Root Canal

This year is turning out to be a year of visits to doctors. Aside from my pre-natal check-ups with the OB, I've been seeing a dentist a lot this year. Google says dental problems do crop up while pregnant.

I have a fixed bridge and the tooth where it is attached to has become infected. Root canal was recommended. I hightailed it to the OB to ask for clearance and she said okay because I'm already in my second trimester. I thought of suffering through the pain but the dentist said the tooth could become more infected, hence, more painful. Besides, I have five more months to go. I don't want a toothache while in labor.

I had the procedure done this morning. The bridge had to be removed thus there was more drilling than usual. The dentist remarked that since I've been throwing up, the acidity in my saliva might have loosened the bridge, thus, the infection. 

The first dentist I went to wanted to use diluted epinephrine, hubby coaxed me to go to another, who used lidocaine, which is more preggy-friendly. The anesthesia injection hurt a bit but the actual root canal ekek HURT LIKE HELL despite the numbing. I could not help but cry out loud. Hubby was in the reception area and I was about to motion for the assistants to call him so I saw him through my tears. Funny thing was, he was holding both my hands and I needed one hand to signal if something hurts so I had to wrestle my hand back hehe. After that, there were more screwing and drilling and slight pinches of pain.

I have to go back this week-end to replace the bridge and a couple of weeks after to have something something installed. Almost five hours after, the area feels a bit sore but I've managed to eat lunch and merienda by chewing on the other side of my mouth. 

Sigh. I thought after the nausea has gone, the throwing up has stopped, everything will be smooth sailing. However, I'll gladly endure all these aches now in return for a healthy and normal baby. :)

Hello again, bagoong!

A couple of weeks into the pregnancy, I was cooking my weekly pinakbet with bagoong na isda or liquid bagoong. While it was bubbling away, I felt like throwing up. I ate noodles for that dinner and all the pinakbet was hubby's baon.

I am 16 weeks pregnant today. We have some left-over fried boneless bangus and veggies so I decided to cook dinengdeng, another Ilocano dish which requires bagoong. I could cook it with salt but it doesn't taste the same. Since my nausea has gone, I haven't been throwing up, and my appetite has returned, I decided to try cooking with bagoong again. And yay, I cooked and ate dinengdeng again without throwing up! My Ilocano heart is so happy. :)

How to stay stress-free while pregnant?

Yes, I'm asking; no, this is not a how-to post.

As soon as people learn I'm pregnant, they automatically say: "Don't be stressed." Which is really hard for me to do because my default mode is 50% stressed. Must be my being a tad OC slash paranoid and panganay-take-charge disposition that little things agitate me. Like just this morning, I saw that one of our knives' tip was cut off/broke off. I asked hubby and sister and they both don't know. So I'm worried and yes, stressed, that it got mixed in the food and one of us ate it. But it was quite a large chunk so I hope it was just flushed down the drain.

Then, there are work issues and office issues.

We are also looking for a kasambahay and it's not easy to find a trustworthy one who can cook, clean and take care of a baby.

Pre-pregnancy, I'd go for a full-body massage to de-stress. Now I can't. This is one of the things I miss. And coffee.

So really, how does one stay stress-free while pregnant?

Typhoon Glenda

Another July 16, another disaster. This time, a typhoon.

Reports leading to today stated that Glenda will be like Milenyo, which meant winds. The night before, I stocked up on bread, crackers and canned goods.

At around 3AM, I woke up because power went out. Thankfully, there was still running water.

At around 7AM, the wind started howling and rattling our windows. Scary. I tried to cook breakfast but for some reason, we could not ignite the gas stove. So we ate bread, Vienna sausage, apples and kiwi.

Then at around 9AM to 10AM, it was raining hard and the wind was really howling.

Second Trimester

Both of my pregnancy apps welcomed me to my second trimester today. STILL looking forward to not throwing up - just threw up my breakfast this morning. :(

I guess the hardest thing about the first trimester was the throwing up part. Two weeks after we learned I was pregnant, I was throwing up every morning. There were a couple of times that I threw up on evenings, too. The first couple of times that happened, I felt too tired to report to work. Hayayay. No wonder I lost 2 pounds, toinks, finally losing weight when I'm pregnant, oh the irony. OB said that's okay but I should be gaining weight soon as my appetite's expected to return. I hope so. 

First Time with the Doppler

Last Saturday's check-up was our first time with the Doppler. We were excited to hear baby's heartbeat. The OB was using the Doppler way way down there, and after a few seconds of swooping around, we were hearing nothing. I was scared.

The OB said to transfer to her transvaginal ultrasound. I was instructed to pee. During the TVZ, there were a few seconds of silence until the OB heaved a sigh of relief. Baby is okay. I was further relieved when the OB exclaimed, "Ay, sumisirko-sirko siya!" when she was trying to get measurements. Fetal heartbeat is 147. OB has a portable TVZ with a small screen so I didn't see the baby. Hubby was also disappointed hehe, he wanted another video.

We've been taking shots of my "bump" since 2 weeks ago. But with this experience of knowing that the baby is way way down below yet, I conclude we've been photographing my "belly bump" and not a "baby bump". :P

Double Rainbow

Rainbows never get old. I just saw a huge one on the way home. After a few minutes, I realized it was a double rainbow. Pure love.

#Blessed

I honestly thought this day would never come. You know, I hate how some people use the hashtag #blessed. I've tried not using it ever. But I think this is the best exception:

We've been trying to conceive for years. We have issues, we've had treatments - ranging from work-ups to injections to acupuncture. We've spent many pennies on medicines. And I always got one line when I peed on a stick.

My cycle has always been irregular so I take a pregnancy test on the 36th day or so. April 30 was my 36th day so I took a test. Negative. The next day, May 1, was a holiday and hubby and I made plans to run in UP in preparation for Run United 2. I was aiming for 10km but I felt so heavy that I ran-walked, mostly walked, around 7km. I blamed the heat.

Come Saturday, May 3, we were scheduled for acupuncture. Still no Aunt Flo in sight. I took another test. Negative... or was that a faint second line? I had another test. A really faint second line, if you held up the test near a light. I called the hubby, who was watching the NBA. He wasn't sure if there was a line. So we still went to our acupuncture appointment.

But I was feeling antsy. We tried calling my OB but no one was picking up. We decided to go to an ultrasound clinic. After a couple of hours, the sonologist saw nothing, and could neither confirm or deny if I was pregnant. She said to have an ultrasound again after 2 weeks.

I took a few more tests and the second line was getting darker. Mother's Day came and passed and we couldn't tell anyone, not even our parents.

We finally went to the OB on May 12. She saw a yolk sac and teeny tiny embryo that she called "bulinggit". Finally! We told our family and closest friends right after.

BUT. There's more.

During our next ultrasound, the OB suddenly asked, "May lahi ba kayong twins?" I said no, on our side. Turns out she was seeing two yolk sacs. Ack! Hubby later said his grandma had twins-siblings. However, after a few weeks, the yolk sac was empty, the embryo never really developed. The OB said it was vanishing twin syndrome. The good news is, Baby A is A-okay.

Today, I am at the end of the first trimester. I am still (unfortunately) experiencing morning sickness. I hate the smell of bagoong cooking so goodbye to my staple pinakbet. I am not yet showing much but I'm bloated so I now live in Uniqlo stretchy jeans. 

I am due in January. I'm excited and I'm scared. And I can't believe this blog is going to be a mommy blog! Haha. :)