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).