweight. :(  I don't mind looking fat, Im pregnant, for all I care, but, the weight gain took a toll on my back. =(  My tummy was getting really heavy and my back was suffering. Sleeping has become a challenge too. Anyway, I'm writing this so I will never forget what people called me during this moment of my life. Cookie told me my neck was starting to disappear and that I look like Michelin Man! Would you believe a friend would actually say this to you??? When she gets pregnant, hopefully soon, I will throw this exact remark on her and see how she reacts!  While lying on the couch watching tv, my hubby said, you look like a whale! I'm like, are you serious? you better shut up you insensitive assh*le. I said quota na ko sa pintas tigilan mo na ko. And then need I mention my OB? She said: What have you been eating? Stop eating carbs, Im not happy about your weight gain! And I'm like, I wanna tell her, I'm not happy about you either trying to stop me from eating anything I want, in fact, I hate you! I truly truly with all my heart, i  hate you because YOU WANT ME TO STOP EATING RICE!!! And people who tell you to stop eating rice should be hated with a passion! hmmmp! Jelousy called me an Igorot one day when I had pak na pak na blush on to cover my pale face! and Monet who I consulted about it said, I looked fine! hahaha. But seriously, I have always been skinny all my life and for the first time, I am overweight. I was fighting the urge to eat carbs everyday. =( I remember being envied for being able to eat like really really eat and not gain a single pound, those days are over. I needed to watch my weight, I am really scared not to bea ble to have a normal delivery. Im scared of CS. =( Ok I won'y eat rice na talaga promise. Cellulites. My hubby was like, what are those on your legs? Huh? I said WHAT? And when I looked at the mirror, to my horror, I now have cellulites, Ive never had them EVER! but it's ok. I will go to Belo after I deliver my baby and will get rid of every single bit of this scary shit all over my legs that have started to look like logs! My legs are so big!

Wild Vivid Dreams.  My dreams were out of this world. Some were crazy shit that drove me mad. I would wake up and would really think the dreams were real. So scary. I also had dreams about my baby, some scary some happy. But the worst dreams were those of food I dream of eating but can't have here in Dubai, like lechon. Haram! In one of my dreams, I was eating lechon like a construction worker who did not eat all day and I woke up with drool over me, oh so yucky me. I am disgusting.

Hormonal Blues. My husband is the culprit and the victim for all of my blues. The shock absorber and the punching bag of my emotional outbursts. I remember crying so much one night when he still wanted to play WOW and I wanted to sleep but can't sleep when he's not next to me. I cried like a little girl sobbing like mad, I cried for hours and even when he was already next to me, I couldn't stop crying. The next day, I looked like a psycho bitch and I hated myself why I cried so much because I feel like Ive stressed my baby too. Ive tried not to cry anymore after that night, I also stopped watching heavy drama so I don't get hyped up to cry.

Clumsiness. In my entire career as a flight attendant, not once did I spill or drop food on any of my customers. I was always sure of how I do things. I always calculate my moves. I was never clumsy. Imagine being one all of a sudden, I broke and damaged so many of my glasses, my plates, everything in the house.  I drop everything that I hold. I am always out of balance. It's unbelievable how I've become like this!

Because I was dropping everything and could not pick things up from
the floor because of my big tummy, I bought this from Daiso. Lol.
It was so handy I pick everything with it, laundry, slippers etc etc.

Forgetfulness. In the books that I read, they say it's called pregnancy brain, that's what I apparently have at the moment. Well, it sucks. I forget everything. I leave everything behind. I forget appointments, I forget what I'm about to say, I forget what I've said, all these sort of stuff. Sometimes, I'd even forget that I'm pregnant and get surprised to see my tummy so big when I wake up. hahaha. It's crazy that this is because of my pregnancy. I was already forgetful even before I got pregnant and now, I am so much worse! I managed to deal with this by writing notes non stop.

Heartburn and Gas. Need I say more about this. The heartburn came towards  my third trimester when my tummy was as big as a watermelon and could no longer manage to sleep properly at any position. It was so tiring to be in bed and not able to rest or sleep. Gassy situations are disgusting and by now, I know my husband will never ever find me sexy anymore, ever! I am disgusted at myself for the rest of my life lol.


What else can I whine about?  These are just a few of the many things I hated about pregnancy, but to be honest, the list of what I love about it and what I love about my baby and my being a mom just does not compare. =) I love being pregnant, even though at first I was afraid, I was petrified like the song.  One thing I was really looking forward to during my pregnancy is the time when my breasts would get really big like papaya big and engorged, but that eventful day did not come yet! Yes, my breasts remained the same lemon sized pre pregnancy breasts. =( And this got me so worried I started talking to them, yes, the psycho in me, talked to my breasts, saying please please please if you cannot be like Pamela Anderson's big  Breasts, just be good and make sure that I can feed my baby with you teeny tiny boppers. And through my research, I found out that all women are capable of breastfeeding and that size does not matter when it came to producing milk.  I am so excited to be a mom. I know that there will be more things to whine about, like the labor and delivery that is soon to come, but I know, I just know that everything will be worth it. =) I feel so grateful that I have this baby inside of me and even if in the process I become the size of a whale, even if I feel like shit everyday, even if I am disgusted at myself, even if I am paranoid my hubby will never look at me the same way again, I just know, that this gift from God to me and Sonnie will change our lives forever, for the better =)

On Choosing Medela For My Breastfeeding Needs

I was a researcher before I was cabin crew and it makes me sick if I don't research just about anything before I purchase something. Especially when it comes to the quality of just about anything.

One of my colleagues Ivy added me to the group Breast Feeding Pinays on FB and I have been a silent member but a very active one. I read almost every single, advice, rant and reviews of products and just about anything that they use. When it comes to pumps, one brand always stood out in all of their conversations, also, most of my cabin crew friends use Medela. Most of the complaints why they did not purchase Medela is because of the cost. It really is very pricey.

I did my research and yes, it truly is one of the best pumps you can use throughout your breastfeeding journey with your little one. As I live in the sandpit, I went to Mothercare, to Babyshop and Mamas and Papas. They all have Medela in their stores. But they were twice and even thrice more expensive compared to prices in Amazon and Babies R Us in US. Having a sister and lots of friends who fly back and forth to the US, I am very tempted to just buy it from there. But then again, the horror stories of those who bought and had problems with voltage, adaptors, regulators etc etc. I was so confused.

I was brave enough to put this expensive gadget on my baby registry at Mothercare, even though through my extensive research, it always popped out in the "WHAT NOT TO ASK IN THE BABY REGISTRY" as it is actually very personal and kind of tacky. I still did it anyway, as I am blunt and broke and also I really wanted it hahaha.

So, I thank my lucky stars, my hubby's bestfriend Claudia did not seem to mind the expensive gadget, and along with it, she gave me a tote, a cooler bag, extra bottles and a calma nipple =) She gave baby Julia even more stuff but the pump was really more than I could ask for.

I am so overjoyed when I opened it during the baby shower =) I am a spoiled friend indeed. =)

I also have a good friend who added even more Medela products for me. I got basically everything in the Medela Catalog. =) Ive got the pump and save milk storage bags, valves, membranes, breastpads, hydrogel pads, etc etc. I have everything I need for my breastfeeding needs.

Im so grateful, thanks to my friends! =)

Here are My Medela Products, Fit for an Advert right? =)

Medela Swing Maxi With Free Calma
It's an electric double pump that I can easily bring to my layovers
so I can continue to pump for my baby even when I get back to work
when my maternity leave is over come January next year  =)

This tote is so cute and it came with the cooler bag and extra bottles.

This is me with Chynee saying, oh this is for my booby =) lol

Because Im Having a Baby Girl, Im Happy That I Don't Have to ThinkAbout This One.

It must be difficult to decide whether your child should be undergo circumcision after birth. I feel like the baby is so young and fragile and so tiny to endure this kind of pain. 

Stroller Shopping =)

Sonnie's Choice 

My Choice =)