The prescriptions

Getting pregnant is one journey down my list, sustaining my baby for the 1st trimester was another story.

I had no morning sickness or lihi lihi whatsoever. That was a good thing for many people but bad news to my OB. She said that the more symptoms I felt the more it is good for the baby. So she ordered for my visits every week to monitor my progress.

Every week when we visited my OB, her prescriptions consist of 3x a day utrogestan (progesterone), crenone (progesterone supository) once a day, once a day aspirin, 2x a day injection of heparin (subcutaneus), proluton injection (progesterone) every 3 days, 3x a day omega 3, folic acid, vit c and calcium. Add the fact that if my ESR went up, i also took prednisone once a day for 3 - 7 days. This resulted for my sugar to went up, thus having insulin shots once a day. If you asked me how much all of it add up, approximately we cashed out 16k a week for four months.

I also went for blood test every week to monitor my HCG and Progesterone. I also went for blood test for my ESR, cholesterol, OGTT (sugar), FBS, HbAC, FT4 and TSH.

My doctor was really taking care of me and my baby. She monitored us closely and that's why i'm loving her!

On getting pregnant..

Once I got the go signal to get pregnant, we were again subject to stressed. Or I was subject to stressed! haha! Oye! It's not an easy task to get pregnant! We monitored my temperature every 6 am before getting up from bed. That was called BBT (Basal Body Temperature) to check if I ovulated or not yet.

Another thing, I also exercised and ate healthily to lose weight and achieve my normal weight. (No more iced tea, No more white rice! Only brown rice, no more desserts and no more fried foods for this gal!) This was required to me by my endocrinologist (Dra. Abrahan). From 138lbs, I became 118lbs. in 3 mos. My endocrinologist suggested to me to take metformin 3x a day and at least target 105lbs! haha! I just wished my PCOS has been cured.. But alas, there was no cure to PCOS.

In the meantime, Dra. Burgos (OB-GYNE) subjected me to take clomid. I took 3 cycles but didn't got pregnant. After that, I became weary and just tired from all of it. I asked to take a cycle of rest. But that was a good decision for us! I became pregnant on that very cycle! You see, all we need was a stress free environment! =)

Seeing that I'm pregnant again, we were scared to lose our little one. (You see, my two past miscarriages never got their heartbeat) My husband researched IVIG from the net and asked both my doctors for recommendation. He learned that it is a very effective treatment for cases like mine. So he suggested that I took it at once even before hearing a heartbeat.

One IViG treatment cost 100k++, we took the risk even though we don't know what will happen. My husband told me that money can easily be earned but a child is something else. So off I went to St. Luke's and even spent a night because it took approximately 4 hours for the treatment!

After a week, we went back to my OB-GYNE and went thru an ultrasound. Alas, there was a heartbeat, beating very very fast at 114 hb/min. We were really so happy that day! No words can described how happy we were! It was all worth it!

On my next post will be my journey from hearing the heartbeat to giving birth to my first son. =)

APAS Test Results

After choosing OB-GYNE and an Immunologist, I got tested for APAS PANEL (KCT,DRVVT,ACA G/M) and LAT ( Lymphocyte antibody test ).

I didn't fair well with my LAT test and NK cell (killer Cell). Both my Doctor suggested that I start my LIT (Lymphocite Immunization Therapy) immediately. That would entail drawing 12 tubes of red blood from my husband and process it to become only the white blood cell, that would be injected thru my skin. I went thru 6x of LIT to get a favorable results.

After getting a positive results, we were given the go signal to get pregnant! I'm just so happy and scared at the same time!

Search for an OB and an Immunologist!

I didn't talked about my pregnancy last time because of it's delicate nature. This is a long overdue post, but I still have to talk about it so that I would give light to whoever out there that has the same problem with mine.

I wanted to document what I went through in my first pregnancy. You see, I miscarried twice in the same year. One on Jan 2008 and another in Dec 2008. After that, it was hard getting pregnant and it also scares me. I became pregnant again on Aug 2009 but it was only a chemical pregnancy. We also went through 2 OBs. One was Dra. Pascua in St. Luke's and the second one was Dra. Chiaoling in Binondo. After I miscarried the second time, Dra. Chiaoling introduced us to the possibility of APAS and recommended us to Dr. Ed Lim an Immunologist in MADOCS.

APAS (Antiphospolipid Antibody Syndrome), still a new term for me after 2 years! It is also known as Hughes syndrome or sticky blood in the UK is a complex disorder that is very unique to every individual affected by it. In layman term, it is an autoimmune system disorder that when the body recognizes certain foreign objects in the bloodstream or the cell components, the immune system releases these antibodies to get rid of them. APAS also characterized by excessive blood clotting that affects both healthy people and people who have primary illnesses.

My case also became complicated due to the fact that I'm PCOS ( Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). That's what I get for being overweight! I love eating! Oh Well..

When we went to Dr. Ed Lim, he wanted us to test several panel. There are 5 panels and boy these tests are way too expensive! According to them, a very known singer/actress also took treatments and test for APAS before giving birth to her 2 daughters.

After seeing Dr. Lim, we decided to asked and search for other immunologist. Because Dr. Lim's fee was way over the top. He charges by the min. 1st 30 mins of consultation was Php1,500 and succeeding 15 mins will be Php500. After the first consultation we were charged a total of Php2,500. The test that he wanted for us to do would cost us a total of 60k. Although we went through the first tests and having to convince ourselves that he is the best in the country, we were left emotionally and financially drained.

We asked several family and friends for a recommendation of other immunologist and OB-GYNE. And at last, a close business friend told my husband about Dra. Madamba-Burgos. He said that one of his relatives were a patient of this OB and she is known to treat such cases.

After visiting Dra. Madamba-Burgos at MADOCS, she refer us to Dra. Aleta, head of the immunologist department in PGH. I will talk about their findings and my test results in another blog post.

Slice by Pia Cayetano in BGC

Having read the reviews in other blogs, I asked my DH (Dear Husband) if he wants to try some new restaurants that recently opened in BGC.

When we got there, we noticed that the Slice besides Jamba Juice was already opened. We decided to try the food. The ambiance was quite nice. It was cozy and great for meetings and family gatherings.
Small kids can use the table and they would offer coloring books to keep kids entertain.

You can order here or they could bring the menu at your table

Wide selection of Salad and drinks! You can order coffee too!

We ordered Seafood Puttanesca (Php380 + 10% service charge) and Baked BBQ Chicken (Php390 + 10% service charge). We opted to order Jamba Juice and bring it to our table. I'm very thankful that this was allowed.

Seafood Puttanesca

The Seafood Puttanesca was divine! The serving was quite large, it has salmon, shrimps and topped with puttanesca sauce.

Baked BBQ Chicken 

While the Baked BBQ Chicken was lovely. It consist of Brown Rice topped with marinated BBQ chicken bits and Cheese! Lots of it! It was a bit heavy though, that I can't finished it alone!

Overall, our experience in Slice was great, it has a homey feel and we will definitely be back! With our family of course. They have to try the food! And I have to try their deserts! ANd the brown rice arroz caldo! Yummy yet so healthy! No guilt here!

**Pardon my pictures. I just used an iphone4 here and I still need to find the perfect angle.

Brayden's 1st encounter with cars!

What's with boys and cars? Last saturday, while we were shopping at a mall my husband saw a car that was selling at a toy store. He picked up my son and let him sit there. We inquired at the specs and price of the car. The salesman told us that the car cost a whooping Php12k! HuWat?! For a toy car? The salesman said it's a remote control/battery operated and same with the original makers of the Range Rover. My husband was sold! Oh No! hahaha!

My son really loves the car! It broke my heart when we tried to get him out of it, he was crying and wanted to get back to the car!

Curious much?

See how he loves it?

My my.. Please wait for at least 2 yrs old, so that mommy and daddy could save up! Or maybe.. Santa Claus will give it to you this Christmas! Maybe one of your ninong and ninangs will too! =)

Vikings Lazy Breakfast Buffet

We, as a family are fond of buffets. We love eating out and that explains our growing bellys! haha!
Last 2 weeks, we decided to try out Viking's Lazy Breakfast. Which started at 9am and end at 11am.
The time is just right because some of us are late wakers!

Vikings offer is Php688++ plus service charge. Since I was a fan of their FB page, I knew they were offering a 20% discount plus 10% discount if you are a fan. That's a lot of savings considering that they offer a vast variety of food!

So off we went! I will let the pictures talk to you! =)

Soup Station

Ihaw Ihaw! I'll try these next time!

Desert Station

My son wanted one!

Cooked grilled foods

MIL and SIL loved their coffee fix!

Sandwiches

Cold Cuts

Fried stuffs 

Loved those crablets!

Yummy Ham and Baked Salmon

Salad Bar

Juice station

Fish balls, Tofu Etc!

Sashimi and Sushi Station

All food are yummy! We are all stuffed and we haven't even tasted all yet! We will come back definitely next time! 

Vikings Lazy Breakfast promo is extended until February 4 and 5! All reservations and walk in guests are entitled to 20% discount and if you are a fan of their FB Page, you get an additional 10% discount! Cool!

Call them at 846-3888, 846-4888, 846-5888 or 0917-565-3888 for reservations

P.S. I'm no way connected to this establishment.