our growing little bundle

... is now 7lbs. and looks different everyday. it must be all the milk we're feeding her! ack but the doctor says she's not gaining enough weight!

the first thing everyone notices here is her full head of hair - mostly becuase beside caucasian babies that are born bald, amori's head stands out! our building manager even said "wow, my daughter is 3 months old and she doesn't have half your daughter's hair!". LOL.

we both survived this week with each other at home. aldo has since gone back to work so all day it's a cycle of feeding, burping, changing diapers, rocking & swaying, sleeping, peeing, and pooing. i have already mastered the art of eating lunch with one hand and doing bits and pieces of light house chores whenever she's down for a nap (which isn't quite often - crying spells are much longer i think!). it feels like it's been a looong week and i can't wait for the weekend!

but it's all good... we're coping and learning. after all, when amori looks at me with her big chinita eyes, i and reminded and humbled by what all the hard work is for.

surviving the first 2 weeks

THANK YOU to everyone who left messages and emails! it's amazing how a new baby brings out that warm fuzzy feeling out of everyone!

it's been a crazy 2 weeks but heck - aldo and i are still alive, even if we're like zombies these days. a new baby really changes things - and not only sleep patterns! they say that the first 3 weeks to a month are the toughest... so we're hoping that it's true! we can't wait for amori to sleep longer and be less fussy, and cry less... but it's all good though - no complaints as all those are signs that she's a healthy baby. there's a certain helpless feeling though as a new parent - when she cries, you have to crack the code and know what she needs and when we don't seem to get it, i'm nearly pulling my hair out in frustration. it's different too when you've got no one else to rely on except yourself... i'm amori's slave 24/7, and i wouldn't have it any other way despite the odds. i often wonder though how it is when you have a yaya around - it must be strange (at least from my point of view) to have someone else pick-up the baby when she's crying... but i bet the break is extremely helpful!

after going thru childbirth, surgery, a hungry newborn's first few days, and having your nipples chewed on every hour... i therefore conclude that every child brings supermom powers... if not, how on earth can we be moms? LOL.

oh we took amori out for a walk last week and she seemed to like her stroller, although she did wail all the way home - probably because of the confusing sounds of the cars passing by. ah the change in lifestyle - now we have greater appreciation for parks and walking trails!

for now

having a newborn at home sure takes a lot of work... amori lost 12% of her birth weight in the past 5 days and we had to bring it back up ASAP so we've had to supplement breastmilk with formula and expressed breast milk.

(on a side note... those breast pumps sure are funky gadgets! the community health nurse brought us a medela hospital-grade pump and damn - i feel like a cow. LOL. the first time we tried it, aldo and i couldn't stop laughing... it was like a cross between being Mazinger-Z's nemesis and a cow being fed for her milk!)

after just one day of mixed feeding, amori gained back a few ounces and is less fussy... amazing what hunger can do to an infant, really. yesterday's doctor appointment showed she's 7oz. to her birth weight - yaay!

the downside of feeding her formula though is a lot of smelly diapers and spit-ups. thank God for our Diaper Genie!

something's wrong with blogger today... i can't upload pictures argh! click here for amori's photos!

she's here

after 20+ hours of labor that wouldn't progress fast enough, i had a C-section on July 12. loads of epidural and morphine later, Amori Eleanor Rivera was born.

more details on the birth later... for now, this sleep-deprived and nanny-less momma has a dirty diaper to change.

still here

i am still pregnant.

ack, the waiting is killing me. our official due date is july 10 but we're well within the plus/minus 10 days period already.

pregnancy sure feels like preparing for a wedding... you take a whole year or at least a few months to fuss about little details - all of which will happen in one day.

the anticipation also feels a lot like when aldo used to go to manila for a visit... a few hours before the plane's arrival and you can't sit still - that sort of a thing.

only now, there isn't an exact time of arrival or a countdown to start - only a day in the calendar that gets closer and closer.

i'm crossing my fingers that i won't have to be induced. my doctor said if by saturday i'm not in the hospital yet, we'll be scheduling induction sometime after the 10th.

i do hope my water breaks soon - the sooner the whole labor pain episode is over and done with, the better. LOL.