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Baby Bump Update: 36 Weeks & countdown begins

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As I’ve said on the previous post we are now doing a scheduled C-Section on the 26th of June. That’s exactly 14 days from now.

 

I’m moving slow as a turtle this days and occasionally experience nausea and migraines but of course I still have active days where I get a lot of things done in the house. I’ve had the urge to scrub every knob and corner of our flat, it’s I think what they call nesting.

 

Our (baby and I) hospital bag is ready, prepared it weeks ago but I have to repack again after reading some tips on packing a practical hospital bag. I’ll share it here soon.

 

Breads yes bread, I’ve been craving for home baked ones and since most of my mom-friends aren’t fond of making one I decided to make some for us. Last week I made Sticky Cinnamon Rolls from the FoodNetwork website and oh boy was it yummy! You can get the recipe here.

 

V has been really clingy, he kept on asking how much I love him and would sometimes request that he be called baby.  He would do all the baby stuff like crawling in my tummy when in bed, baby talks, and throwing tantrums. Most of the time he would settle for stories of him when he was still in my tummy asking how the doctor got him out, so I would show him my belly scar and we would watch the video of how the doctor got him out. One thing that he never forgets though is to kiss my belly and say bye to his sister before he get’s on the bus and sing songs to her after school.

 

The husband C has been patient with me, there are days that he doesn’t get any packed lunch and sleepless nights just to rub my back. Now that we have a date on the babe’s coming out I’ve been bugging him to re-arrange the furniture and make room for the crib.

My MIL is arriving on the 21st to help us out and give V the much needed attention he would surely miss from us. I just hope I don’t get tantrums 🙂

 

Maternity photoshoot by Ryan Nisay

No longer qualified

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For VBAC (vaginal birth after ceasarian) that is.

 

I’ve been reading happy stories online on normal birth delivery after undergoing a C-Section. For the past 8 months my mind has been set.

Last week though I’ve read that if you had a vertical cut on the c-section you are not qualified for VBAC. See, I have a visible vertical cut on my tummy but there still is a possibility that the incision done inside was done horizontal which would mean that I can still qualify for a normal delivery this 2nd time.

Good thing I was still in touch with my OB in the Philippines – Dr. Elma, so I sent her a message asking if she could still remember the cut she did inside me and this is her reply.

“Hindi vertical ang cut mo sa loob horizontal but if I remember it right because of d big blood vessels,we had to extend the incision a little vertically so your not a good candidate for vbac.repeat cs ka na lang para safe.sana okay din ang course of pregnancy mo and delivery!”

😦

We had our scheduled OB visit yesterday with Dr. Helena Taylor after all the routine check she happily informed us  that all our vitals our good and asked if we had any question. So I told her about Dr. Elma’s email…and she replied “If that’s the case you are not a candidate for VBAC, we have to do an elective CSection.” I was heartbroken. She further explained that because of the little vertical incision made my uterus is weak and there is a possibility that it will rapture.

I know it’s no big deal, I mean a few of my friends who had a normal delivery even discourage me because of the unbearable pain they experienced but see a whole lot of bunch of them also shared that giving birth is really painful but once the baby is out it’s gone and you heal faster after the delivery.

 

We are scheduled to deliver via CSection on June 26. Please do say a little prayer for our safety.

 

 

Baby/Mama Essentials

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It seems that everyone I know from each side of our family and friends are expecting a baby this year. Baby season indeed!

When you’re a first time mom all you can think of is to buy the best and most adorable baby products available in the market. Here are some of my favorite products that I think every expecting Mama would love to have.

 

1. Arms Reach Co-Sleeper

One parenting style we practice is co-sleeping (we still do with 4yo V). In most Filipino families we co-sleep with our parents till we reach our puberty stage, after that we still do share a bedroom/bed with our siblings.

With V I had trouble sleeping when he was not by my side, I was checking if he was still breathing every half an hour just to make sure he was safe after doing this for a week (V in his cot and me in bed) with me having no proper sleep I decided to co-sleep with him which just made sense to me since the Bana C was working overseas. Breastfeeding while co-sleeping was a breeze as well since I didn’t have to stand up to attend to his feeding all I have to do was roll over and offer him my breast.

And since V is still sharing the bed with us (V occupying half the bed space) this will be just the ideal set-up for us and would specially make V feel that although his a Kuya (big brother) now he’s still a baby.

I’m still on the look-out for this kind of cot/crib here in Dubai, hopefully we’ll find one in the coming DSS.

 

2. Baby Carrier

This I know is a must have especially when you’re little bundle of joy becomes fuzzy, and irritable plus it allows Mom & Dad’s out there to be mobile while keeping baby close by. I had a similar one with V and I was able to do grocery shopping.

Stokke 3 n 1 Baby Carrier

 

Aside from the carrier I also use a Ring Sling with V, though compared to the carrier above using a sling takes getting use too and a lot of practice. I remember the look on my relatives when I use this on V they were scared that the little boy might fall and kept on checking if he was comfortable enough.

Ring Sling

When V and I got the hang of the ring sling this was my first choice whenever we went out. I can easily put him to sleep or breast feed him at ease.

For Dubai residents I found a facebook group called Dubai BabyWearing, they are a group of Mom’s who run regular workshops who are interested in Baby Wearing.

 

3. Breastfeeding Essentials

It took me almost 2 months to have a good regular supply of breastmilk for V, he was more happy to feed on his bottle than on me. I consumed a lot of clam soup and had malunggay supplements, when he gets hungry I offer my breast first if he refuse to feed I willingly pump my supply so he can still benefit from my milk.

When we finally had a good latch and supply I was his first choice. See the moment I learned I was pregnant I have already decided that I would exclusively breast feed my child till the age of two, though V was not exclusively breastfeeding his milk intake was 80% from me and I was happy and felt complete as a mom.

UnderCover Mama

I know every breastfeeding mom would benefit from this UnderCover mama product since you can use your usual clothes to breastfeed.

A breastfeeding Mama needs a good pump, it will surely be your breast friend. Back when I was still working I had a Dual Electric Pump in the office and I would extract milk every 2-3 hours which helped me ensure that even when I was at work my son was getting the nutrients he needs from my milk.

Feeding Cover is one of the wonderful creations for BF Mama’s.

I found a helpful and informative Dubai group on breastfeeding – Breastfeeding Q&A Dubai.

Will surely be adding more to this list! What other baby/mama find’s would you like to share?

*Photos featured on this post are from the product website and by searching online. These are products that I would love to have and all opinions are my own. “

 

little toys called Bakugan

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We bought V this Bakugan set as a prize for doing well in his first school concert, he’s been saving every coin he finds around the house to be able to buy one.

They start out as ball and when you place or roll them on top of the cards they change to this “robot” like thingie. I spent a good 2 hours trying to figure out how to put them back.

If you find one mommy with a box of this little ball monsters that’s probably me.

Bangus Sardines in Tomato Sauce

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Homemade Bangus Sardines

 

The start of Dubai summer has been hard for V and I. We’ve been having the flu almost every other week and have been a regular at V’s pediatrician.

V was ordered to rest for a week because aside from the usual cough and colds he was also starting to have sore eyes. C has been reminding me to try and not cuddle V much or kiss him since it might make me sick as well. It’s impossible for me to stay away from my sick child who needs all the cuddle and kisses to make him feel better. He’s feeling better now and enjoying school while I’m still coughing for almost a week now.

Both V and I crave for fish meals when the flu decides to visit and this Bangus Tomato Sardines hit the right spot to make us feel better.

I got this recipe from Ate Agnes who knows that I can eat fish all week (she’s picky with her fish).

 

Bangus Sardines in Tomato Sauce

1.5 kilos of Bangus (MilkFish)
2 Carrots, sliced thinly
1/2 cup Olive Oil
8 Ripe Tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp Garlic, minced
1 Bay Leaf
6 Peppercorns
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
2 Chilli (I didn’t use any since V is not fond of spicy food)

Procedure:

Clean Bangus, scales off and cut to serving pieces.

Mix all the ingredients except for Carrots, Tomatoes, and Fish. Place this on your pot then lay chopped Tomatoes, Fish and finally top off with sliced Carrots.

Slow cook for an hour and thirty minutes.

Serve with steamed rice.

Fixing Swiss Meringue Buttercream

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I’m quite intimidated with buttercream frosting or cake recipes that call for egg whites to be stiff or cooked. Why? I tend to overcook and over beat them and also it doesn’t help that I don’t have the patience.

Time came when I finally decided to face my fears and make a batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC), like any other self taught baker I searched for tutorials online and found the post of Whisk-Kid and Sweetapolita to be very helpful in understanding the right procedure to make a perfect SMBC.

My first batch of SMBC was perfect! Everything went well I didn’t experience the soupy or curdled mess and had a smooth perfect oh so yummy frosting. I instantly fell in love with the frosting.

I had my mind set to use peanut butter flavored SMBC to frost the wedding cake and so as the cake’s were cooling off inside the fridge there I was mixing 2 batches of frosting at 11pm and then the dreaded thing happened, one minute the mixture was in its perfect shape but as soon as I added all the butter it turned into a soup like mixture!

Not giving up I re-read both Rosie (Sweetapolita) & Kaitlin’s (Whisk-Kid) post on buttercream good thing they had a solution for the stage I was in. Pop in the mixture inside the fridge for 20 minutes take it out, whip it for a couple of minutes and viola should be back to its awesome buttery goodness.

20 minutes past and with high spirits I started whipping, then the mixture separated! I also didn’t have enough eggs to make another batch it was almost 12 midnight and I had no choice but to make a different frosting. Sadly I had to throw the SMBC batch I made that night and said a prayer to the butter gods asking for forgiveness.

Last week a friend asked me to make a Strawberry Shortcake themed cake for her god daughter, once again I had the opportunity to make SMBC (strawberry flavored). As I was adding strawberry puree, the mixture was at it’s worst – it curdled.

curdled_SMBC

I didn’t want to waste the eggs and butter that I re-read all SMBC post I had bookmarked and watched videos on how to make them but I didn’t find one on my list that had experienced this curdled stage. To finish the cake that was due that day I had to make my staple vanilla and mocha cream frosting. This time I didn’t throw my failed batch of curdled (cottage cheese like) SMBC, instead transferred it to a container and into the fridge.

 

The next day with a fresh mind I sat in front of the computer and googled “the worst thing that could happen to swiss meringue” which led me to Confections of a Foodie Wife’s post on fixing Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I quickly scanned the post and saw a photo of the SMBC stage I was in!

 

Solution: Take 1/4 of your curdled SMBC mixture and heat it in your microwave for 20 seconds (they suggested 10-15 but that didn’t work for me) and slowly add the heated mixture into your bowl while on low speed as soon as you’ve added heated smbc increase the speed and viola you will see the magic happen.

SMBC back to it’s smooth fluffy goodness!

SavedSMBC

 

Once again I thank my SMBC angels for helping me from across the globe via their descriptive posts about this lovely frosting.

Sweetapolita – Swiss Meringue Buttercream Demystified

Whisk Kid – How to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Confections of a Foodie Wife – How to fix Swiss Meringue Buttercream

 

 

Baby Bump Update: 31 Weeks

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We are now visiting my OB  every 2 weeks for check-Up then we’ll move to a weekly visit till Baby #2 comes out. Base on last Saturday’s visit everything looks good and we are hoping to do have a normal deliver this time. I’m excited to have it the normal way this second time but scared because I really have a very low tolerance to pain.

 

Physical: My belly is huge that I have to borrow my husband’s oversize shirt for me to use at home. The large size maternity clothes that we bought online are still a tad big for me but it’ll manage besides we only have 2 months to go.

 

V’s Reaction: During our visit Kuya V asked the doctor if he can see the baby and get a picture of her as well. Dr. Taylor has also been kind to ask V to assist her whenever she listens to the baby’s heartbeat which makes him really happy.

 

Dad’s Reaction: C has finally finished the papers/visa for his Mom’s visit by the time I give birth. We’re expecting my MIL by the 3rd week of June.

Ahl AlMandi Restaurant

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We’ve been walking pass our nearby Mandi restaurant but haven’t tried the food yet. It was my friend Diane and his husband that invited us for dinner to their favorite Al Mandi restaurant which to our surprise was the same restaurant just two blocks away from where we live.

The serving was huge, one order is enough for us family of three. A week after our first Mandi dinner we had a craving for it again.

 

 

As much as I wanted to enjoy the food on the Arabic Majlis area my bulging preggy tummy won’t allow me so we settled ourselves on the tables of the dining hall. Our smiling server laid a plastic table cover and asked for our order and laid a plate of green leafy veggies and a salsa kind of dip/sauce.

 

On our second visit we decided to try Grilled King Fish Mandi which was perfectly grilled still juicy inside. The king fish was just not huge but a thick cut as well.

 

And we had some Mutton Mandi as well. My husband C have issues ordering mutton or lamb because of its strong after taste, I on the other hand am used to eating kambing since it’s a staple in our family gatherings on my father’s side. On our first visit we had the Mutton Madfoon which to my husband’s delight doesn’t have a strong mutton taste and the meat was so soft.

C really enjoyed Mutton this time accompanied by spicy salsa-like dip, he actually asked for 2 more bowls of them.

 

 

V was happy eating with his hands and enjoyed  the soft mutton meat and juicy king fish but the most unforgettable for him was the soup. He can’t get enough of the soup that he finish two bowls. I can’t quite figure out what the soup is made of, must ask them what kind it is when we get back.

 

Did we finish all two huge orders? Not quite, well we ate all mutton and fish meat but left more than half of the rice serving.

 

 

We may be bloated from the dinner but V and I can still squeeze in some dessert – Konafa! Hey we still have to walk 2 blocks to get back home. We ordered Cream Cheese Konafa to go.

 

Total bill: 78 Dhs (with 1 large water)

 

Ahl Almandi Restaurant

Amman Road, near NMC Hospital behind Sahara Shopping Centre, Al Nahda 2 Dubai

Tel: 2574448 (free delivery)