My Boys

Paul was as excited as I was when Miggy finally came home from the hospital, after 13 days of confinement at the nursery care unit.

It was picture taking galore when Miggy got home. Hehe Here are my fave shots of my adorable boys -- yes, even the big one is adorable! Haha

Sarap panoorin matulog ni Miggy

Kunot noo

Gaya gaya si Daddy hehe :)

I love my boys to bits!

Hey, Miggy!

Look who's finally home after spending 13 days at the nursery care unit...

Joaquin Miguel Conquilla Baral... a.k.a. MIGGY!!!

My boys... Sleeping baby and super happy daddy! :)

Will post his story and more pics soon... :)

Miggy Update

Went to my ob-gyne today and had an IE. I'm now at 2 cm (from 1 cm last Saturday). At least we are making progress. :) She said if I don't go into labor until Saturday (Feb. 12), I would have to be admitted in the hospital and induced. Having the cervix open for a long time is not good as it becomes exposed and susceptible to infection. We are praying that I will go into labor by Saturday... Yesterday, I felt a bit worried, what if my cervix won't fully dilate? I found out that there are cases wherein the cervix doesn't dilate to the required 10 cm, as with the case of one of our HR managers, ROJ. Hers only dilated to 3 cm, so she delivered through c-section. In some, the cervix doesn't dilate at all, as with my bestfriend, Ese. She was induced (for labor to start) but was not responsive, cervix dilation did not happen, hence, c-section delivery.

Paul, Naynay and I are just continuing to pray and hope that I will have a normal delivery. I'm also thinking about my kuhmareng Marge's case. Before she gave birth, she was 1 cm for one week, then she went 3 cm and that's when labor started. She gave birth to her baby boy Bach through normal delivery. And boy, was he big, he was around 8 lbs! Idol ko nga yang si Marge, eh! Haha She's petite but she was able to endure it. Imagine, 8 lbs!

Anyway, so after my check up, Naynay and I went straight to SM, had lunch and did a lot of walking. We went home late afternoon already, then I walked and walked some more inside our apartment's compound. Good thing I could still access our wifi within the compound, so I wasn't that bored while walking back and forth in the area. :)

Hay, we're almost there, Miggy. We're almost there. I can't wait to see you and hold you. Your daddy is so excited, too! More excited than I am, actually. See you very, very soon, anak.

Miggy's 3D pic while in my tummy... He looks like his daddy!
I'm so excited! Soon, hindi na ako sa picture lang titingin. :)

Planning for Miggy's Baptism

Miggy hasn't come out yet but I'm already starting to plan for his baptism. Haha No, I'm not uber excited, it's actually not too early to plan because we want him to be baptized when he's around 2-3 months. So, that will be some time in April or May, not so very far, considering how time flies!

Anyway, our first option for the food is our wedding caterer, Ms. Leda of L. de Vera Catering, based in Sta. Maria, Bulacan. We were very much satisfied with their service during our wedding reception, that's why we are not having second thoughts on getting them for our next occasion. Our second option is to avail of the baptismal package of Max's. However, we're not very keen on getting this because of the venue... We find the function area of Max's SM Marilao branch too small to hold 100 people (our estimated  number of guests).

So, before I ramble away, I just wanted to share some photos from a supplier I'm eyeing - LoveLots. It's a supplier for cakes, cupcakes and other baked pastries. It's based in Manila, but I found out they're baking their stuff in Malolos, Bulacan (go, Bulakenyos!).

Check out these samples of their baptismal cakes and baby cupcakes, so cute!!! I want these for Miggy's baptism!

Baby with Mommy and Daddy

Hiding under the blanket...

Baby with teddy bear

The topper is edible!

And now, for the cupcakes...

Sitting baby

Sleeping baby

Cute hands

Babies!!!

They also have boxed cupcakes, great for giveaways! I'm thinking of having these as tokens for Miggy's ninongs and ninangs. :)

Baby under the blanket

  

Sitting baby

Aren't they cute? Will be sending them an e-mail to inquire about costs and arrange for a cake/cupcake tasting (which will happen after I give birth, of course). I can't wait!

Photo credits: All photos are taken from Lovelots' Facebook page

All Set for "D" Day

Yup, Miggy and I are all set for "D" day! Delivery day, that is.

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...


Miggy's bag (blue), my bag (black), clearbook of all maternity & baby-related docs,
baby book and sanitary kit

Miggy's bag contains a baby head pillow, the clothes he'll wear after delivery (I put these in a zip lock plastic bag), extra/changing clothes including receiving blankets, additional binders, mittens, booties, bonnets and wash cloth (I put these in a separate zippered plastic bag as well) and newborn diapers -- we didn't buy many as we still don't know which brand will be "hiyang" for Miggy. We just bought two small packs - one pack each of Huggies and EQ Dry. We wanted to try Pampers but unfortunately, the stores/groceries in our area didn't have stocks, the smallest size they have is small, which is still large for a newborn.
 

Contents of Miggy's bag

Aside from our clothes and sanitary kit, I also packed all maternity & baby-related documents and placed them in a clearbook (got the idea from legendarymommy.com). It contains my pregnancy book, check up notes, prescriptions, ultrasound results/reports, medical certificates and other important documents such as PhilHealth MDR, SSS MAT-1, our marriage certificate, etc.
 

Clearbook of docs plus Miggy's baby book

Miggy's ultrasound reports



Our marriage certificate

 

I also put a photo of Miggy in one of the clearbook pages
so I can take a look at it while I'm in labor, for inspiration/strength. Hehe :)


And of course, how can I forget my Sto. Niňo and rosary. I've had my Sto. Niňo since 1996, it was a gift from Naynay. I always bring it with me every time I travel. The rosary (blessed by the Pope) was given to me by my brother, Bong.

So there, we're all set. We're just patiently waiting for labor to kick in and off we'll go to the hospital. The hospital I'll give birth in is just a stone's throw away from our house, as in we could just walk (think Times Plaza to Manila Doctor's) to get there. :)

But I think we won't be waiting too long. We had a check-up yesterday and based on the IE, my cervix has dilated to 1 cm already. 9 more cms to go! I haven't felt any contractions yet so I was cleared by my ob-gyne to go home and relax, do some more walking (but just inside the house, no mall trips, don't use public toilets to avoid infection). If I won't go into labor today, I'll see her tomorrow for another IE to see how the dilation is progressing. I need to give birth not later than Saturday (February 12)  because the longer the cervix remains open, the more susceptible it is (and the baby, of course) to infection.

I'm still half excited, half nervous... We're just continuing to pray for a safe delivery.

Almost There...

Barely a month to go and we'll be saying hello to our little bundle of joy, our son, Joaquin Miguel! Paul and I are excited beyond words. Me, I'm excited AND nervous at the same time. I would be lying if I said "just a bit" nervous, because to be honest, I'm kinda scared... This is my first time to give birth and knowing that I have a low tolerance rate for pain, I'm not quite sure if I could take it. Labor pain, that is. But I will do everything in my power to overcome whatever, just to deliver our little angel safely into this world.

To Joaquin Miguel, our baby Miggy, our precious little one, your Daddy and I are looking forward to seeing you and holding you in our arms. We love you!

Photo/design credit: pingg.com