Highlights of our November-December 2011

I haven't been blogging lately as my hands are VERY full since Gianna came. It has been very busy in our household with Gianna's birth and the yuletide season. Both our families came over to visit to see our little girl (of course) and to spend the holidays with us.

A week after Gianna was born, Mama Luz (Paolo's mum) came to visit. Shame she only stayed for a week but it was very weet of her to come by and be with us. We hope to see her soon either back home or when she comes back here again.

December was really hectic! My mum and aunt arrived first on the 2nd week and stayed here for almost 3 weeks! We were very lucky that Vietnam and Philippines are so close to each other that it only takes 2 1/2 hours plane ride. Those 3 weeks were a blessing! I got to spend time away doing little christmas shopping whilst Gianna is left with them at home. I was able to recharge and get longer sleep!(Yay!)A week after, my sister and my niece arrived (more people = more chaos - but loved it!)

(That's my mum and my niece.)

(And here is my Aunt - but i call her mommy too. She took care of me when i was a baby and since then,she never left)

And since, it was our first christmas with Gianna, you bet she was showered with numerous lovely gifts from friends and relatives!

Asha (my niece) couldn't contain the excitement of opening the gifts for herself and Gianna.

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Like I said, it was a hectic 2 months with all the happenings going around but i must say that it was the best yuletide season i have had!

It will take longer for us to travel back home with Gianna in tow as processing the necessary documents takes time here in Vietnam. And so having them around even for a short time pushes me to work hard on the documents so we can finally take her to the Philippines and have her meet our lovely families!

Gianna's 1st Month

Today marked my daughter's 1st month. I can't believe it has been a month since i gave birth to this beautiful little girl (time flew by really fast!). To make this momentous day really special i ordered a cake from Harvest Baking and my mum cooked a Filipino traditional noodle dish "pancit". It's a shame Paolo isn't around since he's meeting deadlines at work.

(Chocolate Fudge cake from Harvest Baking is to die for!)

(Happy 1st month Little Girl!)

Dearest Baby Girl,

We are very happy to have you around the house! It has been a month since you came and our lives have changed BIG TIME! It was usually just me and your dad together celebrating birthdays, christmas, and other events but with you around it will be a different experience. We can't wait to celebrate more events as a family now!

Today, you were indeed very lucky, because your lolas (grandmothers - Lola Fely and Lola Baby) cooked dinner for us! They actually flew in from Manila to see and meet you and spend christmas with us!And in 2 days time, Auntie Rhea and your cousin Asha are coming over as well.

Your dad and I are getting more excited about you growing up so quickly. It was just last month that we were so worried about you staying behind in the hospital recuperating from hypoglycemia (you had low sugar level) and jaundice (your skin was very special that it turned a bit yellow). But now, you are doing well! From your last check-up you were 3.5 kilos and I am not quite sure how much you weigh now considering the way you drink milk!:)

Despite, the sleepless nights and the gazillion soiled diapers (mommy's exaggerating!) we are extremely delighted you came because YOU means LOVE. Both daddy and I feel the love by having you and we will do everything to make you the best person you can be.

Be a good girl and continue to mesmerise us with your developing character!

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

My beautiful baby

I have a beautiful companion in our house - and I can't stop staring at her, both Paolo and I are in awe of how gorgeous our little girl is. We still cannot agree as to whom she got her looks from but all we know is that she is half and half in many ways!

She sleeps like her dad with her one leg crossed on top of the other.

At this very young age, she already enjoys pampering herself - daily massage from her physictherapist - Mr Hoai during her stay in NICU (just like her mum)

Gianna is a happy baby if i may say, she is not fussy at all (hope this won't change). She only cries when she is REALLY hungry but most of the time she amuses herself by staring at different things around her. She does not even whine when her diaper is soiled, we will know if it needs changing when she starts kicking her legs or makes a grunting sound.

I know the importance of books and reading and at this early stage I try to instill a love for books to her. When she was still in my tummy, I started reading to her and I think it was a good idea because now I can see that she enjoys listening to our storytime at night. I have been reading Spot books series to her and she responds by smiling or staring at my face when i read them.

And what's the magic of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her?! she calms down when I start singing that song to her especially when I cradle her to sleep. I know all children LOVE that song and I can vouch on that because whenever I am at school and ask the children what song they like to sing, Twinkle would definitely be on TOP of the list.

It has only been 3 weeks baby girl and I am amaze at how quickly you turned our lives around. I am enjoying every minute of it and looking forward to more great time with you - ( really loooking forward to more stable sleep patterns from you though )

Love,love!
Mommy

Welcome Baby Girl - Gianna Lucia

Last 20.11.2011 at exactly 10am, Paolo and I welcomed our little bundle of joy - Gianna Lucia. It was the most beautiful experience i have had in my entire existence! I was 38weeks and 6days in pregnancy when she was born but she was a small baby so she had to stay in NICU for 6 nights to monitor her sugar level and jaundice. Those 6 nights were the most difficult, intense times my husband and I have had endured so far. It was hard for me especially to be separated from her a day after i gave birth to her, but the situation called for it and we had no choice.

I commend the maternity and NICU departments in FV Hospital as we both were very well taken cared of during our stay. So after 4 nights stay in the maternity ward, i was discharged but unfortunately, Gianna had to stay behind to ensure that her glucose level is stable before we can take her home.

We are a proud parents to this beautiful baby girl and we were so happy to be able to take her home just in time for us to celebrate her 1st week with us sans the IV infusions and phototherapy .

It has only been 11 days since we met this beautiful baby and both of us can't get enough staring at her. I have only started with the usual motherly routine and I know i have more to learn.

Welcome to this awesome world Gianna Lucia - remember what we have been telling you when you were still inside my tummy? It is much better here than inside! :)

Walls' BlackBean "Munggo" Iced Drop

One good thing about being my pregnancy is that I get to enjoy food so much. I have never had a particular craving for the whole time I am pregnant and i never had a difficult time gulping down food compared to some women I know. Indeed, I was lucky! :) As what my good friend Tet always tells me whenever I say how much I love the taste of the food I eat "you love it because you are pregnant." I just really have this palette that appreciates food so much that even a normal snack would taste extra-ordinary tasty (blame the surging hormones).

A few years back, my husband and I would complain at how much we miss Selecta ice cream back home. It is one of the things we look forward to every time we have a chance to fly back to Manila. But not anymore, as Selecta has its counterpart here in Vietnam - WALLS ice cream. They have been slowly introducing different ice cream flavors to Vietnam market and I was delighted to see and taste their Blackbean iced drop which is very similar to what I am used to back home when I was growing up.

(It's very milky and tasty and morsels of blackbeans made it even more tastier)

It's a Girl! - the Baby Shower

I feel very blessed to have made few but very good friends here in Saigon. I am in my most comfortable when I am with these lovely people!:) So last November 5, they staged another baby shower for me, Paolo and the little girl! It was a great night indeed because all the people who were there are the ones i know who will shower love and care not only for me and Paolo but most especially to Gianna Lucia :)

I'll make the photos speak for what went through the whole night of fun!

(the bunting Dick, Fel, Kat and Eric painstakingly cut and prepared the night before the shower party)

(Well done to both Kat and Fel for making this diaper cake!)

(Kat and Eric hosted the shower and prepared a sumptuous dinner for all of us.)

A baby shower won't be complete without the games. And I am really amazed at how much they have thought of all the things that were done.

(Majority of the girls are preschool teachers except for Fel and Kat. And so when this game was done, all of them were very competitive as to how they want the decorate the onesies for the Gianna)

(Look at the finished products! Well done girls!)

Next game involved the couples! The wives were blindfolded and were tasked to feed the husbands with baby food. Paolo and I lost unfortunately:( but it was sheer fun to have both Eric and Dick joined the game.

This time, Dads were asked to put a diaper on a baby doll, both Dick and Eric were really good at it whilst I commend Paolo for trying his very best despite of taking the whole sticker off the nappy :)

(Gianna is indeed delighted to have all these gifts but I know she is more grateful for having so many people around her.)

It was a lovely evening full of fun and enjoyment and it was made more special with people whom we know will always be there for us as we take a journey to parenthood.

I am now just waiting for the Big Day (am now on my 37 weeks). I am getting really excited to meet our little girl and i know my family and friends are also looking forward to see that precious little bundle of joy that we have been waiting for.

I'm patient baby girl and I will wait for you when you are ready.

Mum and Dad love you very much.

Surprise!!

"Dinner at home", i was told by Tet early morning last 28th of October, it did not give me a hint since we normally invite each other over to our places. Little did I know that they were up to something, even Paolo and our nanny kept me clueless the whole time!

"What's keeping you so long?!" she asked me on the phone around 5.30pm, so without battling an eyelash, my nanny and I went over to her place even without Paolo in tow, since he was still at work finishing a deadline. And SURPRISE!!!

(I was caught off guard! They were all there, even Paolo!!!)

(Here's a photo of Tet's family who are here for a vacation.)

It was indeed a surprise baby shower for me with food, gifts and a lovely company from people very dear to Paolo and I. I know for sure that even our little girl was delighted to feel the love around from everybody even if she's still inside me :)

(The food was great! Thanks to Tet, Tita Lolit, Ate Kriz and Marj for preparing all these great food!)

And a baby shower wouldn't be complete without gifts! As early as now, I am in awe at how much clothes our little girl has already acquired, mostly as gifts from people I know and some from shopping I did back home. We know for sure that she won't be clothes-less until she is about to turn 1. Thanks everyone!

Right now, we are waiting for The Day! Our bags are already packed, Paolo and I have finished our birthing classes and I am scheduled for another check-up next when I turn full-term. I am hoping to give birth anytime soon and not reach my due date at the end of November anymore. But I am not rushing, I can and will wait for when our little girl is ready to come out and show us her beautiful smile. :)