Week 9

According to the mobile app "My Pregnancy by Babycenter " downloaded by Basuraman for my pregnancy, I should start taking belly pictures. The problem is in my current body shape I cannot distinguish which is TABA bump and baby bump. I guess I'll just start to take pics when my tummy is really really big. Yung tipong hindi na siya pagkakamalan na taba lang.

There are times when my afternoon/evening sickness would escalate to whole day sickness. Pakiramdam ko sinasapian ako ng isang daang libong espiritu ni kulapo. Ang pinakamatindi e kung kelan oras ng pagkain tsaka naman nagpaparamdam ng bonggang-bongga na para bagang nang-iinis.

April 20 - I left the office early to go to the clinic. I was bleeding. I was so nervous I thought I already lost baby. There was no available taxi so I took the bus. I was crying on my way to the clinic. I wasn't able to call Lola OB because I left my phone in the office. Upon arriving at the clinic I still have to wait for 30 minutes because there were many patients and I think the staff did not understand that my case was an emergency. As soon as I told Lola OB of my situation she immediately did a transvaginal ultrasound to check if baby is OK. At first I thought baby was already gone because we couldn't see him/her. I think Lola OB changed the probe to clearly check baby. Thank God finally I was able to see him/her.

According to Lola OB the cause of the bleeding was due to the removal of my polyp. After the ultrasound she did some kind of operation and removed the remaining polyp. She even showed it to me. I was like 'Woah! What's happening???'. Minsan kasi nawawala sa loob ni Lola OB na hde naman ako ganun kagaling mag-nihonggo. Ambilis pa ng pangyayari. Masakit Kuya Eddie pero wala na ako nagawa. I was asked to return the next day for another check-up. Lola OB gave me her personal number in case I would be bleeding to much with extreme pain at night. Praise God I did not bleed anymore and the result of my follow-up check-up was fine.

Lola OB told me once again not to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, exercise, eat spicy food and do hard work. Though I religiously follow them, for the mean time I am taking the bus when going to office. I am skipping my morning walk because I am scared that the bleeding might happen again. I think I'll just go back to walking when I'm already 5 months pregnant. Since I'm still in my first trimester the risk of having a miscarriage is very high.

On the lighter side of what happened...

I only have 3000 yen in my wallet and I was surprised when my bill showed 7640 yen. E andami-dami pa namang tao sa clinic. Feeling ko nalaman nilang lahat na wala akong pambayad. Unfortunately the clinic does not accept credit cards. Luckily there was an ATM booth 6 min-walk away from the clinic. The friendly staff advised me not to hurry and take my time in returning back. Anong magagawa ko hindi ko naman inexpect na pupunta ako ng clinic. Nakakahiya lang. Lesson learned: dapat laging may baong pera.

Happy 9th week baby! Mummy and daddy loves you! ^_^

Week 8

April 10 - Akachan* is already 2 months inside mummy's tummy! It seems like my dear baby was just hiding during my last ultrasound. Ang anak ko ke liit liit (literal na maliit talaga!) pa e maluko na ^_^ This time I was able to see baby's heartbeat (though I wasn't able to hear it. baka sa susunod kong check-up). It was so amazing!

Lola OB precribed me a new set of medicine for my loss of appetite. My nausea is getting worse. Instead of morning sickness I have afternoon to evening sickness. Jusmio marimar! Para akong pinagsukluban ng langit at lupa ng minsang umatake ito to the maximum level. Na-tolerate ko pa siya nung nasa office. Feeling ko masusuka na ako sa bus. At pagdating sa bahay ngumawa na ako na parang baka dahil sa sobrang sama ng pakiramdam ko. Ayun sumuka ako ng bonggang-bongga ng gastric juices dahil wala nga akong mashadong kinakain dahil wala ako gana. Hay buhay buntis.

(kinabukasan sa opisina)
kuya kim: bakit ka umiyak?
ako: ansama kasi ng pakiramdam ko
kuya kim: bakit ka nga umiyak?
ako: e kasi nga first time ko naramdaman yung ganun.
kuya kim: pero kailangan talaga umiyak?
ako: e iyakin ako e!

Finally Lola OB gave me a referral for my boshitechou/Maternal Health and Baby book and Basuraman got it at the Health Center last April 13. Aside from the boshitechou, the "package" contains booklets/pamphlets about pregnancy and childcare, coupons for free check-up and health exams and a keychain. Actually yung keychain lang ang inaabangan ko talaga. The keychain is my license to priority seats in bus and trains ^_^

I'll be having my next check-up on the 24th of April for my blood test. I hope everything is still fine and Akachan is growing normally and healthy.

*Akachan = baby (in Japanese)

Week 7

April 4 - Supposedly my third check-up was scheduled yesterday April 3. Due to strong winds and heavy rain that day, I asked the clinic if the date of my check-up can be moved to April 4. By this time Lola OB said that we can hear baby's heartbeat. Unfortunately no heartbeat was heard. And according to the ultrasound my gestational sac seems not to have grown and baby was not even visible. I asked if it was normal. Lola OB said that baby's growth is "delayed". She again told me not to work hard, smoke tobacco, avoid second-hand smoke, etc. I told her also about my loss of appetite. She just prescribed a medicine for my upset stomach that I will be taking 3 times per day for 6 days. I can't describe how sad I am when I heard the result of my check-up.

I've been worrying too much lately. I am not the let's-cross-the-bridge-when-we-get-there person.  Most of the times I would just pray and lift everything to God for peace of mind.

Lately I am having bad dreams. And instead of getting 8-9hrs sleep I am just having 6-7hrs. My loss of appetite is intensifying. There are times when all through out the day I just want to throw up. I'm having a hard time concentrating on work.

I am starting to lose weight and I still have my backpains. I am trying to worry less. I am trying to eat as much as I can. If I can not eat a full meal I always make sure that I have some fruits to eat or some fruit juices to drink.

I am thankful for the persons who have given me words of encouragement. Someone told me to just pray and believe that everything will be fine.

I know baby and I can do this. Please continue praying for us. Ang hirap maging praning na mommy :(

Hoping for a better result on my next check-up :)

Week 6

March 27 - Time for my second check-up with Lola OB. The chair and I met again. By this week she was already expecting to see baby inside the gestational sac. From egg-shaped figure, my gestational sac took the form of a banana with baby slightly peeking at the center. I was asked to return to the clinic after a week for my baby's heartbeat.


The major change that happened to me since I confirmed that I was pregnant was my loss of appetite. Sometimes even thinking about food makes me want to throw up. It is just so weird since I like to eat (very obvious with my figure) and all of a sudden I don't want to eat anything. I would just eat because I need to. I am a little bit worried because this might affect baby. Baby might not be getting the nutrients that he/she needs.


I am starting to drink Anmum twice a day (thanks to Kuya Kim who just got back from Pinas), hoping the milk can cover some of the nutrients that I am not getting since I eat little. Also I am taking folic acid. Here in Japan Ob/Gynes do not usually prescribe vitamins to pregnant women. They rely on balanced diet. As what Lola OB had said to me vitamins are only needed if one is not taking meals. Unlike in the Philippines I think vitamins are automatically prescribed to pregnant women. Since I have a problem with my food intake I might look for vitamins here for pregnant women. We're having some problem sending vitamins from Pinas to Japan.


Sometimes I had to place pillow on my back when I go to sleep because of backpains. I walk at a very very very very very slow pace (parang lola lang. Minsan dinadaig ko pa ang matatanda). My 25 minute walk from our apartment to the office became 45 minutes. After work I will just take the bus in going home. I have a choice of going to the office by bus but the schedule in the nearest stop is either too early or late.


I always talk to baby everytime I feel some pain in my tummy and back. I always ask him/her to hold on tight. I even say sorry during times that I suddenly need to run. I always talk to him/her before I go to sleep.


Looking forward to my next check-up ^_^


May God bless us all!

In the Beginning

Salamat sa katamaran at hanggang ngayon e hindi ko na naipost ang karugtong ng Missing Piece/s. Naisip kong gumawa ng panibagong blog ngunit aking napagtanto na kung eto ngang blog na ito e nabubulok na dahil walang bagong entry na mailagay gagawa pa ako ng bago. Ang weird ko magtagalog. Tae.

Anyways from now on I'll be posting things about my pregnancy ^_^ Yes! Babae po ako at napatunayan ko na meron nga akong matris!

Pregnancy....Sikoletlover's Way \(^_^)/

March 18 - Basuraman and I had this feeling that I am pregnant. Actually it was more of Basuraman's hunch. He's the one monitoring my menstrual cycle. Hanggang pagbibilang tamad ako. The night before I already did some testing and the result was positive. Until we saw that the kit was already expired. So I asked Basuraman to buy a pregnancy kit at the nearest drugstore. Of course we had to search for the Japanese term first so he can ask the salesperson directly since he can not read kanji. Pregnancy test kit is ninshin kensa kitto in Japanese (thank you google translate!). According to the articles I've read in the web, the best time of the day to test for pregnancy is during morning. It has something to do with high HCG in urine. But according to the kit I can test anytime. And since Basuraman was really anxious if I am pregnant or not I did a test later that afternoon. It turned out positive! And so is the test I did in the morning of the next day ^_^

March 19 - I called the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Info Center hotline to ask for their help in finding me the nearest hospital/clinic specializing in Obstetrics/Gynecology that has an English speaking doctor. I was so grateful that they were able to find one which is only a 4-minute walk from the train station, has an English-speaking staff and a female English-speaking obstetrician. Yey! Two of my friends who had pregnancy here in Japan have male ob/gyne. Di yata carry ng powers ko yun. After work I went directly to the clinic for my check-up.

The highlight of my check-up was when I sat on "the chair" for my transvaginal ultrasound. JUSMIOMARIMAR! The chair lifted me (around 3.5ft from the ground) and bukaka to the highest level. MAYGASABELGAS... Ishikawa-sensei (I call her Lola OB 'coz she's kinda thundercat na) asked me to just relax. I tried to relax and Lola OB did her thing.

According to Lola OB I was already 5 weeks pregnant. Yey ulit! At first I can not believe that I am really pregnant. Ganito pala yun. I was very happy and nervous at the same time because it is my first time and I am in a foreign place away from my family. Buti na lang nandito si Basuraman.

I pray and hope that my pregnancy will go smoothly. I also pray for less earthquakes because they're making me nervous. Please pray for us. Please please please??? Thank you in advance. Pagpray rin namin kayo ni beybi ^_^

May God bless us all!

Missing piece/s

Eversince my number one reader arrived here I started to neglect my blog. I was so busy that I haven't placed any entry for n months. Actually there was a part of me that thought there is no need for this blog to be updated since I am already with my labidabs. But then I remembered that, with or without readers, the purpose of this blog is
for me to have something to look/read back when my memory starts to fail me. (wish ko lang libre pa rin ang  blogspot by that time or nag-eexist pa rin ang blogspot) ^_^


So here's what happened in sikoletlover's life for the past 7 months. 


August 2011

Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise

Included in our summer vacation itinerary was to go to Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise with the Rinon family. It was my third time in this place and first time for Basuraman. During my first 2 visits I was able to ride only 1 attraction which is the Blue Fall.  This time we availed the 1 day pass for the park including the attractions. Ultimo carousel diko pinalampas!

With the Rinon Family

The Blue Fall

Sakuragicho 

After going to Yokohama Sea Paradise, Basuraman and I stayed at a friend's house overnight and headed to Sakuragicho Station the next day. We just roamed around the area and stayed inside the mall most of the time because it was soooooo hot outside. Maybe we'll come back here in Autumn or Spring. Nakakatusta ng balat ang init!

Cosmo Clock 21

Yokohama Sea Port

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse "Aka Renga Souko" 

August 18, 2011

We turned 1 :) We celebrated our 1st year wedding anniversary at our favorite place evarrr :D I am very happy  and grateful that we spent it together ^_^

September 2011

September 21, 2011. It was the day Typhoon No. 15 visited Tokyo. This was also the day sikoletlover turned 29 :)

I invited my Japanese colleague Hayakawa-san to attend my little 'birthday partei' and despite the very rough weather due to the typhoon she was able to come. Nakakatats! I wanted her to try Filipino dishes and she was very willing to do so. Eventhough Mommy Joy and I lack cooking skills, we managed to produce edible dishes. We prepared 2 types of pasta dish (Filipino style istapegi): one with meatballs using spaghetti pasta and the other one using penne pasta. There's also adobo, lumpiang shanghai, and crema de fruta for dessert. Plus sausages with marshmallow stuck in a cabbage (which is always present in my 'birthday parties'). I was very happy that Hayakawa-san liked the Filipino dishes we made. At first I was a bit skeptical with the spaghetti because it was sweet contrary to the spaghetti here which is sour (tomato based). Fortunately she liked it. She liked everything! She was very thankful when we packed a little of everything we prepared for her to take home.

Walang bagyo-bagyo sa bertdey ko!

because hotdog/sausage + marshmallow ina stick/toothpick is LoooooVe!

Well well well.. Hello there katamaran!

...to be continued. pffffft....

Mag-Ingles ay 'Di Biro

Last night I dug into the dusty grave of my documents folder and here is what I found. An entry that should have been posted 2000 years ago but wasn't posted due to unknown reasons.

I think there was a time when I posted an entry asking the whole wide universe to pray for me so that I can get the scores that I need in a certain exam that I was to take. I took the IELTS exam. Why IELTS and not JLPT? Wahleylung. I just want to waste money. juk! Personal reasons :) I applied for the exam last February (this year) online and got the April 2 schedule for listening, reading and writing part. The schedule for the speaking part of the exam as well as the test venue will be given 2-3 weeks before April 2 via snail mail. I asked some of my friends who already took the exam for some tips and where to find good reviewers. Since I already spent too much (too much = 24,+++ JPY yes ansakit sa bulsa) for the exam fee I just relied on sample exams and free reviewers online. purita much kasi. I have more than a month to review. Carry :)

Fast forward. March came and I haven't started reviewing. Galing noh? Then the March 11 earthquake happened. Lalong hindi ako nakapagreview (makapagdahilan). I thought the exam will be cancelled. Para akong batang nagdadasal na sana walang pasok bukas. When I checked the website of STEPS (Society for Testing English Proficiency), the official partner of IELTS in Japan - I think, only the March 12 and 19 schedules were cancelled. April 2 was spared. Oh great. On the last week of March I received the mail regarding the location of the exam as well as the schedule of my speaking test. Tuloy na tuloy na itwu. I used the remaining week before the exam to review. Bahala na si batman.

April 2. I reached the venue, which was Toyo University, 1 hr before the exam. It was my first time to enter a building of a Japanese University. There were lifts and escalators inside. I mean school with escalators? Ako na galing bundok. During my time, the engineering building in Bulacan State University was the highest with 6 floors but it doesn't have any lift or whatsoever. Anyway I was a little bit shocked when I heard the lady on the first floor speaking in Japanese giving instructions on the whereabouts of the examination rooms. Like huh? Am I in the wrong place? They're suppose to be speaking in English because it is an IELTS exam. Dabah?

Since I arrived early I stayed in the cafeteria first. 95 percent of the examinees were Japanese. But of course nasaang bansa ba ako? :) I was hoping I can talk to someone in English while waiting for the eaxamination to start then be friends with her/him/them, etc. When I take an exam I usually do not review hours before it start. Dapat relax mode lang. My hopes were gone when I saw that most of the examinees were still studying. So I just sat and pretend I can read the writings in the bottle of my mineral water while waiting for the staff to call us.

The exam started and instructions were given first. Also we were told of what to do in case an earthquake happens. Dumagdag pa sa nerbiyos. The proctor was a tall Caucasian male and has a british accent. I get kilig everytime I hear someone speaking in british accent. Landi ko lang. Honestly speaking I think the test wasn't really that hard (if you're just after an OK-ish score). Especially for us Filipinos who have studied the English language since we started going to school. Pero ginahol ako sa listening and writing part. Lalo na sa writing kasi umihi pako tapos yung kasabay ko tumae pa yata kaya antagal namin nakabalik. Jusme.

I took the speaking part of the exam on the next day on the same university but on a different building. We were called by batch of ten and we're asked to line in a corregidor. On the other side of the line were the examiners. Para kaming mga batang kalye na binebenta sa mga pedopilyang porenjer. Sa aming sampu na kumukuha ng exam ako pa yung pinakamaliit. Nagmukha akong midget habang kasabay kong naglakakad papuntang testing room yung kakausap sakin. Ayos lang naman yung mga questions. Pero sa hindi ko malaman na kadahilanan e may mga parte na na-engot ako. Lalo nung kailangan kong dumakdak ng mga 1-2minutes. Hindi ko alam kung ano pumasok sa kukote ko at 30sec lang ako nagsalita. Ako na nagmadali at nagmagaling!

And the result....

Gusto kong iuntog ang ulo ko sa pader ng 1 million times. Napakasakit Kuya Eddie... Ako na tanga sa Writing. AKO NAAAAA! (TTT_TTT)