My 9 Months of Pregnancy.
First things first, It wasn’t a walk in the park but it was all worth it.
Vitto was conceived most probably during the first months of January. (Details won’t be spilled if that’s what your thinking ha-ha!). We finally confirmed everything 28th of March this year which was his 11th week already.
First few weeks of February, I was already feeling weird things like I’d wake up really late, get annoyed if somebody wakes me up (like really annoyed), wouldn’t want to eat and would rather smoke, and oh, coke! I was craving for coke! But then, I find all of these normal. There was one morning, while I was taking a bath, my mom suddenly opened the door and stared at my body and she goes “nak, your boobs are getting bigger”. Weird but I was happy about it since everybody in this world who knows me knows how flat chested I am (ha-ha!). Then, Gib had to go back to Manila (finally after being delayed for 5 times already!) so I had to let him go for quite a while and it would take me another week or two before I get to see him again, which wasn’t sure since I haven’t had enough moohlah’s to suffice for my plane ticket. Days after he left, I can’t be dramatic as ever! I was just crying and would just want to talk to him on the phone 24/7. I’d just cry and cry telling him how much I would want to see him again. I wasn’t even able to concentrate on my project at that time which I was doing with my pakner, Toffer, so there was really one moment where he got really, really annoyed since we were in the middle of rushing to finish editing three videos and still I couldn’t get it off the phone with Gib! (Ha-ha!). Soon days after, I was able to go back to Manila and be with Gib again. I was at my happiest, which was kind of good and weird at the same time. For the whole month and a week that I was back, it was pretty unusual that I didn’t want to go out a lot or hang out with a lot of people. Id rather sit at home, and watch Hannah Montana! (Yes, Hannah Montana!) Or yet, sleep and sleep the whole day. By this time I already had hints that I was pregnant. But still, I was denying it, kept on thinking it would be impossible at all! Before flying, I took three pregnancy tests, two were negative, and the other one was positive. So I still kept on thinking that chances of false alarm was really high. Before, my menstrual period would get delayed for two to three weeks maximum so I was still hoping that I-was-just-delayed.
As March enters, I was getting really anxious and nervous about the whole I’m-two-to-three-weeks-delayed and was really thinking I was pregnant. I didn’t tell Gib about it, since I wasn’t sure about everything, not just yet. Young as I am, I wouldn’t deny it, thoughts of not keeping the baby came to my mind. Of course, I was thinking of what my parents and whole family would say. The friends, the unexpected rumors, the “shame” of being impregnated at an unexpected time, my vices, my daily routine of just bumming around the whole day, and of course, my dreams, my future! All that and more and I was just keeping it all to myself. So, One afternoon I asked this friend of mine to accompany me to Quiapo to buy the stuff necessary for not keeping the baby. I spent almost 1 grand for it. When I got home, Gib was asking why I was just locking up in his room the whole day and was just crying. I showed him the tablets that gave him the idea that chances of me being really pregnant was possible. My plan was just to drink the tablets and whether there was a baby or not, I’d just have my monthly period (well that’s what the girl from Quiapo said) and not to tell Gib about it.
Still, deep inside of me, I couldn’t do it but thoughts of shame and embarrassment still keeps un bugging my mind. Gib gave me the benefit of the doubt deciding about what to do with the situation but if I were to ask him, he would want to keep the baby. He was telling me that we’ll get through it, just keep the baby. Well, I wasn’t really going to drink those tablets; it was just for the whole conscience thing. I was just scared that Gib wouldn’t help me face everything and I was 100% sure that I possibly can’t do it alone. So there, we decided to keep the baby which wasn’t still sure at that moment since I wasn’t able to repeat the pregnancy test yet. There were times that I would feel really really feverish, but my temperature was normal. I’d easily get dizzy. I was lucky enough I wasn’t able to experience the whole early morning sickness thing but there was one time after we had dinner at a restaurant in Mall of Asia, while walking home along Bay View Service Road, I just puked so hard I thought I was going to pass out, but that was just one time. Then I started craving for fresh tomatoes and okra. I’d just boil them and eat it right away while dipping it in soy sauce and vinegar, that’s 7-8 tomatoes and okras in one sitting 4-5 times a day while watching Hannah Montana and drinking coke. Gib would get pissed at times coz I’d get really mad whenever he’d change the channel; I suddenly became a Nickelodeon fanatic! There was this one night where I felt really feverish so I asked Gib to buy me some medicines. He asked his neighbor if it was safe to drink those and they all reacted that it wasn’t safe for me to drink any antibiotics and it would be better if He’d just bring me to the hospital right away. So at 2 am, we rushed at Ospital ng Maynila and pretended that we were from Tondo so everything would be free. And we finally confirmed there through Pregnancy Test and Ultrasound that I was already 10-11 weeks pregnant, March 28, 2008. Seeing that big smile on Gib’s face while seeing the baby through ultrasound for the first time made me cry. We were both happy since we finally accepted that we were going to have our little angel soon, but there was just one problem, how are we going to tell our families about it?
I didn’t spread the news with my friends right away since I thought the very first person who should know about the situation is my mom and dad. One night, my mom called me up, she asked us about plans of going back home and all. I gave the phone to Gib asking him to tell mom about it already, and so he did. Mom was silent for a minute, followed by 5 minutes of curses and ranting and hate for Gib, then she just cried asking us to go back to Davao right away since she felt everything will be better if we were back home. Ten minutes after, my dad called, he wasn’t mad at all. He told me that all I have to do is go back home, and take good care of the baby. Two weeks before that, my dad also went to Manila since he was also leaving for Dubai. While having lunch, he kept on asking me if there was something that I’d like to say or if everything was fine with me and Gib. In short, he already had this fatherly gut feeling that there was something wrong. Not that he was sure that I was pregnant, but he was certain that there was something weird going on. I wanted to tell him before he left but I got scared so I wasn’t able to tell Papa in person. Right before he was boarding, I just kept on hugging papa so tight and I just cried coz I just couldn’t tell Papa about my problem, and I knew how much he could help and understand me if he knew right away. I didn’t want to give him bad vibes before leaving so I just kept it all to myself. I’ve never felt so much guilt in my life ever. So after mama and papa told me they have accepted everything, specially the baby, me and Gib, I just couldn’t stop crying and was just excited to go home. After that, I started telling friends about it already, making blogs and finally confirming it to everybody that I was pregnant and was expecting our little angel to come out by first week of October and we were both hoping he’d come out at the same date of my birthday which is on the 7th of October. I was shocked with how much people reacted over it! (Ha-ha!) We had a slight problem at Gib’s home so we had to leave earlier and stayed at our friend’s pad, Che and Malaya. We couldn’t be thankful enough to these two for all the kindness they showed us especially with my situation. We stayed there for a couple of days while fixing where to get moohlah’s and booking our tickets for our flight back to Davao. Finally, April 09, 2008, we were back home.
On the cab, on our way home, I was nervous, hell could break loose! All that I could do was just hold Gib’s hand so tight and get strength from him not knowing he was twice as nervous as I am also. But, he wasn’t showing even a little bit of weakness to me that made me stronger. As soon as we saw mom, we both hugged her so tight, I couldn’t stop crying while asking for forgiveness. Mom as just crying telling me that all is forgiven as long as we take good care of our little angel. The very first thing that I asked from her was to cook Lau-oy, a certain dish full of vegetables and all which was one of my favorites and to buy me loads of oranges. Two days after, I had my first pre-natal check up. I had my second attack of UTI (Urinary Track Infection) during my pregnancy; the first one was when we were still in Manila, so my first OB which was still Dra. Chua asked me to refrain eating salty foods and drinking soda and gave me some antibiotics. She also asked me to totally quit smoking if I could since it could affect the baby’s growth. I had to let these entire things sink in to me right away. I was still in a state of euphoria, and was still trying to accept things.
During my fourth and fifth month of pregnancy, around May and June of this year, our little angel was already starting to make us feel his presence through little kicks and punches in my tummy. We finally confirmed through ultrasound that we were expecting a baby boy. The very first time me, my mom and Gib saw Baby Vitto’s face clearly, I was just in awe and tears started falling from my eyes. Me and Gib didn’t have a hard time looking for a name, we were certain about it, Vittorio Gabriel Mari.
It was a pretty rough road while waiting for Baby V to come out. There were times that I’d really get pissed and mad at him for still drinking. There was this one time that I left home at 12 am coz I was really mad coz he wasn’t home yet and I was pretty sure that he had another drinking session with his classmates from his review and when I got home, we really had this really huge fight I thought It was already the end of us. There were several times that I would already want to give up on us already. I just couldn’t understand the fact why he couldn’t stop drinking when that’s all that I just ask of him. What I didn’t understand from his point of view was he was just trying to make the most of it before finally becoming a father. Not that he was out partying, looking for girls and all, but he just wanted to unwind for a while since he was already pressured about the fact that in a few months time, he already has this forever commitment to a responsibility of having a kid and raising it which also scared him as much as it scared me. Well good for him he could still go out and drink while me, I was just at home the whole day, pity partying at myself which was the most unusual thing for me to do. There were times that I’d feel so depressed especially when I was just left alone at home while Gib was at his review the whole day. I’d just cry and cry the whole day.
At my sixth month of pregnancy, July, we didn’t expect we were about to face the biggest trial just yet. I had pre-term labor due to my third attack of UTI. Sometime around the last week of July, I was rushed to the hospital at around 1 am due to severe contractions and back pains that I couldn’t even feel my legs anymore. I was also feverish and felt very weak. As soon as we got to the emergency room, I was rushed straight to the delivery room already and was asked to be admitted right away. I was in the delivery room for three days since my contractions were to be closely monitored. I was already anxious inside since everybody around me was already in labor, in pain and was about to give birth but they still wouldn’t allow me to transfer back to my room since my contractions weren’t stable yet. Watchers weren’t allowed to stay inside the labor room so my mom and Gib would just visit me whenever it’s time to eat since I would ask the nurses if they could feed me which was just an excuse for me to see them again. I was bored and anxious inside. All I did was to sleep, drink the prescribed medicines and watch the clock as it ticks time. I wasn’t allowed to stand up even to sit down for a long time. I was advised for a complete bed rest. Even to poop and pee, hello bed pan! After three days, I was moved back to my room for continuous medication. We spent almost 40k for the whole 5 days of being admitted in the hospital, still it was all worth. I was told that for the next weeks or a month, it was a complete bed rest for me.
For the whole month of August until the first weeks of September, I was just at home and in bed. Thank God for DVD’s and my constant text mates who helped me cope through the whole bed rest thing. All I did was eat, sleep wake up a little bit, and then go back again to sleep. I had to do everything around the four corners of my bed. I really appreciated Gib’s small efforts of constantly cheering me up and making me laugh. By the second week of September, I was already allowed by my new OB, which was now Dra. Monteverde to stand up and walk around a little bit. We were also about to graduate from our 6 sessions of Lamaze classes. Our Lamaze teacher, Ms. Alex Hao taught us a lot about pregnancy and delivery. It was nice that we were educated about the possibilities that might happen inside the labor and delivery room and what we could do about it. We practice certain breathing exercises that can help me get through labor pains. It was pretty fun especially seeing Gib do the breathing exercises; he’d look so cute (Ha-ha!). Ms. Alex also showed us videos of the delivery itself, both normal and CS so we can picture out the whole process already. In the hospital where I was about to give birth; only Lamaze patients could have the benefits of having their partners inside the labor and delivery room. Of course, another reason was so Gib could come with me inside the delivery room to witness everything and take pictures of Baby Vitto’s firsts.
By 37th week, I was told that I may give birth anytime already. That’s why I made the most necessary thing to do, take pictures with my baby bump and finally post it for everyone to see! My mom wouldn’t allow me to post photos during my early months, not that we were hiding about my pregnancy but it was all part of her a million and one superstitions. Also not buying baby stuff until the 8th month of the pregnancy since it might be of some jinx. I went swimming, took pictures of my big tummy and all. I wasn’t able to do one thing, have a pre-natal shoot. Just as Gib and I were planning to do a shoot at home before my birthday, it was all too late, I was already in labor. (Ha-ha!)
