Picture Picture! (At 2M Old)

Having a baby brought back my interest in photography...baby photography, that is. We have tons of Rocco's pictures, and he's barely 4months old! What more, his grandparents in Tacloban keep asking for daily photo updates, so we have no choice but to keep snapping at our cute little shaolin.

Rocco is very "pawisin." His pajamas and over-alls are barely used. The only time he wore his footies was early January when it was raining like crazy.

Rocco received the Fisher Price rocker as a Christmas gift from his Uncle Antolin. He loved it so much that he slept in it, more than his crib. Thank you Uncle Antolin for the gift :)

Rocco LOVES to scratch his face. I don't know when he will outgrow that phase. Look at him, all red after he wakes up! What we do (since we can't do anything about the scratching) is to put mittens every night. His pedia told us to minimize using mittens because it doesn't help develop his sense of touch.

His Daddy dreams of the day he and Rocco will play basketball together. So imagine his delight when Rocco gave us the three-point sign. Oh well, we're just putting meanings to his innocent actions, but what the heck, the Daddy is still happy.

The rare time Rocco threw a tantrum, I couldn't help but take a picture. It was so cute! I didn't realize he was hungry, that's why he was crying. Bad mommy. Now I know.

Rocco was hospitalized a few days short of his 2nd month. Just thinking about it gives me a heartache. It's really true what they say that when you're a Mommy, you're willing to take all the pain, just spare the little child. 

After his hospitalization, Rocco started to like breastfeeding. I almost cried when he finally accepted my boobs. 

Such a cutie, my little shaolin :) He's a sleepyhead like me. He would literally doze off after feeding.

Rocco is a strong boy. He started lifting his head when he was barely 2months old. He kicks really hard. Now at 3 1/2months, he can already sit with support, hold his head, roll from side to side, and when held on a standing position, he can stretch his legs and stand with support.

With his Grandma Flor. I'm so blessed that Rocco has doting grandparents :)

How I survived the first month, and more reasons to love it!

The first month was personally hard for me. Rocco had hyperthermia at birth so he was left at the hospital for a week. He latched so poorly that breastfeeding became a struggle, plus the fact that there aren't any latching support groups in Cebu who could help out. What made it worse was my allergic reaction to my medications. I had severe (and I'm not kidding when I say severe) hive rashes from my pain killers, which spread all throughout my arms and tummy area. I had to wear long-sleeves for a whole month, for fear of coming into contact with my son (though my doctor assured me countless times that it was not contagious). This restricted my much needed skin-to-skin bonding with my son. From worse to worst, I got sick with pneumonia (or something like that). I was coughing and had colds like crazy I was freaking out because I might pass the virus to Rocco.

Still, I'm just happy I overcame the first month of mommyhood intact, with no bouts of post-partum depression.

For the most part, Rocco brought so much happiness that all those little aches I was experiencing were nothing.

I never expected to have a Chinese looking boy, but thank God for his chinito eyes, he's cuuuuter and so adorable.

The day we brought him home from his week long stay at the hospital. I could not get enough of him.

Being a first time mommy is super scary. Thank God I had the best support group. My Ate Dynah came all the way from Manila to teach me the know-hows of caring for a newborn :)

Rocco started side-sleeping at 13 days old. I don't know if it's a normal thing for babies his age.

Rocco is such an "cool" baby, and very easy to care for. He slept a lot, so I squeezed in a lot of snooze time too.

Rocco thinks that his Daddy is a clown :) Only Daddy can make him squeal in laughter. He showed his first real smile when I took a pic of him with his Daddy. Much love for my boys :)

We gave Rocco tummy time at 3-weeks old. I got a lot of flak from my family for doing this to my son. Hahaha! Huwag daw magmadali :)

Rocco's cord stump fell off at 5 weeks. I then gave him his daily tub baths. At first, I could not understand why he kept on crying and whaling during bath time. It freaked me out because he would hold his breath and would turn dark. Thank God for mommysense, I found out he didn't like being placed in water immediately. From then on, I placed him in an empty tub, and poured water through the trusty tabo. Bath time has been a delight ever since.

Rocco absolutely loves the outdoors. Everyday, after our early morning playtime, we bring him outside to greet Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Sky, Mr. Tree, and all tweety birds in our nice compound. 

I'm so blessed to have a very supportive husband, and a hands-on daddy. When I was sick with pneumonia and hive rashes, he let me sleep straight at night, and he took it on to really care for Rocco, especially during early mornings.

The Reason

The reason I'm back to blogging...

There's always a new story to tell with this little boy. He never fails to surprise us. 

He is the PERFECT subject.

I'm Back!

I'm back! It's been months since I last doodled on my blog. Motherhood caught up with me, plus I'm a career woman on the sideline, with barely enough extra time for me, myself, and I.

Though I haven't been blogging a lot, I started a pet project inspired by the famous google ad "Dear.Sophia.Lee". My version: "Dearest.Rocco"

I've been writing letters (well, e-mails) to my son. I can't wait for him to read my letters someday. When the time is right, I will give him the username and password of his own email, and hopefully he will appreciate and treasure me more as his mommy.

But..but..but..this blog, I will still keep. I've been so inspired with other mommy blogs that I follow, that I feel the need to share my experiences, being a first time mommy.

So, shall we start Mommies?

Rocco's Birth Story

I had my scheduled OB checkup last November 12. I was already full term at 37 weeks and 2 days, but I wasn't feeling anything unusual yet.

When my OB did an internal exam, we found out that I was already 4cm dilated and 60% effaced. She told me that I could give birth anytime, and so we discussed my birth plan. Before leaving, I had my admission orders with me.

I thought "anytime" meant in a few hours or in a day. But no! Monday went by, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on. My mother was panicking and told me to have myself admitted because I might get an infection. What's worse, I caught a bad cold from too much walking around the compound.

From time to time I would text my OB for status updates. She just told me to be patient and wait, because there are women who really progress slowly from 4cm onwards.

Then November 21 came. I wasn't feeling Rocco move as much. After lunch, I barely counted 4 movements within the first hour. I called Sieg so we could go to the hospital. At the same time, I texted my OB and she told me to admit ASAP.

I was freaking out, but I didn't want to show it because Sieg would be the first to panic. At the hospital, we went to the ER and they wheeled me off immediately to the delivery unit. I barely had time to say my goodbyes to Sieg because they did not allow me to go outside anymore.

We found out during the internal exam that I was already 5cm dilated and 80% effaced. I was stripped off my clothes and they handed me my labor room gear.

I was with three other women inside our labor unit and we all had the same OB. The doctors kept asking me if I was contracting or in pain, and I said I WAS NOT. They were having a hard time monitoring my progress because it was still painless for me, so they strapped me to a contractions monitor.

November 21

5:45PM = The fetal heart rate and contractions monitoring started.

6:30PM = The lady beside me was crying like hell and was begging for a CS because of the pain. She was only 3cm dilated. I found out that she was not allowed an epidural because her bag of water leaked in the early morning and an epidural would further slow down her labor, which will make her baby more prone to distress.

10:00PM = Another lady was wheeled in the room. She was 5cm dilated and her labor was actively progressing.

November 22

12:00MN = The lady begging for CS was wheeled to the operating room.

4:00AM = The other lady who was wheeled in at 10PM was fully dilated. She was ready to push. Meanwhile, I was still wondering how contractions felt like. It was totally still painless for me.

6:00AM = I had another internal exam. I was 6cm dilated and 90% effaced. It took 12hrs just to progress   from 5 to 6cm! My goodness. I was ordered a light breakfast.

7:00AM = I was induced. Oxytocin drip was IV'ed to me.

9:00AM = I was 7cm dilated. I still was not feeling any pain.

11:00AM = My bag of water was manually popped. Then the pain started.

12:00NN = I was 8cm dilated. The pain was there, but I could still control it. It was mind over matter for me. The first 10seconds were the most painful. It sent my legs jiggling. Then the next 30seconds, I could manage.

1:00PM = The doctors did another internal exam, and it was the most painful feeling I've felt in my life. I wasn't shouting, but I was crying from the agony.

1:30PM = I asked for an epidural. I could not take it anymore. My labor was progressing so slowly, and I've been in labor for almost 21 hours already. What's worse, I had a bad case of clogged nose from my cold and it was making it hard for me to breath. Nasal aspirators didn't work. If I exhausted myself too much, I would have nothing left to push, and would be on the brink of a CS delivery.

2:00PM = I was wheeled to the delivery room for my epidural. I was almost numb from the pain and didn't even feel the injection to my spine, nor the catether being placed on my back.

4:00PM = I was 9cm dilated. The epidural further slowed down my labor. My OB told me that if I do not fully dilate by 5:30, she would deliver the baby via CS.

5:30PM = I was chilling like crazy and was having a fever but I was praying to all the angels of heaven for a miracle. I wanted a normal delivery. My OB did another internal exam, and I was so relieved when she told me she could already feel my baby's head. It was time to push!

5:45PM = The whole team was ready. They guided me on when to push because I was not feeling any contractions from the epidural.

6:16PM= On my 7th push, my baby came out (with the help of fundal pushing from my anesthesiologist). I barely had any energy left. My baby was placed in my stomach and breast, and it was the sweetest thing ever!

Rocco's vital statistics :)

My little shaolin at the nursery,having hyperthermia :( 

My OB then started the other works. I felt my placenta coming out, and she started stitching me because I had a 3rd degree laceration. Rocco birth weight was 7lbs and 10oz, with a head circumference of 35cm, so he was huge!

After the delivery work, I was wheeled in to the recovery room. That's when Rocco's pedia told me that he had a fever during birth, with an elevated temp of 38.5C.

Sad to say, we were not able to room in Rocco because he was taken to NICU level 2 for monitoring. He stayed there for 7 days for his medication, and we were able to bring him home only last November 29. I was discharged last November 26 so I visited him everyday till he was also out.

So there goes my 1st hand experience on childbirth. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be :)