Friday, July 8, 2016

first bath



O’ little Isabella,
tiny little red baby,
day two of life
and she is having her very first bath in life.

Grandma carried her,
With tender and gentleness,
for she is so tiny and cute,
ready to awaken new senses.

Grandma wets little Isa's hair with warm water,
Running her wet fingers in her fine hair,
Gently but firm,
Securely loved,
Slowly places her down in the little green tub.

O’ little Isabella,
She is awakened,
Curious yet exciting,
Cries a little,
Calms after that,
Eyes blinking,
Limbs moving,
In the little green tub,
Full of warm herbal bath,
Such a beautiful sight to see.

When bath time is over,
Grandma picks her up,
And wrap her tightly in a towel.
She smiles with her eyes,
Telling grandma that she likes the bath.

Grandma hugs her so gently,
Pats her down until she’s dry,
Powders her with baby powder,
Puts on clean cloth,
Wraps her in clean linen,
Isabella smells so fresh and clean.

So peaceful and calm,
Ready to milk and
Fall asleep slowly
Into her little dreamland.

birth of our little daughter Isabella



Life is full of surprises. At this juncture of our life,  Pandamopi & I am humbled to be blessed with this beautiful experience in this journey of life – becoming daddy and mummy. The birth of baby Isabella is one of the most beautiful moments in life that we would not forget in this life. It is a miracle and a blessing. We thank God for this little beautiful life given to us.

Labour pain was a long-suffering one – 36 hours or so. Waves of contraction came and go, at increasing frequencies as the interval shortened. Never would I expect that contraction pain could be so unbearable, but the love for our baby enabled me to go for extra miles. Wave after wave of contraction, I know that we get to see baby soon but before that I need to go through this labour of love.

We finally get to see our baby after 36 hours of contraction and 1 hour of active pushing. We would be remembering this magical moment for life. All pain disappeared when we see our beautiful little one as the doctor placed her on my chest. She opens her eyes and blinked gently, trying to figure light for the very first time in her life. No wonder in Spanish, giving birth (dar la luz) literally means “give the light.” Baby sees light the first time when she is born. Such a beautiful moment.

We looked at each other for the first time. Pandamopi and I looked at each other again, overjoyed.

So, we are no longer two but three now. Baby Isabella is joining the bandwagon and we are so looking forward to many exciting moments and adventures ahead!

Friday, July 1, 2016

of squats and stairs climbing...

The waiting game continues as we all are counting down the days of giving birth to Isabella. Most of my friends who were my pregnant buddies who are scheduled to give birth almost the same time as me has already pass through the "exam" one by one. I had a feeling that Isabella and I might be the last team standing. 

The month of June has been a waiting month. I learnt the lesson of being patient, to appreciate the feeling of being pregnant (at least for the very last month or last few weeks). It has been a tiring one, with my baby bump getting bigger and heavier each day. While some of my pregnant buddies are displaying some symptoms like having flu/nasal congestion, diarrhea, nesting syndrome (sleeping a lot and also sudden surge of energy to clean and prepare the nest for baby), back pain, swollen legs and noses, i experienced these symptoms but they come and go. While some pregnant mummies are having swollen legs as early as 3 weeks prior to estimated due date, my legs swelled very minimally even at this moment -- 5 days before due date. As much as I am fearful of the potential pain that I might be facing when giving birth, right now I am more concerned on delivering baby Isabella safely. It is amazing how waiting can somehow dilute fear. 

Upon my sister's and mom's advice on inducing labour naturally, they told me that squats and stairs climbing helps. I tried both stairs climbing and squats every other day. Stairs climbing makes me breathless because it is more to cardio. Started from 10 rounds (up and down) and then slowly increased to 30 rounds. I did squats at the yard some days ago, combined with breathing exercises and then did more squats in bedroom again. Boy, i was sweating a lot and my thighs are burning. Surprisingly, these two exercises did helped the "lightening" process of the baby. I could feel baby bump going slightly downwards. More squats & stairs climbing, and hopefully, we will make it as a team soon, baby!

As I am ending this entry soon, I'm going back to my late pregnancy fitness routine -- more squats and stairs climbing! Bring it on!