Sleep, Baby, Sleep

“Sleep, baby, sleep… close your eyes and sleep…”“Close your eyes and go to sleep… sleep, baby, sleep.”That was our two-year-old son, Yanthy, singing a lullaby with his little hand on my tummy.

My period was delayed by around a week last month so my husband and I thought that I was pregnant. It rarely happens to me because my period usually comes every 28 days. The last time I remember my period was delayed was when I got pregnant with our little boy. Thus, we wasted no time to check our son’s readiness in having a sibling.

One night before going to sleep, we asked him if he already wants to have a baby brother or sister. He said yes to our surprise. Then, we further asked him if he wanted a baby sister or brother. He said he wanted a baby sister. We seized the opportunity and told him that there might already be a baby sister inside Mommy’s tummy. He beamed and touched my tummy. Since then, Yanthy has been touching my tummy very often during the day especially before going to bed. He would usually sing her a lullaby, the lullaby that I used to sing to him that he already memorized and is singing to his “baby sister.” In one conversation also, he said that he will share his toys, books, clothes and milk to her baby sister. What a sweet little boy! It was then that we discovered that he’s ready to be a big brother.

The day after we talked to Yanthy about having a baby sister, I had some spotting. I was alarmed because I really thought that I was pregnant. But when I went to see my doctor for consultation and ultrasound, we found out that my period was just delayed due to hormonal imbalance and the spotting is part of my menstruation.

I had mixed emotions. I was glad and relieved that I was not pregnant because of the spotting I experienced. I thought that to have bleeding at the start of a pregnancy could be risky. I was disappointed and sad however to discover that I was having my monthly period again that time; for, it was obvious that Yanthy wanted so much to have a baby sister already. I felt that he would be disappointed and sad also if we tell him there’s no baby in my tummy yet.

Therefore, we’ve decided not to tell him that there is no baby in my tummy at that time. We just let him talk to my tummy as if he’s conversing to his baby sister. He continued to do that and sang songs to her every day. He even asks her sometimes about her high point! Haha! Yanthy is so cute!

Then, yesterday, I decided to ask my ob-gyne when I can have a pregnancy test to check if I’m pregnant because my period has been delayed once more. I was thrilled when she said that I can already check yesterday because the first day of my last menstruation was 42 days ago. I hurriedly called my husband and shared with him what my doctor told me. I asked him to buy a pregnancy test kit when he goes home from the office in the evening.

My husband arrived home a little bit later than usual. He had dinner first. We had some chat with our little boy about our high points and low points during the day. Then, we had our family prayer. My husband was excited for me to use the pregnancy test kit but I didn’t feel like peeing yet. So I asked our maid to prepare for me a warm calamansi juice first. I drank the juice and a glass of water.

It was time to use the kit. I was baffled at first when I read the instructions on the box. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure how to use it although I used a pregnancy test kit also during my first pregnancy. Anyway, I was able to figure out what to do afterwards and proceeded with the pregnancy test.

I was very careful in following the instruction to make sure that I will get it right. Excitement was building up in me as well.

One drop, two drops, three drops, four drops… and finally the last. I watched carefully as the drops of urine were absorbed by the strip of paper inside and the test kit showed two lines. I’m pregnant! I’m pregnant again!

I could not hide my joy as I came out of the bathroom. My husband said that he and Yanthy were praying while I was inside collecting a sample of my urine for the test. We were all very happy!

Looking back, I was just amazed at how my son has prophesied our future. To my husband and me, it was like Yanthy was playing pretend. We liked it because somehow it conditions and prepares him for the time that I will truly be pregnant again. But in our son’s heart he was already Kuya Yanthy. In fact, he delighted in being called Kuya Yanthy. He was proud to say that he will take care of her baby sister when she comes out and he was becoming more careful whenever we remind him not play rough near my tummy because his baby sister might get hurt. Oh, the faith of a child! I pray that we would always have that kind of faith.

I thank the Lord for giving me another child and for giving her to me at a time when we are all ready to welcome her into our lives. I thank the Lord that we didn’t have difficulty conceiving this child even though my doctor before warned me that I might have difficulty next time conceiving because of my polycystic ovaries. God is victorious once more! He gave us another miracle. He had the final say! In His perfect time, He has blessed us with another child to nurture, raise and love. I thank the Lord for giving me the grace to believe again that with Him, nothing is impossible. As the Bible says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” (John 20:29) Yanthy believed that he will have a baby sister. I believed that I will be pregnant again without any medical workups. It happened! To God be the glory!

A Stay-at-Home Mom Chronicles Her Day

His soft cheek was pressed snugly to my cheek as we cuddled for an afternoon nap in our sofa. A peaceful smile rests on my face as I close my eyes and bask in the warmth of our embrace. Only a couple of hours have passed since our wall clock struck 12 and we have filled our hungry stomachs; and yet, I fill that my heart is already bursting at the seams because of the wonders of this seemingly ordinary day. I can’t help myself from taking this time to pause, savour, document and capture the beauty in my ordinary experiences as a stay-at-home mom.

My wonderful day started with lots of hugs from my husband as I woke up and lazily stretched on our bed. Then, I read my devotionals and said my morning prayers. I went outside to join my husband at the breakfast table. I slowly sipped a hot ginger ale flavoured with calamansi and honey as I chatted with my husband. I was not yet hungry so I decided to simply drink a glass of low-fat milk. My husband headed to the bathroom to take a bath after eating his breakfast while I decided to send an important email and check my inbox while waiting for my little boy to wake up.

As I hit the shut down button on our computer, I heard my husband open the bedroom door and announce that our son is awake. I welcomed him with an embrace and sang my morning song to him. Afterwards, we walked with his Dad to our main door and kissed him goodbye.

It’s now breakfast time! Eating breakfast together has been one of my cherished moments with my son lately. He has learned to eat and enjoy oatmeal and cereals, which my husband and I usually have for breakfast together with whatever fruit in season. Today, we had oatmeal and banana for breakfast. We exchanged smiles between spoonfuls and before we ate our bananas, we sang some songs. We sang some more songs after finishing our breakfast, read some books, watched his favorite phonics video and pretended that we were having a picnic in our living room for an hour or so before we had our snack and took a bath.

After that, I cooked for him one of his favorite soups – potato and bacon soup – while he played with our maid. I fed him his lunch and watched with him one of our favorite tv shows on the Disney channel, Word World.

I gazed lovingly at my two-year old boy as he sleeps on his crib and said a prayer of thanks to God for letting me experience this inexplicable joy. Words may not be enough to tell the complete story of my day that unfolded beautifully; still, I choose to etch it some more in our memories with another blog entry.

Word World Book: One Great Book Sale Find!

I just came from the grocery with my little boy when I decided to drop by the nearby Book Sale store to check out if there are nice books on sale. I love going there to hunt for good finds and I usually end up buying a number of nice books either for my personal consumption or for giving away to family and friends. I can spend hours going through the piles of books and inspecting each one to see if it’s new or if it’s still in good condition in case it’s pre-owned.

On this particular afternoon, I chanced upon one great find. I found a brand new book based on one of my son’s favorite TV shows -- Word World! I didn’t know that there are already books based on the show. But I was certainly delighted with my latest discovery. Now, I can read this book to my son whenever he insists that he wants to watch Word World and it’s not yet time to watch it. Plus, it was only P85! Some hardbound books and those that encourage activity like touch and feel or pull the tab books can be as much as P300 or more in a regular bookstore. I have not seen it, however, in the regular bookstores that my family frequents. So, I bought it right away since it was the only copy available. The store’s staff said that they are not sure when they would have more copies delivered.

My two-year old son and I were so excited to read the book. We read it as soon as we got home from the mall. And as I read it with him, I realized what a really great find it was! The book is a pull the tab kind of book entitled Dog is Lost. Books like this that encourage activity and participation are very good for toddlers especially active and curious ones like my son. The story revolves around the BEAR who was searching for her friend DOG. BEAR goes around Word World looking for DOG and asking other Word World friends if they have seen DOG. There is tab that the child can pull at every page to find out if the animal hiding behind something was DOG. At every page also, one or two letters of the animal’s name is shown to give a clue. When the child pulls the tab, he/she would see the complete name of the animal. The book is so entertaining and educational! You get to ask the child at every page if he/she has seen DOG and if the animal hiding at a particular spot in Word World is DOG based on the letter or letters shown.

My son and I had so much fun reading it that afternoon. We must have read it a number of times already before his Dad came home. Then, he asked his Dad to read it again to him when his dad arrived from the office. At that moment, I learned another wonderful way to maximize his learning from reading the book by simply watching my husband read it to our little boy. His Dad asked Yanthy to spell the names of the animals who were hiding and who the BEAR thought was her friend DOG after pulling each tab.

Since then, this Word World book has become one of our son’s favorite books every time we read. He gets animated at every page. Sometimes, I see and hear him read the book on his own. He has learned to read and spell around a dozen of words by watching the show Word World almost everyday. With the book, he has learned to spell and read additional words like DOG, COW, PIG and BARN. I’m so glad I found and bought it that fateful afternoon at the Book Sale! I’m very grateful to God for giving us this blessing. Moreover, I’m excited to head to the Book Sale store again after we go to the grocery next time to check if they have other titles on Word World. I hope to find more.