a baby is on the way

I can finally write about this since most of our families and friends know about it already. So yeah, we're having a baby. Did we plan on it? Well, we might have mentioned about planning a baby within 1 or 2 years after marriage and my 2013 resolution was to be more productive. So, go figure...

When did we find out? We found out back in January. Yeah, we waited quite a while to tell people because we wanted to complete the first trimester before announcing it. I was 3 days late for my monthly menstrual cycle and usually, I'm pretty punctual. I started to joke to Oli that I might be pregnant. I bought two pregnancy test and tested myself on fourth day and within minutes both tests showed positive. We were already pretty excited but again, we wanted to be more sure so we booked an appointment to see the gynae the coming week. It was my first visit to the gynae and I was pretty nervous. I did the ultrasound and true enough, we were pregnant. We started thinking about a lot of stuff, or at least I did. I started taking prenatal vitamins, paying more attention to my food intake, thinking about motherhood/parenthood and a lot of other things. 

The symptoms and some other challenges. I didn't actually have my morning sickness until week 7. That was when things started to go downhill for me. Contrary to the name 'morning sickness' , it actually lasted the whole day, morning to night until  I pretty much cried myself to sleep just to wake up the next day and repeat the whole cycle. I tell you, it wasn't fun. The constant nausea, vomiting, and just feeling tired all together. Sometime during week 10, I developed some rashes underneath my nose. At first, I thought it was because I had been blowing my nose too often since I had the flu and I was constantly wiping it with tissue that it might have been too harsh for my skin under my nose.  But then, it started to spread to the area under my mouth (almost goatee like rashes). When I googled the symptoms, I suspected that I might have Perioral Dermatitis. It was confirmed by the dermatologist some weeks after. So there I was feeling weak from morning sickness and the rash was a blow to my self esteem. I tried a few home remedies that was recommended in the internet such as treating the area by applying apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, and grape seed oil, none that was effective. I tried covering the rashes even with light make up, it only aggravated it. When I visited the dermatologist, he couldn't give me any medicine because it is risky for the baby. I was advised to only leave the rashes alone and wash my face with plain ol' H2O and nothing more. I heed to the doctor's advice. 

Moving forward. Feeling resigned, I decided to accept this is all part of the big miracle that is happening in me. Oh, and Oliver has been really patient, supportive, encouraging and extra nice through it all. Sometimes, a little too over protective. :) But it is so nice to be able to call 'dips' just for being pregnant. So am really thankful for him. I also felt myself reaching out to God more often, thanking Him each day for this 'life' that is growing in me and sometimes desperately praying to Him for consolation during 'hard nights' (talking about nausea, heartburn, congested nose or constant coughing which thankfully ended sometime between week 14 and 15). By the way, as I am writing this, I am currently between week 18 and 19. Like I mentioned, I am feeling much better now. I read that a lot of pregnant women regained their energy during the second trimester and this is when you should try to get as much done to prepare for the baby. Oh, my rash has improved tremendously and I actually feel my skin breathing better sans make up and other facial products that now I realized has tons and tons of chemical in it. I have yet to feel big baby movement in me although I like to believe that when I lay really still at night on bed and lay my hand on my belly, that I could feel some tiny flutters or movement. My belly is expanding each day and all in all, I feel pretty darn great. :D

So I guess we'll just wait and see. We're about half way there. We really appreciate your wishes, thoughts and prayers. Till next time. 

P.S. If you have any experiences with perioral dermatitis or just some pregnancy tips, do share. I'll appreciate it very much.