The First Trimester Symptoms

The first trimester of pregnancy, I'd say is just like hopping in Space Mountain (a Disney Land roller coaster ride inside this dark dome with super sharp turns ), and there's nothing you can really do about it except close your eyes and pray that you go through the ordeal - alive.

You feel like throwing up, and tired most of the time. (Power naps in full swing!) And breathing is becoming such a real chore. Plus some other weird things like you'll need to visit the john to pee every so often, monster mood swings, and crazy cravings! And I mean crazy. And it really takes a real partner to understand all these things happening to you. I'm just so happy that Melvene's being a total sport. And he's still trying his darn best to fill out my santol craving even if the fruit ain't in season.

But it's not all that crazy-weird. One memorable event was seeing our child for the first time during our first ultrasound. Wow! Just into the fourth week of the pregnancy and we saw the baby's heartbeat. It was so unforgettable.

Even with these tough and rough times, happiness is still in abundance. Just to be part of something so miraculous like the formation of life inside you is a very wonderful experience. To be totally first-hand in experiencing this is a gift. And I'd definitely go through these symptoms - thankful, even with my head inside the toilet bowl.

Look who's Pregnant!

Last Monday, I got myself a home pregnancy test at Watsons because I just felt pregnant: frequent urination, fatigue, plus a swollen chest. So the next thing, I was on the seat, trying to figure out how to use the kit. I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the task ahead. I mean, how does one pee on a slim stick? Haven't done that before. So after a bit of a rough patch, there they were, a minute after, my first two lines.

I woke up Melvene and he was just happy. But before breaking the news to anyone, we decided to keep mum about it until we were a 100% sure. So we went for a trip to the gyne, where I had the blood test done. After two days, I called my doctor, and it was a yes.

After discussing pregnancy stuff with my doctor: taking folic acid and vitamin B after breakfast, getting an ultrasound next week, and other things I should and should not do left me with a happy-excited-anxious kind of feeling. I guess it's the overdose of things to remember and do plus the fact that I'll be a parent soon. Isn't that grand? And that's another yes.

How to Pack a Bag

It's already this weekend! Our honeymoon, that is. I'm pretty much excited! It's going to be an amusement-park-happening time with Melvene! Our itinerary is very tourist-y and filled with animals: Disney, Ocean Park, Singapore Zoo, Lion King, and Universal Studios.

Now the next major task is packing the suitcase for a 12-day trip. I'd say I'm no expert, but I think I've been around so this should be easy compared to the time I had to go off for a whole month.

• Know the itinerary. So you refrain from packing stuff you don't need, you just have to know your activities. Do you need to have swimming attire, a formal attire, a cocktail dress? If you're going to walk around New York, then ultra comfy shoes should be packed. If you're going to Micronesia, goggles please. And if shopping like a madman is part of the itinerary, pack very light so you'll have the space. And know how many days you'll be out, so you know how many you'll be bringing with you. Have contingency items for sweat-induced days and swimming days. Oh and extra underwear always comes in handy!
• Weather talk. Knowing the weather is a must. I remember packing for the US. During my younger days, I thought spring in Florida wasn't too hot. What a mistake! I brought with me jackets when I should have brought shorts! So I ended up buying stuff - stuff I should've brought.
  
• Have a bag of toiletries. This bag, I have in my room ready to be picked up whenever. So if I have a let's-go-now trip, I just look for this bag: soap, shampoo, lotion, tissue, cotton buds and balls, sunblock, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, insect repel spray, insect bite ointment, tissue, facial cleanser, makeup remover, feminine wash, sanitary napkins, pantyshields, moisturizer, toner, etc... Get the smallest pack or container. You really don't need to bring the one-pound-heavy bottle of shampoo. And the liquids, it's nice to put them inside ziplock bags so if ever they squirt out, the mess is contained.
  
• Laundry bag. I bring a laundry bag where I put my soiled stuff. So my dirty clothes won't be all over the hotel floor or won't mix up with the clean ones.
  
• Shoe bags. The soft shoe bags, I put in my shoes inside those. If ever they are dirty, they won't soil the other clothes. Inside them shoes, you can put in socks as a space-saving move.
• Easy to dry, not easy to wrinkle. I love Nike's dry fit wear! So whenever I need to wash clothes, I won't be stressing whether the clothes will dry soon. And I do pack stuff that don't wrinkle easy so I won't need to find an iron if ever it gets under other stuff. And for wrinkled items, you can leave them to hang in the shower room, steam up when you're taking a bath.
  
• Another soft bag for underwear. I don't think you should put them inside shoes. Hahaha.
  
• Heavy at the bottom. Heavy items like jeans and jackets, I place at the bottom of the bag. The ones that are delicate, I put on top.
• Roll with it. I choose to roll clothes, making them look like nice colorful cylinders. It's a super space saver move!

And some other things:

• Set limits. Before you even hop on a plane, you have to know the allowable weight of the suitcase. And stick to the limit. They charge you heftily for those extra kilos. And being on the safe limit will save you the embarrassment of opening your bag at the airport and checking which ones you can leave behind or which ones you can put in your hand-carry bag or which ones you can move to your husband's bag.
  
• Money matters. Never leave money inside the bags you check-in. I have a friend who did so, guess what happened? Gone.
• Stand out. Your bag should be different from the rest. Choose the not-usual colors perhaps? Or a unique design? If you have an ordinary black bag, you can choose to tie it with a ribbon that makes that bag easy to spot among the sea of black bags at the claim area. Once, an old guy got my bag by mistake. He almost ran home with it! Good thing we were able to stop him before he got in a cab. And trust me, it will save you a lot of waiting time. Oh, the bag tag, please don't forget.

Okay, I'm so happy and ready. Bon Voyage!

Noodle Caboodle

For the first time in my life, I cooked noodles. Not just any noodle dish, the target was a high aim at Pancit Canton. No, thankfully not the instant type. But the real one that took me almost an hour to cook.

But before I go into the details of the attempt, a joke which my husband proudly delivered on our way to a shoot a few days ago:

A priest, after saying prayers for the man on death row, asked what he wanted for his last meal.
The man said, "Pansit po father."
Then the priest asked, "Why would you want noodles? You can opt to have steak or crabs or shrimp or something more unforgettable?"
The man replied, "My mother once told me that if you eat pansit, you will have a longer life."

Laugh inserted here. Anyway, I had my husband and our masseuse be my food critics. And I got a thumbs up, yey!

PANSIT CANTON
-400g pansit canton (I used Good Life, bought from SM Save More)
-3 pcs chicken thigh fillet
-4 c chicken broth
-4 tbsp olive oil
-1 red onion
-2 tbsp garlic
-2 c snow peas
-1 carrot diced
-6 tbsp soy sauce
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-salt and pepper
-4 tbsp cornstarch
-2 c water

1 Put in oil, then garlic, then onion.
2 Toss in the chicken, half of the chicken broth, all the veggies. Simmer for 10 mins.
3 Put in the other half of the broth then the noodles. Mix up until noodles go soft on you.
4 Add cornstarch if you want the sauce to be sauce-y. Add in the sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Yum!

I think liver and a bit of pork would be nice with the dish and some cauliflower if you have some.

Post Marital Blues or Bliss?

I had read in some random magazine that I'd picked up at the salon that there's this thing called PND or Post Nuptial Depression, experienced by either the woman, the man or both. From what I remember, the bride becomes depressed because she'd been dreaming of the white-washed day her whole life and the wishful oohs and aahs go kapoof once it's all over. Reality does bite. And another reason: During the wedding, she's the center of buzzing attention. But the attention does fade after and what comes next are the chores and the new responsibilities of being a wife. And of course, the in-laws, and the opinions that go with them.

For the guy, PND's set in when he's dispirited due to pressure - the need to work harder because now, it's not just about him anymore. There's another mouth to feed, there are bills to pay, and other adjustments to be made.

But on the other and brighter side of the plank, there's what they call the honeymoon stage. Where the couple goes into a lovey-dovey, gooey-sweet isolation phase. Friends and relatives are set aside. And fortunately, I never did get to experience what some urban couples go through, the monstrous PND. I'm glad to be at the happy side of the plank, where I'm just in crazy ecstasy.

I have friends messaging me, asking me about married life and how it really is, in brutal honesty. And I always answer that being married is better that what I expected it to be. And it truly is. I have to confess though that it's now really hard to get out of bed. Before, Melvene and I would be excited to hop out of dreamland so we'd get to spend more hours. Since we have a business together and that just means that we don't have to be always physically present at the office to work, we find ourselves oversleeping. And as much as possible, there's this tendency to spend a real whole lot of time together: eating, sleeping, DVD marathons, going to the mall, etc... And I do confess, I do feel like a lazy ass. I do some cooking and household work. But the drive that I had to over-work myself with my businesses ain't with me at this point.

So I had been asking: Will the world take it against me if I'm being too happy? If I'm just to0 darn blissful to work my ass off?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of bumping into my good friend AJ, telling her about my bliss-guilt mental tortures. AJ just got married last year, and she told me I looked happy and that it's perfectly normal to experience the honeymoon bug. To my comfort, hers took six months before she realized that she needed to go back to being productive. Six months! And I'm still at my second month. Phew!

So when does the honeymoon stage end? When a kid comes into the picture? When you both start to work like mad horses like you used to? When you realize that you've been an unproductive ass? But really, does the honeymoon stage need to end?

As for me and my counting, probably I have four months to go. Or maybe not.

Saving for the Honeymoon

Us getting married is the happiest day of my life. And the biggest expenditure, too. No matter how hard I had tried to be really anal about the budget, there were just those things that took us by surprise (or more like a storm, I'd say). Like getting that chartered tourist bus, or the additional chairs, the additional food, etc. I justified in my head, that since our wedding was a destination thing and I didn't want to get stressed, I just had to let go.

So here I am again, with the honeymoon budget. Melvene and I wanted the trip to be memorable, comfortable and more special than our usual trips. So the task: to balance out cheap and expensive. Something in between would be nice. From the experience of preparing for the great love trip, here are some things to remember if you want to save some stash. Extra shopping money, yes?

• Scout for cheap airfares. Don't you just love these airline promos? We got our Hong Kong ticket 70% off! You get deals for booking way early. Like for this trip, I started booking some 8 months ago. It does pay to be the early worm.
  
• Book early. Not just for flights, but for accommodations as well. For some hotels, they offer 15 to 20% off their rates if you book months ahead.
• Don't go through a travel agent. Well, this will work for people who enjoy planning. I do! I had quoted with one and here's the scenario: If I let a travel agent book our ticket, it would have cost 50% more. But if you'd be so stressed about it, then go with the agent. There's just no point of being stressed during the honeymoon!
  
• Use a honeymoon registry. A friend of mine did this since they didn't need anything for their house, and the couple really wanted a grand trip to Hawaii. For us, we still did the normal registry thing, but the dollars that we got from the wedding, we agreed that it will go to our honeymoon budget.
• Don't look too far. To save up, instead of going to the US, we opted for two countries nearby: Hong Kong and Singapore. We haven't been out of the country together so anywhere, would be a grand time anyway. We also went to Baguio and Cebu a month ago.
• Know what's important. I guess the first thing to do really is to sit down and talk with your partner about your honeymoon ideals. Like for me, I'd rather not fly fancy, but a better hotel is up at my happy list. Other people might want the hotel buffet. But we'd rather not (after too much holiday calories). And Melvene, he just wants to see the Universal Studios at Singapore, and still go to the gym during our trip.

So maybe what's most important is having this great time together, enjoying and discovering things as a couple. Knowing more about the other half, and having these lovely memories to look back to. If these are what the trip's all about, then everything else - airplane food, the legroom, the feather pillows, white sheets, the tour bus - are the frills and are not the things to lose sleep and hair over. They will come in second. The relationship, that comes in first.

Laundry for Starters

Yesterday, our washing machine was finally delivered, a happy wedding gift.

And yesterday was also our house warming, and farewell party for our very good friend Pia, who flew in from Canada to be at our wedding. After the chicken, ice cream and wine, Pia gave me a 101 on using the washing machine, which I really appreciate since I haven't even tried using one before.

Some tips:
1 Sort clothes accordingly: super white, white with a bit of color, light-colored items, dark-colored items (red, brown, navy blue, and black). Sort out delicate items such as undergarments (whites, light-colored, really colored). Towels in another pile.

2 Read the manual.

3 Read the instructions on the detergent box.

4 Option to put in liquid softeners and bleach for the super white pile. Put in bleach before you throw in clothes.

5 Make sure pockets are empty of stuff. Zip up the zippers.

6 Before shooting in the dirty laundry, start up the washer. The sequence: turn on the machine, the detergent, then the clothing.

7 The level of the water should be equal to the laundry load.

8 After the wash, open up the damp clothes then smooth them out before putting them in the spinner.

9 Don't throw in too many articles in. It won't clean as much you'd want them to.

10 Do a pre-soak for heavily-stained items.

Hah! This should be fun!