Zero Travel for 2009

Since I worked here in Dubai, I have made it a point to travel every year to fulfill my dream of seeing the world. But now that I am expecting, travelling has taken a back seat and will perhaps remain in there for another year or so. I have a very good reason why I can’t travel, but I still couldn’t help but feel envious of my Pinoy colleagues who are bound to travel to Turkey this August. They are flying out before Ramadan, and the package they got was really, really good. What makes their trip better is that they're going as a group. I bet that would be so much fun!

Not that I've never been to Turkey before. In fact, Turkey is the first country I’ve visited since I moved here to Dubai. It was Eid Al Fitr in 2005, and I traveled there with my bessie B. It was an enjoyable 4 day-3 night tour, and for the price we paid, it was well worth every fil we shelled out! That’s what I like about being in Dubai – you are right in the middle of the world map so you can travel to the East and West at lower costs. Seeing new places is what I am missing right now, hence, the green envy feeling. 

Here are some of my old pics when we went to Istanbul and Bursa in Turkey 4 years ago. (and yes, it was xx lbs ago, too!) It was so cold then…around 9-12 degrees Celsius...and much colder up in the mountains in Bursa where our bums were frozen cold at 4 below zero!

checking out the galleries as soon as we arrived

the clock tower next to Dolmabahce Palace

inside Hagia Sophia

(behind me is the mosque's mark facing Mecca)

Hagia Sophia still...remnants of Christianity in this unique museum

the famous Blue Mosque with six minarets

at Taksim Square (shopping is so expensive here!)

hold that tram!

buying souvenirs at Bursa

first snow experience at Mt. Olympos in Bursa

going for the Bosphorus Cruise

nice view while cruising

and I got to be captain for two minutes :)

the entrance to Topkapi Palace

Hopefully in 2011 I could start traveling again. I'd like to see Mauritius or Maldives before they vanish due to global warming. And a Euro trip would be lovely, too. Let's see how it goes :)

Giving In

Today is my last day here at work before I go on maternity leave. Yes, you read that right – I am taking my maternity leave starting Sunday even if I haven’t given birth yet. That's contrary to my original idea of sticking it here in the office until I pop. You see, plans have changed dramatically after my check up last Monday with my OB. During my quick scan, we found out that Baby D is quite big for his age (as if i’m not expecting this!). His estimated weight is already 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) at 38 weeks and 2 days. And if I am to go with my birth plan of delivering via NSD, my doctor advised that I shouldn’t let my baby reach 4 kg ‘cos otherwise, I might end up delivering him via C-section.

If I don’t deliver until next week, he suggested that he will induce me. It’s all up to me & Ryan if that option is ok with us. If Baby D doesn’t come out this weekend, I would opt for the induction date to be baby’s EDD which is 08/08, although in truth I prefer to have the baby sooner and feel nature’s surprise.

All my colleagues are pretty excited for me. It's a great feeling being supported at this time in our lives. I remember a couple of weeks ago when we were all jokingly planning who’s taking me to the hospital. This summer, I'm surrounded by Directors who kindly agreed to rush me to American Hospital in case I go into stage 1 active labor. In fact, I have 3 rides of my choice: a Porche Sportscar, a Porche Cayenne & a BMW 5 series. I actually have a 4th option, and that is a BMW big bike, which I reckon is going to make my labor a lot quicker than the 3, haha! Looks like the BD team is going to miss the action then. Sayang! LOL!

I’m praying everything goes well with the remaining days of my pregnancy. Last night, I woke up feeling the need to pee, and then couldn’t go back to sleep because various thoughts started to sprint through my mind. I was up for an hour and a half trying my best to lull myself back to sleep. And this morning, the husband told me he dreamt about me delivering the baby on top of our car’s engine (weird!!). Quite uneventful – that’s how he described it. Minsan comic talaga si hubby! :)

Fancy Reusable Diapers

Last Sunday, my ex-colleague Y dropped off these gorgeous reusable nappies as gift for our little angel, Baby D.

About two months ago, she told me about these awesome nappies she stumbled upon in one of the national broadsheets in town. The award-winning TotsBots Nappies have arrived in Dubai, and she thought I might like to use it for our LO. And because she and her husband are passionate about saving the planet in their own little way, they decided to get our baby these reusable diapers from UK.

At first, I was a hesitant about the idea of using these reusable diapers. For one, it is inconvenient. just thinking about washing and drying them versus the convenience of disposable diapers, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the latter is a much better (and tempting) option. But if you give it a deeper thought, it also makes sense to use reusable nappies because:

1.) It’s cost-effective. In the long run, it still saves you a lot of money compared to buying packs of disposable diapers.
2.) It’s more environment friendly. Yes, we do need to use detergent, water & power to wash the cloth diapers, but using reusable diapers can put more control in the carbon footprint we emit. And you limit the amount of disposable diapers that end up in the landfill.
3.) It’s gentle on baby’s skin. Since it’s made of Bamboo cloth, it is naturally antibacterial, and is 60% more absorbent than cotton. It prevents baby’s bum from getting diaper rash compared to disposable diapers that have chemicals in the plastics they use to keep the them absorbent.

However, in as much as we would like to exclusively use reusable diapers all the way, we would still use disposable nappies since we already have bought a couple of packs using the diaper fund we got from the baby shower last month. These are newborn sized nappies that we decided to bring to the hospital, and which we will use as back up in case we run out of reusable nappies.

I sure hope my baby will like using the reusable nappies because I see a great potential in this kind of product.

The Waiting Game

Now that I've passed my 38th week, officially, the waiting game has begun. Truth be told, I am getting antsier by the day. I’m sure all Moms-to-be could relate to me. I never thought I’d come to this stage where I am literally doing a countdown to the most likely day the much-awaited baby of ours will come and see us.

I suppose the best thing I can do to shake off this feeling is to keep myself preoccupied. I will just go on with the walking exercises at the malls after work, and take some time to go back to reading. I've been banned by my Mom to do some housework, especially in the kitchen as I am causing mayhem every time I step foot in my once favorite place at home to move about. The only chores I can do without being very clumsy are doing the laundry care of the trusty washing machine, and ironing clothes one small pile at a time.

A lot are telling me to savor the last few days of carrying this baby bump as I might miss it once I’ve delivered. knowing myself, I guess I just might. You see, I’ve gotten so used to having someone move about inside my belly. When he comes out, I'd then have to share him with everybody else *selfish…haha!!*.

Ok, note to self: be patient and just enjoy each day as it comes. Baby D will arrive at the perfect time. Who knows, maybe he might end up sharing birthdays with Lolo Papa. Now that would make my FIL real happy, too.

The Husband's Birthday

Today is hubby's birthday, and I am sharing with you how we celebrated his special day at home.

As I am due anytime soon, Ryan had specifically asked me not to arrange any party whatsoever. He didn't want to fuss over his birthday knowing that any moment our LO could come out. But being the stubborn gal that I am, I still organized an intimate get-together with his close friends. Yesterday, on the eve of his actual birthday, I hosted a dinner for him attended by his college bud, Bob, my bessie B & our friend, K. Too bad Bob's daughter, Yesha, wasn't feeling well so she & Ditas couldn't join us. Ryan's other college bud, Armil, on the other hand, was celebrating his wife's birthday, too, so he wasn't able to come. The gathering was very simple but I'm still happy we managed to have a proper celebration than none at all.



His guests gave him t-shirts as gifts, which he liked so much while I gifted him with something that he's been wanting for the longest time. Not to be outdone by his big boxed gift on my birthday, I also gave him something huge & heavy as a present. Now he's got no excuse not to pursue his passion :) A lot have been convincing him to start his own small business by word of mouth so I guess this little aid of his will inspire him more to give in to people's request. We can start with the butterscotch I suppose ;-)




To my dear, dear husband who is the best in the world - happy, happy birthday! I hope somehow your birthday is made memorable for you. I was hoping the LO would come out today so you two can share one special day but I guess the 25th July will always be yours alone. In hindsight, that's also good...I want to keep the spotlight on you for 24 hours every time this day comes each year. You very well deserve it. I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH HONEY!! Mwaaaahhhh!!

P.S. I hope you loved the Fresh Fruits Cake we got from Dusit Delicatessen. See, you didn't get just one but two? :) Yummy, no?