Nine!

Improvised cake and art direction c/o Daddy T

We welcomed her 9th month at the hospital. A bit sad but we're nevertheless very thankful we got a signal from her doctor to go home on the same day. We celebrated the day by cooking our favorite sopas (sakto for the rainy day) and had Maia blow her traditional monthly cake (hehe...we had to improvise). 

Current favorites - mashed squash with malunggay and The Greatest Gift of All

Aside from the 1am trip to the ER and our 4-day stay at the hospital, Maia's journey towards her 9th month was filled with so many milestones. 

She's probably itching to leave the hospital already. She never liked being confined for long.

She's now learned to climb up and down our sofa (still struggling to climb up our bed though), learned to balance herself and stand with out support for a few exciting seconds, has been eating more and more solids, and most importantly called Dah-deeee for the first time (albeit indiscriminately) at the height of a crying fit at the ER. Tibs ears were flapping with glee despite of the situation at hand. I was green with envy but couldn't stop myself from grinning.

Hospital bracelet managed to stay on her wrist for about 3 hours. Found it under the bed after that.

The week that was...

I thought my surgery was going to be the last trip we'll make to the hospital this year. It turns out, I thought wrong again.

Tuesday morning, at 130am, we had to rush to the ER because Maia's fever spiked to 40.1. I was frantic in my head but I know, between the hubby and I, I had to stay collected. But I guess as a first time mom, the panic should be normal. I could see my hand shaking while I was packing Maia's stuff but I surprisingly finished in a matter of seconds. In no time, we were heading to the ER.

All throughout the raucous, Maia was not really a sight of a sick baby except of course for the really high fever she's still responsive and would sometimes even grin when we make faces. I guess, she also knows she has to be strong for Mommy and Daddy.

At the ER though, all they did was take blood samples, give Maia a paracetamol suppository and observe the fever go down (of course it will, dammit). I always dread going to the ER because we're always bound to witness a bloody patient or even somebody fighting for dear life inside it. As it is, in about 20 mins after we got there, we were ushered to the waiting room for the ER team's fear that the sight might traumatized Maia. Good thing she was already asleep by then. Too tired from the crying fits she threw while the MedTech was drawing her blood.

After an hour, we had the CBC results back and it confirmed that Maia has bacterial infection. They just could not pin point the source yet. We were prescribed some meds for her to take initially and advised to see her pedia in the morning. Then we were sent home. At 4-freakin-am. No choice of course. I'd rather stay at home than witness another bloody patient being wheeled in anyways.

When we saw Maia's pedia that same morning, we were advised to have Maia admitted for further tests and observation since it's not very good for babies her age to reach a 40-something fever reading. I readily obliged. I'd definitely be more calm when she's in the hands of the doctors rather than at home.

Bye-byes and Flying Kisses

Dear Maia,



I was looking at the sole picture the nurse took of us at the recovery room of LPDH a few hours after I delivered you and could not belief that was only 8 months ago. You're now far from that tiny wrinkly baby that I once held in that hospital room.

Today for example, I was hurriedly leaving for work and tried to pick you up from your crawling space and hand you over to Ate Jo when you suddenly clung to my legs like you're clinging to dear life. Mommy could not help but laugh. It's the first time that you clung that hard and truth be told, Mommy's heart leaped. You were missing Mommy after all. She's sorry she has to leave but was happy to know you really wanted her to stay. Someday baby, maybe Daddy can afford to have Mommy stay with you for good. Let's keep praying for that. But today Mommy has to go to work. Thank you for not crying and for not making it harder for me to go to work today. You bid bye-bye and blew me a kiss. That was enough fuel for my day :) I love you, Maia.

Surprises! Surprises!

Read this at Baby Center and could not agree more!

-------------------------------------

No matter how much you prepare for it, parenting will blow your mind.

Your kids will challenge you, bring you to tears, crack you up, and make you forget what you urgently had to do. They'll shatter the life you knew into a million pieces. Then they'll put it back together, like a stained-glass window, into something infinitely more complicated and beautiful.

Surprise #1: Your relationship with your partner will change
Surprise #2: You'll have no idea where the time goes
Surprise #3: You may look different
Surprise #4: You'll join an exclusive worldwide club
Surprise #5: You'll be stronger than you ever imagined
Surprise #6: You'll make "mistakes" you never anticipated
Surprise #7: Your friendships will change
Surprise #8: There'll be times when you hate parenting
Surprise #9: You'll be overwhelmed by love (and other emotions)
Surprise #10: You'll have to let go sooner than you think

----------------------------------------------

Here are my thoughts:

On Surprise #1:

Birthday Musings...

I was trying to write down my 31 wishes and thanksgiving but could not find time to finish it due to quarterly closing activities. <Hmpf> I'd probably get to finish it tomorrow. Good luck.

I still do not want to miss posting something on this wonderful day.

Yesterday, my office friends threw a party for me and my co-celebrant (well technically it was his party since his bday falls on the 2nd), and it felt good knowing I had friends who cared enough to prepare something for us despite our busy quarter end schedule. One of them had to waste 3 freakin' hours at the mall just to find me a gift. These people have played my instant counselors on times I needed somebody to vent out my frustrations and disappointments. On top of the material trappings this world offers, I am always thankful I am surrounded by people and family who never fail to cheer me up, push me to my limit (for the better ha), and cry with me if the need arises.

Having this in mind, I chose to put this on my facebook status this morning:  Thank you God for ALL the blessings. I thank you for surrounding me with so much LOVE. I pray for more wisdom and healthier years to come. :)

After I found out that I had malignant PT, my idea of blessings has totally taken a different perspective. Today,