Mom's Checklist

I’m already on my 32^nd week, so we’re waiting for only more or less 5 weeks for our baby’s arrival. We have already bought some baby stuffs but we still need to buy some more such as receiving blanket, bibs, rubber bath mat, etc. Those marked items are the things we already have for our baby, so I guess, only few more things we need and we're good to go. Actually, in the below list, not all of it should be bought, only those that are really necessary. Abdominal binders are discouraged by pediatricians nowadays because it can interrupt the baby's proper breathing. I have learned from one of the seminars I attended that for newborn babies, baby powder is not allowed because it can cause asthma. Unlike in the US, having a car seat for the baby is not mandatory here in the Philippines.

This checklist from www.babycompany.com.ph is very helpful for first-time parents like us.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Can't wait to watch Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1! It will be shown in cinemas on November 19, 2010.

Actually, I'm not an avid fan of Harry Potter novel. I haven't even read a single book of J.K. Rowling. Would you believe that I started watching Harry Potter just a few months before the showing of its sixth installment in 2009? The good thing is that I was able to watch the series continuously, without a need for me to wait every year. However, after watching the six series of Harry Potter, I have learned to appreciate the movie and the story and understood why there were so many Harry Potter fanatics. So now here I am waiting for the two-part ending, LOL!

Harry Potter Plot: (taken from Wikipedia.org)

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

LJS Annual Bodega Sale

Expo Mom Bazaar 2010

from http://mommypages.com.ph/

I was not able to go to their last Expo Mom few months ago, so I don't want to miss this one. See you there moms!

Changes in my Life

When I got pregnant, a lot of things have changed. There were things that I used to do when I wasn’t pregnant that I had to stop doing now. There were things I had to sacrifice because I want everything to be okay for my baby.

1. Goodbye to my favorite chips!

 I have to cut back on eating salty foods, so goodbye Pringles, Cheetos, Lays, and PikNik.  But I am oh so craving for salty foods, whew! An old friend of mine from Uzbekistan told me that if I crave for salty foods when I am pregnant that means that my baby is a boy. I superstitious beliefs are “only in the Philippines” but I guess people from different parts of the world have their own myths.

2. Sweet becomes sour, sour becomes bitter…

My taste buds have changed. I used to finish chocolate bars weighing 400grams in just one-sitting, but now, I don’t know, I just don’t want to eat chocolates anymore. Most of all, I don’t like the color of chocolates that’s why I don’t eat it. Chocolate-lover turned chocolate-hater? There are foods that I used to eat when I wasn’t pregnant that I could no longer eat, not for any other reasons but it’s just that I simply don’t like it…LOL, weird!

 3. Nose of a wolf.

Ewww! My sense of smell seems to be very sensitive nowadays. I hate the smell of cooking oil. Even from afar, I can smell whatever I can smell, and I hate it. I so like the smell of peanuts being sold on the streets. I feel like a dog sniffing around finding where this or that smell is coming from.

 4. Hello pimples!

I remember having one pimple on my forehead once in a blue moon only when I was still a teenager (between 15-17 years old); but now that I am already 28 years old, oh my gosh, I really panicked the moment I saw not just one but more than three pimples on my forehead. I feel so helpless that I could not treat it because as per babycenter.com, differin gel (adapalene) is not allowed for pregnant woman. Well, it’s okay, I hope that after nine months it will all be gone!

5. It’s getting hot in here.

I want to take a bath three times a day because it’s so hot in here! Aside from the fact that in Dubai our house is air-conditioned all over and here in the Philippines it’s not, it just feels so hot, really hot. My body temperature has changed. During the first trimester, I was enjoying the feeling that my underarms weren’t sweating, but immediately at the beginning of the second trimester, gosh, do I have a faucet in my armpits? I don’t know what happened.

Get a Chance to Win CLINIQUE Travel Set

I’ve been using Clinique products for three years now. Thanks to my friend who’s a beauty advisor from Clinique for letting me try out their products, since then, I have never used any other facial products.

 I am using Clinique’s Three-Steps which includes Facial Wash, Clarifying Lotion # 3, and Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. I used to have a very oily skin but when I started using Clinique, my colleagues have noticed the change in me and have never stopped complimenting me for having such a beautiful smooth skin. It’s kinda pricey but when you use it, you’ll never regret every cent you spent because it’s all worth it!

Travel set given by a friend

Even with make-ups, I only use Clinique products because it’s just light and gentle on skin.

I am a certified Clinique addict that whenever I travel, I never fail to have my picture taken in Duty Free Clinique Shop.

You can get a chance to win Clinique Travel Set (Take The Day Off Travel Size, Blushwear Cream Stick Mini in Rosy Blush, and Travel Dish) from Dash Estefani and you too can have a smooth skin like mine. The contest runs from November 2-23, 2010. So what are you waiting for, check out dashhash.wordpress.com.

MY BABY AND ME Seminar

My husband and I attended the Seminar “My Baby and Me” last Saturday, November 6, 2010 at Shangri-La. It was very informative. I have learned a lot especially in Breastfeeding topic spoken by Dr. Anthony Calibo (Pediatrician).

What’s more exciting was that the sponsors were very generous. Unfortunately, I did not win the raffle. But I got freebies from Avent: food container, 4oz feeding bottle, 1 sachet of nipple cream, and 1 sachet of shower bath gel. Ooops, and because I was so attentive to the speaker, I won a Breastfeeding manual since I was able to answer his question, nice!

My (not so good) IN MY WOMB Experience :-(

I had a 3D4D ultrasound at In My Womb in their Makati Branch last October 30, 2010 (Saturday).I availed their Ruby Package for Php 4,000.00.

my smiling baby

suplado si baby

I set an appointment with Dra. Sheila Illescas early September to make sure that I will be their first patient because I have read in the forums that even though you have scheduled for an appointment in advance, when you come there, it will still be on a ‘first come first serve’ basis.

We arrived there at 2:00pm and advised the staff to just contact us once the doctor has contacted them because according to her, Dra. Sheila usually texts them on what time she will arrive. So, we first strolled around the mall until we received a text message at around 3:30pm saying that the doctor cannot come because her patient was hypertensive and she cannot leave her so just re-schedule her appointment on Tuesday, that’s all. We came all the way from Imus, Cavite just to learn that the procedure cannot be done, so we rushed to the clinic to ask if they have any other doctors. To our surprise, there was another doctor sitting in the clinic who can do the procedure. I was a little upset because we were not informed by the staff who texted us. But I just let it pass.

Boy or Girl?

Everybody’s excited to know the gender of our baby, how much more are we? Everyone’s been telling us that our baby’s a girl because I am pretty while pregnant. I thank them for the compliment, but deep within me I can feel that they were all wrong. Maybe that’s what they call ‘mother’s instinct.’

I had a 3D4D ultrasound at In My Womb in Makati last October 30, and the first thing we saw on the screen was the genitals of our baby…IT’S A BOY! When we got home, my husband and I have been discussing who between the two of us really wanted a baby boy; I told him that it was him since he is the guy and wants his baby to carry his name but he’s been telling me that it was me because when we got married, we’ve already started buying some baby stuffs and I was the one doing all the picking of things, and to my shock, those that we have bought were all for a baby boy. Well I guess that’s what we call ‘faith’.

As a mother, now I understand more, it doesn’t really matter if it’s going to be a boy or a girl, what matters is that my baby will come out safely, healthy, and normal, nothing more to ask. I still thank God for this little angel inside me!