Camilla and HiCap

OMG. Camilla has made it as a HiCap in Math! This means she scored more than 95% in the test. I thought she would ace her English language but surprisingly she is at the top for mathematics. I am so proud of ate!

 

365 days around the sun! Mateo is ONE!

 

He had fun. I had fun. Decorated yet again, while dada cooked the food. Camilla always makes Mateo smile and laugh! She is loving being an ate. I like it when she talks to Mateo using my voice. "MAATE-YO, YOU ARE SO KYOT!" 

@ 1 year old, Mateo can:

-sign language please, more, thank you, stop, up and down, milk, want/come/get

-say Dada (a lot!) Ta (ate Camilla), Ba (Roomba), Ta (Santa), Bah (ball), Ba! (banana)

-do wheels on a bus, twinkle twinkle, rain rain, scream/roar (row, row, row your boat)

-eat a lot from sweet potato, to Oreos, to steamed broccoli, strawberry/blueberry, banana, rice, soup, carrots, boiled/scrambled eggs, French toast, etc.

-dance from side to side, crawl up the stairs, go down from the stairs, go up and down

@ 6 years old, Camilla can

-do math like addition, subtraction, multiplication, count number

-write her name in cursive

-write 1-20 neatly

-read stories and comprehend

December, not winter yet but snow has started

Where do I begin?

Okay, December. This week, Nov28-Dec2, 2022, snow has reached us. And I am a noob driver so the whole week, my head was aching. From prepping Camilla's school stuff, to starting the car and defrosting early, to shoveling snow from the driveway and the car, to moving early and making sure I get to park, to making sure I log in correctly, to making sure I have deep dives, to making sure Mateo has milk, food and water...what else??? 

I still like snow. I like to see it, it makes Camilla happy so it makes me happy. But it is a headache when it's been on the ground and had turned into ice. The car, my feet, and the ice... we don't do 100% well. Snow is still going, it is the weekend so I can rest my head when it comes to thinking about Camilla's school and using the car. 

Nov 28, Mateo turned 9 months! Oh this boy could crawl! With the mastery of crawling and flipping, he just either automatically flips or crawls when placed on the floor. Imagine changing his poopy diaper, or even just his usual diaper with pee, the struggle is real. Two people, if not three people is needed. Aside from that, Mateo has ate a lot of purees, mixed fruit and vegies. He loves sweet potato and pumpkin, as well as strawberry and prunes. So far the only one he doesn't like is the green peas. Who knows, he might like it already at 9 months. Mateo can walk on the stairs too! He can lift his body up from sitting position to standing position, he could also crawl then fix his body to a sitting position. He likes being chased, he would often open his mouth in excitement. Mateo still uses the same tub when taking a bath, his legs are now too crowded but he just lay down. Mateo knows the people already and looks at mama, papa, ate, lolo, Lola, Alexa, Roomba, ate's photos, etc. 

He babbles mamama dadada but usually his fave to say is babababa. 

He's an expert at crawling. @10 months, he crawls with his chest up. I am giving him tiny pieces of solids like pasteurized cheese, soft carrots/soft veggies, orange in a food feeder, his snacks like star puffs and yogurt melts. Mostly he eats purees, and I wanted to change it up a bit. 

January 2023:

So many deliverables at work. Camilla is back to school as well. This week was her first week back to school, we are at it again doing drop offs and pick ups. I don't know if I can even do Taekwondo, my body might just give up. Jan 6, Mateo is sick. He has cough and phlegm yet again. Hopefully he recovers fast! Camilla at school will have their iReady diagnostics. Hopefully that goes well too. We are also in the process of extending the partentals' stay because if not, I would again die. I am so disappointed and frustrated, we just keep circling back to this. I don't want to nag, but would that mean that I should keep quiet? I don't even know how to communicate this big concern. Thus! decluttering 101. 

Camilla has been very vocal. Again, I am trying to do positive communication but somehow, this other person who does not think 90% of the time, just say what he wants...to a 6 year old. It's hard to build when your community doesn't understand what you're building because they don't think or forget, or maybe just don't want to care, 

Hopefully things go well, esp for the kids. I would not want anything than to make sure they are doing good and always healthy. 

Life lately

Here I am again back tracking on the events that had been.

The latest update is that this 5 year old girl will be in Kindergarten this year! As in real school! Oh my heart! Their school had a 3-day Ready for Kindergarten program so that the kids (and parents!) would be comfortable and would more or less know what could happen come the real first day of Kindergarten on September 6, 2022. The 3-day program starts went from Mon-Weds, from 9am to 12nn. As usual, this girl had so much excitement, but when it was eventually time to line up, she broke down and cried. Probably overwhelmed and nervous at the same time. One of the teachers had to take her from me, he held her hand and walked with her into the building. All good, still. I cried when she cried of course but I am so proud of this little one! When it was time for pick up, she was at the back of the line, was definitely getting anxious and cried again when she was being escorted to where we were waiting. However, she said she made a new friend! Look at that! I could not help but ask soooo many questions because I wanted to know every single thing! And this girl being Camilla, she would just say on some of the questions "I'm too tired to answer" or "You've asked so many questions already" or most of the time the classic "IDK". Aside from Kindergarten, she is also doing very well when it comes to her Taekwondo class. She has gain a bit more of confidence, balance and strength. I guess the strength had always been there lol, but when she is doing her kicks, the force is there. I just have to be more patient and stern on implementing being independent and responsible. 

 

Summer time, too many heat waves in Washington! We are trying to make the most out of it by going to the park, attending our community's events, or just putting out the bouncy water slide at the backyard. 

Mateo is now 5 months and about to turn 6 months old in 3 days! Boy, this boy oh boy oh boy! He can roll over and roll back, he babbles a lot, does raspberries, shouts at the top of his lungs, can crawl a bit, could do assisted sitting, smiles a lot (most of the time still muted), sometimes sleeps on his tummy, loves twinkle twinkle with hand gestures, still loves conversation with him, recognizes momma a lot! That is him getting stuck in between the slats of his crib, which was not the first time. Still, there's milk shortage (and baby water shortage) so we still mostly use liquid (gold) formula. He can sleep through the night, for like 5-6 hours sometimes. I should learn how to not feed him if/when he wakes up. There are instances where in he just wants to be held or he just needed help falling back to sleep but I just routinely give him milk. I should keep a note on this, and also would check with his doctor. Soon, he would be receiving the Covid vaccine, too, which makes me feel a bit of relief. 

 

Overall, with the parentals here to help out (a whole lot), I have been able to rest, sleep and eat better I guess. Look, I am able to write and fix my files. Better make the most of it! I am too happy and glad that we have help, most importantly, for the kids to spend time with their lolo and lola. 

May 29, 2022 - Dada tested positive for Covid

Yesterday, Saturday, dada already kept on mentioning how his body aches so much. Later that afternoon, he was saying that his head would hurt each time he would cough--and he was coughing a lot. Our weekends (Friday and Saturday) were spent like a normal weekend with dada preparing our meals, taking over the kids for some time, although most of the time he would rest and sleep in the bedroom and on the couch. Sunday morning, he decided to take a home covid test and he tested positive there. He isolated himself (after having a quick meal) and stayed in the other room. Meanwhile, the kids and I just stayed in the bedroom, too. Camilla and I did the home testing and we both tested negative. Camilla last Saturday night had been coughing differently and it continued until Sunday. However, the test showed negative. I am currently having a scratchy/itchy throat, which is a well-known symptom a lot of people had mentioned prior to getting and really feeling the effect of Covid. Camilla and I would test again tomorrow. Mateo on the other hand, has been having the cough as well. He's been coughing for a while now, most likely he got it from his ate Camilla, but it just continued on. He has cough and minor colds so far. We don't know if he has Covid either, since we can't really test babies. But given the activities at home, I would say I wouldn't be surprised if he has it, although I pray that he doesn't because that is very scary to even think about...he's only 3 months old! Hopefully tomorrow we all get a bit better. Maybe I need to sleep early and really rest my body, too. I don't have any sub for the next few days.

I have prepared Mateo's milk for the night. It's 10:48pm, and his last feeding is supposed to be at 11:15pm. I am not sure if he would still be waking up around that time, but the milk is ready until 12:30am. He has been unable to sleep and nap today, which made it a bit hard for me, I had to carry him more. Again hopefully things get better tomorrow.

Alright, have to rest this itchy throat. Honey for the win!

Update the day after: May 30, 2022

Camilla and I tested positive for Covid. Covid became real. At the time where we really cannot get infected because of our little Mateo--I cannot.

So no more isolating for all of us, we just want to have at least one infected around Mateo instead of all three of us surrounding him. I was with him, dada was with Camilla for the most part. Ate Camilla was the strongest of us, thank you Lord she didn't have any of the mild symptoms even. She had cough and colds and a bit of phlegm, but none of the body aches, head aches or fatigue. Dada had it the whole Sunday a bit around Monday. I had it Monday and Tuesday. I was having chills most part of the day, it comes and goes. I would take Ibuprofen after 8 hours when I'm getting the chills or feeling the fatigue. Our poor baby, his temp was around 100 to 101 and looked like his body was aching. He's whimpering while I am rocking hime to sleep and while he's half asleep. He's got cough, colds, and phlegm as well. He finally got better around Tuesday when he was able to poop and vomit a bit of the phlegm. By Wednesday, June 1st, we're all just having cough and colds and a bit of a phlegm. Mateo still has phlegm but doesn't affect him too much, again thank you Lord! Camilla's temp was around 100 and got as high as 102, but we gave her Tylenol so her temp lowered down and didn't spike up again. We are still sick as I am writing this update. We are still technically in Day 3 so we are still contagious and still have the virus. Cleaning and disinfecting has started, and would continue for the coming days. Hopefully our kids get better the soonest. We can get through this!

May 2022

So, we are on month 2! 

Camilla has returned to school, been doing really great as well. Sometimes she would be transferred to the Kindergarten class along with a few of her other 5-year old classmates. She said that she has been liking and enjoying Ms. Amanda's class, which is really great! Ate has been really sweet and caring to Mateo. Most of the time may gigil over her little brother. It's been harder to get her to mellow down around her little brother and be more cautious. We just need to be extra more careful, because kids will be kids. I catch myself saying "don't" a lot, and when I do, I just try to rephrase it so she knows why we're being cautious. There have been a few times where patience have been lost...it's just how it is I guess. 

Mateo has been very well, too. His 2-month appointment, showed nothing but great and healthy results. Weight wise, he was at 13 lbs and 7.3 ounces. Height was 24 inches, and BMI was at 55 percentile. It's been a challenge lifting him for burps! 

The past month, we had our trip back to Leavenworth. 

             

After this trip, however, a few of us caught some bug. I had major diarrhea episodes. 25 toilet visits in a 12 hour period O EM GEE. I had to isolate myself from the kids so I could get better ASAP because a day after that was Mateo's Baptism. It went away the day before so glad it did. 

It's spring time and here in Washington, it still rains a lot. So whenever we have sunny days especially on weekends (and we all feel like it lol) we go out to get some fresher air, vitamin d, and just have a nice day out for the kids to play. 

Most days I am alright, most days I am tired, sometimes I don't feel fine at all. I definitely feel all the joy warmth, happiness and contentment especially when I remind myself to just look at my kids and just experience and be with them 100%. But there are times when I feel so alone and helpless. I just want consistency when it comes to the two kids--even just with the kids. I mean we all get tired, right? 

We are 2 months in, I will be back to work after June 25th. Time is going by fast, I could say I am slowly doing some cleaning and arranging done, but I am accepting the fact that I won't be able to finish cleaning all these and that is okay. I am hoping that there'd be more sunny days, so that we could enjoy the outside more, before I officially go back to work. 

Note: There's a formula shortage nationwide, because of the Similac contamination issue. They have addressed that the production could start again in 2 weeks, and that formula would be available in the market in 6-8 months. Cross fingers that we could still have enough until then.

Happy 14 days Mateo! Plus birth and post birth recount

February 25, I was supposed to have my version and induction but things didn't go that way. I received a go signal on February 27, 2022 instead. They said to come at 2pm. So we did.

Feb 27th

We got checked in, met our nurse Kajsa (Kaysa). 3pm, got settled in, had my IV after 3 tries. Finally got my IE and I was still not dilated. I thought it's going to be a long day/night. At 3:35pm, I had my meds to ripen my cervix. They told me to stay hydrated, drink lots of water, so I did. I kept going back and forth to the bathroom and when I had my first pee, there was blood in the urine, They said it was normal since I took the meds for my cervix. There were contractions happening but I wasn't really feeling them yet.

6pm, we had our dinner. Had to walk around, use the pregnancy ball, use the rocking chair etc. to help open up my cervix.

7pm, nurse Tracy took over.

9pm, had my cervix checked. They said 2/80/-2 posterior - Dr. Cutler.

11pm, feeling the cramping at my back. It was tolerable at first, but when I lay down, I could not rest at all. I was able to nap for a few minutes, but then I would wake up to pee and I would feel the cramping at my back, I could not get comfortable at all. I would place pillows at my back but this didn't help at all. I had to potty every hour or so, and kept having a bloody show, which they said was a good sign--it means the cervix is thinning. I asked if I should move around, and nurse said to rest for tomorrow, my body will be doing so much work. I then just tried to lay down and get that rest as much as I can.

*****

Feb 28th

3am, I had my first dose of Pitocin, just a small amount, 2oz. Around this time, back cramping was gone. My front belly felt the cramping/tightening. Nurse kept asking how I was, I was saying I was still okay, pain level around 4 to 5. They kind of get disappointed that I was still okay. They were waiting for me to feel the pain and say that I am not okay. That didn't happen until later that morning. 

4am, I had 4oz of Pitocin

5am, I had 8oz of Pitocin. I feel my front/belly to be cramping some more. 

630, had a potty, still getting a bloody show and feeling the cramping/early labor. 

730, cervix check with Kim and same still: 2/80/-2

800, "breakfast" but could barely eat the food as the contractions keep getting stronger at this time. Tried staying/sitting/resting on a rocking chair but the contractions are worsening. The nurses say "that's good" upon learning that I am experiencing the "pains."

830, Kim requested for an epidural. (Thank you, Kim!!! Life saver!) I couldn't tell if this was it, or if I could still take the pain as it comes and goes. It would have been a very different story if we missed this opportunity for an epidural. With this, I am so thankful for our nurse Kim at this time. Very very thankful.

830-930, prep for epidural / epidural with Dr. Chou. One poke and it was over. Had a lot of moving to the sides, staying still and just hoping to get it done fast. It was smoother than my 1st, 5 years back.

10am, cleaning and IE by Dr. Bienenfeld. 7/90 - She mentioned if you feel like you need to poop, then it means it's time. This is exactly what I was feeling so I mentioned to our nurse Kim if it's normal to feel like I need to poop. She mentioned it to Dr. B and she didn't let her leave the room. 

10am-1020, prep for delivery. IE check by Dr. B and she said I was already 10/100

1020, started pushing. I had Dr. B press where I need to push, which helped me focus on that part. When a contraction is coming, they count to 10 and they had me take a deep breath and keep one big push throughout that 10 seconds. At one point they said they could already see the eyebrows. Before that, they mentioned the black hair. I think I had 4 rounds of 10 counts. 

1041, baby Mateo is out! He cried after he was placed on my chest. They said there were 2 cords around his neck. It was good that he was out quickly, otherwise, it may have turned differently for this delivery (meaning CS because of the cords). The very last push I felt Dr. B pulling him out, which was a big help.

Here is our little trooper! 

1050, post delivery stitches, 2nd degree tear; cleaning baby, cleaning mom, weighing baby, latching etc.

****

1pm, transfer to recovery room; peeing needed a support walker. Hi-tech.

2pm, lunch; nurse Leilani.

630, ibuprofen (every 6 hrs)

1130, 1st poop of baby; spits amniotic fluid

*****

Mar 1

930, baby's first bath; screening test; bilirubin check - result came back with 7.5. Due to blood type incompatibility, baby's bilirubin could go up. Baby has dad's B+ blood type, mom has type O blood type. Baby needs to get rid of O, otherwise, bilirubin will spike up. Was advised to stay another day for phototherapy.

10am, formula was provided; Media also advised to supplement with formula so baby starts pooping and peeing consistently.

11am, OB Dr. Guillet provided information on circumcision.

1pm, baby started with phototherapy. Only take baby out for 30 mins feeding.

2pm, OB took Mateo to another room for circumcision.

220, Mateo is back under phototherapy

10pm, fussy Mateo most likely due to his circumcision and the anesthesia that's not working anymore. Nurse Nicole helped calm him down. Nurse Rachel gave him sugar water.

***still bleeding, swollen feet, can't lift esp my right leg, hemorrhoid

*****

Mar 2

2am, Had to rest on the rocking chair to keep watch over Mateo,

**still could not raise feet esp right feet/leg. No milk still. Still bleeding, no drowsiness. 

430 to 730 - zonked out.

9am, baby's first bath

930, bilirubin check. Another poke on baby's heel. 

1040, bili count at 8. It had jumped from 7.5 count, still with the phototherapy session. Doctors said it would have gone higher without the session, so, Pedia mentioned a possible 2nd session of phototherapy or we could go home and observe. We decided to go home

1150, ready to be discharged

1pm, home @kuya Andrew. Camilla meets Mateo for the first time! 

**still bleeding, swollen feet can't lift leg esp right leg. hemorrhoid

*****

Mar 3

11am, Pedia visit with Dr. Wong. Bilirubin check: 15, from yesterday's 8.

3pm, Post-partum visit/lactation session, Bilirubin check from their TCB was 17.3. Nurse and Dr. Wong spoke on the phone, had bilirubin checked again through Labcorp. On a good note, Mateo passed his hearing exam!

430, Labcorp Bilirubin blood draw from the nurse there was the smoothest Mateo had. He didn't even cry. She placed a warmer on the heel and poked the fattest part of his foot. Their vial got filled in no time. 

6pm, Bilirubin came back at 16.3; Pedia visit was again set up for the next day at 9am.

**still bleeding, swollen feet can't lift leg esp right leg. hemorrhoid. Had to hop in and out of the car, or in and out of the bed, or in and out of the shower tub and have had a hard time for the past 3 days. I've decided to give compression socks a chance so I ordered one online.

9pm, breast were swelling and getting harder/more sensitive. This is the time when my body starts to produce milk/colostrum at this point. I couldn't even pump properly as it is really painful. I thought the milk ducts were clogged because I just didn't make a clean exit the last time I was pregnant and ending my pumping session. So, I had to do a hot compress the next morning. Before that, I had to leave a cold compress on top of my breasts to ease the pain as I go and try to sleep. My body was aching all over. From my swollen feet, to my unraisable legs, to butt, to bleeding and stitches, to engorged and sensitive breasts. All of these were happening while I try to pacify and cater to Mateo and Camilla. I think I was pumping from 8pm to 1am. I had to send an SOS to crazy sexies for advise on milk and breasts. So hot compress it is and massage.

*****

Mar 4

4am, woke up with an engorged breasts, still sensitive and painful. Had to place several hot compress over them but still super painful. Colostrum were coming out but not much has been produced yet. 1 ounce in total? 

6am, had to prep Camilla for school. 

9am, Pedia visit of Mateo with Dr. Wong. Bilirubin check

1140, call from Dr. Wong saying Bilirubin is at 19. Was recommended for another phototherapy @Swedish First Hill c/o Dr. Hoff. Brokedown in the closet. Then Dr. Wong calls back with contact information.

1230, Camilla came home from school, dada fetched her. Had to tell the news that Mateo needs to go back to the hospital and mommy and dada would need to be with him again for a few days, hopefully just for another day or two.

6pm, Mateo started his phototherapy

730, met Pedia. Phototherapy, 18.3

9am - Bilirubin was checked, blood draw.

10am - Bilirubin was 12.4

10am-6pm - stayed in the room, off of phototherapy. 

630, Bilirubin was checked

730, Bilirubin was 12.1

9pm, discharged

**Still bleeding and all that jazz. Breasts were able to breathe

*****

Mar 5

More colostrum came out. Milk pumped was at 2 ounces.

*****

Mar 7 - Mateo is 1 week old! 

10am, appointment with Dr. Buschard

1015, Bilirubin was checked

4pm, got a call from Dr. saying lab lost Mateo's blood sample. However, he's not worried since Mateo is gaining weight, eating good, pooping and peeing consistently. After all the poking, here are baby Mateo's heels:

                                      

Mar 15 - Mateo is 2 weeks old!

1030, 2 week appointment. So far all good. He has a 2 week screening for diseases. Might as well check his Bilirubin again so I requested for it in case there are extra blood that could be retrieved since he is getting poked anyway. Bilirubin came back with 13 counts. Again, not too alarming they said since he is gaining weight, and consistent with his poop and pee. His color is also improving. That is a relief.

Weight: 8 lbs 10.3 oz

Height: 55cm/ 22inches

HC: 35cm/13.78inches

BMI: 10% 

Weight change since birth: 8%

Weight gain pat 8 days: 11 ounces (babies should gain at least 1 ounce per day)

Umbilical stump fell off. Doctor had to remove the scab and place a "sealant" so it doesn't ooze and completely closes up. He had an umbilical granuloma. Until this dries up, he can't have a soaking bath yet. Was told to wait for 2-3 days or more as per Dr. Wong. We are scheduled for a hip manipulation on April 29, his 8th week. They said since he was in "breech" or "transverse" position, the likelihood of his hips having trouble is highly, so an ultrasound was requested. 

Baptism:

Baptism is set on April 20, Wednesday 6pm. Birth certificate would be submitted to the Church when we receive it.

***

I could say my body has been better. Every day after the 5th or 6th day, I noticed my body going back to its "normal" shape and I am getting rid of each of the physical pains that I was having since Mateo's delivery. My feet slowly returned to normal. Thank you for the compression socks! No more swelling around 7th day. No more pain in the butt after 8th or 9th day. Less bleeding after 10th day. I could raise my legs normally after 12th day. Again, I am thankful that my body is healing fast as I needed it to take care of my babies. I am also thankful for our family, for all the help and support throughout this pregnancy journey and even post-pregnancy. 

***************

Camilla has been such a loving and sweet ate since Mateo's arrival. I am thankful as well that she's been very understanding as we need to attend to baby and bring him to the hospital quite a few times since his birth. Again, I still don't know how to take care of 2 kids, I am learning as we go along. I hope that Camilla stays more patient and understanding as I (and dada) go through this transition with her. 

***************

Dada has been very supportive as well as I go through all these changes. I have been my weakest (physically) after giving birth and although we make fun of it as we look at my swollen-shrek feet and ankles, he has been helping me move and get through each day. His paternity leave was very much worth taking since it was used to take care of Mateo as we go from one hospital/appointment/check-up to another. 

Cheers to our family of four!

37 weeks pregnant

Friday. At Overlake Child Birth and Delivery. With Martin. 1130am. 

We had a successful version! Baby was turned so he could be in the correct position and hopefully stays that way until labor/delivery.

@ 37 weeks and 6 days

A day before my 38th week appointment, still here, still waiting. Looks like baby is getting lower which is a good sign. I will m have my IE tomorrow so we'll see my cervix has dilated and how much. 

 

Meanwhile, spending time with Camilla is always precious. I kept thinking these are the last few days that we'll spend with just 1 kid. I hope she and us adjusts fairly well. We usually just watch something together, craft together, color together, eat snacks together. Clearly her love language is Quality Time. 

Also, super thankful we have family that helps and supports us in this. We are staying at kuya Andrew's and they help bring Camilla to school. She voiced out how she wants to go to school and I see how a bit of sad she is whenever she misses it mostly because she gets sick too often, and at times we just can't bring her in due to circumstance.  

Hopefully all will turn out well. We can do this!

@38 weeks and 6 days

Had an ultrasound with Dr. Lori and we found out that baby's head is already down. He is down! Now, given that this baby likes to move around, Dr. Lori advised that I get induced on Feb 25th, to make sure this baby doesn't move around again. Just in case the baby's head is again at the side, she ordered a version + induction on Friday, Feb 25th since it's sure that there is an OB who is comfortable with doing a version. So that was the plan. She told me to call first to see if I could be accommodated that day, and mention my situation with the breech history.

@39 weeks, Friday, Feb 25, 2022

7am, I call in and mention my case and nurse said I would have to wait because there are still patients from yesterday that are on top of the list. They know my case and I would have to call at 3pm to see if I could be accommodated. 3pm, and still I am not on the list yet. They asked me to call at 7pm. Come 7pm, nurse Lesley said still not on the list. I mentioned if I get called tomorrow, there won't be any OB on call that could do a version for me. She said that all doctors could do version and that I would have to call the next morning. At that time, there's no bed nor nurse available for me. The next day, Saturday, I called in the morning and still it was Lesley who answered my call and she said this doctor on call for that day doesn't do version and asks her colleague if she has seen that doctor do a version and the other nurse said no. Which is exactly my point, but oh well.

Now, people around me are getting more stressed out. I am honestly fine about it, since after Friday, I know there won't be any doctor who could possibly do a version, might as well wait for Monday when my doctor is back. In my mind, as long as the baby is still fine, I don't have to be stressed about this set back. In this pregnancy, so much has been out of my control, this last stretch, I wouldn't be surprised if we encounter other issues. Again, I still feel the kicks, which is normal active movement of baby. Heartbeat is still good, I have no bleeding or anything concerning that's happening so things are still okay. That's for me, not for the people around me. Calm about all this, so let's just move on.

Feb 27, Sunday, I got a go signal as I called the hospital at 10am. They said I could come in at 2pm. This is it.

It was raining that day, I had to do a pep talk with Camilla so she understands that mommy and dada will be at the hospital for a while to deliver baby and the next time we see each other, we should have baby with us already. We made sure to mention to call anytime when possible. Martin and I drove to the hospital at 130pm...

 

34 weeks pregnant

In addition to the list of things I am experiencing while I am in my pregnancy journey, I also have (now had cause it's been removed) hemangioma (benign vascular tumor derived from blood vessel cell types). I've had it on my pubic area, from 6-7 months I think? It's been a stinging and annoying feeling that keeps popping and then blowing up again. Not that it was that big, it's a size of a half monggo bean. On my 34th OB appointment, we had it removed. I was under anesthesia and they had to cut it then and there. I was with Martin at that time, his first time joining me in my appointment and I am just so glad he was there. We were able to make fun of the situation. The thing that they took will be tested, will undergo biopsy to make sure that it's not cancerous at all. Other than that, happy to announce that baby M is still looking good and healthy and fine. Kicks and jabs and turns in my belly are definitely stronger. Belly's getting bigger. Weight getting heavier.

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Update: 36 weeks

So what they found was that it was a benign angiokeratoma. It's been 2 weeks, no more bleeding thank God! Still I feel that something pops because of the discharge that shows up where the thing has been removed. Dr. Lori however said most likely the discharge is not coming from there. My 36th appointment with Dr, Lori was more on baby's positioning. The baby is still not in the downward position when she checked. So, next appointment, they'll see if they could move the baby from the outside for it to be in a better/ready position. For now, I have to help in positioning the baby by doing yoga poses few times a day. It doesn't help that I have nasal congestion because it's hard to breath when I do the positions. I still try though. We can do this! 

Mostly things have been prepared. I say almost 95% of the things that I should prepare have been prepared. It's more of setting it up, making sure I have all the things in the right place. I still don't know about Camilla's class, I would have to ask on Monday. Overall, I feel good. I don't really worry a lot, I know I could do this. A few days/weeks back I felt that I was running agains time, although I still feel like I do, but I am more relaxed now I guess. Maternity leave has started last Friday, Feb 4 2020. Quick update on Camilla's school, we were notified last Monday that she was in direct contact with someone in her class who tested positive. At the same time, we were both feeling sick. We all had our tests done, and all came back negative. Since she has been sick, we just decided to have her home until she feels better. Hopefully she and I gets better soon. 

Christmas and New Year!

 

Well we don't have any New Year's pic yet so this is my photo dump for Christmas. Staying at kuya Andrew's because...uhh snow. All's good. Cheers!