No Stress (Week 35)

My 35th week has been extremely hectic.  I've met my new boss at work and she has been trying to spend as much time with me as possible. I don't blame her.  She just started and she needs to learn as much as she can about the business--every aspect of it, and I am going on maternity leave in a few weeks.

This week has been all about meetings, conference calls and one-on-ones that when I'm at work, I'd almost totally forget that I'm near-full-term pregnant until such time that I need to get up from my seat and I feel my back hurt and my bladder getting squeezed.  Then I'd run to the ladies room!  On most days, I couldn't even eat my lunch on time.

Luckily, I have to see my doctor every week now and when it's time to make that visit, I am reminded of the reality that I have to take care of myself and be conscious of this very valuable bundle that I carry with me.

My doctor ordered one more test called Antepartum Testing, which I have to do twice a week.  This test takes about 45 minutes and it involves a brief ultrasound to observe the baby and measure the fluid around him.  Then it's followed by a Non-Stress Test or NST where two monitor pieces are attached to my belly--one is used to listen to the baby's heartbeat and graph his heart rate and the other to detect contractions.  The NST takes about 20-30 minutes and the whole time I'm just listening to my baby's heartbeat.

It's a lot of trips to the doctor's but I can't complain.  I love the sight of my baby's silhouette in that monitor and the sound of his heartbeat is music to my ears.  It also makes me feel better getting this kind of attention and care from my doctors, especially as I get closer and closer to the big day!

I also had a full-blown ultrasound today, and below is a short clip showing my baby's little heart beating (see between the two yellow broken lines). Unfortunately, I couldn't get the sounds to work. If you look closer, you'll actually see a silhouette of my baby and his ribcage.

In Good Company

My father is currently vacationing at our place. However, his stay with us is what I would consider the least "a vacation".

Since he got here, he has done nothing but do work around the house. He wakes up very early in the morning to cook oatmeal for me and Charles--our usual breakfast meal. When I come out to eat, he would already be outside watering the plants or cleaning the pool. When it's cold, he would take this time checking his emails or updating his Friendster and Multiply accounts--yes, my father is computer-savvy and he keeps himself updated with the latest technology and online networking tools.

During the day, my father works in the yard. So far, he's cleaned our surroundings, got rid of all the weeds and other undesirable shrubs and replaced them with different kinds of flowers, vegetables and herbs. He even planted fruit trees! When the afternoon gets hot, he treats himself by taking a dip in the pool and swimming a few laps. And then he starts cooking so by the time Charles and I get home, a nice warm dinner is waiting and ready for us to enjoy.

My father is a good man and I know him as one who takes pride in whatever he does. It was his decision to stay with us and not go with my mom to my sister's place so he could make us a garden. So I'd like to believe that he enjoys what he's doing because it often makes me feel bad seeing him work tirelessly and sweating out under the heat of the sun, when he could have been relaxing, sleeping, watching TV or going around seeing places. It breaks my heart even more when I get to sniff Bengay or Omega Pain Killer when passing by his room at night. He always says he's OK, but I still worry.

I'm definitely going to miss my parents when they return home. I wish they can just stay here for good, but they can't--not yet. But I hope that one day, we will all be together again--enjoying the fruits from the trees that my father grew, spending summers out in the yard which my parents helped beautify, playing with the kids whom they will help nurture, or just being there for each other when all we need is nothing but good company. And what better company is there than our very own family?

***Our herb and vegetable garden--thanks to my father!***

***Just one of the beautiful roses that now adorn our backyard***

Nature's Way (Week 34)

***At 34 weeks (photo taken by Charles)***

I promised myself that I wouldn't make this blog a pregnancy journal, but that I would write about my journey once in a while and maybe more as I get closer to the end of it.

I am now in my 34th week and I am entering the last phase of my pregnancy. This is what I would probably consider the most uncomfortable phase because luckily my first trimester wasn't such a hard slog. My baby should now be over 12 inches long from crown to rump and weighs about 5.5 pounds. I've gained a total of 25 pounds myself and everything is just taking a toll on my body, making it weak and often exhausted. I feel that my body is working so hard to keep up. I am not sleeping well because it's getting harder to find a good sleeping position--my back hurts when I lay flat, and my hips, legs and the side of my rib cage hurt when I lay on my side. The baby's movements are also getting more intense that they start waking me up in the middle of the night. When I'm sitting down, my butt hurts after a while and when I'm standing, the muscles in my lower body get so sore from carrying this large bundle. In other words, it's really getting harder and harder to move around.

I think that all the discomforts of the last month is nature's way of preparing me and other moms-to-be for labor and delivery. If not for these, I still would have wanted to prolong this journey because the thought of giving birth itself terrified me. But now, I'm ready--in fact, I can't wait! And the baby's frequent and more apparent movements, as if trying to communicate, is making me more excited. I am so looking forward to meeting him soon!

She And Her Family

I don't know if it's just me and my hormones, or if I'm simply over-reacting, but this really annoyed me--

A friend of mine circulated a photo to about 20 of her closest family and friends through email. The photo showed my very happy-looking friend swarmed by her two lovely pet dogs.

My friend: A picture of me and our kids, Cindy and Parker...

My friend's brother replied (copying everyone): Two babies and their overweight mother!!! (followed by three LOL smileys)

My friend's sister replied (copying everyone): AR, it's not nice to make fun of other people's weight...Malaki si K kasi hinahabol niya si T! (If I'm not mistaken, T is another brother of theirs who is also big)

My friend: Looks who's talking...I'm not the one who the doctor said should lose weight!

I just really feel sorry for my friend because I know she's not happy when people make an issue about her weight gain. Also, she has been trying to lose weight although I personally believe she doesn't need to. What's worse is that the very people who's making this an issue is her own family. And maybe they were just joking or kidding around, but why copy everyone? I know she loves her family but I hope they realize that they are being very mean and unsupportive and I my friend doesn't deserve that!

Tagged

Six Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy

I've read similar entries from Chichi and Mai, and lately a friend of mine tagged me at Facebook. I am supposed to choose and write about six unimportant things that make me happy. It was actually quite a struggle choosing six because a lot of the things that came to my mind were arguably important. So these are the ones I consider less important--


Designer Shoes and Handbags.  One friend of mine calls me a "shopaholic" because when there is something I really like, I feel so uneasy until I get it. I don't think I'm even close to being a shopaholic. I just like collecting shoes and handbags, and most of the ones I like just happen to have brand names attached to them. I admit that they are so unimportant and believe me--I've been trying to stay away from them, but for some reasons they do make me happy.  And it's sad!

No-occasion Flowers or Gifts.  I like these better than gifts and flowers during special occasions, but in these times of crisis I think no-occasion gifts are simply impractical.

Movies and DVDs.  I used to collect DVDs. I'd buy the movies that I have already seen--and liked, so when I have some time I watch them again. In the past, I would buy DVDs at full price right after they come out. But lately I've been good--I wait until they go on sale and I haven't bought a lot lately.

Diamonds.  I love looking and staring at them--they just make me happy! Each time I go to the mall I would stop by jewelry stores to sneak a quick look at their diamonds. Whenever we go to Costco for groceries and household supplies, I would always stop by their Fine Jewelry area. Charles would sometimes ask, "why do you always look in there if you're not going to buy?" I don't know--I just like them!

Dining Out.  I love dining out, I enjoy exploring new places to eat, different cuisines, different kinds of drinks. Food is undoubtedly important, but if you are eager and willing enough, you can always make good food at home and spend less than half of what you would spend eating in restaurants. But then again, there is something about eating out that I find enticing and very enjoyable.

Sleeping In.  I still think this is important, but Charles said it isn't, so I'm including this here as the last item. The one thing I like most about weekends and holidays is the opportunity to sleep in. Almost always Charles would wake me up, otherwise I'll end up sleeping until noon. He thinks it's a waste of time, but I love it! It rejuvenates me!

Holy Days

It is not how much we do,

but how much love we put in the doing.

It is not how much we give,

but how much love we put in the giving.

--Mother Teresa

Today, Good Friday is a holy day of obligation for us Catholics. But to me, it feels just like any ordinary day and it has been that way for years--since I moved to the US. Here we don't have holidays and non-working days during the Holy Week, so I have to go to work.

I remember my younger days when our family would observe Holy Week by going to church everyday for the entire week with the only exception of Saturday--the only day without mass or church activity. As a teenager, I wasn't so welcoming of the daily church trips and I envied some of my friends whose families would get away to Baguio or Tagaytay during the Holy Week. We didn't have the means to do so, but even if we did I highly doubt that my religious parents would even think about it. To them, it was a time to devote to God, to make sacrifices, to make amends, to spend time in prayer more than anything else.

I never thought I would miss those time, but I do now. I miss the Holy Week tradition we have back home--the processions, the days of abstinence when we would eat hot "champorado" or "binignit" for a meal, the Last Supper dinners on Holy Thursday when we would either pledge a dish or two for the priests or host dinner at our home, the Easter Vigil and the "Hugos" or "Sugat" where little kids dressed like angels sing in unison while one angel--the soloist, changes Mama Mary's black veil to white as a symbol of joy and celebration! I remember my little brother becoming that one angel, I still remember how he sang the song, how shaky his voice was, but how beautiful it sounded in the midst of the cold night.

Here we don't observe Holy Week the way we do back home, but I do remember well and one day I will experience it again and so will my kid(s).

Photographing Babies

So I did my first photoshoot on Saturday.  Subject was my friend Shirlene's baby.  Although I didn't think I did very well (I wasn't overly happy with the photos--they were just OK), I had fun doing the shoot!  

Photographing babies is a lot more challenging than I imagined.  I thought it would be a breeze since I had been taking photos of my nephew every chance I get.  But when I was out there with the only intention of taking photos of this precious little child, I felt so much pressure.  I went there with a game plan that was hardly followed.  I had to be really patient and had to click the shutter at the right time so I can capture the baby's smile and other emotions.  I had to think instantly about how to make him pose, where to let him sit or crawl, where to get the best available light, where's the best angle, whether or not to use props and what's available.  There were just way too many things to consider and I was overwhelmed.  After the photoshoot, I think part of me was all the more convinced that I can't really make a career in photography.

On the other hand, I really did enjoy the whole process.  So the other part of me thinks I should do it more often, and that same part hopes there will be more opportunities to shoot.  Moreover, I learned to use my camera's Burst mode and this has now become one of my favorite functions.

Meet little William Morgan Sue.  Well, he's not exactly somebody I would call "little".  He's only 4 months old but he already weighs about 20 pounds.  He's bigger than most other babies his age, and he's adorable!  We did the shoot for about an hour and he was extremely behaved the entire time.  He didn't cry--not even once.

These are baby William's loving parents, my colleague Shirlene and her hub Morgan.  They are both from Burma but have lived here since they were college students.

Baby changed to his cute little Japanese outfit later in the shoot.  This was just one of the many sweet moments between mom and baby and I was happy to capture them!

You can check out more Baby William photos at My Flickr.  Meanwhile, I think I need to practice more because pretty soon I will be photographing my own!  

Photoshoot

I'm getting ready for a photoshoot that I'll be doing tomorrow, and I'm quite excited about it.  

I offered to take photos of a friend's baby--for nothing.  Or I shouldn't say for "nothing" because I know I'll gain from it.  I'll gain experience and practice, and this is what I need to be better.

You see, this friend and colleague of mine just had a baby and she brought her little one to a studio for professional photos.  She paid $130 for only eight poses, one photo per pose and she has to pay more to order prints.  This price would have been reasonable if the photos were really good, but sadly my friend wasn't happy with them. 

I, on the other hand was very excited when she told me she was taking her son to a professional photographer.  I begged her to show me the photos so I would get some inspiration from them.  But I, too was disappointed.  To me, the photos were not what I would expect to come from a pro.  

I felt bad for my friend so I offered to take photos of her baby.  This is not to say that I can do better--I know I'm not that good, hence I won't be charging her for anything.  I'll give her the files and if she likes any of them, she can have them printed.  She almost cried in disbelief and eversince I made that offer, she kept asking me everyday, "Are you sure you want to do this?  Let me just pay you or at least buy you something!"  And each time she asks, I'd simply reply "This is good experience for me and it'll allow me to practice, so don't even worry about it.  I love doing this--I love taking pictures!"

So I hope things will go well tomorrow.  I hope the baby will be in a pleasant mood and I hope, really hope that the photos will turn out descent!