The Long Wait..

Posted by Analyse at 11:36 AM

Friday, October 28, 2005

The countdown started on a per month basis and it flew pretty fast. The first trimester passed by without us really realizing it. No more tired future maman every afternoon but was replaced by an active fella always hurry to do outdoor activities. That was the second trimester - where countdown translated to a per week basis. The last month of pregnancy is definitely the longest one - counting by the day! What I particularly find difficult are the sleepless nights, scary stretch marks growing every second, heavy tummy, backaches, the long shower procedure with all those creams and the late pregnancy diet (yep, still with the less salt, less sugar diet!). I'm really impatient to tag my calendar D Day now.

On Wardrobes

To those who don't know yet, I hate shopping! Another pregnancy problem here in my ever beloved romantic France is that, you cross at least 2 seasons during your entire pregnancy. Luckily, I was able to fit in my normal clothes during the first trimester. The second trimester was another story, I was obliged to embrace shopping whether I liked it or not. The problem was, I didn't know where to go..and don't ever ask frenchguy, he knows nothing as according to him, he was never pregnant, darn!

So there you go, summer preggy clothes were added in my closet...and now, the weather's telling me I have to add up autumn wardrobes in my closet too - barely a month (or even days) before D Day! I guess I'll have to lock myself up inside the house..

For future mamans here in France: you could find preggy collections in H&M, C&A, Vertbaudet and Kiabi. But if you want to invest more, you also have choices in Natalys, Forme and Aubert.

Behind the Curtain Scenes

My aquagym courses will soon end. I've seen future mamans come and go. Now, I'm considered one of the seniors, I could even do pool exercises without my Physical Therapist. Lately, remarks like Toujours là? (Still here?) from other patients just add more weight on my already heavy tummy. Yes, I'm that impatient.

My backache obliges me to stay more for jet massage to soothe those aching muscles, time for other mamans to do their shower thing. Before, I was always the first one to go behind those curtains while hearing other mamans do their preggy blahblahs so I didn't really know what's happening outside. Imagine my surprise when I entered the room and see all the other mamans doing their casual preggy blahblahs totally naked? There are even those who do their shower with the curtains open. So what do you expect me to do? I just went straight behind my favorite curtain and thougt, Ok, I'm not in the Philippines, I'm in France.

Autumn Atmosphere

Posted by Analyse at 2:31 PM

Friday, October 21, 2005

Autumn is in the air. The season has changed. From hot, sunny, festive summer, now it's more of a gray, foggy weather decorated with a colorful surrounding and a crunchy carpet.

I've been accompanying this season since the beginning, from adapting an autumn color at home to even changing my blog template. Isn't this new kick-off look cool?

If you're wondering who's behind this amazing change, follow him here. It just started with a mignon message on my tagboard:


jeff: my gift to you and your baby... contact me at zchizzerz @ yahoo dot com for details. thanks!

Hmm, not even out but bébé's receiving gifts na...good start hehe..

So, ladies and gentlemen, with open arms, welcome to my newly-decorated house, breath the burgundy atmosphere ;).

Bientôt Papa en permanence avec bébé et moi..

Posted by Analyse at 4:52 PM

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Frenchguy arrived from Thailand last Monday, and as we both agreed, that would be his last business travel till we get to D Day. Prior to that, he was sans cease with his work appointments in the four corners of the planet, leaving me and my big tummy to the mercy of the number 18 in case of emergency.

As usual, we (I mean bébé and I) had pasalubong (he knows this word by heart!) from bientôt papa. I had 5 ripe yummy mangoes and bébé had several bébé stuffs, ano pa nga ba..

After our birthing class last night, we decided to dine out to savour our last moments together before being officially tagged as parents. As usual, conversations were directed to work related topics, the latest news in France, and of course, my pregnancy...and then, he suddenly said that it's amazing how Thailand has transformed itself in a very short span of time. The infrastractures, the tourists-and-investor-happy atmosphere, the people...

That remark had of course made me thought about the Philippines ... what's up? Are we still scaring away tourists and investors? Do our newly grads land on well-paying, career-boasting jobs? Is the cost of living in equilibrium with what Juan de la Cruz has in his pocket? Is education still as inaccesible as before? Or even worse?

Just some thoughts..

I haven't been keeping up for quite a time, headlines about Arroyo impeachment and such kind of stuffs just don't motivate me..

At the last minute ...

Posted by Analyse at 7:59 PM

Thursday, October 13, 2005

My pregnancy countdown's ticking slowly to its end. In fact, it could be interrupted anytime soon for an unexpected delivery, who knows. My maternity leave officially starts today, and I'm glad I took the two-week pathology leave prior to that, it's a big comfort for a semi-insomniac me. At least I could sleep up to 10am without worrying I'll be late...but heck, my agenda is nevertheless hectic, I didn't know pregnancy could get me busy full time...

Aquagym

I still have few remaining sessions. Doing it twice a week surely knocks me off to my bed big time. This afternoon, it was - deadly! The movements I was doing with ease before suddenly became complicated. Among the soon-to-be mamans present, I was the one who gained the most at 13 kg! And I'm not ready for a diet yet. I just had two meriendas this afternoon, before and after my sought after siesta. My respiration is getting better tho, I just hope I could practice it on D Day.

Préparation à l'accouchement (Birthing Classes)

It's funny how some mamans could ask ridicule questions when for me, it's just instinct or simply, logic! It's not a new technology anyway, experiences and stories had already been told - ask your mom. I don't think I'm really learning a lot from this class, the midwife is overly talkative, we always start and finish late..hmm, am I starting to hate her? Next time, I'd rather do yoga classes..

Monthly Visit to the Gynecologist

...which entails monthly blood and urine analysis. This week is more tedious, I had to do pelvic xray too.

Anesthesiologist

Yes, I just opted for epidural.

Room Reservation at the Maternity Clinic

Single room with private T&B + TV. Ok, ok, I have to calm down. Tomorrow, I'll call up my complementary insurance to check my expenses coverage.

Réconnaissance d'un enfant naturel (Prenatale birth declaration)

Done. In fact, we had to declare our baby before birth since we are under legal partnership (PACS). This gives her the legal rights as a daughter of frenchguy and I. Better be prudent with this, french law is just so complicated, better be careful.

Faire Part (Birth Announcement)

Yep, they announce the coming of a new member of the family as though, phonecalls are not enough. So to follow with the tradition, I'm busying myself preparing our faire part. I wanted it to be personal, with maman's touch..so with the scissors, glues, etc, I submerged myself into this new art project ;).

Stretch Marks

I guess I don't need to explain why I stay longer hours inside the bathroom since I knew I was pregnant. Anti-stretch mark creams has long been my after-shower buddy, but heck, yesterday, after close examination of my tummy, I knew my buddy has just betrayed me...barely a month before D Day...

Last errands..

Everything's ready except my...bag! Ok, I'll be throwing all necessary stuffs inside my bag tomorrow..

After that, the real wait for the D Day begins..

Who says 'like parents, like daughter'?

Posted by Analyse at 11:02 AM

Monday, October 10, 2005


Preggy Conversations

Posted by Analyse at 8:58 PM

Thursday, October 06, 2005

My Physical Therapist arrives late everytime. And I mean everytime! The good side of this irritating habit is that I could chitchat with other fellow future mamans while waiting for that heavenly on écarte les jambes, on monte et on descend, les jambes tendus (legs apart, up, down with your legs tightened) which means that the session has just started.

Conversations are of course concentrated on pregnancy, labor, epidural, ceasarian, due dates, babies, nurseries, yaya hunt, name it! I meet new moms every session so I normally repeat the same stories and the same questions everytime. Boring? Nope, not at all. As they say, every pregnancy is a unique experience so I get new infos each time and learn from them.

This morning, the conversation started like this:

Nouvelle Maman: So, when will be your due date?
Moi: November 24, very soon!
NM (eyes wide open): Oh!
Moi: And you?
NM: November 3. Sooner than you.
Moi (eyes wide open): Oh!

And I thought I was a month or so earlier than her. The thing is, my baby weighs a bit higher than the average. She was previewed to be 4 kg at birth so I must do a pelvic xray to check if I could eventually do it by normal delivery. I try not to worry myself about delivery issues but heck, my weight gain curve starts to destabilize my zen attitude. So what-have-you? Less sugar, less salt!

I'm starting to complete my D Day checklist, and #1 on the list is ICE CREAM! Miss it! Miss it!

Gift Ideas

Posted by Analyse at 10:40 AM

Saturday, October 01, 2005

The countdown is slowly nearing its end. Frenchguy and I, inspite of all the worries of the unknown are of course excited with this brandnew event in our lives. Just a few minor stuffs to prepare while I'm on maternity leave and we're ready.

We have been discussing what kind of gift we could give to our bébé for her arrival. A nice out-of-the-clinic outfit which she could pass on to the next generation? Hmm, baka imbes na matuwa ang next generation e maasar pa. A jewel? Hmm, both of us are not much into this fancy. Plant a tree? Ok, frenchguy will add another one in our garden this November. Hmm, that's all? Oh well, I guess our bébé deserves more than that.

Domaine de Faiveley, Nuits St Georges. The wine cellar of this castle could be visited, dégustation (wine tasting) and wine shopping are the main activity in this area.

Last Sunday, we went to the long coast of vineyards in Burgundy hoping to see live vendange (grape harvest). The deal was: if we cross one, we will buy bottles of wine from that same domaine harvested this year (which will be commercialized a year or two from now). The number of bottles will be in function of the actual birth date of our baby: FYI due date is programmed on November 24, that makes 24 bottles if she arrives on time.

The idea behind was to show to our bébé that she was there, watching the vendange behind maman's tummy. The bottle opening is not decided yet, but we're thinking of her first communion, not a bad idea, the wine is just the right age for the dégustation.

So where were we last Sunday? Our afternoon leisure drive brought us up to Nuits St Georges, Domaine de Faiveley. Click this link to know more. You might want to do the dégustation with us ;)

There was a festive ambiance around the area with the wine gatherers and of course, the nombreuse tourists from almost everywhere flocking around the area
(there were even some japanese!). This lady was kind enough to pose for a photo for me. But of course, pahuhuli ba naman ang beauty ko hehe.

So there you go bébé, you will have your gift in two years time, a real Bourguignonne (Burgundy habitant)! Oh well, you're not obliged to finish all the bottles, you could share them with papa and maman hehe. A ta santé!