Some snapshots during our stay in the hospital

Of course Butch was snapping pictures with his Nikon D40 during my stay in the hospital. Here are some of his shots…

Taken inside the operating room. I specifically told Butch not to take my headshots while inside. Otherwise I would throw away his camera with every strength I had left in my body hahaha! All I see of myself in this picture is my left hand. I was very groggy and half asleep during the operation. I didn’t feel a thing! Thank God for epidural.

My sister said It really hurts when they take the catheter out. This was taken when my doctor was removing it. They also changed the dressing of my stitches for the first time that's why was covering my eyes. Here at home, Butch does it for me. I don’t want to look at it. I haven’t checked out my post pregnancy body yet. But I know my tummy is still big and I bet there’s a some loose skin.

Just out of mommy’s tummy! Nigel looked more like me on day one. He’s definitely got my eyes and skin color. Everyone’s saying this as they looked at Nigel’s pictures. But on the second day, his skin turned a little redish and he started looking more like Butch especially when he’s asleep. He has Butch’s nose and lips. Oh well, I guess he’s a combination of him and me.

I gave birth at the New Era General Hospital. An institution built and run by the “Iglesia Ni Cristo” Church. A Christian sect here in the Phlippines. The picture above is their place of worship. My cousin/ doctor is an active member of this church. I have no regrets giving birth in this hospital. The people are courteous, the service is good and the price is very reasonable. We spent a lot less than we expected.

Like I said, we weren’t able to take Nigel home right away. He had to stay in nursery a couple more days. We visited him everyday though. I breastfeed him. I am so glad I practiced taking care of babies with my nieces Iris and Chloe! Otherwise I’d be so clueless the first time I picked Nigel up. Butch wasn’t allowed inside. I had no one to help me or to panic with hahaha! I would take pictures of him with my cellphone camera and look at it all day with Butch.

He cooked “Tinola” for me

For the past weeks, these are what I’ve been eating

Breakfast: Low fat milk and 3 tbsp of instant oatmeal
Lunch: less than a cup of rice, 1-2 slices of meat and 1 cup of whatever veggies
Dinner: Green Salad or All-Vegetable Sandwich

These meals are easy to prepare and are low in sugar and calories. It has helped me lose weight. But like any food, if you eat it every day you will surely grow tired of it. Butch has been in his paternity leave since Thursday and last night, he cooked “Tinola” for me. He thought of it because green papaya, one of its ingredients is said to encourage contractions on pregnant women. Tinola normally has chicken, malungay leaves and green papaya. But since we are after eating the green papaya, Butch didn’t put chicken just the malungay leaves and other spices.
I am happy that Butch is with me now. He said it was okay. He was not able to use up his leave credits last year and this is the perfect time to use it. Two days ago, he took me brisk walking in U.P. At noon time we went to Wildlife, a park/ zoo housing endemic animals here in the Philippines. We ate our lunch there and walked around seeing all sorts of animals (in cages of course)- different species of snakes, birds, fishes, mammals etc. I’ve been a resident of Quezon City for a long time but that was my first time in that park. I enjoyed very much. It’s unfortunate though he was not able to take pictures of the animals. His Nikon D40’s battery run out after we ate lunch.

Someday, we will take Nigel to this park to see the animals.

I wonder what will Butch cook for me tonight.

Wordless Wednesday: Walking, walking and more walking... to induce labor

*picture taken by Butch as I walked in U.P.

Kate Winslet Finally wins Best Actress

Kate Winslet won the best actress award during last Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards for her role opposite Leonardo Di Caprio in “Revolutionary Road”. She also won the best Supporting actress award for the movie “The Reader”. This is a long awaited win for the British actress who has been nominated 5 times for an Oscar but has never won. Like what she said in her acceptance speech for best supporting actress “I have a habit of not winning things…”Well, her luck seems to have changed. Will she finally win an Oscar too this year? The nominations are yet to be announced. But I am very sure Kate will be nominated for best actress as well.

It was pretty obvious she would win for best supporting actress category. Her contenders namely Amy Adams, Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis, and Marissa Tomei are no match for the Kate’s caliber and experience as an actress in my opinion. She was very composed and prepared going up the stage as she held on to the list of the people she wanted to thank. But when she heard her name came up as best actress winner, Kate seemed stunned. Who wouldn’t be? Beating Ann Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Kristin Scott Thomas- all spectacular actresses is quite a feat. Here’s a video clip of her acceptance speech as best actress…



Congratulations Kate, you deserve it. Oh boy! This makes me want to watch Revolutionary Road even more but I don’t know when it is showing on this side of the globe.

The American Idol Season is upon us!

I was channel hoping yesterday and I saw that American Idol Season 8 will premiere this January 14 on Star World (Asian cable channel that carries it via satellite). This talent contest is by far the most entertaining there is for me. I’ve been a follower since Carrie Underwood’s season.

They say the ratings have been slipped though. I wonder what they will do to make the show more interesting. Around mid last year the producers announced that there will be another female judge for season 8. Joining the three will be songwriter Kara DioGuardi. This grammy- nominated composer has written songs for successful artists like Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Hillary Duff, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Lachey just to name a few. Will she be harsh unlike Paula? I really don’t mind if they add another judge as long as they don’t remove Simon Cowell. He may be really harsh, but his comments are quite entertaining. And his judgment is one of the reasons why the show is so successful.

Last season two males, David Archuleta and David Cook battled it out for the title. I was rooting for David Cook and I am glad he won. I wonder who will win this year. Will it be another male or a female singer? Though Cook got the title, Archuleta seems more popular; at least here in the Philippines. His song “Crush” was Song of the Year in RX 93.1’s year end count down. Though it was only released late this year, it still managed to be 2008’s number one hit! Cook’s “Leave the Light on” on the other hand was only number 16 or something.

Anyway, I am looking forward to an enjoyable show this year. I will be watching it with Nigel!