Dear Peanut

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

Dear Peanut,

We’ve been quite busy these past few days and yesterday was quite tiring but we managed to do a lot.

First off, your father and I had a double booking with family (Cartagena and Eustaquio-Castillo sides). One of your aunties from the Cartagena side went home from New Zealand and they met in BGC for lunch and coffee.

As for you and me, we were all over boundaries of Pasig, Mandaluyong, and San Juan yesterday.

We met our immediate family (Eustaquio-Castillo side) for a boodle fight lunch in Eastwood City. It was supposed to be a Derla-Eustaquio family meeting to explain some of the plans we agreed on for your arrival. but since we double booked, we had to discuss plans separately.

Two months ago, I told your LolaMommy that I wanted to eat seaweeds, the type you eat along with grilled liempo and pusit on the beach when you go to Palawan. I don’t know what it’s called but it’s the slimy one with popping mini balls attached to it. Doesn’t sound appetizing, yeah, but they’re good.

Your grandmothers wanted to get me 1 kilo of that and I bolted. I just wanted to eat small portions. So they ordered the boodle set with seaweeds yesterday.

I was so happy because both your UncleP and AuntieA were with us for lunch. It’s quite hard to bring us all together now for a meal because of different schedules (business and medicine school).

Your UncleP tried to listen to your heartbeat yesterday using his stethoscope. He told me they rarely use an Ultrascope Doppler stethoscope in UP-PGH (he’s currently a 4th-year med student) because of lack of funds, so hardcore. It’s a bit faint (unlike when Dr.JMF listens to your heartbeat during our weekly checkups) and he mostly heard all the barbecue, seaweeds, and laing that I ate. Nonetheless, it’s quite cool.

After a hearty lunch at Eastwood, we went to Greenhills because your LolaMommy wanted to shop. Normally, I won’t expose myself to the Greenhills Madness at this point in my pregnancy but I needed the exercise. We ate at Auntie Pairings (Tita Paring, actually, but when I took your Castillo balikbayans here, they called it Auntie Pairings, so it sort of stuck) and I was able to eat very good suman sa latik with bad coffee, haha.

After Greenhills, we went to Estancia Mall and did an ocular at this restaurant for our family Christmas dinner. As you’ll soon know, we’re not the type who stays up late for Noche Buena. As far as I can remember, we always sleep through Noche Buena and wake up early Christmas morning to unwrap presents then we wait for relatives to visit. It has always been like this.

But about 3 or 4 years ago, I’ve insisted on just having Christmas dinner (usually on the 24th) at a nice restaurant so we don’t have to slave over the kitchen stove cooking. We want to enjoy good food with good ambiance.

I’m usually the one in charge of finding fancy restaurants. This year, I’ve decided to start early. After all, when I pop, I won’t have time to project-manage the nitty-gritty details. Better prepare ahead. And it’s so damn hard to fight for reservations come December.

I took your grandparents to the restaurant yesterday at Estancia Mall and I think they liked it so much that they insisted on booking the 10-seater private dining area on the spot. So now, I’m finalizing the customized menu with the manager. Good thing I’m a VIP member so we can get some freebies.

That’s it for now. We’re also bidding for a new client so I have a lot on my plate today. Please come out soon, otherwise, your father and I will ride a roller coaster at Star City para “bumaba ka na.” Dr.JMF said mataas ka pa daw. So I need to walk and walk and walk and allow gravity to take its course.

P.S. I was able to do an ocular and a quick meeting at one of the proposed venues for your baptismal. We’re trying to lay the groundwork for these events as early as we can so we won’t “plannick.”

Dear Peanut,
In an earlier post, I told you about winning the lack of usual pregnancy symptoms/effects. Well, karma is a bitch. Lumabas ngayon lahat starting at 35 weeks.

Lower Back Pain From Hell

The past week had been crazy. I’ve had shoulders and back pain before but the pregnancy-related lower back pain is the epitome of all that things shitty related to back pain.

Sometimes, I couldn’t get up from our bed without asking your father for help. He would laugh first, thinking that I look like an overturned turtle with my big pregnant belly trying to get up but fighting a losing battle. Then he’d help me.

Sometimes, in the morning, I would call him and he would help me get up from the bed by hugging me and pulling me upwards. It’s not sexy.


Phantom Pee in the Middle of the Night

Sometimes, I need to nudge your father awake in the middle of the night so I can get up and pee. You’re pushing my bladder and whenever you move, the sensation is like my bladder would burst.

But when I get to the bathroom, only a fucking trickle. I’m not mad at you. As you may know by now, your father and I like profanity. (P.S. You will only be allowed to curse like this out in the open when you turn 18).


Octoberfest Feet

My feet are like sausages now. And they hurt. In fact, whenever I take a bath, I can’t reach my lower body anymore that I’d ask your father to help me bathe. No, shower sex is officially off the menu (at least for the meantime). It’s not sexy at all.

I can’t reach my feet anymore. So your father needs to bathe my legs and feet for me. You know how, sometimes, when you cook Lucban longganisa and the thin casing would sizzle and burst open? That’s how it feels every time your father would wash my feet. They hurt, even at the slightest touch.

One time, he was squatting at our shower and when he got up, nataaman nya yung faucet. He got a huge gash from that incident and for weeks, he had to wear 3 to 4 Band-Aids (because we didn’t have a big one).

As of writing, he has a huge scar on his lower right back. Not sure if it will fade away in time, but if it’s still there years from now, this blog entry is a testament to your father’s dedication to cleaning my sausage-like feet when I was still carrying you.

Super Itchy !@#@($)@$*@($ Skin

When we were still in Malaysia, I often had a hard time sleeping mostly because of itchy skin. I remember a phase when I would steal whisky from your father’s stash and take 2 shots so I can sleep. For some time, alcohol helped me sleep. I was writing 2 books back then so I needed something to numb me down.

But when we found out about, alcohol was the first to go. The pregnancy-related exhaustion helped me sleep and for that, I was really, really thankful. I would be knocked out as early as 9pm. Miracles do happen. No itchy skin.

That continued when we went back to the Philippines. As soon as we have successfully set up our new home, I was able to enjoy deep sleep and long naps, despite suffering from lower back pain.

But these past few days, the itchy sensation return. I really don’t know where it’s coming from. The doctor said it’s pregnancy-related. And probably stress-related.

My stomach feels itchy. My boobs feel itchy. And it only happens at night when I’m trying to sleep. We’ve tried putting coconut oil, pregnancy-safe creams and lotions, and even talcum powder and sometimes, they help. Sometimes, they don’t.

One time, I was only able to sleep at 4 am and had to play games on my mobile phone to “let it pass.” Honestly, I have started to detest nighttime because I know I would have to go through it before I can get some sleep.

Sitting and walking for long periods of time hurt too. We are currently #38weeks and 3 days now and I can pop anytime. But that’s for another entry.

XOXO,


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

Dear Peanut,

Yeah, so we're down to the last stretch.  Your time to go out into the world starts next week. Next. Fucking. Week.  I’m not sure how it will go down but I’m looking forward that it goes well.

We have attended the final pregnancy seminar in our hospital today and got the last batch of free baby-related shit that we can get. It has been quite a journey and it’s kind of fun to think back to the last few months leading to this.

During the 1st trimester, there wasn’t a lot of changes in your mother’s body. Aside from the monthly check-ups, there wasn’t really any changes in our routine. This was the time that we would go swimming every week to get some exercise.

 This is also true for the 2nd trimester since her belly is just starting to swell up, as you were starting to grow and take a more human form because initially, you looked like the face hugger hatchlings from Aliens based on the ultrasound photos. The upside is your mother’s jugs increased in cup size. The downside is that her nipples are the size of China.

Now, this third trimester is a different story. So based on what the doctor told us during the seminar and the shit we have read, this is the time that most of the things are set up. You are just growing until you are right for the picking. That means you get bigger and heavier and so is your mother’s belly. Now her movement is really compromised.

She really can’t bend down so when she drops things on the floor, especially when I’m not around, it’s going to stay there for a while. Sometimes she gets creative and uses a broom to pick up small things and ends up sweeping the entire house, so now our floors are dust-free.

Getting up from lying down position is also a Herculean task for her. She is like an overturned turtle trying to get up, it’s kind of funny. You should see it yourself.  Don’t get me started about her feet. They look like they are about to be served in Octoberfest alongside with sauerkraut and beer.

Yeah, anyway, here we are just waiting for the day that your mother will go into labor. We are hoping you’d do it around Oct 30th, just in time for the long weekend. I can be off for two weeks! Woohoo!

So until then, we’ll be playing the waiting game.

Regards,

Dear Peanut,

As your father already told you in a previous post, I am a major control freak and a germaphobe that I put isopropyl alcohol on everything.

That’s probably the fault of your LolaMommy, who brought us up with the same fear of germs, actually more on the fear of the effect of germs on contact. I remember she would scold us if we don’t wipe restaurant utensils with tissue or douse them with hot water first before using them. And she still does this! That’s how paranoid we are.

I’ve read several articles online about how to prepare for a newborn’s arrival. Apart from the breathing techniques, packing the hospital bag, and prenatal classes, it’s also important to prepare one’s home for the arrival of a new baby. And just like what our very cool and very practical OB, Dr.JMF, told us, it’s best to invest in cleaning services for our home. And that’s what we did last weekend.

Following the air conditioner cleaning last Saturday, the team from ThermoDry EcoSteam Sanitizing Services (TDES) did a great job sanitizing and germ-proofing our home the following day.

The scheduled time was 8 o’clock in the morning. Quite early yes. The original schedule was actually on October 15 but we wanted the house cleaned and sanitized before the 10th for peace of mind. So I asked the owner, Judy, if we can have it on October 8 instead and the only slot available is at 8 o'clock in the morning. We grabbed it.

The TDES team arrived ahead of schedule last Sunday. When I asked them what time they arrived at the condo, they said they were already at the parking lot at 7:09 am. I was surprised and deeply humbled. I mean, they could have gone straight to the lobby and ask the receptionist to call us up so they could start but they let us sleep a little longer before going up. It’s the little things that make for excellent customer service, really.

They started cleaning before 8:00 am, after explaining to us the tasks on the job order. It took them less than 4 hours to thoroughly clean, sanitize, and germ-proof a 60-sqm condo unit with balcony.

We had all the curtains and mattresses eco-steam cleaned, including your crib, portabed (portable bed), and stroller. As a first-time, expecting mother, I am even more paranoid about chemicals in cleaning products. What’s good about TDES is that they use organic, food grade cleaning solutions so it’s safe for babies, even pets. I actually asked if they can spritz some on SC’s face, hahaha.

Eco-steaming your crib.

I haven’t really tried many cleaning services because SC and I do the cleaning ourselves, but we were impressed by the top-of-line cleaning equipment they use. But the best part is that they were able to clean, sanitize, and germ-proof the hard-to-reach places such as that part with the door hinges (the dust gets trapped and the dried dust gets musty sometimes) and the corner grout in the bathroom, all of which I can’t reach anymore because of my big belly. They inform you every time they use a new cleaning solution and a new equipment. They also offered a lot of tips for better cleaning.

Refreshing our bed for your arrival. <3

Sanitizing and getting our home in order is no easy task. We’ve been at it for a month now. In the past few years, SC and I have become some sort of semi-minimalist. We don’t like to hoard things. Heck, we don’t even have TV at home because we both think it kills productivity.

We don’t even have too much food in our fridge (that's why your grandparents also worry if we're eating homecooked meals at all, hahaha), just enough food for the week (and also because the grandparents give us a lot of free food). We also have this first-in, first-out protocol. Unlike your LolaMommy's fridge in our Pasig Home, you can see everything in our small fridge because we try to finish what we have before buying new stock. I don't know if that's minimalist living but that's one of the best practices we've adopted when we got married.

And I’ve always been a control freak but, and I don’t know how and when it started, SC is even more of a control freak now. He’s in charge of the floors and he would get all stressed out if the floors are not clean before we call it a day. PRAISE THE LORD! Finally! Hindi sya nagsimula na ganyan!

A clean, nice-smelling home is always a treat after a long day. Getting the TDES team to work on our new home is one of the best investments we’ve made so far in preparation for your arrival.

Anytime now, Peanut. We are ready for you. <3

P.S. So it really takes a village to raise (and prepare for the arrival of) a child.

Love,

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

Dear Peanut,

Tomorrow, October 10, 2017, we are officially at 37 weeks. Based on our previous checkups with Dr.JMF, I can go into labor anytime starting tomorrow. So you can only imagine how these past few weeks went by.

SC and I went on shopping sprees and #Peanut errands and attended numerous seminars at our chosen hospital to prepare ourselves and our home for your arrival. We call it “plannicking” (planning + panicking). We’ve also packed the hospital bag, hoarded freebies from seminars (Pampers!!!!), bought futons for the second bedroom, and hand washed all your itsy-bitsy newborn clothes. I ripped one of the bigkis, they’re so fragile!

Handwashing all those tiny clothes is more difficult than handwashing all my thongs and sexy underwear, I swear! And I never thought that ironing all your newborn clothes can be so stressful at first.

I destroyed our iron’s thermostat that we had to borrow one from your LolaMommy while it’s being fixed. I also learned a few tricks when handwashing newborn clothes: untie before washing, otherwise, you’d end up with curly ribbons that are just a pain in the ass to iron.

Slowly learning and keeping myself from panicking. I’m sure we’ll learn more hacks along the way.

We are so excited to see you! <3

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