My Pregnancy Journey : Laboratory Tests

This is my fifth pregnancy but only 1 is full term. I already had 3 miscarriages and to ensure that this pregnancy will be on full term, I decided to look for a new OB who can take care of my situation.

My new OB, learning from my history of pregnancy, requested me to have series of laboratory tests in order to determine what may cause my constant miscarriages. Laboratories such as glucose level, hepatitis, thyroid function tests, hematology, and APAS. 

APAS Blood sample

Results are mostly within normal range except for the glucose level which go a little bit beyond the normal range. So after a week, she asked me to have a higher dose of glucose test (100ml OGTT) 

HOW OGTT IS DONE?

There is an 8hour fasting required in order to be legible for this test. Upon arriving at the clinic, the nurse extracted the first blood sample. Then she gave me a bottle of drink that needs to be consumed immediately. It is very sweet and thick and at one point i almost puked. One hour after i drink, there is another extraction of blood sample. There are 3rd and 4th extraction that is one hour apart. During the four hour extraction, i was not allowed to drink or eat or even walk/move for a long time. I was so exhausted and hungry that i cannot drive to go home anymore. Good thing my dear husband came by surprise at the clinic to fetch me.

The result is still beyond the normal range and i was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. 

My Pregnancy Journey: The Day we knew you exist

It was nov 4, 2013 when i first felt your existence. The first test was a little unclear but i still believed it is a positive result.

Pregnancy Test 1

So I had another test the day after.Result is the same, partial positive. 

Pregnancy Test 2

Nov 14, i made another test. I haven't told my husband yet about this as i want to have a clear result before telling him.

Pregnancy test 3

Now it is a clear positive result. This is my 5th pregnancy. Sadly, only one is alive. We had been waiting for our next angel to come and praying this is really is it.

We only told our immediate family about my pregnancy as we are afraid it might not go to a full term pregnancy again. We dont want to get disappointed. We will wait for the right time before we tell it to most of our friends.

Going Crazy over #Teamkramer

I am not the type of person who follows celebrity/celebrities. But this celebrity caught my attention for the reason that she is very active in instagram and she was famous during my high school days.

I started following her IG around middle of April (2013). Ms Cheska Garcia-Kramer is not the usual celebrity who posts what foods she is eating, what branded wardrobes she wears, nor parties or shoots that she's into. Rather, she is posting her daily life with her family,  her kids Kendra, Scarlet and Gavin, and from time to time her husband Doug is on the limelight of her IG. Other posts she did was the items that were given by some fans, shop/boutique owners, and friends. Items like bags,make up,accessories, cakes/cupcakes, stuff for kids, etc. Most of the shops are homebased or start up trying to build consumers through Cheska's IG wherein the market are families and audience are wholesome. Cheska is very kind to posts (most) of the items that she is receiving at no cost. 

The team Kramer hashtag started around  mid May. She uses the hashtag whenever she posts picture with the whole family. Pertaining to a team as Doug Kramer is a famous basketball player. This family is their team. Hashtag for the kids came out end of June when their fans started doing the hashtag for each kid and eventually Cheska regulary uses them. (#kendrassuperstar #scarletdoll #gavincredible)

When IG upgraded their site to have videos, the #teamkramer kids shows of their makukulit moments, their talents in singing and dancing, the contagious laughter of kendra, and some random videos you'll surely love. 

One of the notable posts of Cheska is the book "One Year Love Language" by the author Gary Chapman. She is sharing the weekly topic but eventually sharing more than two a week now. Wherein the fans find it very inspiring especially now that most celebrity couples are ending separately. 

The facebook fanpage of Team Kramer started end of August and I am one of the first 2k followers. Their first post gained 3k likes instantly. It is managed by her husband, Doug. Fans on FB is more interactive as there are more people using it. As of this writing, their fans is close to 400k already! 

And because the fans can't get over of them they had their first official appearance as the #teamkramer on 24oras in GMA 7.

Two weeks after, there were at The Ryzza Mae Show.

Team Kramer is so into limelight now. Because as I can see, they are very cool, crazy, cute, humble, and most of all the have GOD who is the center of their family.

Seeing her kids that were so adorable and makukulit completes my day. Its like a daily dose of #teamkramer. 

By the way, they also have fans out of the country. Look at these cute girls from Europe crazy over team Kramer

Educational Tour - (CoSB-Rizal) Kinder

October 25,2013 is set to be the educational tour for the kinder(s) of College of San Benildo Rizal.

Call time for the tour is 6:30am, so we arrived at the school at exactly 6:30am. Kids we're told to gather at their respective rooms first for some orientation and head count. Expected departure time is 7:00am but the group departed at around 7:30am.

First itinerary is the Goldilocks decorate your cake at the Market Market branch.i don't see the logic why we need to go very far at the market market while we can do the Decorate your cake (dyc) at a nearer location for the convenience of the kids. It is a regular store by the way, not the factory. We arrived at market market mall almost 9;00am. The mall is still closed but the group is allowed to enter the premises on a special permit. We are seated fronting each other (kids fronting the parents/guardian/chaperon) so as to assist the kids easily. The kit consists of a mamon, an icing( choice of pink or blue), a topper, and a knife.

A store manager do the demonstration on how to do the DYC. There are other store staff assisting the group for parents or kids having difficulty in doing the DYC.

This is the DYC i made and guess what, our cakes are chosen two of the bests - together with 8 other. A special gift is given as a prize for the winners.

Second itinerary is the Museo Pambata in Manila. We travelled for like 1 hour 15mins, arriving the museum around 11:15am. Upon arrival, a tour coordinator of the museum assisted the group to explore the 5 galleries.


1st stop is the "The Planet earth", all about saving mother earth and fighting climate change.

2nd gallery is about "My Body", understanding how the body works.

3rd gallery ''Pamilihang Bayan'', features the store that are found in the market.

4th gallery "Ang Kalikasan", exhibits about the forest, insects, and world underwater.

5th gallery "Old Manila" , showing the collection of old transportation system, costumes, furniture and featuring the national heroes of the country.

Newly built gallery is the global village, where there are exhibits of dolls wearing costumes around the world.

We were only given 10mins to explore each gallery, very short time indeed for the kids to explore and understand what is the significance of such things to their lives. The group got out of the museum at 12:30pm, just right in time for the lunch.

Third itinerary is the Pacem ecopark in Assumption Antipolo, we travelled for 1 hour and 30mins.

Pacem ecopark is located inside the campus of Assumption Antipolo in order to raise awareness in the conservation of animals and the forest. They have a mini forest, wildlife sanctuary, an aviary, butterfly collection room, shells collection room, an organic farm, to name a few. I am very much amazed  on the large collection of the butterflies because they have samples not only butterflies from the Philippines but around the world as well. The different colors, sizes and shapes are so awesome.

We toured the ecopark for around 35minutes. I must warn the persons with asthma to be very careful in roaming around as there are lots of stairs and walking involved in exploring this tiny ecopark. I didn't feel much tired because of the cool environment.

The ecopark also offers food at the coffeeshop and some relaxing massage at a very reasonable price.

The whole tour ended at around 3:45pm, just in time on the itinerary given to us.(arriving the school 4pm).

AUTO: Mitsubishi Mirage Sedan 2013

Released just September 2013, the freshest variant of sedan cars of mitsubishi is out in the market, the mitsubishi mirage sedan. Their first variant of the mirage is out earlier this year, the mirage hatchback. The entry level, fuel efficient car of the company.

Exterior is stylish with the grill like front and a chin like front bumper. The stock mags is great looking as well.

Front View

Back view

Stock mags

The Interior

Front seat view

front panel

the guages

steering wheel with accessible radio buttons

touch screen entertainment system

the wide array menu of the entertainment system

this monitor has built in gps suitable for Philippine roads

another feature of this car is the built in USB port for your smart phones and AUX output for a more groovy music.

Shifting gear - Automatic smooth shift

two slots of cupholder on the middle panel

the driver side door with power windows control and ample side pockets

all the four doors have built in speakers

the back seat with isle cupholder/console

the trunk is spacious

spare tire

the legroom at the back seat is long enough for average Filipino

Additional feature of this car is the keyless entry on the driver side and the push button start.

This car has lots of feature for a very affordable price. By the way, fuel consumption is 15-17km/L.

Car Type/ Model:                                          Price
Mirage 1.2 G4 Sedan GLX 1.2G M/T           Php 578,000
Mirage 1.2 G4 Sedan GLX 1.2G CVT          Php 628,000
Mirage 1.2 G4 Sedan GLS 1.2G M/T            Php 668,000
Mirage 1.2 G4 Sedan GLS 1.2G CVT           Php 718,000

Freebies includes tint, matting, seat cover, EWD, and car care seat. Big discount is also rewarded for cash buyers.

FAMILY: How to make a 15-day Menu Planner

In this time that everything is in rush, a working mom (or dad) should maximize her/his time by planning most of what they will do. One of the most helpful thing I made on my busy day is making a menu plan. In this blog, i will share to you how to make a menu plan for a week, or a month. On my college years, (i was a Hotel & Restaurant Management graduate by the way) we are tasked to make a one-month menu! and not just a simple menu, it should have a breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner - 2 to 3 variants per meal. And it didn't stop there, it should have a recipe that is handwritten and converted into servings of 10-20-50!

Anyways, what i will share to you is a simple menu planning.

You should start with writing down the date of the month with the day on the side in order to determine the weekends. (i will tell you later in this blog why you need to determine weekeneds.)

Then write down what meal are you planning to prepare for the family. Do you all eat breakfast, am&pm snacks, lunch, dinner?

In my menu below, I only made 2 columns for breakfast and dinner as we are only at our house during breakfast and dinner.

Next, write down what viands you want for this week or for the 15-day period or for 1-month period and categorize this to meat(pork/beef) , fish/seafood , chicken, & vegetables
     Example:
        

After you had written your preferred viands, you are now ready to make a menu.

Write one pork, chicken, seafood, & vegetable viand per week. Make sure that you are not writing pork on a monday and tuesday or 2 in one week, one pork viand per week only.

On breakfasts, alternately put rice and bread so as to minimize rice intake as well for a healthier body.

You have to take note also that if you have tocino for breakfast, do not put a pork on a dinner. Or if you put daing na bangus on breakfast, do not put sinigang na bangus or inihaw na bangus on dinner. You might get fed up.

On weekends, most of the time, we go out on a lunch that's why i did not put anything on lunch. . Earlier, I told you why i mark the weekends, this is so we can change the menu by trying some pasta or experiment on new dishes. We can make a special dinner on weekends as it is our family day

Below is the 15-day menu i made for this month.

By planning a menu , you can save time, money and effort.
MONEY, because you will only buy what is on the menu.
TIME, you will do the grocery one time only because you already know what you will cook in the whole week.
EFFORT,you will not worry what you will cook at the end of the day or the next morning.

I hope that this menu planning will be helpful to you in any way. If you have questions or you need help in making one,  don't hesitate to contact me thru this blog.

Miss World 2013 Live streaming

 

http://www.missworld.com/LiveStream/