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I am Stay-At-Home Mommy

First appeared in SmartParentingPH:

I am a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) by choice, and it’s the best thing so far — but also the most challenging.

When I was working in the corporate world, I used to lead a team. I used to mingle with lots of people, attend meetings, brainstorm, handle deadlines and quotas, and many more. So imagine how my life changed when I decided to stay at home and take care of the household 24/7. I had been asked before, “What’s going to happen to your career?” to which I remember answering, “My family is worth putting my career on hold for now.”

FULL STORY HERE: https://www.smartparenting.com.ph/parenting/real-parenting/sahm-a1741-20180601?ref=feed_1?ref=home_feed

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Smart Parenting

I’ve been an avid follower of SmartParentingPH and never in my wildest dream that I thought of writing for them. I am not even a writer, duh? Haha. But the joys and cries of motherhood make me want to share my experiences to the world. I used to just write in my blog, write notes, write long captions in Social Media but now I have the avenue to express myself and be of help (somehow) to other parents out there.

I have 9 articles to date and it keeps getting better! I have an amazing editor who unselfishly and willingly help me out! Thanks Ms. Leah!

Super shout out to our friend, Rej, for paving the way for this to happen. I will never ever forget this. Thank you again, Rej!!!!!! <3

I will be posting my articles here! Yay!

 
Link: https://www.smartparenting.com.ph/author/din-real-bautista?ref=article_author

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Bautistas in Boracay

This is a super late post but posting anyway! I am now motivated to update my blog haha. <3 :-p

So last February 27-March 1, we went to Boracay to celebrate our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. Why Boracay? We wanted Monica to enjoy the fine sands and see the beauty of Boracay – even if only a little or none probably will stay in her mind. Haha. Plus we’ve always wanted to go back ever since we spent our honeymoon there in 2015.

There were a lot of firsts for Monica – first plane ride, first boat experience! It was awesome! When we were at NAIA3, Monica kept saying “ehypleyn!” “wow many ehypleyn!” These simple moments really convinced me that traveling with Monica is a must for our little family (of course if resources permit).

We stayed in Ambassador Boracay in Station 1. We rate it 7/10. Location is great, food is uhmm, so-so, service, average only, room, good. But still, it was fun.
Sharing you guys our photos from this very memorable trip.


And Monica became Ariel! Hahahaha. Super cute crochet costume from Tina of Posh Dollies. We ordered a number of costumes from them for Monica’s monthly celebration before. <3

 
That’s it! Thank you to my husband for the beautiful photos and for booking this trip for us! More to come, baby! I love you and Monica! <3

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Our Birthing Story: Hello there, Monica

Birthing Story: Part 1
Birthing Story: Part 2
At 7pm, I was brought to the operating room while Beej was signing documents (about change of package from Normal delivery to Emergency CS). I was feeling cold in the OR while they prepare for the operation. I think I fell asleep (probably because of the extra dosage of epidural) for a while because the next thing I remember was they called Beej already and my OB said, “Oh konting press lang to ha…”
Beej refused to look at my open tummy haha. He just took photos of what’s going on, took a video, and reassured me that it’s gonna be okay.
After a few minutes, we heard Monica cry.
Then they brought her to me for Unang Yakap and they had her latch on me. She’s beautiful. This little human being came out alive and healthy. Thank You Lord.
I cried of course and passed out.
I woke up after an hour and found myself in the recovery room. I was too excited to see and hold Monica. I was advised to move my legs while the effect of anesthesia is still there – it’s for me to cope better and to heal faster.
I can’t remember being tired. All I felt was happiness. Seeing Beej so smitten with our daughter was enough to forget what I went through.
Monica is love. Thank You God.
PS: And because of what I went through, NO, you cannot just tell me: “Ay CS ka pala?” TRY MO? Haha. #Galit 😛

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Our Birthing Story: Labor

Birthing Story: Part 1
So a little before 7am, I was already in the labor room, contractions here and there. Beej called my Mommy and informed about the situation.
Good thing was, Monica’s doing well inside, heart rate was good. Contractions were pretty regular and I would cry in between. MASAKIT. TALAGANG MASAKIT. My pain threshold was not that high, probably that’s why the early contractions were stressful already.
I called my mom because I know  she would panic knowing that her daughter is in pain. I cried and she told me she’ll be going to the hospital soon. I was advised to rest and sleep, but HOW? MASAKIT TALAGA.
Kudos to my husband for being so supportive and cheerful still, no signs of panic. Haha.
At 12 noon, I was checked again and to our surprise, it’s still at 4cm. Mind you, IE while contracting was really REALLY PAINFUL. Please lang.
Normally, dilation will progress at 1-1.5cm every hour. But in my case, the progress was very small. At that point also, I was crying of pain and I could not handle it anymore. I think the slow progress added to my frustration. I was so tired, hungry, and feeling so down and yet it seems there was no progress at all. The resident OB advised that I get an epidural already as it will make me rest because I won’t feel any pain at all. They decided to break my water and induce me to help with the dilation. We agreed.
Epidural was heaven for me. For a few hours, I got to rest but not sleep, at least I was inp peace even if contractions came every two minutes with high intensity.
And so we expected that at 4pm, I will be full dilated. I was checked  again and sadly, it only progressed to 5cm. Too bad. My OB said I should be 7-8cm dilated by 6om, if not we may have to talk about Emergency CS.
This stressed me out a little more. The cost, the pain, everything. The only consolation was, Monica’s still doing good inside.
6:30pm came. Sadly, it’s still at 5-6cm. Did not really progress that much. OB explained what happened and what will happen. We can opt to just wait till 8pm and see.
I was crying and feeling really tired already. I’m not sure if I can still do it. I prayed. Beej looked at me and decided we go emergency CS already. Awang awa na ang asawa ko. We hugged and prayed and got excited that finally, our baby will be with us soon.

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Pregnancy: 2nd Trimester

Almost every mommy I knew told me that 2nd trimester’s their favorite part of pregnancy. It’s the time when all the morning sickness will be gone and that I can really enjoy being pregnant. Also, it’s the time when the ‘bump’ will start to show up.
I was really excited for all my nausea and throwing up to stop. I have lost 6-7lbs for the past 3 mos. Partly I was happy because hello, I lost lbs and was assured that baby was fine. But not so much since losing weight equated to being uneasy all the time. Hehe.
Stress at work was really piling up that time. Beej and I decided that I should quit my office job for now and just focus on the baby. I resigned and stayed at home. At first it was not easy to put my career on hold, but if it meant my little bacon will be healthy and strong, then, it’s fine. I commend my husband for being so hardworking and being so supportive. Best Dad and Husband Awardee! <3
Without me really looking, I got a message from a Recruitment Head asking if I am interested to be a Researcher/Sourcer while working at home. Of course I said yes! That’s the plan – for me to get an online job while focusing on my pregnancy.
Monthly check-ups were made. We also changed our Ob-Gyne because Dra. Syki-Young’s rate was really high and we wanted to be practical. I researched and found Dra. Socorro Caedo-Lim – referred by one of my friends too. She was warm, pleasant, and nice. At first I was hesitant as she was very timid and not at all chikadora but her rate was within our target so who are we to complain? Hehe.

At 20 weeks, we went on for another ultrasound: Congenital Anomaly Scan, to check if everything was okay with little bacon and to know what the gender was. As soon as they’re done with the ultrasound, they called Beej to let us know that we were having a GIRL. I was excited but in my heart I kinda knew we were having a girl right from the very start. Instinct I believe.

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