The Baby Project That's Project Mom

Motherhood, motherhood, motherhood. It is by far the most fun and scariest thing in the world. It changes your life. Completely.

The moment I first realized my husband and I were pregnant, we entered the world of paranoia. It was full of what-ifs. I knew that there is so much information out there especially online and reading them all will just boost my paranoia so I didn't. I resorted to a book that I think is very helpful during pregnancy. It was a book by an American author and it's probably the most popular one out there.

When I saw that a couple of celebrity moms here in the Philippines were launching a mommy book, I got so excited. I know it's going to be a great book for mommies and mommies-to-be out there because it is written from the perspective of two awesome Filipino ladies, Bianca Araneta-Elizalde and Amanda Griffin-Jacob, and the book is based on their experiences and some topics were medically-backed too.

Well, I've been a mom to a beautiful little girl for 32 months already, and it has been a roller coaster ride of sorts. I know I'm kinda lucky that my daughter's healthy when I gave birth to her. The only scare I got was right after, when I (yes, me and not the baby) had tons of blood clots that seemed to never stop. But I had the most amazing OB in the world - that's you, Dr. Williams of Piedmont Hospital, and I knew I would be okay. Home life was never the same after that. If you've watched the Coke Life commercial, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's all about the normal mess, the constant running, everything.

Don't get me wrong, I love everything about motherhood -- especially the normal mess. It reminds me of my daughter and how much fun she's having. Okay, fine, I'm probably just lazy to clean up after her only to find the house in the same condition five minutes after. Hahaha. Having this book by my side will definitely make my life a lot easier.

I went to the book launch of Project Mom last December. I saw a few mommy blogger friends there. It was a celebrity-filled event too, as you can imagine. I saw Tweetie De Leon-Gonzales and Christine Jacob among others. It was hosted by Marc Nelson (really drool-worthy by the way) and Lexi Schulze.

The book is all about how to make motherhood fun, easy and awesome. It covers everything you would like to know about being a mom - from pregnancy until after, even shedding the baby weight! The best part is, it is centered on the Filipino mom, so expect resources that can be found in the Philippines. So if you have a friend or relative who's about to give birth, this is the perfect gift for them.

Project Mom is available at all Fully Booked branches nationwide.

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Psst. Short stint on Fully Booked blog. Check it out: http://www.fullybookedonline.com/blog/view/4405

Baby: On hiatus

    
Pardon the lack of blog posts during the past few days. I was busy with this one.

I promise I'll be back soon!


P.S. Here is my post on maternity series, just in case you were wondering what the "40" stands for.    
    
    

Baby: Getting the Hospital Bag Ready

    
      
I was in the middle of writing a post on gestational diabetes when I realized that I already had a post on that topic. Yes people, I had temporary pregnancy amnesia. I heard it happens quite a lot during pregnancy. :)

So anyway, back to my real post...

Being on the home stretch means it's time to get ready for the big day. Here's a list of things we have already done and yet to do:

1. Tour the hospital.
2. Pre-register.
3. Assemble baby gear and get to know infant car seat.
4. Wash baby clothes, blankets and toys.
5. Prepare hospital bag.

To-dos #1 to #4

Oh, the adventures of having our first baby.

#1 Since we had no idea on where to go (aside form the actual hospital area in general, we did not know the exact place where we should go) and what to do when the big day comes, we decided that it will be good for us to schedule a hospital tour, and get a feel of our hospital's labor and delivery department.

The hospital we chose is near our house, and so easy to go to.
Our tour began at the entrance of the labor and delivery department, and progressively went on with how it would be if we were there on the big day. Their birthing suite is a labor, delivery and recovery room all-in-one, and you get to be with your baby the whole time, if everything went smooth. The room also includes a private bathroom - most rooms have tubs. For really big families, there's a luxury suite that looked like a hotel room, complete with all the hotel's perks. It probably costs like a hotel suite too.

The birthing suite looks similar to this one. I could not find photos from our hospital's website.

Image from jpshealthnet.org

#2 Pre-registration was a breeze for me. My doctor's office already took care of it, because they were affiliated with the hospital.

#3 Assembling the baby gear was taken care of my husband. He assembled Baby A's Bumbleride Indie, which I posted about here. It was a gift from Baby A's wonderful grandparents.

The stroller

My husband also took care of knowing how to install the infant car seat in the car and in the stroller.

The car seat

He also assembled the bouncer, as well as the crib.

The bouncer

#4 I washed all her newborn clothes, crib sheets, and fabric toys with Dreft, a detergent that's gentle on baby's skin - so the packaging says.

The detergent

To do #5


The final thing to do in our list (forgive me if I forgot to list something - pregnancy amnesia... tsk, tsk, tsk) is to pack the hospital bag. We wanted to be ready to go anytime just in case Baby A decides to say hello to the world early. I used a checklist from What to Expect's website, and just chose which I would really need, and added some other things.

1. A nightgown, robe, socks and slippers
2. Snacks (granola bars, lollipops, etc.)
3. iPad
4. Toiletries
5. Camera
6. Going-home outfit
7. Baby goods & baby outfit
8. Infant car seat
9. My purse (and all the things inside it)

... and we're all ready!

  

       

Capture: Maternity Series

Even before I got pregnant, I already looked into maternity shots posted by professional photographers. One post from Ohdeedoh had me at hello.

I was so amazed by this one dude's creativity that I wanted a maternity series of my own too. Here's another one of his maternity series.

We only had so little time to spare and a minuscule budget; so my husband and I decided to just do it ourselves. Armed with our Canon S90 and few editing techniques, we were ready to go. I would have used my bigger camera here but since my husband is the one taking pictures, I said okay to the point-and-shoot.

Granted I do not have the photogenic quality of the photographer's wife, nor does my husband the photographer's skills, I think we've done the best we could have to capture each week of my pregnancy and highlight a major event that happened that week.

We still have around 9 photos and around 9 more pounds to go; but here are some of the pictures I like most.

   

  

Shopping: Maternity Clothes

  
As much as possible, I did not want to buy any maternity clothes. I was just supposed to get dresses that I can also wear post pregnancy. But being pregnant during winter made it impossible. So I had to shop for some. Haha, that didn't sound like me. Okay, it was more like "yay, I can shop for new clothes!"

Scavenging for maternity clothing in a non-maternity store was getting tougher and tougher as I got bigger.

I didn't show until I was on my fifth month, and I have been wearing non-maternity dresses all the time. I picked out empire-cut styles and flowing skirts. I could even still wear my old jeans, albeit with a maternity band because of bloating.

I am now on my seventh, and although I can still fit into the dresses I have, I can't wear them anymore because of the cold weather. When the weather is nice and warm, as it sometimes is during the winter in the south, I try to wear them and pair them with leggings and flats.

Here are some of my favorite maternity clothing that I found online.


Long Dresses
For casual and formal wear.

Left: Asos Maternity Bandeau Maxi Dress
Right: ABS Collection Sleeveless Rosette

Short Dresses

Perfect with leggings or boots.

Left: Moody Mamas Sleeveless Flounce Neck Dress
Right: A Pea in the Pod Convertible Sleeve Button Dress

Outerwear

Neutrals are the best colors for coats and sweaters.

Left: Bailey 44 Button Front Ponte Maternity Coat
Right: Gap Dolman-sleeve Sweater

Bottoms

Great for office wear and casual wear.

Left: Asos Maternity Jersey Pencil Skirt
Right: Lavish by Heidi Klum Pull On Style Slim Leg

Tops

Pick long pieces that has a "waist". Tunics are best.

Top left: Liz Lange for Target Short-Sleeve Fashion Top
Top right: Old Navy Maternity Silver-Beaded Tunic
Bottom left: A Pea in the Pod Convertible Sleeve Button Tunic
Bottom right: mama-licious Dip Dye Woven Top