Dear Peanut

P.S. Earthquake!! I just rubbed my tummy and disrupted your home, did you feel it? :)

Love,






Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).

Dear Peanut,

People (at least the ones who know about our pregnancy, more about it later) always ask me if I have some specific food cravings. In other words, saan daw ako naglilihi. It's a typical question people always ask pregnant couples.

Just to give you an idea, pinaglihi ako sa puto. That fluffy, white, steamed rice cake with a slice of cheese on top. Your Lola Mommy (LMO) ate it a lot when she was pregnant with me.

Ang puti puti ko dapat diba? Kaso nahulog daw sa dinuguan! So that explains my kayumanggi (morena) skin when I was a baby. By the way, dinuguan is a pork stew simmered in pig's blood. Sounds disgusting? When you read the description, yeah, but it's quite heavenly when you taste it and when it's cooked right.

Your LMO and Lolo Daddy (LD) also told me pinaglihi daw ako sa duhat, a tropical fruit in the Philippines distinguished by its black skin and dark purple flesh. I think I tried it once or twice but if you Google it, it looks like a big grape.

Anyway, I've been on the lookout for favorite things to eat when we found out that you're on the way. I couldn't think of any, really, except for that Lucban longganisa that I have yet to eat because I can't find some in Malaysia. Apart from sausages, I can't think of any other crazy food obsession I have right now.

I eat salted egg squid every Friday after swimming. But that's normal. I mean, I eat it all the time. But maybe hindi sa pagkain kita pinaglilihi. The only thing I'm obsessed right now is swimming.

We try to swim once a week and I always look forward to it. I drag SC out of bed every Friday morning just so we can swim.

At first, I was scared to go to the deepest end of the pool but now I can do laps without long breaks! Because I'm pregnant, I try to be extra careful so I don't do laps in the beginning. But now, it's more like a routine.

However, we noticed that since I started doing laps, I always feel more exhausted when we get home. So I take an hour-long nap before I work again. There's also increased heart rate when we get home, maybe it's because of the cardio part of the swimming. But after the nap, it goes back to normal.

I guess pinaglilihi kita sa swimming. Like sperm swimming towards the egg, hahaha. And also sausages, Lucban longganisa, and your daddy's face.

Perhaps it's all the pregnancy hormones but I feel like I am more in love with your daddy now than ever before. Actually, even before we made you (hahaha), I noticed that I've never been more in love with him than I am now. That's why I always look at his face before we sleep. Para mamana mo yung Aladdin good looks ng tatay mo!

Love, your very in-love mother,







Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).

Dear Peanut,

When we first found out that you're a boy, SC said it has something to do with the mother's testosterone levels prior to the pregnancy. I'm not sure how much of it is true or where he read that but come to think of it, all that workout before we conceived probably had something to do with you becoming a boy.

And probably because of SC's trolling.

Or maybe because I was craving for Lucban longganisa all the time. But since we can't find it here, we had to settle for sausages. One time, I didn't want to cook so I went down to the pub below our condo and ordered 6 pieces of sausages all for me. That's how far the obsession with longganisa went.

At #15Weeks, I still have not eaten any good longganisa here. Your Lola Mama (LMA) was supposed to send some from Manila but her friend wasn't able to bring it, sheesh. And just last night, your Lolo Daddy and Lola Mommy ordered some from Buddy's, one of my favorite places to eat Lucban longganisa. They sent this last night:

I mean, grabe lang mang-inggit diba? Hahaha.

And that's probably why you became a boy. :) Oh and we already have your name and a theme for your baby shower! I'll tell you about it in another post.

Love,





Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).

Dear Peanut,

As I previously mentioned, coffee was the first to go when we first found out about you.

I remember there was one time I couldn't help it I sipped exactly 14 teaspoons of black coffee from SC's cup before he turned it into Kopi-O, which is a Malaysian brewed coffee with condensed milk. I was so scared that I measured it very carefully. It felt and tasted sooo great I probably had a coffee orgasm in the kitchen, hahahaha.

But later on, I read that drinking coffee is not that bad for pregnant women (unlike wine and smoking and drugs). It's actually okay to drink a little. Even some friends told us the same. So now, I get to drink small servings of Kopi-O every now and then. Just a little, so I can focus on work.

But there were other things--some used to be my favorite---that pregnancy kicked out of my system but hopefully not for good.

I used to love mushrooms. Sauteed mushrooms with soy sauce. I always cook it as a side dish. I also used to cook creamy mushroom pasta. But now, every time I smell or see mushrooms, I feel like vomiting. I cringe, literally.

I experience the same thing with onions. Sauteed red onions to be exact. I used to love mushroom + onions but now, I hate the combo so much we switched to white onions altogether.

During the first trimester, I couldn't cook. Not that I can't get out of bed and cook, I just don't want to. Before you, I would always search Tastemade and Buzzfeed for quick recipes for the whole week. SC likes variety in home cooked meals, so I make sure I have at least 2 to 3 ulam I cook from scratch every week.

But during the first trimester, I felt exhausted and tamad all the time. I put SC in charge of the kitchen, so that means we get to order takeout food most of the time, haha.

Now that we're in our second trimester, I feel the energy and the excitement for cooking come back. There was one week I cooked 4 ulam that we had so many leftovers we just kept heating them. Oh, and for the first time, I was able to cook pochero from scratch but without the saging na saba because they don't have it in Malaysia.

Let's see what else I can whip up in the kitchen this trimester. :)

Love,






Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).

Dear Peanut,

I also notice that despite not being able to exercise as intense as before (with all the kickboxing and weight lifting), I'm not really that big yet.

I mean, I imagine I would balloon like crazy by the time we're 4 months pregnant. But no, I still look like I just have a food baby instead of a real baby inside my tummy.

In fact, Dr. AZ said I actually lost a bit of weight during the 2nd prenatal checkup. Not really sure how that happened but it was probably because of the exhaustion.

When we first found out about you, the first thing we got rid of was coffee. Before, I drink 3 to 4 cups of brewed coffee a day. Some friends already told us before that coffee's not good for pregnancy, same with wine, beer, and anything alcoholic. So we got rid of that first.

Naturally, I felt very sleepy that I take naps every afternoon. I even sleep early, probably because of the lack of caffeine and I feel very tired all the time. Eventually, I read that during the first trimester pregnant women feel tired all the time because apart from the developing the fetus, they're also making the placenta.

But apart from the exhaustion and lower back pains, I don't feel any of the other *normal* pregnancy symptoms like vomiting, nausea, and morning sickness. You know, those things that you see in movies and TV shows all the time.

I felt some cramps, but slightly less painful that the normal premenstrual cramps I go through. Dr.AZ said this is normal during the first trimester. I keep listening to my body why I don't have the normal pregnancy symptoms, I guess I won the lottery.

When your AuntieAD was pregnant with your cousin Vianne, she said she looked like Bella in the Twilight movies when the character was pregnant. She felt sick all the time. She didn't like sunlight and she had a hard time eating so she actually lost so much weight. Her skin turned a bit gray.

I've heard some friends go through many unpleasant pregnancy symptoms so when we found about you, we're always on the lookout for vomiting and morning sickness episodes, but nah.

We're already at #15weeks now and nothing. I hope we feel this way all the way to your full term. :)

Love,





Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).

Dear Peanut,

Early in May 2017, SC and I bought 6 months' worth of post-natal lotions and creams for me. We came across this warehouse sale of a big healthcare store here in Malaysia. They do one at least twice a year.

When we saw how cheap they were selling the Palmer's Post Natal Firming Lotion at the event, we immediately grabbed what we can! We could have bought more but we had to take into consideration the expiration dates. If these items are not on sale, they go up as high as MYR30 each. We bought a 2-bottle pack for only MYR10. I mean, wow! I wanted to buy out all the stocks and sell them in Manila at MYR30 each, hahaha.

Since we found out that you're on the way, I've been very diligent with skincare, especially in moisturizing. I read that there's really no sure way to prevent stretch marks but some friends recommended applying pure coconut oil every night. I searched about it online and many say it helps, maybe not to totally prevent stretch marks but at least minimize how they look and help recover faster.

SC and I found a brand that works well for me.


For its size, it's not that expensive. I use this every night. Sometimes, when I'm lazy, I just double up my usual moisturizer, Nivea Intensive Moisture body milk. Also because the smell of the coconut oil is quite powerful.

But I'm glad it doesn't make me feel like vomiting (like how mushrooms and onion are now, more on that later), but I do smell like biko na may latik every time I use it. SC doesn't hate it, but it's not his favorite smell on me either.

Again, this blog is not meant to review any products. Nope, but I still want to share with you some of the things I add to my routine to prepare for you and take care of me. :)

Love,

Update (as of March 29, 2018): Changed my codename from Queen Bitch (QB) to Tiger Mom (TM).

Crayon Shin-chan is a popular anime show shown on TV when we were younger. You and SC should do this when you're a older, yeah?

That's not your face. the perfect circle on the left side of what looks like your face is actually your stomach. I actually can't imagine it but since you're only as big as an apple now, it makes sense.

This scan shows the size of your head.

Don't panic, you don't look like this.