My Little Princes!

In the beginning, we had a little bit of trouble when we brought Little C home. J would cry when he saw his little brother being handed to me for nursing and he would often scramble to sit on my lap to beat Little C to it. He'd point to Little C, then to his Yaya's boob, meaning that his shoti should nurse from Yaya instead of Mommy. He'd also fuss when his Daddy would pay attention to shoti. We also had some instances where he would hit Little C (although not too hard, thankfully).

But 2 weeks later, my boys are getting along much better. J has learned to use a gentler touch with his brother and he seems very fascinated by this new little person in our household. It doesn't bother him as much when he sees Little C nursing from me, although sometimes he still asks me to give Little C to Yaya and he's still a bit clingy with me. Whenever he sees his brother, he'd wave, "hi!" and giggle a little bit. When Little C is in his baby basket or when I'm holding him, J likes touching his little feet, hands and hair. Just this week, we were able to take this short video of one of the first special moments between my boys.

As parents, Big C and I have no other wish than to see our boys get along. Even when Little C was still in my tummy, we would say that nothing would make us happier. Now, I always tell J that he has to protect his little brother because he's bigger and stronger (and when I say 'strong', he makes a growling noise and does the macho arms thing that boys do) and that when Little C is bigger, he'll learn to protect and help his Ahya as well. I also told him that he's been given a very wonderful gift, a friend who will always be with him wherever he goes, just like his two playmates, sisters Elise and Erika. He seems to get it, and hopefully, Big C and I get our wish and our boys will be the best of friends. :-)

Little C's Birth Story

Here it is! My last birth story. I decided to write about it while it was still fresh in my mind. I hope that one day, my boys will want to read about how they came into the world.

Unlike G's and J's births, I was in a very positive state of mind about Little C's birth. Given that it was my third birth in four years, I was fairly confident about my ability to handle the labor and delivery. Also, since the ultrasounds showed that Little C was significantly smaller than J was, I would say that I was pretty cocky about my ability to push him out into the world.

But I learned a very important lesson the day Little C was born. Every labor and delivery is different.

Let me start this off by saying that with Little C, I was in no rush to give birth. There were still a lot of things to be done in preparation and I needed all the time I could get to have the house in order. I had a new maid to train, groceries to buy and errands to run in preparation for my month-long retreat into the world of motherhood.

At my 37 week check-up, my OB told me that I was already 1cm dilated, but since that's still in the latent (non-active) phase of labor, it would be a while before I actually gave birth. Besides, while books say that 37 weeks is considered full-term, I really wanted to give Little C some more time inside my tummy to grow. So I took it easy. I avoided going for walks and tried to stay off my feet as much as possible.

But at 37 weeks and 5 days of pregnancy, I woke up to a little bit of bloody discharge and regular contractions coming in at 4-9 minutes apart. Like I said, I was in no rush to give birth, so I decided to observe the contractions for a while. I went to my mom's house with J as planned. By 10 am, there was more discharge and the contractions were still regular. Since everyone was telling me that with this being my third time to give birth, things could progress really quickly and I could go into active labor at any given moment, I made a judgement call and asked my mom to go with me to the delivery room to get checked out. If there was still no progress, at least I could go home with assurance that Little C and I were okay.

At the hospital, my OB checked me out and said I was still at 1cm. I was already hopping off the table, thinking, "Great! I can still go home," when my OB hurriedly added that she didn't feel comfortable with me going home for that night. We live a bit far from the hospital, and she didn't want me suddenly going into labor and having to rush back to the hospital in the middle of the night. I struck a compromise with her and we agreed that I could just go out for a bit, run some errands, do some walking to hasten the labor and just go back to the hospital to get assessed later in the day.

To get some of my to-do's out of the way, my mom went with me to do the groceries. Later in the afternoon, Big C came to get me. We went out, walked for a bit, and had dinner. All the while, the contractions were coming steadily, in regular intervals. At about 830 pm, we went back to the delivery room, but I was only 2cm dilated. I wanted to go home, but again, my doctor didn't feel comfortable sending me home only to have me come back to the hospital in a panic, because I had suddenly gone into active labor. We decided to just get admitted and wait it out in the hospital. My doctor predicted that I would go into labor within 6-8 hours.

The next day brought more contractions, with increasing intensity, but I was still stuck at 2cm. Before the IE, I already told Big C that if there was no progress, I was going home no matter what the doctor said. I was already tired and I missed J terribly. I had never been apart from him for that long, and all I wanted to do was go home and see him. The doctor told us that since we were admitted late, the room was already paid for until late that evening and that it would be a waste for us to go home only to come back. She suggested waiting it out some more until that evening. She also suggested considering a labor induction.

By then I was already really frustrated with the back and forth. I was in no rush to give birth, but I was getting tired of everyone saying that the labor can go very quickly. To make a long story short, Big C and I discussed it thoroughly, and we consented to inducing labor.

The labor induction was started at 1pm, and I was hooked to an IV drip of syntocinon to intensify the contractions. I was also given a dose of buscopan to hasten the dilation of my cervix. In less than an hour, the contractions were coming at 2-3 minute intervals, and each contraction was getting more intense than the last. By 4 pm, there was still no progress, but the doctors assured me that reaching 4cm dilation would really take time and that labor induction was a waiting game.

After 4pm, I was in agony. The contractions were getting to be very painful, but I didn't want to ask for an epidural, at least until I reached active labor. If I did, it might slow down the progress and prolong the labor. So I gritted my teeth and inhaled and exhaled and tried to think happy thoughts. I was due for another IE at 7pm, and I was wishing with all my might that I had progressed to 4cm so that I could get an epidural. Good thing that by then, my anesthesiologist was already there at the hospital.

At this point, I should probably say that this was nothing like my labor with J. That went really well, and I progressed nicely without needing drugs. The pain intensified with each contraction, just as this one did, but the pain was bearable and I was able to last until 6cm dilation before I consented to the epidural.

By 7pm, there was still no progress and I was close to tears already. The next IE was scheduled at 10, and I was counting down the contractions and the minutes until then. The doctors were asking me if I wanted to be sedated, but I said no. To differentiate, sedation and having an epidural are two different things. The epidural basically numbs you, but the sedation would put me to sleep so that I wouldn't be aware of the worst of it. I didn't want to be sedated when I gave birth. I wanted to be awake to welcome Little C into the world.

I was allowed to make calls to the room to update Big C and my family. Sometime between 7pm and 11pm, I called the room and asked to talk to Big C. If I recall correctly, I threatened to smack him because of the pain I was in.

Thankfully, by 11pm, I had jumped to 6-7cm dilation. My water bag was ruptured to hasten the process and I was finally given the epidural. I subsided into a haze of numbness and I called Big C to let him know that it didn't hurt anymore. I probably wasn't making any sense at that time, but hey, you have to cut the lady in labor some slack. When the doctor asked me how I was feeling, I just said woozily, "I love you very much right now, Dra." (which made the doctors in the labor room laugh)

My OB predicted that it would be at least 2 more hours until it was time to push, so I was trying to nap a little bit to shore up my strength. From experience, I knew it would be a sleepless night and I needed all the rest I could get. But in another hour, the doctors told me that Little C was on his way out. I was quickly wheeled to the delivery room.

What followed was the longest and shortest hour of my life. Because the labor progressed much quicker than we expected, I think the epidural didn't have much time to work its way into my system, so I felt everything. It's at this point that I'd like to say hats off to the women who practiced Lamaze when giving birth. I've always said that I wasn't brave enough to undergo a non-medicated birth, and I really applaud the women who do. I was already in so much pain, and I didn't know if I could do it any longer. To think that I was already on a continuous epidural at that point.

When you're pushing a 7-pound something through a very small opening, you can expect that there's a lot of pressure. Thankfully, the epidural took the edge off most of the pain, but I could still feel the pressure as Little C made his way out of my body. You know that scene in movies where the pregnant woman gives one big push and then it's all done? It actually happens that way. You push hard one last time and then everything  just slides right out. I actually felt Little C slide out.

The moment I heard Little C cry, it's like all the cliches about childbirth came true for me. Everything faded into the background, even the unbearable pain that I underwent just mere seconds ago, and all I could focus on was that tiny human being they were placing on my chest. He was so small, much smaller than J was when he was born. It's true. Labor hurts like nothing else, but the minute you see your baby, all that is forgotten.

I gave birth to Little C at nearly 1am, and I was so tired I fell asleep by the time I arrived in the recovery room. When I woke up, every muscle in my body hurt, and I felt like a truck had rolled all over me -- several times. But by 6am, I was at the nursery to hold my son and feed him for the first time. By 9am, my little one was roomed in and there, our journey as a family of four started.

Say hello to my little dude!

Maternity Leave

Hello all!

I've been remiss on updating the blog lately, but I think I have a pretty good reason. :-)

Last week, our family of three officially became a family of four, when Caleb Matthew was born very early Saturday morning. Born at 38 weeks gestation, our latest addition weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and measured 50 cm in length. Happy to say that Mommy and Bubba are both resting at home.

As it is, I'll be taking the month off to recuperate and focus my energies on my two little ones. Watch out for posts on Little C's birth story (every pregnancy and birth experience really is different), ge-lai do's and don'ts based on my current (and hopefully last) ge-lai experience, and a VERY late Mothers' Day tribute post. I started on that last week, but babies have their own schedule, so I have yet to finish it.

Thanks to all the friends and family members who called/visited/texted us! A very merry month of May for all of  us!

My two greatest treasures!

Expo Mom 2012 at the Rockwell Tent

Expo Mom is a yearly event that I always look forward to, and this is my third year in a row to attend. This year's Expo Mom took place last May 5-6, 2012, at the Rockwell Tent. It's a great chance for mommies to check out what new goodies mompreneurs have for us.

Usually, I go on the very first day, early in the morning. During this time, the foot traffic is considerably lighter and the stall owners have time to talk to you about their products. But this year, I was unable to make it during the morning, so we went on Sunday afternoon, and when we got there, the place was bustling. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures, because I was immediately distracted by all the things to check out.

This is also my first time to attend the expo with other expectant moms. I was accompanied by two friends who are also first-time pregnant moms, and I'm guessing we were quite a sight, one in her first trimester (looking around to see what's available), another in her second trimester (definitely in shopping mode), and me in my third trimester (looking like I could give birth at any second).

While some mommies prefer to bring their little ones and their husbands to the expo, I prefer to go by myself. For one thing, J would most likely wreak havoc in the tent, what with all the cool things he can fiddle with there. For another, this really isn't Big C's cup of tea, and he'd be much happier browsing through True Value while I roam to my heart's content. Yesterday, the three of us were accompanied by our husbands, but going alone to these expos is the recommendation I gave my two friends. Our husbands have been friends since college, and while the three guys gamely followed us around and carried all the loot bags we got from the exhibitors, after half an hour, we found the three of them huddled in a corner, talking shop and god-knows-what.

I was looking for a cute outfit for Little C's one month birthday, body washes and/or shampoos for J, mosquito repellent, and a ring sling. Out of that list, I was only able to buy was the ring sling, which I got from the Mama.Baby.Love booth. A big, big thanks to Jonie of Mamaway, who was kind enough to assist me and one of my friends by giving us a thorough demonstration of the ring slings. My friend and I ended up purchasing one each. She got a Mamaway ring sling, while I bagged one of the Next9 ring slings. I was attracted to the prints of the Mamaway slings, but the huge pocket in the Next9 sling sealed the deal for me, since I always need a place to stash my keys and my phones.

I also stopped by the Cradle/Cycles booth to pick up a refill pack of the bottle and nipple cleanser and a bottle of the toy and surface cleaner. Another important stop was the Medela Moms, Inc. booth as well. My friend who's in her second trimester is looking for a good breastpump, and from experience, I recommended that she purchase a Medela. It's a great pump that's easy to use, plus Medela Moms offers a great warranty coverage and hands-on service for each customer.

I wasn't able to get the other stuff that I needed, because the place was already very crowded and with me in my last trimester on a scorching Sunday afternoon, I was already baking inside the tent, so we left after visiting our targeted booths. (The venue was very well-ventilated and the airconditioning was working fine, so I'm guessing it's just the pregnancy temperature spike that got to me.)

And of course, my favorite part of the Expo is the freebies and samples you get from the exhibitors. Child care products are often costly, and samples of products to try are always appreciated to help in making purchasing decisions. While Expo Mom always has a lot of goodies for attendees, this year, the expo was organized in such a way that promotions for the event was linked to more prizes for moms. Posting photos of this year's theme to promote the event gives you a chance to pick a prize from Mommy Mundo, while liking the Facebook pages of the exhibitors entitles you to freebies. In addition to that, by having your ticket stamped when you visit the booths entitles you to another prize.

I wasn't able to take pictures of all the loot bags, because I was so excited to dive in and explore what was inside. This year's haul, in addition to what I bought, yielded disposable pads from both Pigeon and Avent, samples of Pigeon fruit and vegetable wash, a breastmilk storage cup from Avent, sample diapers from Sweet Baby, and lots of interesting reading material, including the latest issue of Urban Mom, featuring the moms of the #RealMom campaign.

So while I wasn't able to get all the things I needed at this year's expo, just the chance to look around at all the cute stuff they have for our little ones, and for me as well, was a fun experience. I hope it was a good afternoon for my two friends also, and I'm already looking forward to next year's expo.

To Mommy Mundo, thanks for a great event! See you again next year!

After a Busy Weekend: May 7, 2012

It feels like the past week just flew by, what with all the things that needed to be done, and errands that needed to be completed. But even in the midst of this busy, busy week, it wasn't hard to find bright spots in my week.

• Little C's still head-down and lodged into the birth canal, but thankfully, my cervix is still closed, which gives him more time to grow inside Mommy's tummy. Although some of the books say that at 37 weeks, a fetus is considered full-term, my OB feels that 38 weeks is safer, which I agree with.
• It's been drizzling in the afternoons, which has helped cool the weather somewhat. That's pretty great for this pregnant mommy who's been sweltering in the summer heat and humidity.
• Despite the drizzling, the good weather held out long enough for us to finish washing all of Little C's clothes.
• Because all of Little C's clothes are now washed, our bags for the hospital are ready and waiting. All that's left is the stuff we need for eating.
• A visit from my mom and sisters to catch up.
• My mom took the time to join me for the Breastfeeding 101 class at the Medela House, which I truly appreciated. Thanks, Momsters!
• The Breastfeeding 101 class, which helped me pinpoint several things I did wrong while breastfeeding J, hopefully saving me from costly mistakes when I breastfeed Little C.
• A yummy family lunch!
• Expo Mom 2012, an event that's fun all around for mommies. I got the chance to drop in on my favorite mompreneur booths and to pick up a ring sling for Little C. This year's expo was even more fun for me, because it was the first time I attended the expo will other expectant moms. (Watch out for my post on this event.)
• Most of all, for a husband who never fails to indulge my every whim (within reason), even when I ask for the strangest of things. I have always been spoiled by my husband, but Big C always takes extra special care of me when I am pregnant with our babies and makes me feel even more cherished and loved than I usually do.

So many things have happened last week, and there's still so much to look forward to. For now, I'm off to take a walk with J! I haven't been joining him as much the past few weeks, but since my due date is close, I'll need to walk to speed along the process. Have a great week!

One Hectic Weekend: Breastfeeding 101 and Expo Mom 2012

Saturday's almost done and half of my hectic weekend has already gone by. The day started pretty early. I was up by 6 to make breakfast for Big C and was out of the house by 7:45 to pick up my mom for today's Breastfeeding 101 session.

Luckily, J woke up in time for me to sneak in a quick cuddle session with my little rugrat before I left for the day, and I was able to kiss him good-bye. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I don't like leaving the house without letting him know and telling him when I'll be back. Sometimes it seems like the good-bye ritual is more for me than for him, because he manages just fine without me, but I like to think that the routine and the kept promises help build a relationship of trust between me and my son. I just hope that I'm right. :-)

So anyway, I picked up my mom and we headed to the Medela House to attend the Breastfeeding 101 class facilitated by Abbie Yabot. I've been looking forward to this class for a long time. First, because I was really excited to bring my mom to the class in the hopes of helping her understand why it's so important for me to breastfeed my son. Second, because it's been a while since I last breastfed a baby and I needed some pointers to increase the chances of succeeding with exclusive breastfeeding. To this day, I still regret being unable to exclusively breastfeed J, but today's session helped me pinpoint some of the mistakes I made then, that I will hopefully be able to avoid with Little C.

Certified Lactation Counselor Abbie Yabot doing her thing!

For one thing, I was mistaken in thinking that my son was crying because he was hungry. According to Abbie, hunger is only one reason why newborns cry. They may also cry because of the sudden change in environment, from the warm, squishy, squeeze of Mommy's uterus, to the big, cold world, and they're looking for familiar things, like the sound of Mommy's heartbeat, or Mommy's unique scent.

Maybe then, all I needed to do was to hold my son and give him the comfort he needed to get him to stop crying. And I remember now, that by the morning after that first terrible night, I was so exhausted and frustrated and anxious that I just laid J down on the bed beside me and told him, "I'm sorry, baby. Mommy doesn't know how to help you and we're both so tired. Maybe we just need some rest," and I laid down beside him. A few minutes later, my baby stopped crying and both of us fell asleep.

On this note, I'd like to stop and pose a question. The books and the experts and our elders all tell us that the baby should be trained to lie on his own and comfort himself and I was told to leave him in the isolette and not fuss over J so much, so he doesn't get used to being held all the time. But then again, I can't help but agree with attachment parenting advocates who say that babies will innately want comfort from their parents and will seek them out. Isn't it unnatural to ignore my child when he clearly needs me? So maybe with Little C, I'll take a different approach and see what happens.

I also realized that my positioning and latch were both wrong, two things that any lactation counselor will tell you are primary in establishing a successful breastfeeding relationship. I didn't observe the tummy-to-tummy position and I laid J down on a pillow and kept hunching my back, which led to a lot of pain for me. The back pain I experienced may have been a milk inhibitor, which affected my milk supply and contributed to the doom of my breastfeeding journey with J.

J was also most likely nipple confused. Due to my desperation to ease my son's distress, I gave in and fed him formula, which meant that he was bottle fed and breastfeeding at the same time. For mommies who have attended breastfeeding classes, you know that the motions of the mouth and face needed for direct feeding are vastly different and far more complex compared to the motions needed to get milk from a bottle. This time, I'm taking the safer route and I purchased a Medela Calma teat, to use on bottles if I should decide to bottle feed Little C, so that he won't get confused by the bottle and the breast.

But as every breastfeeding class will teach you, patience is the key to establishing a good breastfeeding relationship with your child. My previous experience has already taught me that it won't be easy, and I like to think that I'm going into this mentally and emotionally prepared for the challenges. With every session I attend, I am reminded of the reasons why I should do this for my son and my resolve is strengthened.

As the day winds down, I have another hectic day planned for tomorrow. A hearty lunch, then we're off to Rockwell Tent to check out Expo Mom 2012. This is an event that I've attended since 2010, and I never fail to find all sorts of goodies for my little ones. This year, I need to find a cute outfit for Little C's one month birthday, which is a special event in the Chinese culture.

I also need some natural and organic baby wash/shampoo for J because I recently found out that Johnson's baby products use ingredients that are known carcinogens. We've switched back to Aveeno for the time being, but it's no match for my son's sweaty little head in the summer heat, which smells more like a teenager's sweaty head now. In addition to that, we've run out of mosquito repellant, so I'll need to pick up some of that tomorrow.

Apart from that, I'm attending this year's Expo with two friends who are also expectant mothers and I'm looking forward to taking them to meet my favorite mompreneurs: Jenny of Mama.Baby.Love, Jonie of Mamaway (who's been super helpful with teaching me how to use a ring sling), Paola of Mommy Treats (who supplied the yummy, yummy treats for the past two Medela House sessions I've attended), Maricel of Medela Moms. These are the mommy businesses who I regularly buy items from, but I'm also excited to check out what the other sellers have in store for us. I'll definitely be stopping by the Medela Moms booth to help one of my friends pick out a breastpump, and the Mamaway booth to snag a ring sling for Little C.

Whew! That was a lengthy post and I hope I didn't bore you. Today's session was very fruitful for me in terms of learning and it got me thinking about a lot of things. Now, I'm looking forward to applying all the things I learned when Little C arrives in, yikes! Less than 21 days! (Or less than a week as Big C counts it.)

Till then, there's Expo Mom 2012 tomorrow! I hope you mommies can drop by!

Countdown: 23 Days to Go!

According to my ever-reliable app, we have 23 days left until Little C's expected birthday. But as most mommies already know, that count is plus/minus 14 days, since there's a 2-week window before and after your estimated due date (EDD) when the baby can come out. In my case, since it's my third baby, I'm guessing we won't make it past my EDD. I'm getting a weird feeling that Little C might make his grand entrance ahead of time. I may or may not have only 9 days to prepare everything for my youngest son's arrival.

My Braxton-Hicks contractions are getting stronger and happening more frequently. Fortunately, they're still irregular, which means I'm not in labor. Survival rates are already very good for 36-week old fetuses, but according to my doctor and the books and articles I've read, 38 weeks is better. (When I asked Big C, he said he'd be happy if I gave birth as soon as I hit my 38th completed week because he sees how uncomfortable I am already and he feels bad for me.)

As of the last ultrasound, Little C was 6 lbs. and 3 oz., which is a good weight for a 36-week old fetus. If he stays on track and gains weight as he should, he should be at least 7 lbs. by the 38th completed week. That's a pretty decent weight for a newborn. I would prefer though, that he make it to the 39th week. That will give him more time to grow stronger and bigger inside my tummy.

Based on the doctor's abdominal palpation during my last doctor's appointment, Little C is already lodged in my birth canal, so she gave me an IE to check my cervix for dilation and effacement. I was relieved when she said that my cervix was still closed and very thick, so I should be okay even with the contractions.

At this point, I'd like to say that I hate IEs. They're fourth on my list of the grossest things that a woman goes through when giving birth. First is pooping for the first time after your episiotomy (which they make sure you do before they discharge you from the hospital), the second is the first IE after your episiotomy and the third is, of course, the episiotomy. I'm fearless about giving birth, but I have to admit, the episiotomy still freaks me out. Since Little C is smaller than big brother J was, I'm hoping with my fingers (and toes) crossed that I won't need one this time.

I should mention that I'd like to thank one of my friends for the best advice I got about childbirth. Mommies, do not EVER refuse the perilite treatment. In fact, I suggest you ask for it. It's like a UV light that they shine on your lady parts after birth to help the stitches heal faster. It's also really soothing.

Anyway, having gone on maternity leave 3 days ago, my workload is considerably lighter, but the errands and tasks at home are piling up. I still have my weekly doctor's appointments and one more doctor's appointment for J before I give birth. With my mom's birthday also coming up, one last breastfeeding class, lunch with relatives and a mommy expo to attend, my schedule is still packed despite the moratorium I've imposed on myself to ease up and get some rest. There's also groceries to buy to make sure the house is stocked up, a new maid to train and bank errands to run because I'll be on house arrest for a month. But despite all of these, I'm really happy that I've gotten several things crossed off my list of things to do.

So far, we've finished washing all the clothes that Little C will use and they're drying in the sun as I type. Our hospital bag is 50% packed already; all that's missing is Little C's stuff (I'll get to that after I finish writing this post). The other stuff we need for the hospital (kitchen things) will be packed next week. (With a toddler around the house, I'm not inclined to leaving dishes and other breakables within easy reach.)

Now that I think about it, that's only two things and one of them is only half-done. Hm.

Okay. I think I have to get back to preparing now. Till the next post, mommies!

Work-at-Home Mom-me: Part 4 - This WAHM's Typical Day

This is the last in a series of four posts about my life as a work-at-home mom (WAHM). The first post tells you about how I started working from home, the second tells you about the challenges I faced as a WAHM and the third talks about the things I love about being a WAHM. This last post will describe a typical day in the life of this WAHM.

I get up from bed at around 6:30 am, but I'm usually awake by 6-ish. The first thing I do, when I wake up at any given time, is glance at the monitor to see what J is up to (we have a CCTV system that lets me see into his room in lieu of a baby monitor). He's usually still asleep at that time though, so I stay in bed and plan my day. General questions I ask myself upon waking up:

• Any pending projects from work? (If there are, I sort through them in order of priority to decide which one I work on first.)
• What should we prepare for our lunch and dinner and J's lunch and dinner?
• Any errands to run today? (bank, groceries, laundry, doctor's appointments, calls to make, etc.)

At about 6:30, I get up and savor the quiet time in the morning to check my mail for new assignments and surf for a bit. Of course, this includes my Facebook time.

Around 7, I go downstairs to prepare breakfast for Big C, who will also be getting up in a bit. This only usually takes me 10 minutes at most and while I cook, I ask Yaya to give me a recap on J's activities the night before (i.e., how much he ate, if he woke up during the night, how many diapers he went through, etc.). By this time, Yaya has eaten breakfast already and is working on J's laundry from the day before. Like me, she likes to take advantage of the uninterrupted time when the munchkin is still asleep to get a headstart on her chores.

Big C and I sit at the table together and have breakfast and talk about what our schedule for the day is. Mostly he asks me what I have planned for the day since his schedule pretty much stays the same on most days. When he leaves, I go back upstairs to make the bed and get started on work, while the maid cleans our room.

Just woke up!

J's wake-up time varies from day to day. It can be as early as 6am on some days, or as late as 8:15 on others. Whatever time he wakes up, I make sure I'm still in my jammies, because he loves seeing my jammies. His wake-up time is my favorite time of the day, because he likes to roll around in his bed a bit before he gets up and he usually asks me to lie down with him for a few minutes and we just hang out there for a bit until he's ready to start his day. I try to make sure that I'm the first person he sees when he wakes up, because I think that it's a really special time and I love seeing him all rumpled and sleepy and his hair sticks up all over his head.

Once he's up, we take off his diaper and make him pee in his little urinal. That's part of our efforts to potty-train him (more on that in a separate post).

While Yaya gives J a bath, I try to squeeze in some more work. Once he's done, I take him for a walk, usually to visit his grandparents who live in the same complex as we do. He likes to hang out there, because his Angkong loves to feed him and he just putters around there for about 45 minutes or so, then we head home. By the time we get home, Yaya is done with her chores and takes over watching J.

For a pregnant mommy in the summer heat, the mornings with an active toddler are nothing short of a gym work out. After a cooling shower, I sit back down at my desk and get to work on whatever projects are due for the day. If there's no work to be done, I usually write a few blog posts to clear my head. I usually have 2 or 3 ideas on topics that I want to write about floating around and I work on that until it's time for lunch. Around 10 or so, I go down and check on J's lunch. He eats at around 10:30, so by 10:15, lunch needs to start cooling so he can eat on time. At 11, it's my turn to eat and Yaya puts him down for a nap.

Depending on my workload, I take a nap with J after lunch. If it's a busy day, I go straight back to work and periodically check in on him through the CCTV. If not, I lie down next to him and take a nap for an hour, which really helps with the third trimester fatigue. I stay with him until he wakes up and we repeat our morning ritual until Yaya comes to get him and play and I go back to work. If I have errands to run, I usually take care of them right after eating lunch. That's pretty much how it goes until 4:30, when we go for a swim or a walk. (But with my due date looming in about 3 weeks, I've had to skip our afternoon walks. I'll probably go with him again when I hit my 38th week, to avoid the risk of premature labor.)

We get back home by 6 pm, and J eats dinner while I prepare dinner for me and Big C. After dinner, Big C and I watch J and play with him and spend family time with him while Yaya eats and has some time to herself. By 8:30, Yaya comes to get J for bedtime. I say his prayers with him and kiss him good night. After that, it's quality time with my one and only and that's pretty much how my day ends.

Tomorrow morning, we wake up and do all of that all over again. :-)

So that's it! A typical day in the life of this WAHM. How about you, mommies? How does a typical day go for you?