It was another ordinary day in the office and there I was brushing my teeth after lunch when suddenly… Wait, there’s something different with my face… Hmmmm… I move closer to the mirror… My nose is BIGGER!!! Sometimes these physical changes that comes with pregnancy just gives me the doldrums. Yeah, yeah. Its all part and parcel of being pregnant and like Carl says, its my body’s way of preparing for our little one but c’mon! Honestly, how would you feel if all the while you thought that the bulge just below your belly button was your growing baby only to have your doctor place the Doppler not on that bulge but way down below it? The bulge is a bilbil not the baby! And I was so looking forward to taking pictures and document the size of my bump starting this month but I can just imagine future conversations with my kid…
Child: Mommy, is that me when I was at your tummy at 3 months?
Me: No anak, that’s just mommy’s bilbil.
Ugh! I really should have gone into medicine to save myself all these ignorance and disappointments. Remind me again why I chose to be an engineer? Ah yes, because I thought my course was about COMMUNICATIONS ala Mass Communications not about antennas and semiconductors. And that’s another price I have to pay for my ignorance.
Anyway, on the brighter side of my bilbil story, we got to hear our baby’s heartbeat for the first time last Saturday. It was going so fast! =) The doctor recorded it at 150bpm – that’s about twice the normal heartrate for adults! It was really fascinating and Carl got to hear it too! Yey! =) The doctor gave a lot of advise for us first-time parents. Let me see if I can recall all of them.
1. Just buy 12 sets of baby clothes (4 sleeveless, 4 with sleeves, 4 longsleeves). The baby will outgrow them quickly. Choose white colors so that it can be used again for the next baby.
2. Start buying pampers dry or huggies dry when its sold at a discount. Get the M-L sizes because Carl is huge so our baby may also be big. Hehehe. =)
3. When bottle feeding, invest on the nipples – not the bottles.
4. Buy a wooden crib. Its more durable and hindi maalog.
5. Invest in a good quality, sturdy stroller. Pick the large one coz toddlers would still like to ride it.
6. Be financially ready. Prepare Php100,000 for childbirth – this will also cover emergencies. (Note: It only costs Php 7000 to give birth in the municipal lying-in clinics. A saleslady at Robinson’s told me.)
7. Have frequent sex on the 37th week of pregnancy. (Yes, its true.)
We are due for another check-up next month and I have just graduated from taking folic acid vitamins to iron+folic acid vitamins. The doctor also gave me a long list of food to avoid – coffee, tea, softdrinks, too sweet, too salty. Remember to drink my meds and Anmum everyday. Also eat lots of fruits and vegetables. As for food cravings… Well, I think its okay as long as its in moderation. Just last week I had this intense craving for dinuguan and dilis. =) Thanks to my officemate from Batangas who was kind enough to send me some dinuguan from their fiesta handaan. I was in seventh heaven that day! =)
My sis will be arriving from Zamboanga this Sunday and with her is my care package from Papa consisting of fresh fish – samaral, tanigue and yellow-fin tuna. =) Kainan na naman. Yahoo! =) Kaya naman pala lumalaki bilbil ko eh. Hahaha! =)
