perspective

i'm greatly saddened by the effects of the flood in manila. what a truly horrible catastrophe. all of a sudden, my troubles seem too small and insignificant compared to what people over there are going through right now.

what was i even worried about? i don't even remember anymore.

it's time to give thanks for blessings instead.

i'm happy that i gained only .8 kg in the past month. i went for a prenatal last saturday and i almost leapt with joy when i stepped on the scale. 800 grams in one month isn't bad, considering that 300 of it went to the baby. (i think maybe 200 went to my boobs as they're even bigger now.) at least my constant vigilance seems to be working.

the doctor warned me that my haemoglobin count is very low. i've always been anemic so i wasn't surprised. but she told me it's causing my baby to be on the small side. so that's not good. i need to take more iron supplements and to eat more food rich in iron. hello red meat! =D

the blood test and urine test also showed that i don't have gestational diabetes, which is a big relief!

i'm also grateful that i've been getting a lot of orders lately. more than i can handle, in fact. i still can't believe that there are people who actually want to pay me to do something i absolutely love to do! i'll count myself blessed, and i'm really truly grateful.

what are you grateful for this week?

plus size and pregnant

i'm due for another prenatal check-up this saturday. i hope everything will be fine. i've been doing my best to eat healthy and to exercise regularly. hey, i'm still doing the same exercise i did when i was trying to lose weight, ok? 1 hour of brisk-walking 5 times a week. sometimes i even remember to lift weights. (sometimes!)

it worries me that i've been gaining a lot of weight. i should be gaining less, but i think my genes might have something to do with it as well. i'm just not one of the lucky ones, no matter what i do. there are times when i wish i could go on a diet again, but on the days when i try to go back to phase 2 of the south beach, i feel really nauseous and i can't function for the entire day. maybe it's the lack of carbs. there's nothing like carbs to comfort a queasy tummy.

today i had a really healthy sandwich for breakfast. wholegrain bun, with leg ham, a handful of lettuce leaves, slices of tomato, a slice of cheese, some mayo and wholegrain mustard. yum! but then i started feeling nauseous afterwards. i don't get it. surely it doesn't mean i'm doomed to eat oatmeal forever and ever?

chocolate fix

thank goodness for swiss miss diet cocoa! if not for this, i wouldn't be able to indulge in a daily chocolate fix. at only 25 calories per packet, it doesn't affect my daily calorie intake that much. and it tastes just as good as the regular one! i usually add a bit of nonfat milk though, just to increase my calcium intake.

now, if only they made sugar-free marshmallows to go with it. =) a girl, can dream, can't she? =D

attack of the lazies

lazy, lazy, lazy

that's what i am this week. i spend all my afternoons lying down reading or taking a nap. mornings are for housework and answering emails. evenings are for working on themes (for 2 hours or so). and that's it. no classes this week for vito, it's their term break before the last term starts next week. that means i don't even need to go out of the house! yay!

i'm still eating healthy, don't worry. =) oatmeal for breakfast with nonfat milk and a bit of sugar. lunch usually means leftovers from the night before. and for dinner some dish with lots of veggies. i also make sure i eat either an apple, a banana, or pineapple slices, and drink a potassium-rich fruit juice. i take my vitamins religiously. i notice i don't have much of an appetite at night. i still get a bit nauseous until now.

but! no more headaches. no more hypertension. =) oh, and i'm on my 19th week now! that means i've reached the halfway mark. my ob has scheduled me for cs on my 38th week. i cannot go into labor because my uterus is scarred in many places. either it will rupture, or it won't be capable of synchronized contractions. either way, cs it is.

the weekend chef

i forgot to keep track of what i ate over the weekend. i'm sure it was more of the same things. except that sundays are pancake days. so i had a couple of small pancakes for breakfast yesterday. yum!

manuel cooked. he loves to cook. he wishes he could work as a chef instead of crunching numbers all day. so every weekend the kitchen is his.

you should taste his baked chicken. it's the best in the world! if anyone of you manages to apparate over here, i will ask him to cook his baked chicken for you.

resting

i love lazy days! yesterday was spent reading novels and revamping my patsthemes site. nothing even remotely productive (or income generating). in other words, a perfectly happy day! at least for a pregnant woman who easily overheats. =D

here's my food list:

breakfast: 1 c oatmeal with 1 c nonfat milk and 1 tsp sugar. (this is getting to be boring. and i find myself hungry again after 2 hours.)
mid morning snack: 1 apple, 2 slices toasted baguette with butter
lunch: 1 1/2 c kiddie style spaghetti (you know, with hotdogs, mushrooms, sweet tomato sauce, and lots of cheese)
afternoon snack: 1 apple with 1/4 c walnuts
dinner: 1 1/2 c stir-fried garlic bud stalks with tofu. 1/2 c rice.
dessert: 2 tbsp strawberry ice cream

success!

for two days now by bp has gone down to 120/80. yay! i'm glad to see results right away. i think the calcium really works.

yesterday i overtaxed myself and i almost collapsed. never again. today i'm resting. didn't even send vito to school because i don't want to be stressed. i have muscle pains all over! pregnant women cannot carry 3kg of books and walk 4kms under the heat of the noonday sun. i was irresponsible.

my food choices for yesterday echoed the ones for tuesday.

breakfast - 1 c oatmeal again with nonfat milk and 1 tsp sugar.
midmorning snack - 1 fuji apple
lunch - 1 siopao (i had to stop on the way home and eat the siopao i bought for my afternoon snack because i was about to faint from low blood sugar levels. i was actually shaking and felt very weak)
- 1/2 c rice, 1 c stir-fried cauliflower and brocolli, 1 c sauteed long beans, 1/2 c sweet sour pork
afternoon snack - none
dinner - leftover chicken fajitas with grilled veggies on 1 wholemeal tortilla
dessert - 1/2 c strawberry ice cream (the kind with real fruits in it)

kind words

some people really know how to make others feel better. today was a school holiday so jessica, my singaporean friend and mom to vito's bff, organized another swimming party. i was talking to linda, my aussie friend, and bemoaning the fact that i had gained 8kg since i got pregnant. she said, "you know, i gained 6 kg since we last saw each other and i'm not even pregnant. i bet that makes you feel better, huh?" hahahahaah! oh, you bet it did!

the other moms were trying to cheer me up and telling me how wonderful it is to have 2 kids of the same sex. actually all of them have 2 boys each. so now i'll be part of the club. =)

anyway, here's my food diary entry for today:
breakfast: 1 c oatmeal made from rolled oats, 1 c nonfat milk, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp raisins
mid morning snack: 1 medium banana
lunch: 1/2 pancit guisado, 1/2 c fried rice w veggies, 1 c chicken/mango/lettuce salad w no dressing. dessert: 2 old-fashioned donuts. 1 c unsweetened apple juice.
afternoon snack: 1 banana, 1/2 c pancit guisado (had to eat the leftovers)
dinner: chicken fajitas made of -- 1 wholewheat tortilla, 3 grilled chicken strips, 4 strips grilled bell pepper, 3 strips grilled eggplant, 1 tsp mayo w garlic, 4 lettuce leaves.
after-dinner drink: chamomile vanilla tea

monday's food list

i walked so much today! i hope i burned a lot of calories.

sadly, i think i overcompensated by eating too much. if only i didn't get so hungry after exercising!

breakfast: 1 c oatmeal made from rolled oats, 1 c nonfat milk, 1 tsp sugar
mid morning snack: (after walking for 1 1/2 hrs) sandwich made from high-fibre bread slices, 2 slices leg ham, 1 slice cheese, 5 lettuce leaves, 1 tbsp mayo
lunch: 1/2 c rice, 1 1/2c stir-fried cauliflower, broccoli & sayote, 1 palm-sized breaded fish fillet. 1 c pineapple for dessert.
afternoon snack: 1 veggie spring roll, 1 siopao
dinner: 1 1/2 c pancit guisado with lots and lots of veggies, 1 banana for dessert

here we go again

in my last prenatal visit, my bp was slightly elevated. 140/60. i don't know if it was the accumulation of a week of eating sambal chilli (like bagoong with chilli), a lack of sleep the night before, plus vito going wild in the waiting area of the doctor's clinic as they were taking my bp. strangely, my doctor didn't even mention it. i read up on it, and most sites say that 140/60 is still mild gestational hypertension. no medication needed, just monitoring.

i called my sister and my mom for free advice, and i was told to increase my calcium intake to 1,500mg or even 2,000mg a day; increase potassium intake (more bananas, pineapple, and apples); decrease salt; and get more bed rest during the day (to help the baby get bigger); and continue with my walking. i'm also watching what i eat very carefully, so i will be posting my food diary again. you don't have to read it if you don't want to. =)

here's my entry for sunday:

breakfast: 2 small pancakes, 1 tsp butter, 1 tbsp sugar-free syrup, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1/4 c nonfat milk. 1 mug green tea with 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 c nonfat milk
midmorning snack: 1/3 c broad beans
lunch: 1/2 c rice, 1/2 c monggo soup, 1/2 of a chicken drumstick, 1 slice low sodium luncheon meat.
afternoon snack: 1 apple, 1 cup sikwati with 1 tsp sugar and low fat milk
dinner: 1/2 c rice, 1 grilled chicken leg (thigh and drumstick), 1 cup tomato and salted egg salad, 3 pcs calamansi squeezed over everything.

hyperacidity and heartburn

yesterday was absolutely the worst day i've ever experienced in my pregnancy. i don't know why i've been having hyperacidity when i'm eating constantly, but i am. and it's so extreme it renders me almost incapacitated. i can't think, i can't do anything, i just feel so miserable. i normally don't bother manuel when he's at work but yesterday i had to call him because i needed to cry out my pain.

i bought an antacid but it only made things worse. 10 minutes after taking it i was back to hugging the bowl. i don't know what else to do! i called my sister in australia and she said the only thing i can do is try to bear it. i still don't know how i was able to force myself to cook dinner and clean the house but i somehow did. i made sinigang with lots of veggies. sinigang is comfort food for me. by 8pm i was feeling better.

please let it be an isolated incident.

the bad and good list

feel free to ignore this entry. i'm just documenting the food that make me sick and those that are more tummy-friendly. every pregnancy certainly is different, i had a totally different list when i was pregnant with vito.

the good list

sandwiches
bananas
green mango
peppermint
cold soy milk
iced milk tea
ginger
cheese
cheese and crackers
oatmeal
sweet potato
baked potato
salty crackers
popcorn
chicken burger
ketchup
chocolate cookies
watermelon
kiamoy
fresh strawberries dipped in salt

the bad list

water!
anything with sauteed onions
anything with msg
chinese food
anything fried or greasy except french fries
grapes
ripe mango
pork
mcdonald's burgers except chicken
fruit juice - esp the red ones
tomato sauce
broccoli
roti prata
curry
hot chocolate
strawberry cream filling
some brands of mayonnaise
adobo
satay
congee
stir-fried chicken or veggies

and the list goes on.... and even changes some weeks. so basically there are times when i don't know what to eat.

hurrah!

i've been feeling better the past few days. =) still queasy, still nauseous, but at least i don't feel like i'm DYING anymore! and no more coughing! hallelujah! i can finally sleep through the night!

it's been hard to focus on anything pleasant when i was feeling awful, so i just kept myself busy. i'm thankful to the Lord for sending orders my way. i sure felt better when i didn't have to think about how i was feeling.

this is a crazy trimester. my hormones have completely taken over my mind. i've been crying over really silly stuff, like seeing an old man cook paella on discovery travel and living; an ad about an olympic swimmer saving sharks; a girl buying pastries from a convent. my cravings are for really weird things as well, food i normally wouldn't eat like paksiw na isda, and ginger candy. why can't i crave pasta? or ice cream? or chocolate cake? you know, normal food! =)

oh, i forgot, i love sandwiches now. (that's normal at least.) been making a lot of them as they help with the queasiness. and i get to have lots of calcium because i put a lot of cheese in them. =) i esp like them grilled, like the one in the picture. got the recipe from nigella (where else?), she spikes her mayo with worcestershire sauce! it's so yummy!

spanish sardines!!!!!!!!!!

i love spanish sardines! i saw an opened bottle in the fridge and suddenly salivated. and i used to hate sardines. well, not entirely. i love spanish sardines with crackers, but not with anything else. it was the best breakfast ever. too bad i have no more montaño bottles left. =( waaaaaaah!
i want more!!!!!!!


breakfast: 5 pcs spanish sardines with 1 cup sinangag (fried rice with lots of garlic)
green tea with splenda and 1/4 c nonfat milk

no lunch, it was a heavy breakfast for me.

2pm snack: 1 slice of cheese, 1 cup unsweetened soy milk

5pm snack: 3 cups green mango, with about 1 tsp of bagoong just for the happiness it gives. hehehehe

dinner: 2 cups monggo soup with lots of malunggay and lean ground pork (manuel cooked it for me); 1/2 c pork adobo
green tea

it's a carbohydrate day

i was planning to go out today. i needed to buy some stuff from the grocery. i took a bath, dressed up, and went to bed instead. =)

here's my food journal entry:

breakfast: 1 cup old fashioned rolled oatmeal with 1 tbsp wheat germ and dried cranberries and pistachios.
green tea with 1/4 c nonfat milk and splenda

lunch: 3 tbsp cooked penne, with 1/2 c fresh mushrooms, 1 tbsp chopped ham, sautéed in olive oil, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and juice of 1/4 a lemon
dessert: 4 pcs cheese sandwich crackers. yum! took away my queasiness.

mid-afternoon snack: 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 c gouda cheese cubes, 1/2 c raw walnuts

dinner: 1/2 c rice, 1 cup beef stew (low fat beef chunks, carrots, yellow capsicum, mushrooms, lima beans, olives, capers in tomato sauce) --- i picked the ingredients for the most nutrients i can get.

i notice that carbohydrates seem to make me feel a little better. hmmmm.

no exercise for me today. i cleaned the house instead.

day 2

not so good.

i felt worse today. low energy levels and major queasiness. little bit of stomach cramps.
i kept eating.

breakfast: 2-egg omelet with fresh mushrooms and cheddar
green tea with 1/4 c nonfat milk

mid morning snack: 3 tbsp rice with 2 slices luncheon meat (i ate vito's leftovers)

lunch: 1 square tofu, fried, with peanuts, in honey garlic sauce (very little)
1 c high calcium unsweetened soy milk

mid afternoon snack: 1/2 kiwi fruit
1 sandwich (high fibre bread with 1 tsp mayo, 5 pcs lettuce leaves, luncheon meat)
green tea with 1/4 c nonfat milk

dinner: 1 zinger (manuel remembered how i craved zinger when i was pregnant with vito so he ordered some. so sweet of him.)
1 cup cole slaw with very little mayo

i feel so full i want to barf. i'm not used to eating a whole sandwich anymore.
i'll do better tomorrow.

should i follow this?

i got this from pregnancy period.com

When you’re pregnant, everything you do either contributes to you and your baby’s health or is a missed opportunity to have done something positive for both of you. You can make a big difference in your health and in your baby's health, just by choosing the right foods for a healthy pregnancy diet.

Your healthy pregnancy diet should include up to four servings of dairy products each day. Dairy is an important source of calcium and Vitamin D. You can choose from milk or yogurt – even cheese can count as a dairy serving as well. If you’re lactose intolerant or are an active vegan, soy options exist that can replace dairy products.

Every day, you should have one to two servings of lean protein, which includes foods like chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish and seafood. Do be aware, however, that some forms of seafood – particularly fish that may contain mercury and sushi – aren’t safe during pregnancy. If you’re a vegetarian, you can choose beans and cheese to fulfill your dietary requirements. However, if you’re choosing cheese as a protein source, it can’t also count as a dairy serving – one serving of food can only fulfill one requirement, not two. Aim for a total daily protein intake of around 80 grams, counting the protein in all the foods you consume.

One or two servings of fresh green leafy vegetables should also be included every day. Vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, spinach, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens all fit into this category.

You should also include five servings of whole grains each day. Whole grain products not only provide a number of vitamins and minerals, they’re also a good source of fiber. Pregnant women have a tendency to be constipated, and whole grains can be a big help with this. Whole wheat bread is a good choice – just make sure the first ingredient on the label reads “100% whole wheat,” and not “enriched wheat,” which isn’t actually a whole grain. Whole grain cereals like oatmeal are also a good choice, as is granola, as long as it doesn’t include trans fats.

Each day, you should include at least one serving of fruit that’s rich in Vitamin C in your diet. This could be an orange or grapefruit, or a serving of tomato. This can be in juice form, although the whole fruit is preferable, as you’ll get more fiber and nutrients this way.

You should also try to include two eggs in your diet every day. Eggs are an excellent source of protein and contain many vitamins and minerals that benefit your body, including a healthy form of cholesterol that will help your baby's brain develop.

Healthy fats are another important dietary element during pregnancy. Nut oils, olive oil, or avocados are good choices. Avoid trans fats and aim for three servings of healthy fat each day.

Five times each week, add a yellow or orange colored fruit or vegetable to your diet. This includes carrots, squash and yellow bell peppers. These foods are a good source of beta carotene, from which the body manufacturers vitamin A.

Finally, try to include a whole baked potato in your diet three times a week. Baked potatoes are a good source of easily digestible iron, a nutrient that women need more of throughout their pregnancies.

In addition to these guidelines, you should also remain hydrated, drinking plenty of water and other liquids as needed. Unless your doctor has specifically instructed you to do so, salt your foot to taste. This helps your blood volume increase in a safe way.

grass are for goats

i can't believe the day would come when not only will i be eating grass, i'd be growing them too!
one of the take home packs my little boy got out of their field trip to the hydroponics farm was a grow your own wheatgrass set. curious, i followed the instructions and voila! a few days later, i had a healthy growth of wheatgrass!

what to do with it? i asked myself. i know wheatgrass is really healthy. 15 g of wheatgrass is equal in overal nutritional value to 350g of vegetables. it contains 70% crude chlorophyll, which resembles haemoglobin and therefore the body is able to easily utilize it to oxygenate, energise, and heal. it improves skin and hair, fights infection, lowers blood pressure, suppresses appetite (!), increases haemoglobin production (which i need because i'm anaemic), and purifies the liver and kidney. whew! so much from a small clump of grass.

anyway, i heard you're supposed to turn it into juice with cucumbers, celery, and other stuff but since i had none of those, i just ate them. yes, i ate the grass like a goat. and you know how it tasted? like fresh green guava.

i'm planting more of them tomorrow.