For some reason, I want to watch this movie. I think nadala ako sa love team ni Richard Gutierrez and KC Concepcion. Haha!
I'm not really a rabid fan of Richard or KC. I mean, hey, they're such a gorgeous couple and one can't help but just admire them. And note, ang ganda ng kili-kili ni KC. I don't think there's anything NOT beautiful about this girl.
There's this one particular scene that I like in the teaser--when KC and Richard was sharing an ice cream cone. Ang guwapo ni Richard!
I had my monthly check-up today and Mommy and baby are doing fine. My doctor has a small doppler in the office so we heard the baby's heartbeat.
I lost another pound in the last couple of weeks. I guess that's ok as of now so I have the leeway to gain the pounds on my last trimester. My doctor only wants me to gain 10 lbs ever since I started my pregnancy. I've already lost 5 lbs since then so I guess I can gain 15 now. Haha! :)
I feel better than ever and feel I'm not pregnant except for my expanding stomach and my frequent urge to pee. Sleeping straight is already difficult as I wake up early morning with my bladder bursting. The constipation has also started. I spent the last 2 hours in the bathroom trying to poop but nothing comes out. I already ate pineapple chunks tonight and tomorrow morning, I'll be sharing Leo's oatmeal. Hopefully that will do the trick.
My doctor berated me though for not eating when I'm hungry. Last Monday and Tuesday, I came home at 10PM and was too tired to eat dinner. Well, I ate a bit but not enough. Same thing happened yesterday night. When Leo picked me up at ATC, my stomach was really churning as I was so hungry. My OB told me to bring cheeses to the office and yougurt so I have something to chew/drink when I'm hungry. I don't really have my appetite back maybe that's why I'm not too keen on eating. At least there's no more vomiting.
I saw this at my friend Joelle's blog and I knew I have to post this here as well.
Last Friday, my colleagues at work and I were chatting about Rick Astley's concert and how Roderick Paulate used to emulate him in his shows either with Vilma Santos or Carmi Martin. From the voice up to the dance moves, he's definitely Rick Astley (well of course, Rick Astley is paler in skin color compared to him).
Of course, somebody just had to have Roderick Paulate guest at Rick Astley's concert, much to the fans' excitement and amusement.
I woke up 430 this morning trying to sort a work related problem out in my mind. It does not help that I've been really tired for the past couple of days and waking up this early in the morning does not help.
I really need to learn to turn my mind off about work once I enter the door of our house/room. I guess it has become a habit for me to bring the work home that I'm barely getting rest worrying. Good thing it's a Saturday today at least I can catch up on my sleep later on.
I freaked when I heard the news. David Cook...here...in...Manila. Where I can finally see him face to face (of course, depending which seats I will get. Hah!). Oh joy oh joy!
If you check the link, his concert will be on JANUARY 27, 2009....
JANUARY 27, 2009 JANUARY 27...
@%$^@$#%@$#%#$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My due date is on January 24th!!! Aaaargggghhh!!!!
If God wants me to watch David Cook then my baby will be born early. If my baby comes on time, then I guess it's just something that I have to accept but I will surely mourn the missed opportunity. Though how much I love David, my baby comes first, of course.
I should post this in the review section but I wanted it to cross-post in my other blog.
I saw this place a long time ago at Westgate. Since Leo and I frequent the area (Cafe Breton--our sometimes default eating place if we can't think of anything else), we always see the restaurant with lots of people. We never thought of eating there (we aren't adventurous eaters) until I saw the good reviews in some egroups that I frequent.
Leo was the first one who managed to try out the place. He said that the food was nice but there's too many people and it's difficult to get a table. Everytime I would invite him to eat there, he's hesitant because of too many people in the place.
Since it's Carlo's (Leo's cousin) last day today before he returns to the US tomorrow, we (he, Papa and I) decided to eat out as some sort of despedida for him. Papa suggested Westgate and I suggested Kanin Club. Carlo was laughing at the name but I told him he shouldn't judge the place by its name as I've heard good reviews about it.
Fortunately, we were able to secure a table but since it was our first time, it took awhile for us to order. Carlo, being the vegetarian that he is, ordered their vegetarian fare, adobong kangkong and brown rice while I ordered the Sinigang na Sinangag, Crispy Pata and Ensaladang Kangkong for me and Papa (I ordered Papa not to eat the fat).
I was actually excited to try their Sinigang na Sinangag (or was that Sinangag na Sinigang?). It's rice that tastes exactly like Sinigang and it has the "sahog" of Sinigang as well! It was absolutely DELICIOUS! Puwede na siyang ulam as in! Imagine, the rice has tempura kangkong, eggplant, labanos, tomatoes like a regular sinigang but there's no soup! As in, ang sarap! Try it! Try it!
The Crispy Pata is ok, I've had better but it went well with the Sinigang na Sinangag.
For dessert, we had turon with corn ice cream. According to Carlo, it's really good but I didn't like that the turon had ube, macapuno and red beans in it together with the banana. Ugh. I wish it was only banana and langka and then fried with brown sugar. Yumyum. Corn ice cream was the topping and the good thing about it was that it doesn't taste like corn!
I think they have another branch in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Don't know if there is any in the north area. So in case you're in the south, do try the restaurant out. It's really worth the trip.
Leo and I are planning our First Year Anniversary celebration. Is there anywhere that we can go that does not entail getting there by plane? Where the travel time will not exceed 4 hours?
Tagaytay is already out of the question. We're there almost once a month and though we haven't explored it that much, we would prefer to go somewhere else.
Leo has been harping on Subic or Clark, but I don't know what else to do there. Any other suggestions?
In preparation for the time that I won't be able to wear contacts during my pregnancy, I bought a new pair of glasses. Leo was teasing me that we're beginning to look alike (he has the same type of glasses) and that I'm beginning to look my twin sister as well (she also has black rimmed glasses!).
So, here was my pair before:
And my new pair now. It's not really that lopsided. I just twisted my head and the glasses sort of skewed. Heh.
Today was the first time I was this stressed ever since I learned I was pregnant.
Ever since those 2 blue lines came out on my pregnancy test, I was really taking it easy. I made it a goal to leave the office by 6PM and my wonderful mother-in-law ensured that that would happen (she picks me up from work and I don't dare make her wait for me. Nakakahiya!). However, today was horribly draining.
It started off with the one-on-ones that I did with some of my officers. We discussed their first half performance and thought of ways for them to make their second half performance better. I think what really made it draining was that I did 6 in a row today (only took a break for lunch). I never realized that I invested my whole self in those talks. As their manager, I had to be sincere (which I am!) that I care for their well-being and for the growth of their career. My throat is sore from all the talking and coaching that I did. Some of them were scared already with all the changes and I had to reassure them that they are fine and that they are good at what they do (which they are! I'm so proud of my team. *sniff*). I made it a goal that they all left the room feeling better about themselves and encouraged them to do even better this second half.
To top that off, I had to make the announcement on several organizational structure changes. Everyone was shedding a tear (even me included), although there were a lot of laughing, ribbing and teasing in between. I will have 4 people leaving my team, albeit it would only be temporary, but they will be sorely missed. I'll be temporarily losing 3 good people and permanently the other one. I know this is something beyond my control and I look forward to the time when they will return to my fold. This was the most difficult decision that I have ever made in my career as a manager and I did not hesitate to share this with them and with my boss. I know that there will be other challenges that will come my way and I hope I will be stronger (and hopefully less stressed) when that happens.
Oh and when I thought the day was over, another department gave me an account which was endorsed by the business and which they WANT to be approved today. Being beyond our country's delegation, we had to send it all the way to our boss in the region who in turn declined it. So my bosses and I were on a conference call explaining to our regional boss about the account and he gave us suggestions on how to go about it. Then, we had another conference call with the business head who wanted the account approved and we were arguing for the next 10-15 minutes about it. We were going in circles until finally my boss stepped in, said a few choice words and ended the call.
When I got back to my workstation, I felt that every juice was squeezed from me. I was literally hanging by a thread and just one more incident will push me over the edge. Good thing my mother-in-law texted me that she's already done with her appointment and will pick me up. Thank God!
So here I am, ogling the pictures of my new niece (congrats Claudine and Jeff! Betsin is just a beautiful chubby cute little girl!) and trying to get the day out of my system. I still have one more interesting news to break tomorrow but I have higher hopes that it will be less stressful than this one. I already have a spiel which I will use for the person involved and I hope it'll really turn out better than I would expect.
I got the results of my blood tests yesterday. I'm happy to say that I'm diabetes and thalassemia free! Yay!
However, this doesn't mean that I can indulge as much sweets as I want. I still have to keep them in moderation. I don't plan to eat too much though and I still keep away from softdrinks and iced teas. At least I can have my favourite fruit shakes now. Mwah mwah mwah. I missed you, my mango shake.
The low hemoglobin in my blood was due to iron deficiency. After I finish my folic acid, my doctor already prescribed other pre-natal vitamins, one which has iron. She also told me to take fish oil which supposedly will make the baby smarter.
My next ultrasound will be on my 24th week. By then, we'll know my baby's gender. That's hmmm..11 weeks or 3 months from now. Leo wants to get a 4-D ultrasound but we'll see.
In the meantime, I'll enjoy the rest of my 2nd trimester.
My friend, Mommyba tagged me to do this. And I think it's fun. Here goes...
The rules are simple. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
1. What was I doing 10 years ago? - Working for Infodyne, Inc. My first internet service provider.
2. What are the 5 things on my to-do list today? * visit my doctor (done) * post about my blood tests (done) * watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition * give up sugar * type up the minutes of meeting
3. Snacks I enjoy - pizza, fruits, ice cream (bawal na. huhu), Big Chill's fruit shake (bawal na rin)
4. Place where I lived Lemme see: Malate, Manila BF Homes, Paranaque City San Antonio Village, Makati City Mandaluyong City Muntinlupa City
5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire - Pay all my debts - Buy houses and condos and rent them out - Put up a trust fund for our children - Put up a scholarship fund for other children who can't afford to go to school - Be a full-time stay-at-home mom - Travel the world
6. People I want to know more are Jenny, Rowena, Cess, Max, Allan, Ivy, Ri and others who would want to volunteer. :)
White Blood Count - Normal (high) Red Blood Count - Normal (high) Red Cell Distribution Width - Normal (high) Rapid Plasma Reagin - Nonreactive HEPA A/B - Negative (although there's no Antibody meaning I'm not immunized against it) Urinalysis - nothing out of the ordinary
Bad news:
My Mean Cell Volume (MCV) and Mean Corpuscular Hgb (MCH) are low which is an indication of Thalassemia which my doctor says excessive bleeding. I was surprised as I don't really experience that much bleeding (well, papercuts sucks but they clot quickly). She also said that it is hereditary. If both my husband and I test positive for it, our baby might have it so we have to tell the attending pedia during birth to be extra-careful with the baby.
My blood sugar is high. Normal is 7.2 but my result was 7.7. My doctor already suspected this that was why she had me take the Oral Glucose Challenge this early in my pregnancy. Before I got pregnant, I was already diagnosed with Polycystic Ovaries and those with such a condition are known to have abnormal sugar levels. Fortunately, I was tested normal for my sugar early this year. Now that my sugar has risen, my doctor ordered me to take another test -- 3 hour 100g oral glucose tolerance test. I really hate this test. I previously had the 2hr 50 g test and that sucked. I have to drink this really sweet orangy thing and they had to take blood from me 3 times. With the 3 hour test, they will have to extract blood from me 4 times! And I have to stay in the hospital for 3 hours!
This test will prove if I'm considered diabetic. Right now, my doctor told me to already avoid simple sugars (meaning no cakes, ice cream, pastries, softdrinks, fruit juices/shakes...basically anything sweet). Later on, they'll probably modify my diet to even avoid food that allowed for diabetics.
Oh well, at least the doctor was able to detect it this early.
On a happier note, I had another ultrasound yesterday where the baby's nuchal transluscency was measured and to check for am an early indication for any abnormalities. Thank God that the results are normal.
During the ultrasound, we saw that baby is fully formed. We could see the head, hands, arms, legs and butt! His/her arms were flailing around and was even kicking. Measurement from head to rump is 51.23 mm with 148 beats/minute. The placenta is located anteriorly and not anywhere near the cervix.
I'll be starting the 11th week of my pregnancy next week. The nausea is still there. Just an hour ago, I threw up my dinner of soup and a few grapes. I was already feeling nauseous before dinner so I didn't eat too much. Good thing though as it did not make throwing up too much painful as I only consumed liquids.
Leo was quite alarmed at the color though when he saw our toilet. It was violet and orange! He thought I was having some sort of internal bleeding. If I could laugh, I would've doubled over but taking pity on him, between the hurlings I told him it was due to the grapes and Tropicana. That somehow calmed him a bit and he cleaned up after me and made sure I drank water.
Weirdly enough, I felt much better. Since I knew I have to eat something, I asked for a Big Mac and he had it delivered from McDonald's. I hated the smell of fries though so he ate that.
Speaking of which, a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't bear the smell of vinegar. When I had dinner, our lanai smelled as if something was rotting! I looked around and traced it from the vinegar. I had Leo smell it and he said it didn't smell different. I only managed to tolerate the smell, thank God, after a week of misery. I love the sour taste of vinegar and not being able to use it as a sauce would be sadenning.
I'm starting to show though .Actually when I wake up in the morning, my stomach is not that big but once I start eating, I really expand. I can now fully see the scar from my laparoscopy on my belly button. I'm starting to rub Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion on my tummy to hopefully minimize the stretchmarks. I'll be visiting my doctor on Friday to check on my blood test results. I really do pray that my blood sugar is still normal.
Just another four more weeks and I'll be done with my first trimester (tama ba ang bilang ko?). People are saying that the second trimester is the best period of a mother's pregnancy. I am so looking forward to that.
I finally gave in and availed of my car plan benefit. I refused to avail it at first as with the gas prices and toll getting home, I didn't find it beneficial. I find commuting more cost-effective.
However, one of the cars here at home already needs a replacement so Leo asked me to get a car. After canvassing, we decided on a Honda City 1.3 CVT colored alabaster silver. According to the salesperson, it's fuel-efficient--like a Vios. But Vios was more expensive.
Leo does not believe on naming cars but I want to call my first car Binky. I don't know why I came up with that name, but I like it. Binky.
I love my new car (even if I won't be able to drive it as much), especially the radio. I'm very easy to please thus I was overjoyed when I saw that the radio is USB-capable--meaning I can plug in my USB with songs and the radio can play it. Nifty! I plugged in my USB when I took the car home and it played the songs stored there! I haven't tried it but if I plug in my Ipod shuffle, it'll probably play it too! Nice! And it has a remote control too! Weeee! (shucks, ang babaw ko. Hahaha!)
There are other features but I'm not interested much in them. Hehe. I'm just happy with the radio. As long as it's an automatic and it gets me where I needed to go, I'm fine.
I've been a fan of Blizzard Games (Warcraft, Diablo etc) and managed to finished their games as well. I recall playing Diablo five years ago with much gusto and fanfare that I was disappointed when I finished it. I wanted more! However, with the many things that happened in my life, I somehow forgot all about it.
But then, a friend just had to email our ygroups the url of Diablo III. All the while I thought it was already available and got all excited just to find out that it's still being developed with no release date in sight. (waaaah)
I now have this sudden urge to play Diablo II or even Warcraft (either Frozen Throne or Reign of Chaos) just to get the edge off. I hope my baby won't have nightmares because of this.
I stayed at home for the past 2 weeks as ordered by my doctor. Only venturing out to go to mass or go to my doctor. So what did I do the past 2 weeks?
1. Watch TV Thank God for cable. I became a couch potato and have memorized most of the program schedules. For instance, I watch Ellen and the Price is Right from 1 to 3 pm everyday and afterwhich, I take a nap. There are also the replays of CSIs (yup, all 3) which can be found at AXN (Ch 49) and Fox Crime (Ch 50) either early in the morning or in the evening starting at 8PM. Chuck is showing on Mondays, CSI on Tuesdays (NY) and Wednesdays (LV and Miami), Amazing Race Asia replay on Wednesdays (before CSI Las Vegas). Yeah, lots of wonderful shows on the boob tube. By the way, Price is Right--my new favourite show. :) Not only are the games interesting but they sure have a LOT of wacky contestants.
2. Internet Surfing The Almighty Internet--and a dual connection at that. I never figured out why Leo wanted 2 DSL providers (PLDT and Globe) at home. Thank God he pushed through with it as PLDT has the tendency to go down. That's why Leo programmed my default to Globe which surprisingly has a better connection. My favourite sites: davidcook.org, pep.ph, inquirer.net, yahoogames.com
3. Sleep Oh yeah, the best thing there is. My baby is one happy peapod as his/her mommy was able to get some rest away from the stress. Sure, work intrudes once inawhile (like yesterday, I received more than a dozen emails from work as we're going to face something big starting today or tomorrow and my OIC wants my opinion on some of the stuff that he will be doing to handle it). But at least I get to sleep whenever I want and wake up whenever I want. I need to store up as after a few months, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep as much.
4. Read I didn't have anything new to read as I already finished Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series (yup, all 3 of them). So I eagerly await my People subscription that comes every Tuesday or Wednesday and reread my mommy books. I still have my People crossword that keeps me preoccupied as well.
5. Eat Well, not as much as I want. Last week was bad for me. I couldn't eat whatever was served as I didn't like it and weird enough, I HATED the smell of vinegar as it smelled like rotten food! Leo said he could not smell anything but the whole dining area stank! Odd though, I could stomach it again this week. I had to think what I wanted to eat everyday and I had Leo go out and buy it. So far, I made him buy Chowking noodles, Reyes Barbecue liempo and McDonald's. Yeah, not as healthy as it should be, but it was the only thing I wanted to eat at that time. This week was relatively better. I could eat what was served but only at little amounts. Not like last week where I could not really eat at all.
That's basically it. I know it's not as productive as I wanted it to be, but at least I had the rest that I need. The real world beckons next week and I have to prepare for that as well.
Went to Asian Hospital today to take the tests that my OB ordered. I'm ok with the blood draws but I really hated the glucose test. It's an Oral Glucose Challenge Test wherein I had to drink this 50mg sweet orangy thing (like Royal Tru Orange although sweeter). It took so much willpower from me not to throw up the thing and through it all, I kept in mind my mom's advise--repeating to myself "Don't throw up. Don't throw up." Because if I threw up, we had to do the whole thing all over thing and it's something that I was not looking forward to.
It's not yet finished though. After a few months, my OB will have me take the test again (or probably the tolerance test instead of the challenge where fasting is involved and probably a larger dose. Please no!).
Other than the OGCT, I had a urinalysis and 7 other blood tests. According to my OB, these are mandatory for pregnant women. I was squeamish as the medtech (or was that the nurse) had to extract 3 vials worth of blood. Aaarggggh! Ewwwww! Leo and I had to pay for the tests ourselves as these were not covered by my HMO. Good thing I have a discount card with Asian Hospital which gave us a 20% discount.
While searching for David Cook clips in Youtube, I saw David Archuleta videos as well. While viewing them I realized how pure his voice is. A different league from David Cook. Maybe after a few months, I will play this song (as well as other Christmas songs by David Archuleta) to my baby that I found in Youtube.
I know this is too early for Christmas but I almost cried when I heard this version:
Sorry if the video is not clear, but well, just listen to his voice and you'll know what I mean.
Not contented, I looked for other videos of David Archuleta and admittedly, I liked his version of the US National Anthem compared to David Cook. However, David Cook is still the best eye-candy there is.
Yesterday, the Philippine Coast Guard washed their hands from the MV Princess of the Stars sinking incident. Saying that for typhoon signal #1, it's the owner's and ship captain's prerogative to sail.
Ok, I accept this but don't they have weather reports and everything? Did the weather report say that the storm will hit their route? Did they not see this coming? Did they think that their ship is strong enough to withstand strong winds and waves? Did the storm suddenly change course?
It's just so frustrating that a tragedy such as this could have been avoidable. I really can't understand it. No wonder the vice-admiral got a tongue-lashing from the president.
And these people! How can they travel knowing that the rains are hard and there's a storm? Did they not see that the rains are coming down hard? I get nervous just seeing rain while on a boat. I'd rather just wait for a storm to pass before I travel.
So far as of Inquirer's breaking news as of 10AM this morning, 32 survivors have been found but 700 are still missing. Also, 5 have been confirmed dead. I still hope that they still can find the others. A group was found in a coastal town along Quezon.
I should post this in the review section but I wanted it to cross-post in my other blog. 
