Momentous July

Wow. July was a very eventful month.

While there were some very fabulous moments, there were also some lows. The main bad thing was work related, but that made its way into my personal life too.

While I will not get into specifics (struggling to take the high road!) I will say that sadly, someone who I had trusted completely turned out to be someone who did not deserve that trust at all. Betrayal really sucks but there isn’t much one can do except pick up the pieces and move on. Thankfully, while we had to iron out some issues at work caused by this betrayal, I can honestly say that ROH is stronger than ever, and staff morale is high. We’re all looking forward to our 4 year anniversary celebration next month, and are excited for all that is to come for the organization in the coming months. We are soldiering on!

In happier moments from the month, we had an awesome visit from old and dear friends Matt Mclaughlin and Dan Hew from our New York days, with the added bonus of two super lovely ladies, Matt’s sister, Cindy and girlfriend, Beth. The four of them were so fun to have around and it was a really special visit. Not only did we get to spend lots of quality time together, but Matt and Dan got to know our kids better. While the guys were equally awesome to both kids, I especially loved seeing them interact with Aliya, who they are both godfathers to.

Beth, Cindy, Matt, Marcus and Dan before our firefly tour

Dan, Cindy, me, Beth, Marcus and Matt

Ninong Matt and Aliya

Ninong Dan and Aliya

Marcus also had a birthday! Hooray, we’re the same age again! Haha. To celebrate Marcus’ 34^th, we had a nice dinner at a fantastic, super authentic Italian restaurant here in Puerto called La Tana. The Italian owners, Nick and Tina, really went out of their way to make sure the party was perfect and they did such a great job.

Happy birthday Marcus! (With Tina and the amazing birthday cake she and Nick made!)

Soon after that we had more fabulous visitors – the Berroth ladies!! Katie Berroth is a beloved friend from Wellesley and godmother to both Luke and Aliya. She is a sister to me and I love her and her sister Margeaux and mom Peggy to bits! Katie has been living in Hong Kong for the last few years, which has been awesome. Sadly for me, she is moving to New York for 2 months then Ghana for 10 months as she won a prestigious Acumen Fund fellowship. While sad that she won’t be in Asia anymore, I am so super proud of my amazing girl. Jacqueline Novogratz started the Acumen Fund and I have been a fan of the organization since I read Jacqueline’s book The Blue Sweater. I was so excited when Katie told me she’d applied and beyond thrilled as she progressed in every new selection process round, and finally was told she’d won one of the 12 fellowships. Amazing. We’re planning on visiting Katie in Ghana when we go to South Africa in early 2014. Can’t wait!!

Flying baby!!

 

Lukey and Ninang Katie

Gogo with the kiddoes

Peggy checking a client's blood pressure in Aplaya

So…  even with the unfortunate events at work, overall July was pretty awesome. Looking forward to hopefully more happy things to come in August!!

Family photo in Sabang

For a Laugh...

Whenever I am in a bad mood and need to smile or laugh, I just look at this series of photos of Marcus and Aliya and my mood totally brightens.

Half a Year of Sunshine

Our little nugget is already 6 months old. Time flies!!

5 Months Old!

She will not always let me decorate her with such ridiculous ribbons and bows, but for now she humors her mama ;-)

Team Swangelista, May 2013!

Finally have an updated family picture with me and Marcus and all four of our children :)

4 Months :)

Baby Aliya - or "Iya" or "Aya" as her kuya Luke and his little friends all call her, is 4 months old!

40 Hours in Hong Kong

When my mom asked me what I wanted for my 34^th birthday, I didn’t hesitate before answering, “sleep.” My baby daughter is only 4 months old and since she was born I haven’t had more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time. I also told my mom that I wanted to eat good food. My mom knew that I’d been looking forward to a work trip to HK that ended up being postponed, so she suggested that she gift me with the plane tickets to head to HK for a couple days to see my bestie, Katie, get some sleep, and eat some good food. As soon as Marcus said he was fine handling the kids, I booked my tickets and a few days later was in Hong Kong!

I was so nervous about leaving Aliya before I left Palawan, but once I was in Hong Kong, I honestly just really enjoyed the break. Of course I was only there for one full day, so I knew I wasn’t going to be away from her for very long. But I really needed that trip because it reminded me that I can have a life outside of just being Aliya’s mom. Of course I know this but when the sleep deprivation has been endless and you are just so exhausted, it is easy to imagine that you will never sleep or have a life again until your kid is 18. And at that point you won’t sleep because you’ll be imagining all the trouble she can get into. It was also super lovely to just hang out with Katie, her sister Margeaux, and friends Ed, Kasia, Mary and David, have a cocktail, eat good food, do fun things, go shopping, and yes, sleep.

On my second night in HK Katie took me to a David Guetta concert. I am so out of the loop in Palawan that I didn’t know who he was when Katie emailed me to say she had tickets for  his show. I asked Marcus if he knew who David Guetta was and he said, “Didn’t he win American Idol?” At least I’m not the only one who didn’t know who he is! We had a good time at the concert, and now I know ;-)

It was such a short trip but so much fun and so good for me. So thankful for that break!

I took a bunch of photos in Hong Kong but sadly on my first day back in Palawan (Mother’s Day no less!) my phone was either lost or stolen on my way to church. So no photos except for the 4 that I put up on instagram while I was still in Hong Kong. So, here they are!

Oh and for my birthday party back in Puerto (on Mother's Day) we were privileged to have Palawan’s best chef, tito Ernie Lim, come and cook up a feast for me and my friends and family. It was so much fun and all the food so ridiculously delicious. So I got my sleep, and many days of good food. 34 is off to a great start! ;-)

More Awesomeness from In the Crib

I've already filled this blog with photos of my little ones in creations by In the Crib, but there's still more cuteness! I just love the things this company comes out with - so creative and the clothes are so well made. Yay for In the Crib! (Many of their bestsellers are available at my favorite online store, Mothering Earthlings - and this store can process international orders, too!)

Check out our little dictator in his #likeaboss shirt, and my baby love in her "Keep Calm and Carry Me" onesie :)

Aliya at 3 Months

She seems pretty pleased to have reached this milestone doesn't she? ;-)

 

Next Chapter...

Tomorrow my baby love will be 3 months old. She is becoming so much more interactive and gurgles, coos and sometimes even shouts. Thankfully she no longer requires being held 24/7 and sleeps quite well on her own. (In her first few weeks she would only sleep if she was being held!) I can’t believe how fast the last 3 months have gone.

Also, sadly, today marks the end of my 3-month maternity leave and tomorrow I must return to work. I’m not totally dreading it. I mean, Roots of Health is like my first baby. But I am so sad that I won’t get to be around Luke and Aliya as much anymore. I so wish that I could have more time to be with them but my mom and Marcus need me to come back to work. They have done a magnificent job the last 3 months doing their own jobs and covering mine, but I know that they will be a lot less stressed at work once I start again. Sometimes I wish I lived in Canada, where they give a year off for maternity leave. But then again we do have a pretty sweet lifestyle here. Because I run ROH, I have the freedom to work from home when I need or want to, and do some work in the evenings so that late afternoons can be devoted to the little ones. So I am not complaining. The last 3 months have been fantastic but now it is time for me to get back into the balancing act of running ROH and being a wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend. Hopefully my transition won’t be too difficult. Someday I do hope to spend a year or two at home with the kids full time, but for now, wish me luck as I head back to work and try to survive all day without any naps!!

2 Months Old

March 10, 2013 - Aliya Ysabel at 2 months old

In the Crib

I *LOVE* the designs from the Philippine children's clothing line In the Crib. So creative and cool. Designs also available at my favorite online store, Mothering Earthlings. Go shop now!

Growing Up.

More Fun in the Philippines. 

....Aaaand there went March

How is it possible that March is nearly over?! The last few weeks have totally flown by. I'm so sad that my maternity leave is nearly over but honestly am also a little bit looking forward to being back at work. There's so much going on with Roots of Health right now and it's a very exciting time!

It has been really great to be home with the kids for the last 3 months though. Sometimes I really wish I could stay home full time. Maybe sometime in the future. We'll see.

April will be another full month. Luke will be starting a preschool summer program at SV Montessori. He really liked it when we went to check it out and most of his little friends will be in the class too so that should be fun. My boy is growing up so fast!

Bye bye February

February always goes by fast since it is a short month but I feel like this February REALLY went by quickly. My parents in law came for a visit from South Africa and they arrived on January 31 and left us yesterday. When we were planning their visit a whole month seemed like a good chunk of time. We planned so many things, and guess what? The month absolutely flew by. There are so many things we didn't get to do though of course we're very thankful for the time we did have and the stuff we did do. But it still wasn't enough! We are all missing "Granny" and "Grandpa" a lot.

As we say good bye to the month, I will share the ridiculously sweet moment I captured this morning when Aliya was sleeping and her nanny gently placed her in Luke's arms. Luke is having a lot of issues these days with tantrums, probably due to being 2 years old and to Aliya's arrival. But he is surprisingly very sweet and affectionate towards his sister, who he refers to as "baby girl". He cuddles her and kisses her head all the time. I hope this lasts!!

Aliya on V-day

What my girl thinks of Valentine's Day...

Aliya at 1 Month Old

February 10 was Aliya's 1 month birthday. 

I've alternated between thinking the month was the longest month in the history of time, and also feeling like the month just flew by. I am quite surprised at how difficult the sleep deprivation has been for me, given that this isn't the first time I've had to deal with it, but the sleepless nights have been really hard. I keep being reminded though, that this too shall pass. Hopefully in the next month Aliya will learn to sleep longer, and at night! 

(She's marvelous at day time sleeping!)

Happy one month birthday my little love!

Aliya Ysabel

My baby girl is a week old today yet I sometimes can’t believe she is really here. My pregnancy with her flew by so quickly, although was pretty difficult at times, especially compared to my pregnancy with Luke. Aliya was due on January 21 and came 11 days early, on January 10^th. I am so happy that she is here and I am *so* thrilled not to be pregnant anymore! I got my weekly baby center email a couple days ago that said “You’re 39 weeks pregnant, 1 week to go!” and I very happily deleted it without reading.

Huge smile while napping

On January 10^th I was lying in bed trying to take an early morning nap (Luke had gotten us up a bit past 5) and at around 7:15, I suddenly felt this light popping sensation, and then all this fluid gushed over me. I was so confused as to what was happening. Marcus was reading in bed and I called his name out and he looked at me and sprang into action. He told me later my expression was so funny because I’m normally so in control and I just looked so confused. Less than an hour later, we were at the hospital in the ER, waiting for my OB-GYN to come and do an internal exam. I’d really hoped to not have an induced labor like with Luke because inductions tend to be so much more painful (the contractions come much faster than they would naturally, giving your body less time to get over each one). Unfortunately though, when my fabulous doctor, Dr. Marie, checked me out, I was barely 1 cm dilated and was having such mild contractions I couldn’t feel them. She reminded me that ideally a woman will give birth within 12 hours of water breaking, so she started an induction.

By around 1 pm my contractions were becoming a lot stronger and more painful, and when Dr. Marie checked me again, I was 5 cm dilated. Around 2:30 Dr. Marie ordered for me to be brought to the delivery room where I would finally get some pain relief in the form of an epidural, and soon after would be ready to give birth. While I welcomed each contraction because I knew they were bringing Aliya closer into our world, I was in a lot of pain and was really, REALLY ready for an epidural. So when I got to the deliver room and was told that all the hospitals in Puerto Princesa were out of epidural catheters, I honestly thought I might die. I didn’t have the energy to react but I was told the anesthesiologist was quickly checking her personal stocks and I just prayed between each contraction that she’d have one. Dr. Marie assured me that if they couldn’t find one that I could have a spinal tap at 8 cm but I didn’t know if I could last that long.

Thankfully the anesthesiologist came back with an epidural catheter and soon enough I finally had some relief from the pain. It felt like literally 15 or 20 minutes later that Dr. Marie told me I was nearly at 10 cm and that I could start pushing. Three big pushes later and Aliya Ysabel was born. She started crying immediately and so did I when I got to see her and touch her. Even then I remember thinking beyond being happy that she was safe and sound, I was just so thrilled to not be pregnant anymore!

We spent the night at the hospital and hoped to go home the next day. However, our awesome pediatrician, Dr. Rebs (who is Dr. Marie’s husband!) had had blood culture tests done to rule out any infection since an infection could have caused my water bag to break early, and also both doctors knew about how much illness my family had been dealing with in the days and weeks before. The blood test showed that Aliya had an elevated white blood cell count, indicating an infection. Dr. Rebs recommended keeping Aliya in the hospital for a few days and starting her on antibiotics.

It was really hard to watch nurses and doctors pricking and prodding my baby and to see her in pain from the shots and needles so early in her life, but we are so thankful that we had such good care, and were happy to play it safe. Thankfully within a few days Aliya’s tests didn’t show any more signs of infection and we were cleared to go home.

And now it has been a week since her birth. Time is really flying by. So thankful for my baby girl! Welcome to this world baby Aliya :)

Aliya at 1 week old