On the 22nd of June, 2017, our lives were changed. The Lord had given us the most beautiful blessing, our first child. You may know us through a relationship blog I post at from time to time. I don't use names and I call my wife by her pet name "Love." But now I mostly call her Mommy. This new blog is for the start of a new chapter in our lives, now we're a family.
Conception
The reason why Love and I successfully ended up married in a short period of time is that our goals are aligned. We got together, got engaged and got hitched all in the same year. And we both wanted a kid as soon as possible. But it wasn't that easy for us to get pregnant. We tried the normal way and tried getting help from a couple of fertility experts (which cost a lot). It was frustrating and depressing going from month to month without success, even though we both checked out OK. But we decided to look at the bright side and ultimately just enjoyed our time together (and the lack of birth control) and let God do the rest. We traveled and pursued different activities. We even started a small business. Eventually after a couple of years, we got our answered prayer.
Morning Sickness
The first trimester was rough on Love. She had morning (and night) sickness daily. We mostly dine out in Manila unless Love cooks, which she was not up for during that time. Most restaurant foods were not really healthy for the baby so Love was not really eating right then. One good thing is that she didn't need to travel to work since she works from home. However, she's alone in our condo when I go to work. After a few challenging weeks we decided that it was best to just set up internet for work in her family home at Pampanga where her Mom can look after her. I negotiated a nice work from home schedule where I could be with her for four days including the weekend and travel to Manila for three days to work at the office. It was a nice setup, her morning sickness was reduced and she was able to eat well during the rest of the trimester.
Samantha Avery
After a few weeks, an ultrasound revealed our baby's gender. We were having a girl. Our go signal to pick a name and plan things to buy.
Picking a name was one of the fun parts during the pregnancy. Love and I did it separately then showed each other our lists. One name appeared in both and it was Samantha, Sam for short. For her second name we wanted something starting with the letter "A." It was our baby's Granny who suggested the name Avery and we loved it.
What to Expect
The second trimester was better for Love, she was stronger and her morning sickness was almost gone. We can also see her baby bump getting bigger by the day. We used an app called "What to Expect" to read about baby and pregnancy articles in conjunction with doctor visits. It's a great app to track what happens in mommy's belly weekly and to check healthy foods, symptoms, taboos, medical procedures and relevant stuff to buy during the pregnancy.
The Third Trimester
- Feeling baby Sam's movements
- Checking if she's already in position
- Shopping for baby stuff
- Baby showers
- More frequent doctor visits
- Getting ready for (or fearing) delivery day
The Hospital Bag
We also asked our doctor for a list of items we need to pack in our hospital bag so that we're ready to go anytime. Here're the items we packed and did not pack but hoped we did. This was already prepared by week thirty five.
For Mommy
- Toiletries
- Breastfeeding clothes
- Maternity napkins
For Baby
- Receiving blankets
- 4 sets of clothes
- Bonnet
- Long sleeve top
- Pants
- Mittens
- Socks
- Newborn diapers (40 pcs)
- Alcohol
- Lactacyd blue
- Cotton
- Baby oil
- Distilled water (a couple of 6 gallons)
- Baby bath towels or a couple of birdseye flat cloth diapers as alternative (baby tends to wee or poo at those towels during bath time)
For Daddy
- Camera and gadgets
- FOOD
- Change of clothes
- Toiletries
Delivery Day
Our doctor suggested for Love to undergo a C-section based on baby Sam's size and Love's height and age. It was actually a great decision as the doctor told me that baby Sam was positioned sideways and the umbilical cord was looped at her neck twice. But our doctor worked through it. A nurse asked for a camera which she took inside to document the delivery.
After some time our doctor told me the good news, and I got to view our baby girl through the nursery viewing area.
After a few hours, Mommy was brought back to our room and baby Sam soon after. Our first time together as a family.
