Motherhood 101: Baby Items & Equipment

I tried to steer away from this particular subject in my blog because I don't want my blog to become just another "baby blog". But recent conversations with my non-married friends and friends with no children yet prompted me to share what I am learning as a first time mom (in the hopes that it might help them in the future). I still don't plan to turn this into a "baby blog"... I have other things to write about. American Idol Season 9 is coming this January after all ;)

As first time parents, my husband and I didn't know the first thing about buying items and equipment for our baby save for what our friends and family told us and what we read on the internet. We tried to be practical in our choices but since Andrea was born, the reality of her wants and needs keeps challenging what we consider practical. Our way is probably not the most practical way but from the perspective of 2 working parents who are trying very hard to balance family, work and personal life (with no nanny to help us still, waaaah!)... this way works.

1. The crib

Our playpen/crib has vibrate function, lights, music and nature sounds... features that I was not really looking for and didn't think we needed, but are turning out to be really helpful. I am discovering that Andrea is not one for music, it does very little for her. So we never really got to use the music feature which plays Mozart's pieces. The nature sounds however, was very useful to us. When Andrea was about 2 weeks old, I found out that Andrea likes falling asleep to the sound of running water and splashing waves. It gave me about 30 minutes extra sleep time because I didn't have to lull her to sleep (when you're sleep deprived, trust me, any extra sleep time is a blessing!). I just put her in her crib and turn the nature sounds on. The vibrate function we were able to use when she was a little older, about a month and a half until now. It can calm her and put her to sleep when she's fussy or is having difficulty sleeping.

Andrea's upstairs playpen/crib

2. The infant car seat.

In other countries, this piece of equipment is mandatory whenever baby needs to ride in a car... but in this country, not so much. Baby car seats, after all, are not cheap. Our car seat converts to a baby carrier and is part of a travel system (stroller with carrier/car seat). I never really thought we needed the car seat. Then again we never really expected that Andrea will need to travel every weekday with just her daddy and her in the car... she was supposed to have a nanny with her as well. Having a car seat proved to be a life saver for us since I can't go with them on these trips. And even when I am in the car with them, my arms doesn't have to hurt from carrying Andrea the entire trip. It's really convenient.

As an added bonus, Andrea really likes it in her car seat/carrier. When used as a carrier, the bottom is rounded so it rocks back and forth. Andrea sleeps longer whenever we let her sleep there during the day.

Andrea's stroller and carrier/car seat

3. Swaddle Blanket

Swaddling - is the practice of wrapping infants snugly in blankets to limit the movement of their arms and legs. According to several baby books I've read, it makes them feel more secure.

Andrea's SwaddleMe blanket design

This item saved my sanity.

We saw this at the mall when we were shopping for baby items before Andrea was born but didn't get one because it was pricey compared to receiving blankets that you can use to swaddle a baby anyway. However, as babies grow fast, Andrea can manage to break out of her swaddle when she was about 3 weeks old and would wake up often in the middle of the night when the movement of her arms and legs startle her. More sleepless nights for me. She was about a month old when we finally decided to try this and lo! Andrea was able to sleep for 4 straight hours the first time she used it which allowed me to get a decent night's sleep for the first time since she was born. As of this writing, Andrea is 10 weeks old and has better control of her arms and legs but she still likes sleeping tightly swaddled.

This is available from Kiddopotamus (and available in the infant section of some local malls). I'm not sure if other brands have this.


4. BPA-free, Colic-free bottles

We will never know the effect of using BPA-free bottles until the babies this generation reach maturity and show a decrease in the occurence of the diseases that BPA is supposed to cause. So I won't go into that discussion. It's a good option though and I chose BPA-free bottles for Andrea.

Colic-free bottles are those that are angled to make sure that the nipple is always full of milk when baby is feeding to reduce air intake. Personally, I preferred the Playtex Ventaire system. Again, they are pricier than the regular feeding bottle (good thing ours was given to us as a gift :) but I have read some great reviews about these particular bottles and now, based on personal experience, Andrea does take in less air and sometimes does not even require burping after feeding when she uses these bottles as opposed to her other bottles. Less air means less possibility of crying due to tummy ache and less stress for me :)


5. Bouncer

Bouncers are infant chairs that move or "bounce" when a baby moves or when you flip a switch. this is one piece of equipment we regret not buying sooner. We can buy it now but since Andrea is already 2 and half months old and will only be able to use it for probably 2 more months, I don't think it's worth the price anymore. If we're having another baby in the future, I will definitely get one. Again, this can soothe or entertain a fussy baby and can reduce the time you have to carry your baby (as your baby gets heavier, carrying her for long periods gets to be very very tiring).

Example of a bouncer

All my suggestions are prompted by a single formula: Less crying time for Andrea = happier mommy and daddy ;) Each baby is unique and what works for us might not work for you (especially if you have plenty of help around, you may not need most of these items). Sometimes you need to get to know your baby first to figure out what the best options for you are.

Motherhood 101: It's easier to keep a clean house clean

That's one of the lessons I learned from our first experience with a housekeeper.

Our housekeeper/yaya left last Friday after 7 months of being with us. She was our first housekeeper She told me last Thursday that her father was ill and was rushed to the hospital and that if it's ok with me, she's leaving on Friday. Her timing couldn't have been more perfect. I was scheduled to go back to work today, Monday! Good thing my husband's parents are visiting and will still be with us for another week, they volunteered to watch Andrea while we are at work. As it is with every employer, I don't think we have the right to refuse any employee who wishes to leave. My house, after all, is not a prison. So I thanked her, gave her her last pay with the Christmas bonus she deserved anyway for giving us good service during her stay, and let her go.

So since last Friday, I've been taking care of Andrea AND cleaning the house AND doing the laundry and ironing (thanks to my mother-in-law, I don't have to do the cooking as well... life's little blessings). One thing I realized was that keeping my house clean is a lot easier now than it was before, because my housekeeper kept it clean before she left. Before she arrived, there were nooks and crannies in the house that I wasn't willing to clean myself so I left them be to get dirtier and dirtier. My housekeeper cleaned them for me. And for that, I thank her and wish her well.

Now I hope we find a new yaya for Andrea soon.

Motherhood 101: Stepping down from my 4-inch heels

There is no glamour in motherhood.

Seriously.

No matter how much effort and grace you put into it, the baby will vomit and pee on you... wherever, whenever. She will poop into her bath water during bath time. She will cry and scream during the most inopportune moments.

I have often wondered about moms whose lives revolve around their babies. They talk of nothing else and they don't have time for anything else. I find it annoying but I think I am beginning to understand. During the first few weeks and months after birth, that's all you have. Day in and day out, it's just you and your baby. You can't go out, you cease to have personal time and sleep becomes a myth. Your life becomes a neverending cycle of changing diapers, feeding, and giving baths to squirming little people (good thing they actually look cute whatever they do). There is no room for 4-inch heels when you have a baby on one arm and doing everything else with the other.

I am also beginning to understand postpartum depression. How can you not be depressed? You can't go out, you cease to have personal time and sleep becomes a myth. You have strech marks, you need to lose weight, and most of your clothes and shoes don't fit anymore (and you get this nagging feeling they probably never will again... ever!).
What I don't understand is how some women don't go through it. They probably don't have much of a life to begin with (kidding! Forgive me, I'm cranky, I haven't had any sleep yet).

Last October, this became my life.

Where were you when...

Do you find yourself recalling some momentous event in the past and asking yourself, where were you when it happened? Or what were you doing then? I think typhoon Ondoy which hit several areas in Luzon would be one of those.

Unlike many others, I won't have a memorable story to tell. Last Saturday was like any other Saturday in my household. We stayed at home all day. It was raining, but not that hard, and there was hardly any wind. I was wondering if there was a storm but had too much on my mind to think of turning on the television to check the news. See, I was planning to pack my hospital bag last weekend to get ready for the big day. But I also had some last minute things I needed to get done for the baby's nursery so I wanted to put everything in place to see what else I need.

My energy not being it's usual levels, I was exhausted come noontime. While we were having lunch, I told my husband maybe we should start decorating for Christmas the following week while I can still move around. He told me why wait until next week when there was no time like the present. I felt like I was working towards a deadline and my attention was entirely focused on all the things I was doing at once.

Too tired to do more, I settled down around 6PM and joined my husband in the living room to watch television. Imagine our surprise when they showed footage of Katipunan under water with newscasters saying water was neck deep in some parts. We were stunned and thought the media was exagerrating. My husband went outside the house to check but can see no sign of the devastation that was hitting Metro Manila. We were very fortunate. Our street was not affected but apparently, all roads leading out of there was underwater.

(So to my friends who expressed their concern, thank you so much! We were safe the entire time. Our area in Katipunan was not affected.)

They started showing footage of other places where the flood waters reached rooftops of 2-storey houses and people were camped out on their roofs with their families as rain continue to fall, waiting for rescuers which we all know now won't reach them for hours. I felt terrible... and somehow, a little guilty. While people were fighting for their lives... I was thinking of Christmas trees in September. And then they started announcing the general areas that were experiencing heavy flooding and to my horror, the area where my mom's house and my grandmother's house are was in the list. I checked my cellphone and noticed for the first time that I had no signal. I started running around the house looking for a place where I can get a signal. I was finally able to get my phone working and called my mom. They were ok and their area was not suffering either. The worst thing that happened to my family with regard to this typhoon was that my sister was forced to walk in flood waters up to her waist from the train station to our house. It took her a few hours to get home but she was already safely at home when I called.

We continued to watch the news in disbelief all night. It was obvious that the country was not ready for a disaster of this magnitude. Sad thought. It took hours to mobilize boats for rescue operations and the best that this guy with the National Disaster Coordination Council can do is to tell people to try to understand that they are having a hard time reaching them and that the best they can do at the moment is to stay calm and "...pairalin ang self-rescue or self-preservation". That annoying phrase was being repeated by the news anchors several times. Tell that to the family on the roof, scared sh*tless as they watch the flood waters continue to rage and rise around them, who are calling for help. "Pairalin nyo na lang po muna ang self preservation nyo."

Come Sunday and we see a lot of people organizing relief operations. My husband and his friends attempted to reach one of their friends in a heavily affected area to extend their help and spent the entire day there. And then we see the military being deployed... and you can't help but wonder, where were they yesterday?

Baby Shower

My team mates from work gave me a baby shower last Wednesday (September 16, 2009). I was really surprised because it came earlier than I expected (we usually give showers during a person's last week of work before they go on leave and I will still be here for another 2 weeks... I hope).

Thank you so much! I really like everything I got :D

Gifts... gifts...

... and more gifts! :)

How to Buy BPA-Free Anything

Since my husband's conversion to my BPA-free philosophy last Friday, we've been checking most of the plastics at home. I saw an episode of The Doctors last week (though I think it was an old episode) discussing BPA and they mentioned that one way to check if the plastic you are using is safe is to check the recycle number. I only remembered them mentioning that you should avoid products with recycle number 7.

More research yielded more information. To make sure you are buying BPA-free plastic products:

1. Check the recycle number. Avoid getting anything with recycle numbers 3, 6 or 7. Items with recycle numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5 are said to be safer.
(source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2106730_buy-bpa-free-baby-bottles.html?ref=fuel)

Recycle numbers can be found inside the recycle symbol (3 arrows in the shape of a triangle) usually molded at the bottom of plastic bottles. They look like this:



For more technical information on the meaning of recycle numbers, you can check out this site that I found: http://www.earthodyssey.com/symbols.html


2. Check the label. Most BPA-free products indicate they are BPA-free in the labels.

I've been checking recycle numbers of the plastics at home and though I have 5's... most are 6's and 7's. The Starbucks water bottle I've been using for a couple of years has recycle number 7. Good thing I don't really put anything hot in it, just cold water.

Motherhood 101: Going BPA-Free

I love my husband... I do! But sometimes it takes all of my willpower not to dance around singing out "I told you so!!!"

Latest issue: BPA-free anything.

BPA, or Bisphenol-A first entered my vocabulary a few months ago during a conversation with one of my officemates who asked me if I was getting BPA-free bottles for my baby. She told me she had to order online to get these bottles abroad because at the time, they were hard to find in our part of the world. I did a little research on BPA and found out the harmful effects that some experts are attributing to BPA exposure on babies.

So what is BPA?

"Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic known as polycarbonate, which is used in many consumer products, including reusable water bottles and baby bottles. "
(source: http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/challenge-defi/bisphenol-a_fs-fr_e.html)

Though some studies have shown that BPA has little effect on adults and children, exposure of babies up to 18 months shows increase risk of cancer and diabetes later in life, early onset of puberty, negative effects on the reproductive system, etc. Canada is working on banning baby bottles that contain BPA while several big establishments in the US (like Walmart and Toys 'R Us) will be removing them from their shelves by the end of the year, I think.

Given this information, I was still not totally convinced due to the price tag of BPA-free bottles. Until I saw these:

Playtex Ventaire Crystal Clear

Sometimes, you just have to see something you really, really like to convince you! They looked so pretty and classy! Trust me, the picture does not do these bottles justice. These really are pretty but they were a bit pricey (mall price for these here are almost double the price listed online) so my husband was dead set against it. He told me that the BPA issue is just a marketing campaign being used by manufacturers to charge high prices for their products. He told me that we were raised using the same bottles they are now banning and we turned out fine (I didn't want to raise the point that most of the people I know have complications during pregnancy). I decided to settle for these instead:

Playtex VentAire

These come at a lower price tag but with the same great user ratings, and still he said no. The "are-you-telling-me-she's-not-worth-it?" card doesn't seem to sway him this time. I planned to buy these anyway when he's not with me and let him deal with it when he sees it at home. Good thing my friend, El, said she's going to give me a set as a gift (thanks El!). I plan to buy a few other BPA-free bottles (from another brand maybe) to supplement this starter set.

Since then, I made an effort to buy baby items that are BPA-free, with my husband rolling his eyes, pouting and giving me dirty looks everytime he sees me at the check-out counter. I have learned to ignore him when I go shopping.

Last Friday was different. Friday night saw me at the babies section of the department store yet again, looking for a few items we still needed (and a few others we don't but I still wanted anyway). My husband wandered off for a while looking at other stuff and when we met up at the check-out counter, I saw that he was reading a brochure. When we got home, I saw that the brochure was from Babisil, discussing the effects of BPA. He showed it to me and asked "Hey, what if we buy this?"

Babisil Silbottle

So that was the shelf he was looking at. I just stared at him for a while, resisting my "I-told-you-so" urges.

"Did you check how much those are?", I asked because I know they cost around the same, or more, than Playtex VentAire Crystal Clear.

"Yup."

"And?"

"I like them, the look nice... and they're anti-colic, see?" (oh, so now he knows what anti-colic means... another concept I've been trying to explain to him for months!)

Sometimes, you really do just have to see something you like.

Project Nursery - Part 3

I swore to myself that I will turn one of my spare rooms into a nursery before the end of September (see Project Nursery - Part 1). And I even posted my design inspiration (see Project Nursery - Part 2). However, I got distracted... and lazy... and then discouraged when my husband vetoed the ceiling light that I wanted (telling me it looks like a "palanggana" i.e. cheap plastic wash basin... hmph!) and refused to paint the ceiling to look like a sky X( There goes my theme... I promised myself I'd get the room repainted but it definitely won't be before the end of September. Baby's stuff are alread in there and I don't want anything smelling of paint this close to D-Day.

Here's what I managed to accomplish so far:

Window area

Closet area

I also replaced the black metal bed with an extended single brass bed (my old bed from my mom's house, you can see the posts in the window area photo), but I will post photos of that after I finish the entire room and put the finishing touches.

For the window area, I put in a sheer swag curtain in pastel pink, yellow and green, and used wall stickers to create my night sky theme (yeah, yeah, there are 2 moons with one sun mingling with stars... not exactly astronomically accurate but that's what the pack came with!). I don't have the energy to do stenciling as I initially planned :( I'm going to add a couple of frames on both sides of the windows like this:


The pink frame that will go on the left is the 12-months photo frame where you put photos of your baby each month, while the green frame that will go on the left side is a family tree photo frame where you put photos of both grandmas and grandpas and mommy and daddy and baby. I just haven't gotten around to telling my husband to drill the holes so I can hang them. Maybe next week.

The closet area, I'm not yet so happy with. I also used wall stickers to create a garden theme but I am not yet sure about the positioning. My husband said I should put them at that level so you can see them when you're lying on the bed... I want to place them a bit lower... Hmmm... good things those stickers are removable. Anyway, I also created a sunny sky theme for the wall above the closet.

This is it for now. I plan to buy the set of drawers I want this week. Then I still need to get the table cover (which will match the garden theme on the closet) made. And I need to buy sheets for the bed that will match the overall theme (good luck to me!). I should be done in 2 weeks.

I miss...

... my beautiful feet.
Every time I look at them now, they're all puffy.

... my shoes.
I don't fit into any of my shoes anymore. I've been stuck to the 1-3 pairs that will fit my puffy feet for a few months now. I was looking for a pair of shoes this morning and I looked at my shoe organizer and realized I miss wearing my shoes and appreciating how nice my feet used to look in them. I hope they still fit me after all this. If not... well, perfect excuse to start buying new ones >:)

... my wedding ring.
I've gotten so used to it. But I only stopped wearing if for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, I'll be back to wearing it again soon.

... being able to walk gracefully.
Walking nowadays, aside from being a pain, consists of lifting your entire right side... then your left... and hope that you are moving forward in the process.

... a peaceful and uninterrupted night's sleep.

... being able to sleep on your back without anything hurting.

... being able to sleep without anything hurting... period.

... my clothes.
Maternity jeans suck. Maternity clothes suck.

... my artificially straight hair.
It's back to being all thick and wavy and difficult to keep neat.

... stepping into a weighing scale without wanting to cry.

... Diet Coke, beer, coffee.

Motherhood 101: Laying my Crib Issue to Rest

NOTE: If you're getting tired of reading baby-related shopping blogs, please avoid my blog for a while (until around mid-October). I'm really not buying anything for me or for any other part of the house except the nursery these days.

It's been weeks of stressing since my husband and I both decided on a playpen we both liked. It was a bit beyond our budget if we are to buy it here (as opposed to buying overseas) so we spent a lot of time exploring other buying options. I finally got tired after weeks of chasing leads so I told my husband that either we're buying it here, or we'll just get a different one. Then holding up baby girl's ultrasound photo, "...if you don't think she's worth it."

There are ways of getting what you want ;)

We made plans to go the main office of Chicco's local dealer this weekend to place our order because that's the only place where we can get the model and the color we wanted. But last night, we went to the mall to get a gift for a friend's baby. While I was shopping, my husband wandered off. When I finally caught up with him, I saw him playing with one of the Graco playpens displayed. I already had a nagging feeling we'd be going home with that playpen so I tried to get him to snap out of it. I told him we will compare so we left the playpen and went to the Chicco store where they have a display of the model we initially agreed on. He fidgeted with the playpen for a while then told me that he liked the Graco one better.

Bye-bye Chicco :(

Wow, he can be more fickle-minded than I am! Last shot... I tried to convince him subtly over dinner that the Chicco one is better but for some reason, he was fixated with the Graco one.

So my intuition proved right, we did go home with a playpen last night.

Baby girl's new playpen.

By the way, if you're wondering if cost had anything to do with my husband's decision, the answer is no. Both the Chicco and Graco playpens we were choosing from cost exactly the same. I'm slowly realizing that budget is as elastic a concept as Lastikman so why bother?

Motherhood 101: The 3D/4D Experience

I was in pain but it was the last day of the mall sale and I really wanted to get the more expensive stuff we need while they are discounted so I decided to suck it and asked my husband to go to the mall with me last Sunday. I was barely over 27 weeks and I know recommended period to get the 3D/4D ultrasound is between 28-32 weeks but I needed to know if baby is a girl or a boy so I can get to the shopping part armed with the knowledge (plus the fact that I really have been looking forward to this and with my EQ being unusually low when it comes to these things, I decided I didn't want to wait).

When we got to the mall, we went straight to the ultrasound clinic. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed at the experience. I mean I was excited at first when the image first came into view and I immediately thought "That looks like Helaena!" (my niece). But then, we started to realize that the images were not as clear as those displayed at the lobby, on the brochures and on the website. The session was supposed to last anywhere between 20-30 minutes but I got tired of it after only a few minutes... maybe becausee of the image quality. I really wasn't seeing anything new. Good thing we opted to get the cheaper package with photos only, no video. Though we can see the baby moving, I don't think we'd be able to appreciate it much given the quality of the images.

Anyway, we're having a baby girl and here she is:

We did make it to the shopping part (yey for me!!). She already has a bottle sterilizer, 2 sets of beddings and a bath tub. That was all we could carry since the comforters were bulky.

Parchment Craft

Parchment craft is a set of techniques that results to lace-like design on parchment paper. I bought tools and supplies for Pergamano parchment craft back in 2006 when my husband and I planned to DIY our wedding invitations. A few tries told me the idea was crazy to even consider. For one, Pergamano parchment is a bit expensive (P35 per sheet last time I bought) so it's not economical compared to just getting your invitations printed. And then each design takes as long as 2 hours to complete (depending on the complexity of the design). Imagine making 100+ pieces!

I parked this hobby for a long time and was only able to try again last week when I was trying to rebuild my archive of downloaded patterns (since I lost everything when our hard drive crashed). I was able to complete these 5. I still need to improve my coloring technique since it is nowhere near those I see online (those I see online are great!).

NOTE: The patterns used are not mine, I just downloaded them from different sites offering free patterns.


I linked up to the following link parties:

• Creative Itch
  

Project Nursery - Part 2

Technically, there aren't any updates about this project yet. I just want to post the design inspiration I picked for our nursery.

I got it from this site.

Pretty huh? I find myself being partial to blue and yellow lately (our bedroom is painted blue and white, and my living room motiff is yellow and blue).

My nursery space is a bit smaller and will only contain the built-in closet, a single bed (I don't think the baby will really sleep there... the room is only for his/her stuff), a table and a small shelf but I plan to get design elements from the photo above. The ceiling painted to look like a cloudy sky, for example (I'm still trying to get my husband to do the painting). And then, I will get this light from IKEA (I hope it's still available at the local distributor.)


And since we are not re-painting the walls, I can do some stenciling!! :) (If it turns out badly, then maybe we will decide to repaint, hehe).

Project Nursery - Part 1

This room will turn into a nursery before the end of September.

It's time to get creative! :D

Knowing when to let go

Ok this has nothing to do with my previous post about marriage *wink*.

Can you name 3 things you had to let go of in the past that was most difficult for you? (Let's stick with material things ok, it's a given that people are always hard to let go).

Here's mine:

1. Old letters - I was introduced to the concept of long term correspondence at an early age. My yaya since I was a baby decided she didn't want to move to the province with us and left us when I was 6 years old. I cried and screamed when I learned about it and cried, screamed and clawed at everyone who tried to restrain me the day she left (nothing really changed over the years huh?). I made her promise to write me and well... she did :) And then my childhood friend and her family migrated to the US when I was about 7 years old and we promised to write to each other. I have been exchanging handwritten letters with both of them until I was in high school.

And then we moved back to the city when I was in college after my parents separated and I had limited space. I needed to let go of some stuff and well... back then, my backpack containing the old letters were my mom's prime candidate for disposal. I didn't want to, but I can see my mom's point about space. I wanted to sort through them, to keep at least some, but there were too many and I was struggling with school. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and put the entire lot in the trash.

Did I regret it? Of course I did. I still do whenever I think about it. With the rising popularity of emails, almost no one bothers to write real letters anymore. And it would have been interesting to go back and see what I was thinking back when I was 6 or 7 years old.

2. Gifts from friends - especially those I received since I started going to school. I'm not sure how it is with boys, but between girls and their girlfriends, a lot of small items are exchanged through the years between kindergarten and high school: stuffed animals, ceramic display figures, and a lot of odds and ends in candy pink or purple. Would you believe I kept most (if not all) of them? I can't get rid of something especially if I can remember when it was given to me and by whom. And then I started working and small tokens from co-workers every holiday added to my growing pile. After I got married and moved in with my husband, I decided to sort through everything and let go of most of them. I was able to reduce the pile to around half? But some I just couldn't let go of, not yet.

3. Books - ok this is what triggered this line of thought in the first place. I was sitting on the stairs this morning while putting on shoes and my eyes wandered to our very full bookshelf. And in my mind's eye flashed a picture of our very full bookshelf and the very full closet in our guest room upstairs. At this point in our lives, I think my husband and I will still be buying more books in the future. So it's either get a bigger house (bwahahaha!!) or downsize our collection. I dread the day when I have to tell my husband we have to sort through the books again. We nearly got into a fight the last time we did it. He doesn't want to get rid of anything. I don't either but I know we needed to do it.

I was an 80's kid and I discovered Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley books when I was in the 1st grade. I've been collecting them since until I reached high school. When we moved back to Manila, I parked my books in a bookshelf in the library at my grandparent's house where we lived for a couple of years. When we moved to our new house, I was assigned a space in the small bookshelf in the living room. It was not enough so again, my mom urged me to sort through my books and get rid of those I haven't read in the past 5 years. That's pretty much all my childhood fairy tale books and the Sweet Valley collection. I held out for as long as I could, enduring barrage after barrage of nagging to get rid of them. I don't know why I even cared. It was true that I haven't read them in years, nor was I planning to read them again. I guess what people say is true, that books are like friends and it's hard to let them go. But I did eventually.

-o-

Nowadays, I don't get attached to material things that much anymore. I don't think twice about replacing something that needs replacing and throwing out stuff I don't use. I guess the longer you hold on to something, the harder it is to let go. One tip I can offer when you have to throw something away, is to just close your eyes and do it. Clean break. And don't think about it much. If it's something you really haven't used or seen or thought about in 3 years or more, then it's not really necessary to keep it (unless you have a big house with lots of storage, in which case, hoard, hoard away!).

Dealing with Disappointment

I am about to self-combust with disappointment.

I don't deal well with disappointment. I usually simmer, simmer, and simmer some more and when I can't simmer anymore, I... well, it's not pretty.

I WANT THIS PLAYPEN!

I saw it online last week as I was browsing online and it matches the stroller and carrier we bought. I initially asked my cousin to ask my dad if he could bring it back here for me when he comes back (it's the size of a medium travel bag and about 15kg when packed), but since I still haven't heard from them, I'm taking the answer to be negative for the meantime and decided to considered other options (to be sure!). Unfortunately, those other options aren't working out very well.

I tried ordering it online and have it shipped here. Unfortunately, the first store I ordered from only ships within the US. I found a store that ships internationally but as I was checking out, the shipping cost amounted to almost $350! More than 2x the price of the item. I contacted the seller clarifying the shipping cost and still haven't received a response from them.

My husband and I tried looking for the item here. We found a local brand store and they have the model but not in the color I want. This playpen is about to be the centerpiece of my living room for about a year and no way am I getting something that won't match my current color scheme since I've been working so hard to get it to look the way I want. I asked the sales person if any of their other branches carries the model in the color I want but he told me no. They only carry the ones selected and imported by the merchandiser and for the model I want, they only carry 2 color options. (Well, tell your merchandiser he/she has bad taste! Hmph!) I looked at the sales person and decided I don't believe him so my husband and I are checking out another branch this weekend. I hope we find one (though local price for this item is double the price online) but until I'm sure I can get it, the disappointment lingers.

I feel the world conspiring against me and my playpen. I've been looking at it online all day and the more I see it, the more I want it and the more I feel disappointed when I think that I might not be able to get it (aaarrrrrgggghhh!!!).

There is also a sub-plot to all this. I stupidly told my mom and my sister about asking my dad to bring this here. I know! I know! I should have kept my mouth shut. But at the time, I was on a shopping high, I was happy, I was chatty. Not being very big fans of my dad (understatement!), they both told me to forget about it. I stand alone in keeping the peace between 2 clashing sides and if my mom asks about it again and that playpen does not materialize in my house within the next few months (whichever way, she won't have to know how, I can just tell her what I think is the best answer), it's like giving her live ammo.

None of my options are a sure negative yet. It's just that at this point, I don't have an alternative that I'm sure about. And that bugs me. For all I know, on the extreme positive end, all my options might actually work out. In which case, I'll be all giddy and happy. But if none does...

...I'm flying out there to get it myself!!! X(

Motherhood 101: Our first baby-related purchase!

Finally! Something about this whole thing I can absolutely relate to... shopping! :)

So far, I haven't really been feeling anything about this whole baby thing. Everything about this pregnancy has been about discomfort, pain and hospitals. I guess that's why I never talk about it much. Until now, the baby is still like an abstract entity... I know it's coming, I feel it moving... but you don't really feel it.

The past few months, I've been prey to sales people in the baby section of almost every mall I've visited. I must've seen every product catalogue and demo there is for all major baby products. The fact that I tell them am not planning on buying anything yet doesn't seem to deter them. Last night was no different. They seem to know the moment my eyes wandered towards the cribs and strollers area because suddenly, there they were. But last night, I actually saw something I really, really liked. I never really thought we'd get it because it was not within the price range I set for myself for this particular equipment but I asked to see the demo anyway.

• Stroller comes with carrier/car seat, check
• Neutral color, check
• Classy, check (of course this is important to me! I'd be the one pushing it)
• Reputable brand, check (shallow I know, but first baby so let me be)
  
• Lightweight, check (again, I get the feeling I'd be the one pushing and carrying it)
• Removable front tray, check
• Within my price range... not really... but...
• Carrier also functions as a rocker (like Helaena's), a plus!
• Wheels has suspension for bumpy surfaces, another plus!

Pretty huh? :)

So in spite of people telling us it's still too early to buy baby stuff, we went home with a stroller and a carrier anyway... and with a more concrete sense of reality of our baby that is about to arrive in a few months (since there is now something in the house that actually belongs to him/her). And with me on a shopping high! I guess my husband was feeling more excited too since he was sending me links on playards all morning. We both agreed (I think... I told him I like this one and I don't really remember what he said afterward...) to get this one:
We haven't seen it in any mall around here yet but I hope my dad agrees to lug it back here when he gets back from his trip (I really, really hope he says yes!).

Tales of the Bored - EPILOGUE (I hope!)

June 22, 2009 (Monday)

I hope it's not to early for an epilogue but...

...I'M FREE!!!

I'm free! I'm free! I'M FREE!!! :D

I was supposed to write a couple more entries for June 18 and 19 but whatever it was I wanted to write about sure pales in comparison to the news I received last Saturday.

I'm free!!!

Ok, so maybe my regular OB was out that day and it was only her reliever that saw me to interpret my test results... and you know, maybe I took a liiiiiiittle advantage of that. But point is, I have a doctor's go ahead to go back to work. And back to work I am.

I had an ultrasound last weekend which showed what my OB suspected all along that was causing my bleeding. Thing is, there is nothing we can do about it except continue my medication and wait for baby, the uterus and the placenta to move upwards a bit more. According to the reliever OB that I saw last weekend, as long as I avoid anything strenuous, I should be fine. And if bleeding recurs, I am going back to bed rest. I can handle that and would do it willingly... as long as I get a few days of freedom. A few days away from my house is all I ask.

I was almost dancing with happiness while I was walking away from my house this morning on my way to work.

So did I achieve my quest to become the most boring person within my zip code in less than 32 days? I really don't know, but I sure felt like it.

Tales of the Bored - Day 19

The quest to become the most boring person within my zip code... in 32 days or less!

June 17, 2009 (Wednesday)

I had a meeting scheduled this morning with my boss via phone conference. He set the meeting up last Monday because according to him, they were making an announcement regarding our team's re-organization this Wednesday and he wanted to discuss it first with the people to be affected directly (i.e. those whose direct reporting lines will change) before the big announcement. I had a good idea how the change will affect me and I was trying to get out of the meeting for the following reasons:

1. Whatever it is they decided to do, I'm sure there is nothing I could do about it anyway. I figured I'd just deal with whatever it is when I get back (if ever I'm going to be allowed to go back at all);

2. Whatever it is, I'm sure my friends at the office will tell me about it after their meeting. And in a way, I'd rather hear it from them (I'm sure they can make it sound more interesting anyway :) What difference does it make if I hear the news a few minutes late? (My 1:1 meeting was scheduled at 9:00 AM and the big team meeting is at 10:30 AM).

3. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's important when you're thinking about work. But right now, I have other more important things to think about. I am scaring myself enough with what's happening to me. I'd rather not add to that.

I couldn't get out of the meeting so meet we did and I was right about how I thought the change will affect me. I had a lot of questions and I can't say I was satisfied with the answers but as I said, I really don't want to think about these things today.

I spent the entire early afternoon texting my friends at the office discussing how we all felt about the changes. Darn! I wish I could have gone online today so we can discuss this more thoroughly via chat. Texting can be so limiting! And then when my husband arrived home from work, I spend the entire early evening yakking about everything I heard. I'm not sure he was listening but it didn't matter. It felt good to hear about something other than what's going on at the latest hottest prime time soap opera or how the government is messing up again (i.e. news).

Tales of the Bored - Day 18

The quest to become the most boring person within my zip code... in 32 days or less!

June 16, 2009 (Tuesday)

I woke up early to go the hospital laboratory early. If the procedure is to last hours, I'd like it done as early as possible so I can eat already. I always wake up hungry.

I decided not to wake my husband to take me to the hospital. Due to our electric mishap yesterday, he has to take the day off from work to look for that circuit breaker and get an electrician to get it fixed. I left a note for him to take our housekeeper to my mom's house and ask her to take all the contents of our refrigerator so we can store them at my mom's until we get our electricity back on.

I arrived at the hospital before 8:00 AM and I was out by 12:00 NN. My left arm was sore. My first 2 shots were delivered by a med tech who couldn't find a vein on my right arm so he jabbed the needle twice in the same place to draw blood. Ouch! The last 2 were delivered by a different med tech and I deliberately offered her my right arm so we could give my left a break.

I was planning to have my husband drive me to a McDonald's before dropping me off at my mom's house when he picked me up. I miss fastfood!! I havenn't gone this long without fastfood since I was in high school I think. Unfortunately, when I called my husband after my lab test, he was driving around Ortigas looking for a hardware with the electrician. They've been looking for that darned circuit breaker all morning and couldn't find one in the big hardware stores. I had to take a cab and McDonald's is out.

Cabs... my personal kryptonite. I was hoping to go through this entire month without ever discussing cabs but I guess that was not to be. The cab I took took me to inner roads near San Francisco Del Monte "para iwas tayo sa traffic" (to avoid traffic). I was familiar with the area so I didn't mind at first but the inner roads were bumpy (which was making me nervouse because I felt a cramp after every hard bump) and I noticed we were going around in circles. I knew the general direction we were supposed to take to reach the main road but I noticed we were just turning and turning... probably to prolong the ride. I was hungry, my arm hurts, and the bumpy roads was making me cramp. I snapped. I told the driver to take the cab out to the main road now. I told him I was pregnant and bleeding that's why I was at the freakin hospital and that if I miscarry, I'll make sure he is found and shot! I was ready to grab his head and slam it to the window if he so much as makes a stupid remark. I was that worked up and he probably noticed it. He gave me a guilty look, quickly averted his gaze and just said "Ay...", made a turn and guess what? I was right, we were near the exit the main road for while... and there was no freaking traffic.

I'm not sure if it was the dehydration due to lack of liquid intake during the lab procedure, the strain on my body due to the stupid bumps on the inner roads that the stupid cab took, or the stress due to the stupid cab... but I was spotting again when I got to my mom's house.

My husband came for a me after a few hours after they were able to get the electricity up and running again on our house.

Tales of the Bored - Day 17

The quest to become the most boring person within my zip code... in 32 days or less!

June 15, 2009 (Monday)

Start of another boring week... hooray for Mondays!! (And to top it off, it's raining again).

One thing I'm thankful for, I missed going to work on a lot of rainy days. I hate going out during rainy days. You get your shoes wet, the edges of your jeans wet... and if there's wind, even your bag and your hair get wet.

Anyway... I was scheduled for a glucose test today so I went to the hospital with my husband this morning. I expected it to be similar to the one I had before... where they make you take this sickeningly sweet orange liquid and wait for an hour before they take your blood. This time thought, my doctor advised me to fast for at least 8 hours before going to lab. She forgot to mention that I am not supposed to take medicines before as well.

I got the laboratory, took a number and waited. When it was my turn, the nurse told me how the test was supposed to go... I am to take the orange liquid, and then they will take my blood 4 times at 1 hour intervals. Wow... no one told me it was supposed to take that long! And I can't eat or drink anything during that period! I was asked if I ate anything and I told them no... she didn't ask about any medication I was taking so I assumed it was unimportant. I filled out some forms and waited for my name to be called. I decided to let my husband go to work since there was no need for us to be bored out of our heads while waiting for the lab test to end. I told him I'd call him when it's over so he can come get me.

A few minutes after my husband left, my name was called and as I was being prepared for the needle, the med tech asked again re my food intake. I decided to tell her about the medicine I took that morning just to be sure. That was not ok. She asked me to return the following day for the test. So I wasted my entire morning going to the hospital and waiting and going hungry for nothing.

I spent the day at my mom's house, surfing the internet. My husband picked me up after work and as we approached our house, I noticed that the lights at the garage were not turned on. In fact, there seems to be no light at all inside the house. I worried a little but as I opened the main door, my housekeeper greeted me and told me that the lights went off earlier that morning around 11AM. She heard something explode outside before the lights went off and that she noticed that only our house was affected.

And of course, she waited until we got home to tell us.

Though we don't allow our housekeeper to leave the house when we're not home (for security reasons), we left a key with instructions to use it in case of emergencies. She told me she couldn't text me because her prepaid phone has no load. I told her she could have gone out and loaded her phone so she could call me (as I instructed her to do before) and I would reimburse her. Apparently, she didn't consider this an emergency.

I called Meralco and they were able to send a crew to look into the matter. The explosion my housekeeper heard earlier was our circuit breaker and we need to replace it. It was outside Meralco's responsibility. My husband tried to find a circuit breaker that night while I called my uncle to ask if he knows an electrician we could call at that late hour. It was an unsuccessful effort so we spent the night in darkness... without TV or electric fan.

Some days... it's just not your day.

Tales of the Bored - Day 16

The quest to become the most boring person within my zip code... in 32 days or less!

June 14, 2009 (Sunday)

Is it Father's Day today? Until this morning, I wasn't sure so I made plans to go to my mom's house this afternoon, Father's Day or not.

There wasn't much to do in the morning while waiting for my husband to wake up. I just watched TV. The highlight of my day is visiting my mom's house this afternoon and swinging by the salon before going home to get my hair trimmed.

I used to have my hair straightened every 6 months but since I can't do that now, I decided to have the straight ends cut. My hair is now back to it's unmanageable self. It's a good thing I don't go out much these days. I wouldn't know how to begin to style this.

Tales of the Bored - Day 15

The quest to become the most boring person within my zip code... in 32 days or less!

(Less I hope!)

June 13, 2009 (Saturday)

Today is the probably the most boring day of this entire ordeal. I was going out of my mind with boredom. And well, I guess idle minds breed not so good thoughts.

We had a minor household issue. It was something I noticed before but never really gave much thought but today, my husband raised it. So he noticed it as well. It's something I would have dismissed at another time but my mind had plenty of time to dwell on it so dwell on it I did.

I used up all my cellphone prepaid load telling my mom all about it and spent the entire afternoon sulking alone while my husband went out for a bike ride with one of his friends. As a result, I ended up depressing myself the entire day. When he got home, I asked him if he wants to take me out for a drive... anywhere. But it was raining a little and we both knew the traffic a little water on the roads can cause so we didn't get to go out.

Tales of the Bored - Day 14

The quest to become the most boring person within my zip code... in 32 days or less!

June 12, 2009 (Friday)

Today is a non-working day. Not that it matters to me (hmmm... actually it does, one less day to charge to my vacation days, yey!!).

I noticed that I stopped brushing my hair.

Seriously.

After my morning bath, I'd run a comb to get all the tangles out, then wait for my hair to dry, and then tie it in a pony tail. During the day, I'd just run my fingers through my hair and tie it in a pony tail or a bun. As a result, my hair went back to being its wavy unruly self. I was due for a hair rebond last May to maintain the straight look but... well... it's out of the question for now.

Since MG and I had nothing to do today, I had been whining and pleading for him to take me to the salon so I can get a haircut. I wanted to get the straight ends cut to allow my hair to wave naturally. Going out for a whim is, of course, out of the question... and I can not justify why I can not wait another week until I'm out of bed rest (hopefully!) to get a haircut. He doesn't get it... I want a haircut and I want a haircut now!

We ended up spending another day watching TV all day.

Tales of the Bored - Day 13

The quest to become the most boring person within my zipcode... in 32 days or less!

June 11, 2009 (Thursday)

When you want something done right... you really should do it yourself.

So going against doctor's orders... I had my husband swing by the supermarket before dropping me off at my mom's. I don't think a few minutes of walking to get stuff I really want will hurt me that much.

It all started with Pringles last Monday. I was craving for Pringles so I sent my housekeeper to the nearby grocery to get me one. Unfortunately... she didn't know what it was. So before she left, I described Pringles to her, and I never realized Pringles was that complicated. See... there are now 2 variations: the original one (you know, the kind we all grew up with) and this new variety from Asia that comes in slimmer canisters. I prefer the original ones since I don't like the spices they use for the ones that come in slimmer canisters. I told her both are usually available at the grocery store but I wanted the one in the "fatter" canisters. When she came back, she got me the one that was packed in plastic foil (the single serving ones)... not the one in the canisters. Ok... small thing, but I wanted the ones in canisterst to avoid sending her out everytime I felt like munching on Pringles. But well... it wasn't her fault.

Then yesterday, I mentioned my wishlist. My husband was supposed to get me Baked Ziti with Tomato Sauce (half serving) but he decided he wanted some as well and since he liked meat sauce, he ordered a whole serving with meat sauce. I didn't want meat sauce... I wanted tomato sauce! In fact, I have never wanted meat sauce ever!! So there went what would have otherwise been a nice dinner for me. I was so frustrated I actually cried as I screamed silently into my pillow so no one would hear. I didn't want my husband to know since he already took the time to go out of his way to get it for me.

And then this morning... I woke up cranky. I was supposed to stay at home all day but I was craving Ruffles. Again I asked my housekeeper to get meRuffles at the nearby grocery. I already pointed this out to her twice when I was able to go to the grocery with her but she told me she doesn't remember. Though I was near tears with frustration, I never showed it because it's not anyone's fault around me... what was happening to me. I told her never mind, went back upstairs and got ready to go out. When my husband woke up, I told him he is dropping me off at my mom's house and that I absolutely need to go to the grocery store before we go. He agreed.

So at the grocery store this morning, I bought everything... EVERYTHING I could possibly want for a week. It's so hard when you can't do things for yourself anymore.

While I was online earlier, I was chatting with a friend and I told her about my situation. She told me how she also had a difficult pregnancy, and that she actually gave birth before 7 months. Wow. I didn't know that was possible it actually gave me hope (not that I want to give birth prematurely, it just gave me hope that if I really will not be able to carry to term, that there is a chance my baby would survive...).

Tales of the Bored - Day 12

The Quest to become the most boring person within my zip code… in 32 days or less!

June 10, 2009 (Wednesday)

No, I did not end up destroying my gate with a hammer this morning trying to get even.

But certain people are doing their best to get on my nerves though.

(enter neighbor’s maids…)

I buzzed my housekeeper early this morning to ask her to pick up the contents of our trash can upstairs. It’s Wednesday, trash day, so she has to make sure our garbage is outside before the garbage trucks arrive. After taking a bath, I went downstairs to get breakfast and my housekeeper told me that while she was sweeping outside, she saw one of the neighbor’s maids dump the contents of her dust pan in my grass area. In yesterday’s blog, I was merely explaining why I am beginning to really hate them. Well, today, she justified yesterday’s story. My housekeeper was in plain sight, cleaning that area when that stupid maid dumped their garbage on my property, and then immediately entered their house and closed the gate. My housekeeper waited outside until the other maid came out. My housekeeper asked her to tell the other maid not to dump their garbage at our house. This other maid said ok, then went inside. A few minutes later, both maids came out and confronted my housekeeper. My housekeeper asked them again not to dump garbage on our property. The guilty one just stared at her (dumbly, I’m guessing) and after a while said ok, and started cleaning my grass area where she dumped her garbage. She did good this time. What’s so annoying is that they keep doing it again and again! Next time it happens, I told my husband we are filing a complaint with the baranggay council.

Last night, it was announced on the news that there will be a 5-hour black out today, sometime between 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, as Meralco needs to conduct repairs. They didn’t specify particular areas so I wasn’t sure if my area is included. I worried all day, waiting for the black out to start. I was hoping it will start early while it’s daylight. That I can live with. Turns out, I need not have worried. My area is not included in the list of affected areas.

I was feeling a little depressed this afternoon. And bad mood always follows depression. I was actually waiting for this because I knew this would happen. I’ve been doing a good job keeping my spirits up the past few days in spite of my exile. And today… I guess I just ran out of reasons to smile.

I gave my husband wish list this morning (mostly, related to my cross stitch project, since I can’t go to the mall to get them myself):

Janelle’s Wish List :)

DMC Threads: 754, 932, 3031
3 packets of glass beads (sample packets attached, make sure you get the exact colors)
Medication (doctor’s prescription attached)
Baked Ziti with Tomato Sauce (half) from Sbarro.

He arrived early this afternoon, around 3:00PM. Apparently, his office was affected by the black out so they were allowed to go home at 11:00 AM. He came from the mall to get me the stuff I asked for. When I heard he came from the mall… I felt a pang of jealousy. I WANTED TO GO TO THE MALL!!! I started to feel cranky.

To make matters worse, I couldn’t make the laptop connect to the internet using my husband’s phone. Crankier and crankier.

I am now sulking alone inside the bedroom.

Tales of the Bored - Day 11

The Quest to become the most boring person within my zip code… in 32 days or less!

June 9, 2009 (Tuesday)

And God said, “Love thy neighbor…” (I wonder... does that mean "neighbor" meaning I just pick one... or should it be "neighbors"???)

So neighbors, I really wish you won’t make it so hard for others to love you.

I’ve been having neighbor problems. My husband and I have been trying to ignore them to keep the peace but these days, it’s enough test on my patience without having to deal with inconsiderate people.

One of my neighbors has 2 maids who consider the grass area in front of my house their personal garbage area. Every Wednesday and Saturday, they see fit to leave their garbage in front of our property while waiting for the garbage trucks in spite of several requests not to do so. Kids from a nearby slum area go through the garbage left outside before the garbage trucks can get them, scattering pieces of trash in the area in the process. I don’t understand why those 2 can’t just leave their garbage in front of their house. They probably want to keep their area clean… leaving us to take care of their scattered trash. My husband and I have actually caught them in the act of emptying their dust pans in our grass area after sweeping the front of their house. One time, my husband made them come out and clean our area after they dumped their dirt there. They actually did… but when we requested to speak to the owner of the house, they kept telling us it’s just them at home. I’m not sure if they were lying but at the time, we let it go at that.

And then, there is other neighbor who decided to make house repairs at 11:30PM last Saturday night. The sounds of a hammer hitting metal and wood can be heard well into the night. I’m not sure if we were the only ones who couldn’t sleep due to the noise but I think no one complained because he didn’t stop.

And then this morning… (take deep breaths, Janelle…) I woke up to the sound of, again... someone who seemed to be making repairs on his gate. The sound woke me because initially I thought it was someone trying to open my gate. Listening more closely, I figured it wasn’t coming from my house but from somewhere nearer than the one making the noise on Saturday night. The noise was louder this time. Oh… did I forget to mention that it was 4:30 in the morning? I wasn’t able to go back to sleep. I kept hearing the sound until around 5:30 when sounds of other people waking and going about their business, passing cars, and pouring rain began to drown out the annoying hammering sound of metal on metal. I got up at 6:30 and found my housekeeper cleaning downstairs. I asked her if she heard the sound and she said yes. I was right that it sounds close to our house because she also thought someone was trying to force open our gate so she went out to look.

I told my husband that I plan to go out tomorrow morning at 3:00 AM and start hitting our metal gate with a hammer loudly. He was worried about the gate’s paint chipping.

The rest of my day was a bit more peaceful. Mostly, I pondered on the question of why was it so difficult to find pandesal in my area. By pandesal, I mean those sold on neighborhood bakeries per piece and packed in brown paper. I can get pandesal de pugon and those “special” pandesals from bigger and more commercial bakeries nearby but those are not the ones I want. I want the small pandesals you buy per piece and wrapped in brown paper!!! Why are they so out of my reach??? Maybe I can get my mom to buy some for me and have them sent to my house… but the cab fare of the person bringing it to me will probably cost 10x more than the cost of my pandesal.

Tales of the Bored - Day 10

The Quest to become the most boring person within my zip code… in 32 days or less!

June 8, 2009 (Monday)

In my dreams I was supposed to have been back at work today.

I asked my husband if I can stay at my mom’s house today while he’s at work so I can use the phone and internet to settle things at the office regarding my long absence. My sister doesn’t have work on Mondays, one of my brothers starts work in the evening, and my other brother’s classes were suspended for 2 weeks due to the outbreak of Influenza A(H1N1). There’s also my niece, Helaena. I sure could use the company.

I stayed in my mom’s bedroom with her laptop all day. I called my boss to clear my long absence and then spent about an hour going through my office email. I left the bedroom door open so Helaena could wander in every now and then on her walker. She really is so cute! Too bad I can’t pick her up. I’ll have to settle with the few cuddles I can get whenever she allows it.

I miss being online all the time! I miss working on my farm (Farm Town on Facebook, do check it out). I miss stalking my favorite celebrities on Twitter. And I miss getting updates on my friends on Facebook. I don’t think I’d mind being sentenced like this if I can stay online all day. But I’m not allowed to do that as well. Anything that might be a potential source of stress is not allowed. I’ll have to settle with the few hours I can get each day.

Tales of the Bored - Day 9

The Quest to become the most boring person within my zip code… in 32 days or less!

June 7, 2009 (Sunday)

I was looking through our compilation of old VCD’s, looking for something I haven’t seen in a while. I saw VCD’s of Anne Frank. I can’t remember ever having seen it so I decided to pop the first CD in the player. Plus, it had 3 CD’s… I figured that should occupy me for a while. I picked up my cross stitch project and continued working on it while I watched.

There was a note shown before the actual movie was played. Something like the movie did not use actual words that Anne used in her diary and was based more on interviews with sources. Anyway, I’m not sure I like that movie. The way they portrayed Anne Frank… she was annoying (only word I can think of). She shows no respect or love for her mother, was a bit self-centered, and was acting like a spoiled child while they were in hiding. I wonder how accurate that depiction was. I’ve read the book years ago and I don’t remember the general tone of her diary every being like that. Anyway, I never got to finish the movie. I was on the second CD when my husband joined me. He got bored after a few minutes so he ejected the CD and put in a new one.

Tales of the Bored - Day 8

The Quest to become the most boring person within my zip code… in 32 days or less!

June 6, 2009 (Saturday)

“What did you do?” my doctor asked when I went to her office this afternoon.

Why do they always assume I did something? I didn’t do anything. I was sleeping! SLEEPING!!!

I woke up this morning feeling a bit hopeful. I was thinking I might be allowed to go to work on Monday because aside from the few drops of blood I saw last Wednesday, everything was normal on Thursday and Friday, including my strength. I wasn’t feeling as tired.

I guess it was too early to think that way.

After eating breakfast, my husband and I were watching TV when I started feeling drowsy. I decided to go upstairs and take a nap.

I woke up a few hours after, and went to the bathroom. What I saw alarmed me. Blood. More blood than those other times. I guess I started bleeding while I was asleep. I was feeling really, really frustrated. I don’t get it… I was in bed! I was asleep! This happened while I was following doctor’s orders! It’s not fair.

I called my husband and told him and we went to see my doctor. After examining me, my doctor told me that she’s afraid my cervix is beginning to open. I don’t rightly know what that means but it sounded ominous. She scheduled an ultrasound and a few lab tests during my last visit and now, she updated the schedules so I can get those procedures done earlier because we will now need the results earlier. The last scheduled test on my list is June 20. At first, she advised me to on bed rest until after we get the last results on June 20. The blood I saw was still in my head so I thought that was fair and agreed. She checked my charts again with a worried look on her face, looked at me and said I should make it a month. I laughed. I honestly thought she was kidding since she knew how I felt about bed rest. She didn’t smile back as she started writing my medical certificate and prescription so the smile froze on my face and I was barely able to mumble that ok, I’ll tell my boss.

I was in a daze as my husband drove me to my mom’s house. We decided that he will leave me there for the afternoon while he attends a meeting.

That night, while I was waiting for my husband to come for me, I was discussing my condition with my mom. She was asking me to consider the possibility of resignation. I can’t even begin to contemplate one month of bed rest. How the hell am I supposed to consider quitting my job and staying at home until I give birth? She said there is a possibility that my condition may not improve. I don’t want to even think about it. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. So much depends on June 20. I hope the tests show that I’m fine and I can go back to living my life.

During our discussion, my mom suggested I talk to the baby. By the way, if you are all wondering, baby is fine. I feel him/her moving inside me all the time now. So ok, baby and I will have a serious talk:

Dear baby, don’t worry. Mommy and daddy will make sure that you will be ok. Mommy will go through this because she doesn’t have a choice but you can forget about having a brother or sister :) You should cooperate, baby, because mommy might lose her job if you don’t. Your life will be so much more comfortable if both mommy and daddy have jobs. Mommy promises to shop for you after she’s released from bed rest. Just stay where you are a while longer. Why are you rushing to come out anyway? You will have enough time to spend out here… you will have years! But in the womb, you only get 37 weeks. I heard the womb is a warm and safe place. So just enjoy the time you get to spend there, ok?

NOTE: By the way baby, if you can put in a little extra effort to make sure you come out cute, mommy will appreciate that very much. Thanks! :)

We got home at around 10PM. My husband apparently did a little shopping before picking me up. He got me and intercom system. He had it installed in a few minutes so now, there really is little reason for me to leave my bedroom. Everything I need is just a buzz away.

My new buzzer beside my bed.

Tales of the Bored - Day 7

The Quest to become the most boring person within my zip code… in 32 days or less!

June 5, 2009 (Friday)

How much longer do I have to do this??? My friends kept telling me I should enjoy the chance to rest. I can do rest for a few days… but there are freedoms I would have enjoyed while resting that I can not do now. Go to the grocery for example. Or go out to withdraw money from the ATM. Simple things. I am not allowed to do anything.

Most of us take grocery shopping for granted. I’m beginning to realize how difficult it can get when you start trusting someone to do it for you. You arm them with money and a grocery list, and they pretty much get everything right on the list. What’s missing is the element of… surprise I guess? New items you would have wanted to try had you seen them. Or things not on the list but you remember you need (or simply want!) only because you see them on the shelves. Choosing alternatives is another thing. When something on your list is not available, you try to look for alternatives. Only sometimes, the person doing your grocery will decide on an alternative that you won’t have chosen had it been you doing the grocery. This is so frustrating!

Anyway, I spent most of the day on the couch watching movies from HBO (or was it Star Movies? I don’t really remember). You’ve Got Mail. Batman Returns. I remember watching Batman Returns when I was in high school. For some reason, seeing that movie was part of a school activity. Back in the province when I was in high school, there was only one movie theater that shows movies in English. And they were double features. You get to watch 2 movies (and waste most of your day watching those 2 movies) for the price of one. If I remember correctly, Batman Returns was doubled with Beauty and the Beast. Good times. Good times.

Later this afternoon, Ghost Rider was showing on Cinemax. Yep, I’m sure it was Cinemax. Because in the middle of the movie, the lights blinked… and went off entirely.

Power’s out.

Does someone out there hate me???

Strong winds and rain had been hitting our area for about a week now. If there was an upside to my incarceration, it’s that I don’t have to go out in that to go to work. I just lay there on the couch the entire time, pondering the fate that should befall me if we don’t get electricity back on soon. No going out. No lights. No television. My world seemed very dark indeed. The electricity was out for about an hour and that must have been the longest hour of my recent life that I can remember.