Happy Father's Day Itaaay!

Like father, like son. LOL.

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

36 weeks: Baby Out!

May 21, 2012:  at 34 weeks, I was again confined at the Makati Medical Center because of regular contractions. we found out that my cervix was starting to dilate. I was having preterm labor. My gyne didn't want me to give birth anytime soon as it was not yet my full term so she had to admit me for 3 days so that I can be observed and medicines would be given through IV.

June 2, 2012: two weeks later, I had a go signal from my OB that it can now be considered as a full term pregnancy, and that if I gave birth any moment, it would definitely be fine. I was very excited. I had my last ultrasound to check the baby and the results were fine. We were aiming for a normal delivery.

June 3, 2012: It was my youngest sister's birthday. We just had a simple celebration at home. Von and I scheduled for my bikini wax in preparation for my delivery, being the "maarte" girl that I am, but I left my medical certificate that was a requirement for pregnant women so, we ended up doing some last minute shopping for baby and stuff that we will be needing for the hospital.

June 4, 2012: I did the laundry and some errands too. I feel really energized so might as well put it to good use.

June 5, 2012, 6:30 AM:I woke up having contractions again. It was actually very painful and becoming regular (though the intervals were not yet that close) so I just slept most of the day.

5:30 PM: I prepared dinner because Von will be coming home soon. 

8:00 PM: We had our dinner, then a little later went up to our room to prepare for bed. We still watched TV and had chatted about how excited we are on seeing our baby soon.

10:00 PM: I needed to pee. I was surprised to see blood but I did not panicked. I told Von about this (who was already asleep and he panicked a bit). He insisted that we go to the hospital now, but i said that we observe and monitor the situation first because I was not feeling any contractions.

11:30 PM: I needed to pee - AGAIN. This time, the bloody show was becoming more intense. I had to wake Von up and told him that it might be the time to go to the hospital. He was panicking, but I told him not to. I also woke my mom up so that she could accompany us too - of course she also panicked but told her to stay calm or else we won't let her come with us LOL.

11:45 PM: We still stopped by the gasoline station to fill up and had the tires checked. I was just very calm taking things lightly. Von, though not panicking anymore, admitted that he is anxious and excited at the same time. I told him to just focus on the road.

11:53 PM: We reached Makati Med. I was brought straight to their DR. It was easy because I already got admission orders from my gyne. A few more minutes and I was inside DR. They monitored my contractions because I told them that I already had a bloody show. Everyone in the DR was fine until they got my blood pressure. a whopping 160/100 - which is a first for me. I never had high blood nor hypertension in my entire life, so this was quite a surprise. The resident OB started IE - found out that I was just 1cm dilated. They monitored my blood pressure but it was not getting any better, it was actually getting worse until I reached 200/80 despite the medicine that they gave me through IV. Now everyone was panicking. They had to wake 2 more resident OBs at that time just to check on me and they were trying to contact my doctor. They did not get a response since it's already the wee hours of the night so they decided to admit me. They told me that our goal right now is to lower my blood pressure. 

June 6, 2012, 1:05 AM: I was transferred to labor room 1. There they injected something called Magnesium Sulfate (I'm not so sure about this, but it sounded something like that), which literally felt like hell. It gave my entire body a burning sensation that they had to get an electric fan despite the very cold temperature inside the room. I had to endure it for 10 minutes or so. They are now monitoring the baby and my blood pressure every 15 minutes. I was put on oxygen as well because I was having a hard time breathing.

1:30 AM: I felt a sudden gush of liquid from below, I told the doctor about this, he said that it might be my water bag, but he was surprised to see that it was a lot of blood. He gave me a puzzled look, then he IEd me. He was surprised that I bled more with clots. I was already 2cm. Now everyone was wondering why I was bleeding hard, but still monitored me for that matter. I was able to doze off.

7:00 AM: I woke up with a sudden gush of blood again. The nurses informed me that my blood pressure was still very high. I saw my classmate way back elementary. She is a resident doctor at the hospital as well, we had a quick chat about the reunion that we had last year and how it was getting more frequent. She said that I should try to relax so that my condition would get better.

9:45 AM: My OB came in. She asked me what happened to me and told me that I might be having pre eclampsia but what worried and puzzled her was the bleeding. She IEd me, and found that I was only 3cm. She immediately requested for an ultrasound scan. Found that baby was in very good condition (heartbeat and breathing was very good) despite my condition. All of them were reviewing the results of my previous scans while checking where my placenta is located. After a few seconds, the sonologist confirmed that I have placenta previa, grade 3, which means I cannot give birth vaginally. I was now being prepared for an emergency c-section operation. In just a matter of minutes, I was transferred to the operating room and everything went black. I was so groggy due to the effect of the anesthesia that everything inside the room was a blur. I just have this vague memory that someone was saying "O, tingnan mo baby mo, ang puti, puti".

11:03 AM: Baby was out.

Vaughn Alexander Miguel Rejano-Bautista

5.8 lbs, 47cm.

Age of Gestation: 36 weeks and 6 days

Type of Delivery: Cesarean Section

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

Finally!

Vaughn Alexander Miguel Rejano-Bautista

June 06, 2012, 11:03AM, via c-section

Makati Medical Center, Makati City

Welcome to the world Bontwo! Itaaay and Inaaay loves u sooo much! :D

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

33 Weeks: Heavy and Tired

In pregnancy, there really comes a point where in you feel tired already. True enough, I am actually experiencing it right now. At 33 weeks, I feel very, very heavy and tired of this pregnancy. My mom and aunts even told me that I'm the crankiest pregnant girl they have ever encountered. Hey, its not that I do it on purpose nor do I like it a bit. I just can't help it. From 110 lbs pre-pregnancy weight, I am now a whopping 152 lbs as of my last check up, and with that I am on a very strict less or preferably no-rice diet. I can't stand the summer heat either. I tell you, I sweat like crazy even if I'm just sitting still, and that annoys me a lot. To make things worse, my skin is breaking out, everything seems to be getting dark (armpits, neck, etc...) and nothing fits anymore - including my shoes! I just want to give birth and be done with it. I can't wait to drink coffee and tea again. I can't wait to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I can't wait to go swimming and wear a bikini. I can't wait to wear killer high heels. I can't wait to have my hair color and treatment. I just can't wait to be back to my old self again. I know it sounds so selfish of me to think this way, and I'm really sorry if I sound so shallow, it's just that I feel like I'm losing myself these days. Don't get e wrong, I love my baby very much and I don't regret having him for one bit, but I just want to see him face to face so that I can start taking care of him already and then take care of myself too. Haysh, I soo hate these pregnancy hormones! It's just driving me nuts!

On a lighter note, My OB said that we're already on homestretch. She even comended me for just gaining 2lbs last time. She said that I just continue to eat healthy, do more walking exercises for easier labor and that I can give birth first or second week of June. We're almost there Bonchon! Are you excited to see me too?

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

The Quest for Breast Pumps

I have made the decision to exclusively breastfeed my baby for as long as I can. Sadly, I’m not getting that much support from my family – particularly my mom and aunts. They keep on saying that I would my milk supply won’t be able to suffice my baby because; 1. I am a working mom, 2. My baby is a big boy and needs more milk compared to that of a baby girl. It’s kind of frustrating to hear that especially from your own mother. Anyway, I just shrugged it off and told her that I will still try my best to exclusively breastfeed my child whether they like it or not. The only consolation I got is that V is very supportive of this idea. Think about the nutrients that my baby will be getting from my milk and of course the moolah that we’ll be saving since we’re not buying any formula milk – we all know how expensive formula milk is – so the more we can save for baby, the better.

Now, I know it’s not that easy. For one, I have inverted nips, so that alone serve as big challenge for me. So what’s a mom like me got to do? Lo and behold! there are breast pumps, which I think would really help me on my quest to breastfeed my baby. The problem is, there are a lot of them and as a first time mom, I am totally clueless as what should be the specifications of a good and efficient breast pump. Well, I only have three concerns; 1. It should be efficient in expressing milk, 2. It should be sturdy but breast friendly as well (meaning it would not hurt my boobies), 3. It should be within reasonable budget. Unfortunately, I haven’t found one yet. Sure, I would die to have the Avent electric breast pump. The product reviews were really impressive, but I have to admit that at this point their price is still waaaaay beyond my budget. There are also brands like Medela, Lansinoh, Chicco and a lot more – waaaah, so many to choose from.

For mom’s out there, any suggestions for a very good electric and manual breast pump? I would really, really appreciate your help! TIA! J

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

 

Twenty-One Weeks: Baby Names

Hello Baby!

You’re dad and I have been arguing a lot lately. Don’t worry, its nothing really serious, we’re just having a hard time deciding what name were going to give you. We always had this feeling that you are a baby girl because you’re so tiny that even at 20 weeks; my baby bump still does not show. Mommy wanted to incorporate daddy’s name to your name, your dad refused the first time, but when I told him that I wanted to name you Yvonne (from your dad’s name, Vonne), he kind of agreed. So we decided to name you Adrianna Kristiane Yvonne, "Aky" for short.

We had another scan on your 21^st week (5^th month). We were so excited because aside from having a congenital anomaly scan (to check if there are any abnormalities), it’s now the time to know what your gender is – in our case, we wanted to confirm if we were having a girl. Until the time I went inside the scanning room, I was convinced that I was carrying a girl, so imagine my face when the Sonologist told me that you are a bouncing baby boy! And no, you are not tiny, you have very long arms and legs! I was just in awe for a good 3 minutes, thinking that we can’t name you Yvonne if you are a boy! You’re dad was actually making fun of me. I can see from his face how excited and happy he is. He kept on mumbling how you would inherit his toys, that you’ll be his Robin (BTW, you’re dad thinks he's Batman), and how you will be spending a lot of time together.

After absorbing everything, I was the happiest girl in the whole world. I’m having a baby boy and a healthy one for that. I guess, we just have to think of another name for you.

Love,

Your mom

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

 

Fourteen Weeks: Hospitalized

Dear Baby,

January 5, 2012, your daddy rushed us to the emergency room of the Makati Medical Center because of light bleeding and extreme abdominal pain. I was advised not to take these symptoms lightly because I have a low lying placenta. I was actually expecting that we would be back home the same night but it seems that we had to stay a couple of more days in the hospital for constant monitoring. Mommy has been losing a lot of weight and daddy is getting worried that you might not be getting enough nutrients. Daddy and I were so scared of losing you so we had to follow the doctor’s orders of staying in the hospital for 4 more days with complete bed rest – no bathroom privileges. Mommy’s medicine was also inserted through IV. You know baby, mommy has always been terrified of needles, but I’m ready to endure everything just to make sure that you are safe. Your daddy has been having sleepless days and nights – he even had to miss work because he wanted to make sure that we are both ok. I think he’s doing a great job of taking care of us, don’t you agree with me baby? I’m just happy that he is beside us all throughout this ordeal.

Love,

Your mom

PS: It’s good to know that you’re perfectly fine in my tummy. We are very much excited to see you!

 

 

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."