4M

happy 4th month, Kian!
weight: 7.72kg (16.98lbs)

kuya showing some love!

here you are imitating daddy:

kian is now at the "playful" stage. sometimes when the daddy and kuya are playing, he watches them intently, like he wants to join them already. but im sure, in no time, he'll be running around with them, jumping up and down, adding mess to the already chaotic house that we have. he drools a lot, blows raspberries already and watches keenly when we are eating! dont worry, soon you'll be eating with us =D. in the morning when you wake up and you want to "get up" already, you'll fuss and try to lift your body like saying "pick me up already!" but of course, mommy is still not a morning person despite having two little kids =D. and when i give you my breast, you'll gladly sleep for at least another hour giving me time to refresh some more after a late night (not bec of you, but bec of the internet) lol.

thank you for not giving me a hard time. thank you for waking up with a very sweet smile each time despite being woken up by your kuya prematurely (in fairness, he wakes you up with a very cheerful "G'MORNING!!!"). thank you for always chuckling at our funny faces and enduring kuya's (sometimes) rough play. we love you very much!!

Strike Anywhere

as i've said many times, kian is a very low maintenance baby compared to his older brother. but i think we're partly to blame for cayden's fussiness before. of course, as first time parents, we really didnt have a clue as to how to raise a baby. although my mom guided us, we had to learn most things by ourselves.

with cayden, we were always on our toes. we worried too much with him. it's like cayden commanded us. we were scared of him. so when kian was born, we said we'd correct our mistakes. we knew better. initially, it made me feel guilty - that im not "loving" him as much as i did his older brother just because i dont fuss too much with his every cry. i always tell myself it's also for kian's own good. i have to show him im the boss! =D

because of that, kian doesnt cry much (cayden wasnt a cry baby either but putting him to sleep and feeding got a bit stressful. we had to devise strategies because he liked things done a certain way). kian does not even cry when he's soiled his nappy. he can sleep with a gentle rocking, sometimes, he can soothe himself to sleep. he doesnt need my boobs to fall asleep as cayden did. he sleeps through the night (i dreamfeed him though). he only gets grumpy when he couldnt sleep in the afternoon because his kuya has been shouting and making so much noise lol. but even that doesnt take long =D

touch wood, i dont jinx it with this post lol

he falls asleep instantly whenever my brother looks after him

kian sleeps from 9pm until his brother wakes him up the next day =D

on his bouncer

while waiting for us to get ready

while lola's watching her telenovelas

on the rocking chair

Look Alike

as pointed out by my brother's girlfriend (wen), kian looks like russell from disney-pixar's UP here:

russell pic from google

and how about this? kian looking like chuckie lol (only without teeth hahaha!)

pic from cheezburger.com

so, who does kian look like more? hehehe

3M

kian is turning 4 months old on thursday. and before i forget to blog about his 3rd, here it is....

at 13 weeks, he weighed 7.2kg (15.84lbs). he's on the 75th percentile, which basically means that he is as heavy or heavier than 75% of babies his age. well, he feeds a lot and sleeps a lot, that's why! =D

his bones are quite strong as he can already support himself standing and sitting up, of course while leaning on something. he is a bit lazy though. he doesnt like tummy time so much lol!

he is very sociable. he coos and smiles a lot especially if talked to. and i love his facial expressions when you converse with him. it's as if he's really talking to you and making sense! haha!

we celebrated his 3rd month with my sister, nephew and youngest brother, who came for a holiday. he got a bit spoilt as he'd be picked up and carried when he cried. lots of yayas to comfort him and to answer to his back and call! now im trying to re-train him to get used to lying down and playing by himself again.

anyways, here he was on his 3rd month:

more pics here

39W, 2D

pic taken 7 feb '11

you'd think he'll want to come out soon since he doesnt fit in my tummy that well anymore! but he's got other plans, i tell you!

i am feeling some mild contractions, painful at times. but still not regular. and im having this feeling that he'll go over his due date, like his big brother.

o well, as long as the delivery will be as straight forward as his kuya's, sige na nga. stay as long as you like (but not to the point that mommy will have to be induced, ok?)

Time To Panic?

on my phone:

gosh, in 33 days (and in a few minutes, 32 days!), kian will be with us, that is, if he pops out on his due date! if he's like his older brother, then it's another week. but heck, there's not much time left and we still have a lot of things to do!!! but what if he decides to come out early? my midwife tells me it will be quicker this time as i havent given birth with cayden that long ago. uh-oh!!!

our bedroom is still not ready. not even the initial project tantan has started (the hallways - up and down). our house is small (with only 3 bedrooms) and all rooms are occupied already. cayden's room is the smallest so we cant put the 2 boys in there. since kian will be breastfeeding, he'll stay in our room first until we can buy a bigger house, budget and mortgage deals permitting.

tantan has really been very busy with school projects (2 written reports to be submitted and 1 oral to prepare for in the new year) and the fact that this family has been plagued with sickness.

on top of that, i havent even brought out cayden's baby clothes that kian will use. i have an idea of where they are but obviously, they have to be laundered and ironed, prior, ready to be used. i havent even prepared my hospital bag yet!!!! i wanted to wait till our room is ready before i bring the clothes out but i guess, i cant wait for that any longer. i will have to do it real soon!

and lastly, we need to disinfect the whole house! oh my god, i need my mom! but she wont be back till the 30th of january. im so overwhelmed with all the tasks that i need to do but we've been set back by unforeseen things. hopefully, i will regain my composure and get everything ready before kian pops out.

29 Weeks Exactly

only 11 more weeks and kian will be with us (that is if he decides to come on time =D)! if he's anything like his older brother, we may have to wait another 6 days before he shows his cute face =D

today commences my 30th week of pregnancy. where has time gone!? i've got a little nudger inside me - very active and playful. oftentimes, i get tickled by all his movements! but that's great, right?

he only scared me once. im used to him being so active that last monday, i couldnt feel him move at all! last time i felt him was at around 7am that morning. it's almost lunch time and he hasnt even hiccuped once! i read that they should move at least 10 times in 2hours. i couldnt focus on my work, i was contemplating on calling my midwife to tell her about my concerns.

i read that if i drink something cold and sweet, that'll make them move. i only had water with me so i decided to buy a soda. lo and behold! i felt him moving again. i told tantan afterwards that his little nudger is somewhat "maluho".

so what's my tummy like now? BIG and HEAVY!

credits: shabby princess gabby badge album

Big Bird

after my anomaly scan a week ago, a sonographer approached me and asked if i want to volunteer as a test subject for their fetal heart scanning course. the governing trust that did my scan (which is also where i work) is a teaching hospital and they run different courses to train people in their respective fields from all over the country. she said im a really good candidate because of my slim structure, which would make seeing the baby very easy. since the course was set on my day off, i said yes. it's another good excuse to see the baby!

the course is to train sonographers to detect anomalies of the fetal heart. there were 4 of us (pregnant ladies) who volunteered at that particular time slot and there were 20 people booked for the course. i had 5 people testing me for an hour. the course instructor assigned to me was a male senior OB-GYNE consultant and he was very good. before the scanning began, i asked the consultant if he'll be kind enough to confirm my baby's gender (hoping? lol). i told him that i was told the baby's a boy and i just want to see the proof =D (im just curious at what they look at/for and it's all interesting to me).

after the scan, he showed me and there it was... no doubting it's a boy lol! he took some pictures and gave them to me. too bad the whole body profile wont print and they were running out of time so i just ended up with 2 facial profiles and the pututoy pic =D. they also gave me chocolates as a token of appreciation. if it wasn't for the parking problem i had (i had to park in a very tight spot!!! - lack of space), it would have been a perfectly good experience.

oh, the scan went very well. the structure of baby's heart is all good. he was also very cooperative that the doctor said they didnt have to manipulate the probe much to get a very good view =D

the clue is in the 3rd picture!
credits: shabby princess gabby album badge

What's In A Name

ever since we conceived our first child, tantan was adamant that we name our son DIEGO ANGELO (as in ang-he-lo). angelo - maybe, but diego... over my dead body! i just dont like the way it sounds. fortunately, i got my way and we named our first born, CAYDEN GABRIEL.

im now pregnant with our second boy. the daddy is insisting again that we call him diego angelo. a resounding NO from me. but as a compromise, we'll be using angelo (an-je-lo this time) as second name, para name ulit ng angel =D

here are the suggested first names prior to coming up with the one:
- gian
- aiden (but it sounds like cayden a lot, the kids might get confused)
- tristan
- eiichi (we started looking at japanese names)
- jiro
- kenji
- pedro (tantan suggested this)
- juan (this as well!)
- bronson (my sister suggested this as pang-inis lol - remember kasal kasali kasalo?)
- mikhail
- calvin

but finally, we agreed on the name KEAN. so baby #2 will be known as KEAN ANGELO =D

edit: correction, says the daddy. it should be KIAN not kean =D

Blue

blue as in boy!

credits: shabby princess, gabby badge album

i had my anomaly scan tuesday last week (@20 weeks and 3 days). i went alone as tantan wasnt given time off work to join me (school issues). anyways, i was a bit anxious and scared. i've never been to a scan, much more a very important (anomaly and gender) one, alone. my antenatal care is done at home (my midwife comes to my house) so that doesnt count - im in my comfort zone!

i was at the hospital on time, but as always, i was seen more than 20 minutes later. fortunately, the sonographer who did my scan was really chatty and has a very calming voice. i asked for 3 things:
1) pictures, of course! (if you dont ask, you dont get them. boo!)
2) to check if my subchorionic bleed is still present (it's been absorbed already so no more risks. yey!)
3) to tell me the gender

i will be a hypocrite if i tell you i didnt wish for a girl. as i've said previously, i HOPED for a boy just because we still have lots of baby boy things and it meant we wont be buying any more stuff. but i WISHED for a girl because it's still different if you've got one of each. and my our limit is 2! so i guess, i'll be the only one b*tching the boys around *evil laugh*.

i was almost certain we're having a girl this time. for one, i think i conceived days after contact (but tantan will say otherwise). then, i dont have an obvious linea negra (with cayden, around this time, i already have it and it went well past my navel) - they said if the line went up beyond the navel, you'll have a boy. if not, a girl. of course, this is one of those old wive's tales... then my first trim was totally the opposite of my pregnancy with cayden - it was a lot more difficult!

but i got over it as quickly as the sonographer told me it's a boy. im happy that the baby is healthy and i was able to get a close up view of its cute face (yawning!). and that's what matters most.

3 + 1

as many of you already know, im pregnant with our baby #2.

EDD: 12 Feb 2011
Credits: Shabby Princess Gabby Badge Album

it's funny that just a few years ago, you would hear me say "im not gonna have any kids". and then when we had cayden (well, just after giving birth, ie birth pains!), i said one is enough. but after some thought, we decided to have another one. some asked, why so soon. well, for one, im in my 30's already. tantan and i want to enjoy our kids while we're still young. 2ndly, we still remember doing baby stuff so it's like a case of striking while the iron is still hot. anyways, when i give birth, cayden will be almost 2 (22 months to be exact) so it's still a fairly reasonable gap (we were originally aiming for a 3-yr gap).

i found out im pregnant on the 1st day i missed my period. even before i took the pregnancy test, i already knew - felt, more like it. but compared to my first one, this has been more difficult. to start with, i have been having cramps, which i didnt have with cayden (cayden was all smooth sailing!). and then on my 5th week, i spotted. i had to go to A&E (accidents and emergencies). the doctors there were really helpful - not! all they were saying was "if you're going to miscarry, you will miscarry... nothing can stop that". how encouraging d ba?! i was referred to the early pregnancy unit to have a scan - a week after. so imagine the anticipation and anxiety of waiting. fortunately, baby has strong heartbeat. but they also found out i have a subchorionic bleed, that caused the spotting. the doctor said there's nothing to worry about bec it will be absorbed (by the placenta?) eventually. good thing my bestfriend is a doctor and his wife is an OB/GYNE. i asked about it and she calmed my nerves. but it's something that should be monitored.

i have 2 scans after that (1 private scan at 8 weeks and the routine dating scan here at 12 weeks). both showed that i still have the bleed. at around 14weeks, i had another episode of spotting which lasted for 4 days. scary, huh? next week, i will have my anomaly scan so i will ask the sonographer to have a look at the bleed as well, if it's still there. hopefully, it's been absorbed or at least shrunk.

that aside, my pregnancy has been relatively easy compared to what most pregnant ladies experience. but compared with my first one, this is more difficult. for the whole 1st trim (12-14 weeks), i felt nauseous all the time. i was stuck in bed (if im not at work) for most part of it. no vomiting though, which im really thankful for. i just felt dizzy and tired all the time but i guess, my blood pressure has something to do with it. it's at an all time low - 84/54 and it doesnt go higher than that. i guess that's better than having high blood pressure. im really grateful that my mom's here to look after the little boy as i dont think i would have coped with being pregnant and being a mommy to a very active toddler.

anyways, i am on my 19th week already. i still feel dizzy at times and i still feel tired all the time (usually later in the day).  i am always out of breath. the bright side, i can feel the baby move and just like cayden before, baby #2 is very active! we dont know the gender yet but we'll definitely ask. im hoping it's a boy just because cayden still has lots of clothes and most of it are only worn a few times. then there's the hand-me-downs from my nephews, which were only worn a few times too. but, im wishing it's a girl so i can have my own baby doll =D. but whatever, as long as it's healthy it wont matter.

2 is MY limit. boy or girl, we're only having 2. never say never but really, 2 is plenty enough!