Happy 1st month birthday, Tisoy!

It seems like yesterday that I held him in my arms for the first time. Yet it has been one month already - time flies.

I'm 1 month old - and balding

Tisoy is healthy and growing, it's a joy to see a little bit of development in him every day, and I'm excited for the months to come.

Currently his favorite activity (next to sucking) is being carried around by mom or dad.

Tisoy loves his carriers

Tisoy's First Major Trip

It is time to leave Manila and go home to Cebu. This was Tisoy's first big journey and we were excited to find out how it would go. 

Packed and ready to go home

We decided to take the boat to Cebu for several reasons: One, we had so much luggage we would pay a fortune on excess. Two, we wanted to spare Tisoy from the ear pressure experience (at least for now) and three, I had never taken the boat from Manila to Cebu and wanted it to experience myself. 

We had booked a stateroom at the 2Go Ferry and it turned out, it was the best decision we could have made. The room was big and comfortable (at least as big as, if not bigger than, the condo unit we had stayed at in Manila), we had our own bathroom, and even the food was included. Even though a stateroom is the most expensive accommodation on a boat, it was good value (and still a lot cheaper than taking the plane.)

our spacious room

I even have my personal breastfeeding lounge

A lovely towel arrangement

So we spent 24 relatively uneventful hours on the boat. We enjoyed the movies in our cabin (well, not all movies shown were that enjoyable and I still don't understand how one can show horror movies in the afternoons in public places where lots of small children are around. The evening movie was Forrest Gump though which I hadn't seen in ages and we really enjoyed.

We took Tisoy for a walk along the deck and we listened to the on-board videoke competition, which Tisoy slept through completely. The noisier it is, the deeper is his sleep, so it seems. And we went to the restaurant to eat our meals. The meals were delicious, our only complaint was that it was so cold in the restaurant that one of us had to wait outside with Tisoy while the other was eating. 

A stroll on deck

Tisoy slept soundly not through the night but better than usual, maybe the shaking of the waves put him to sleep.

The only action was caused by some diaper leakages and only 8 hours into our journey we had already gone through all 5 onesies we had prepared for this trip. (Lesson learned: Huggies is not the best match for us.)

We arrived in Cebu, and connected with the arrival is my only major complaint about the trip. In Manila the port is organized, easily accessible by Taxi and safe. 

Arriving in Cebu, we were left to ourselves (luckily there was at least a porter service so that we didn't have to carry all our luggage). We had to walk quite a far distance out of the Terminal and onto the access road, then compete for a taxi with the hundreds of other passengers while huge cargo trucks drove by right in front of our noses. It's anything but safe. In my opinion, the least one can expect from a major passenger port terminal is a taxi line in a safe area without the passengers risking of being run over by a truck.

In the end we arrived home safely.

Tisoy's First Fotoshoot

We took Tisoy to a baby photographer to have some nice newborn pictures taken.

The result: lots of pictures in 5 cute poses
The collateral damage:
- Photographer's props pooped onto
- Daddy's shirt peed and spit on
- Mommy's dress: pooped (conveniently the dress was white) and spit on
- and Daddy's bare hand pooped on.

And all that within 30 minutes. After he had emptied himself, he calmed down and we could begin the the actual shoot which he slept through peacefully.

Here is one of the results, as published on the photostudio's Facebook page.




Thanks to Edilbert of Baby Love Studio for the patience, calmness and the beautiful pictures. For anyone looking for a newborn photographer, I can highly recommend him.
Baby Love Studio
Baby Love Studio on Facebook

My birth experience: From unmedicated natural waterbirth to emergency c-section

I had a birth plan. I wanted a natural birth with as little intervention as possible. I was even aiming for a waterbirth. I wanted no IVs, intermittent fetal monitoring, no induction or enhancement, natural pain relief such as walking and changing positions, pushing when I feel the urge and my partner to be there to support me throughout the whole process. I prepared for weeks, I practiced breathing techniques, I visualized my perfect calm birth, watched hundreds of videos of natural births, I even tried hypnobirthing techniques and meditations. I discussed my birth plan with my OB and she was very much ok with it. I was so ready for my perfect calm, unmedicated natural birth and looking forward to welcoming Tisoy into this world.

Then I had my fetal anti-stress test, and it turned out the boy was stressed. Within minutes I was in the high risk labor room, hooked up to oxygen, a continuous fetal monitor, an IV and was not allowed to move, eat or drink. The complete opposite of what I had expected. To make things worse, the possibility of a c-section arose and my partner was still in Cebu. 

Hooked up to all these tubes I actually went into labor and to be honest I was devastated finding myself in that situation. Now I want to give big, big credit to my OB. She tried everything to make my birth possible as I had imagined it. She started to just observe and as much as possible kept the option of my desired waterbirth open: if Tisoy's heart rate remains stable, she would still be willing to go with it. For several hours I was still hopeful that I could have the natural birth I wanted.

However, it turned out that Tisoy did not even take the light contractions of early labor well. How much worse would he get if I start to have strong contractions in active labor? The risk to his health or even to his life was too high in the end, and he needed to get out via c-section as soon as possible. Again, I want to give big, big credit to my OB. Instead of getting Tisoy out immediately, she let us wait until my partner was here (meanwhile he was able to get on the next flight to Manila and was on his way). 

Soon after my partner arrived we discussed the situation and I was prepared for the surgery. My partner was allowed into the OP and even allowed to take pictures during the procedure. 

To be honest, I hated the c-section. While on the operating table, I told the team I cannot understand how anyone would choose to go through this instead of having a vaginal birth. 

In hindsight though, the c-section was the safest way for Tisoy to be born. It turned out he had a cord coil, and he may have been severely damaged or may not even have survived a vaginal birth. I now have a healthy and thriving little boy.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Dra. Karen Ty-Torredes, my OB, Dra. Jocelyn Bondoc, Tisoy's pediatrician, and the whole team at St. Luke's Medical Center Global City for choosing what was best for Tisoy while at the same time trying to respect and follow my wishes and decisions as much as possible. Even though my birth was the complete opposite of what I had wanted for me and my baby, I felt I was part of the decision making process and together we came to the best solution for Tisoy. 

The rest of the hospital stay was also a very positive experience. Admittedly, I did not really enjoy it (who enjoys recovering from surgery?) but I felt well taken care of by the doctors, nurses, lactation nurse (she was a huge help in getting me started on breastfeeding), and all the other staff. Last but not least, even though for the first day I was only allowed liquids, and then a light, soft diet, the food was delicious (salmon and asparagus, anyone?). Even the broth of my first meal was yummy! 

St. Luke's was definitely the best choice for me to give birth at. I would go there again if I have another baby. 

[And for those who stumble upon this post on their research of prices at St. Luke's (I know I was very grateful of bloggers' posts when I was doing my research), the whole hospital stay, delivery, including doctors' fees, meds, and everything else, cost just below P170,000. Which surprised me because my research had shown that the cost for a c-section would be between P200-250k).]