Hang in there Natnat!

I went for my regular OB visit yesterday and mentioned about the cramps and tightening of my belly for the past 4 days to my Dr. The night before, I woke up several times bc my belly was tightening and I have to switched different sleeping positions. He did his usual routine - check for baby's heartbeat, measured my uterus and everything's okay...One addition to the procedure was he checked my cervix to make sure it's not changing..oh man, that was uncomfy :( anyway, he advised me to call Labor and Delivery at the UWMC if the contraction comes up again so they can monitor me. So, I went home ate lunch - Mc's Fish Filet :) been craving for it for days, drank lots of fluid (could be I'm dehydrated) and went to take a nap...I felt a few mild contractions between my naps, nothing painful...Woke up after 3 hours and I felt a strong one, painless, my belly is just so tight - pwede nang pag-pis-itan ng kuto (jk for tita pips) so I called L&D and spoke to a nurse, she said to just stay home and drink lots of fluids and watch for frequency and intensity on my contractions...

I've heard a lot of pregnant women have false labor/Braxton Hicks in the 3rd tri which is worst than mine...some of them can't even stand or walk...mine is tolerable, not uncomfy except when Natnat would place his foot/arm under my ribs...The contractions so far was all the same in intensity and frequency varies, sometimes there's 4 in an hour sometimes 2 or none...I was just worried it could be a sign of pre-term labor, I always make sure nothing changes in my discharge and no vlood...Funny thing is that my contractions started after I visited Keith at the hospital and it went on after Pia's also and until now...Seems like Natnat's so anxious to come out bc his playmates are out already...He wanted to play now!

Anyway, we're talking to him to hang in there for a while...He got 10 more weeks to go :)...(uh-oh! there's another contraction......lasted 8 seconds)

Keith's portrait

Check out keith's pictures at www.our365.com and search under hospital: northwest hospital and his birthday is 2.23.2009.

Sample Birth Announcement

I'm not actually making their announcement but I used them as a sample so I can create templates for Natnat's...I'll try if I can make it instead of ordering...They cost a little bit and I'm really crunching our moolas especially now that the economy is yucky...I have plenty of photo papers that I bought loooong time ago might as well use them...For now, I have three...I have more ideas but I'm tired now...my eyes are hurting staring at the palettes of colors and Daddy Uls is home and he's hungry...I hope the beef has defrosted by now so I can make 'nilagang baka' for dinner...(i'm so glad he's not craving for burgers otherwise, i'm doomed again, i mean my weight :P)....so what you guys think? Ideas are welcome :)
tatta for now...

Another winter wonderland in Seattle

This time I knew it will snow bc I checked the weather before I went
to bed. I'm glad I'm off at work and not planning to be out of the
house today. So I'll be staying home and do laundry :(

*edited*

At least the sun is out..hopefully it'll melt it later today.

Ian Almajano

Natnat's cousin Ian

Papa and baby

Tita and Ian

Baby wendell hehehe

Welcome Ian Almajano!

Born 2-24-09
Weight 6.95 lbs
Length 19.25 in

All cuddled up

As I'm doing this, I'm having cramps... Like period cramps, can't even
walk straight and move from side to side... I called Uls to come home
early from his internship... I was wondering if this is normal or
should I go to the ER...b/c I'm crying- that's how painful the
cramps...could it be braxton hicks(?)... My baby is moving tho

They're taking photographs of him

Welcome Keith Joseph Garma

Our new baby cousin and Natnats uncle :)

Mommy and Baby Keith

Born 2-23-09
Weight: around 7lbs
Length: I think 19 inches

Red Mango

After church treat for Natnat. It was either a choice of cinnabon or
scone/coffee cake from starbucks but this won over. Good job mommy! :P

Ynna's birthday invitation

The output of Ynna's birthday invitation after working on it for 4 hrs.

Ynovea is turning 7 on March 12th. But we're going to have a BBQ party
for her at Richmond beach park on the 14th. Hmm I wonder what's the
weather will be like that day.

Ynna is my baby. I took care of her from 4 mos til she's almost 2 yrs
old. I would slept with her at most nights since her mom worked in New
York for a year. I would get sleepless nights then go to school and
work the next day. It was a tough but I'm lucky to experience it. I
call it my training ground. Now I'm pretty confident when Natnat comes
to my world. I'd be strong to keep myself up at nights.

My visitors for today :)

The Almajanos: Ynna, Yssa, and Ylla. They had lunch here and they're
headed to Carkeek Park later.

Silhouette

Uls' shadow while reading his book. At first I was making fun of it
putting my own finger shadow to his nose like i'm picking his nose'.

Then I took this photo.

Tita Pipay is contagious....

LOL...just kidding...anyway, sorry gengen, i wasn't really on hiatus like tita pipay...see what you've done tita pipay? come back and blog again..we don't know what's up with you now...well, we know you have school and all you do is study but we misshooo :)

alright gen, here's an update from me...(like we don't live pretty close each other and we can just stop by at each other's house)...today is my friday at work. Yes, it's only wednesday and i like it when i only work 3 days b/c i get so darn tired every 5pm...i get home at 5:30p eat my dinner, which is usually leftovers, then check email real quick and off to bed...that's my life for the work week and on the weekends, i stay at home most of the time, cleaning and getting all the junkies out of Natnat's room so by the time hunbun takes the bed outta there, i can start painting (i wonder when that's gonna be- haaaaaaaaaaaannnniiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!)

so tomorrow, i'll be waking up late, yay!...i have the option to go to work and catch up on my stuff but we'll see how my mood goes...i'll most likely stay home in my pj's and sleep...sleep...and more sleep...HOWEVER, i'll be worried when payday comes b/c i'll be getting less since i only less hours :( *sigh* Broke again, which means, no going to the mall, movies, stores, target, ross, kmart and such...cuz no moola...

well, that's it...i've started doing my income tax, i decided to do it since i can't go anywhere - saves me up or rather i say no moola to shop...so i'll be doing our return the rest of the weekend...

Unexpected view

I didn't expect we were having about 2 inches of snow. It was
beautiful yesterday and i remember it was raining last night. Now I
gotta go the long way to work to avoid the hills :(

But it's the view outside my window is beautiful. I like it when
everything is covered with white.

To Tita Pipay

I'm having a flashback on our childhood days. We would eat swa/suha/
pumelo with vinegar in the summertime.

Mishoo :)

The most favorite soup of them all...

Soup #5 aka sibot/cows testicle soup.

I asked the guys what it taste like.

Me: man, anong lasa?
Manman: ano, it taste like medicine.
Jepoy: hindi man. It's earthy. The shaft is similar to a tendon.
Manman: o daddy ano lasa ng sibot?
Papang King (drunk): masalap. (cuz he's the cook)
*laughs*
Manman: Dy naman. One word mo naman eh.

Adobong kambing

Cooked by Papang Gene.

Sooo good. The meat is so soft. Not chewy at all.

Pulutan

This is what a typical bday food for my dad and uncles in our family.

Dinakdakan-grilled pork and liver tossed in pig's brain, lemon,green
onion and salt n pepper.

Jepoy: sweet, tangy, earthy and gamey.

Khelman: anong gamey? Malansa?

Tog: hindi, Yung pag kumain ka ng manok na native compared sa regular
na manok magkaiba lasa.

Khelman: anong lasa? Makunat?

All: *laughs*

Time to file!

Checklist:

• W2's 
• 1098-T (Tuition Statement)
• 1099-R (401K, pensions, retirement...)
• 1098-E (School loan interest)
• 1098 Mortgage Interests Statement
• Bank interests statements

Looks like I have all the required documents for filing our income tax return. I used to file my own return for the past 12 years but this year, I won't bother doing it because it's a little different. Well not really-I'm filing with a spouse :).  I haven't done this at all and I'm not going to try this year bc I have so many things to think of and do first. Mention pregnancy as the top priority hehe. 

I called my mom and asked how much her accountant charges for joint filers. She said last year was $60. Not bad! because I know HR block could charge for $100+. We're feeling the recession right now and every penny counts to us :) so told mom to call me when they're going to file their returns. 

hah! minus one burden on my shoulder. 10 more to go......sort of!

Food poisoning?

I was blogging at 5am this morning but looks like it didn't go through before my stiff neck post.I was up that early bc I woke up at 3am feeling nauseous. I was in the bathroom hugging my throne for hours -I call it that way bc it's the only thing I see zigillion times a day since conception :) I was throwing up and dizzy as well. I couldn't think of something that made me sick. I was fine when I went to bed last night. I even thought my morning sickness has come back. That would be a bummer! I had to let it all out until nothing comes out anymore. This was harder than my m/s before. I felt so tired and dehydrated. However I was so glad we stocked up with powerade the night before. Uls kept me drinking every now and then.
He thought it could be something I ate. He asked me all the foods I've taken. Bfast we ate together so that's scrambled eggs and rice. At noon I only had pretzel dog fresh from the oven, almond pretzel and strawberry lemonade. Then I didn't eat til game time for the superbowl, had spaghetti, BBQ, chicken from kfc,cheesecake from costco and organic corn chips w/ pico de gallo dip. I also had halaya (purple yam) for dessert. Of course I was really full and bloated.

After a couple hours in the bathroom I managed to get my sleep back. Then I woke up again after an hour bc my stomachs turning up again. Another moment with my throne. I noticed that my neck hurts too (see stiff neck blog). Two pain at the same time? I can't make it to work. At around 8 or 9ish I called my Dr and asked if I should see him. Been worried Natnats affected. Told him everything and could be food poisoning. I was told to keep drinking fluids and call them if I've a fever and dehydration.

I was relieved natnat's fine. Lesson for mommy: can't always have everything. See food?

Katakawan kasi.

Stiff Neck

Darn, I woke up with a stiff neck this morning right before my alarm went off. So today, I called in sick because I can't even lift myself out of bed this morning. Can't even roll myself otherwise I'll smooshed my dear Natnat. Uls had to support my head (imagine carrying a newborn) to lift me up since I need to use the bathroom. It was so painful. I took tylenol for pain, its the only thing I can take and not to exceed 4/day per my Dr. I usually get this when I'm really really stressed and I have my handy dandy muscle relaxant to take but can't take it this time.

My stiff neck could be for so many reasons. Maybe I slept funny-I wonder how? the only sleeping position is either my left/right side and lying on my back. We bought the tempur pedic pillow and so far haven't had it until now, that's been a while. Stress? I don't think so...I'm good, I think :) or maybe cold air hits the muscle aka 'nalamigan'. It was cold this morning because I woke up with having just the end of the blanket barely covering half of my body. Uls took it all on his side-he does this all the time. Sometimes I had to pin the blanket down on my side so he can't take it all away.

Anyway, I spent all day taking naps, giving my neck a hot compress which I'm still doing right at this moment. I think my skin's all red from the heat of the bag LOL...mamaya it'll be all wrinkly and old.

I wonder how long this would take this time without any muscle relaxant. It could be days. It's going to be difficult to work on patients tomorrow...Good luck to me!

The rest of the gulp crew

Tim, toggers, Tito Jony(behind toggers), bulate, ricky and wb... My
poor hubby still at work.

Touch down party

Jeps last guest to arrive... Just in time :)