The things they didnt tell you about pregnancy

They say that every pregnancy is different and so what I'm about to say might not be relevant to mothers out there. However, just the same, as this is the most important thing in my life, I'd like to share what I went through and am going through in my first three months of pregnancy.

1. Those two lines on your home pregnancy test doesnt equate to Happy ever after.

Three days after my missed period(my cycle is about 36 days), I bought a home pregnancy test and it was positive! I couldnt contain myself and woke up my husband at 3am, took a photo and posted it on Facebook, and had a hundred likes in less than 2 days. Only the next morning did I realize my mistake in posting it too early. A few google searches was enough to build paranoia because of the countless things that could go wrong.

A. I could have a chemical pregnancy
- A chemical pregnancy is a situation wherein an egg was fertilized but because it wasnt strong enough, the embryo is expelled by the body even before you hit eight weeks or two months.Hence, you would have tested positive but after a few days, you'll experience an early miscarriage without much ado because it'll be just like your normal period.

B. You could have a blighted ovum
A blighted ovum is a chemical pregnancy but much worse and in my opinion, more painful emotionally... because you lose the baby early on but you're body wasn't able to detect the miscarriage and so you continue to have pregnancy related symptoms..only to find out on your first ultrasound that your sac is empty.

C. Your baby doesnt have a heartbeat
This is similar to the first two in the sense that the embryo wasnt viable enough to make it through nine months of pregnancy and in this case, your baby's heart didnt form as it was supposed to and hence, it didnt have a heartbeat.

D. Your pregnancy could be ectopic.

The least graphic yet most accurate one I can find

An ectopic pregnancy means that you're baby didnt successfully attach to the lining of ur uterus..which means that it is somewhere else..more often than not, on ur fallopian tube or worse inside your ovaries or sumwer smaller. According to wikepedia, some very isolated cases of ectopic pregnancy do end up in successful deliveries but more than 90% of the time, expulsion from  the body is the only solution or else.. the embryo would continue to grow and cause that particular part to explode.

2. Your food preference and appetite will drive you crazy
We've all read and heard about women who crave for bizarre items while they were pregnant. So far, I havent craved for something crazy(well at least not in my opinion) but I have grouped my cravings and aversions into four

1. Food that I've always loved which I love more!
choco..love love love(though I try to control it cause of the caffeine)
juices..

2. Food that I've never liked which I hate even more
-bagoong
-spices with strong odors- cinnamon, curry..the likes

3. Food that I didnt prefer before but I prefer now
-fish
-citrus fruits- kiatkiat, kalamansi...ooooh.love!
-pansit bihon

4. Food that I liked before but hate now
-squid, hipon. dory
-particular processed food such as ham, squid balls, particular hotdogs

3. It's caffeine you should be avoiding and not just coffee.
Before pregnancy, it didnt sink in just how many products contain caffeine and you'd be surprised, especially if you start paying attention to food labels. I always thought that only dark colored beverages have caffeine but boy, was I surprised or more like reminded that it aint about the color!
General Tip: They do declare caffeine straightforward and not as chemical sounding thingie so you'd know right away
1. Softdrinks
- Like I said, I thought that only dark colored beverages have caffeine but nuh-ah. Of course, it's best that you avoid soft drinks all together but if you cant(just like me), here are a few tips:
-Sprite and 7-up are your best bets
-Even Diet Pepsi, Coke Light and Coke Zero have caffeine
-Some Citrus flavored soft drinks have caffeine

2. Iced Tea and Chocolate
-People do know already that these have caffeine from the main ingredients cocoa and tea leaves so the best tip I can give is that the purer it is( hot tea and dark unsweetened choco), the more caffeine it has

3. Energy Drinks
-Who'd have thought? not all though, but your favorite energy drink might have caffeine so always check the label- especially the products that have sprout in the market that promise to keep you going. As another blogger puts it-where do you think all that energy is coming from?

4. Your sense of smell is heightened and it doesnt spare your own body.
I always thought that when they say pregnant women have a greater sense of smell, they meant only the terrible fishy-garbage-let's-get-out-of-here smells, but no-oh, it's EVERYTHING. I pout when I smell my sister's perfume or my brother's deodorant cause they're too strong for me. I vomit every time I go to the bathroom and do the number 2.At times, I feel like a stray dog looking for food because I  can smell the food of the people 2 tables away.

Am I cute or whhhhhut?

5. People will want to touch your belly more than you think

Prior to my own pregnancy, I've always had a fascination with preggy womens' bellies but I did ask courteously before touching theirs. Nowadays, it's my turn to have my belly touched. Dont get me wrong, I dont mind one bit, I just didnt think that many people would touch it. I guess part of the reason is because I've always had a belly and now that I'm pregnant, my 13 week tummy looks more like 20 ^_^. So to those who do mind, it wont hurt to let them know :)

My belly at 3 months..more like 5 :P

In the end, you just have to think that things will turn for the better and know that'll be all worth it when u see ur angel.

till the next thought bubble!

Restaurant Review: Big Bad Wolf

There's still a TON of wedding related stuff that I can talk about..but now that a baby's on the way, I thought that

1. I am more interested to write about my journey to motherhood but I have to collect my thoughts first and
2. I have covered most of the important details about our big day and maybe the minor stuff can wait a bit.

So for, I'll shift to food blogging: all new experiences that hubby and I have had

At the top of the list is: Big Bad Wolf in BGC. It's at the back of Fairways Tower, we had the opportunity to eat there because I won free credits from Groupon/Beeconomic(yey!) worth 250. I used it for the big bad wolf voucher which allowed us to buy 500 worth of food. So what food did we buy

Now, truth be told, I had to do a lot of research about this. Hubby and I are not that well-off and so food tripping such as this one must be carefully planned. We once ate in an American restaurant chain that was so popular but we didnt feel full at the end of the meal so the last thing I wanted was for that to happen again. So I checked the net and based on what I found, here's what we had:

Potato Skins- 175?(I'll check the receipt later)

This appetizer was really good- Just enough to tease your appetite but still filling you up a bit. I read a review that complained a lot about the skins bein' too thick but ours were just right and the dip was really good with the skins- too bad they didnt serve the dip in that cute little jarsie thing I saw in reviews and blogs.

Next, we had our main course. Mine was Grainated Pork Tenderloin while hubby had the Santol Smoked Pork Belly. Let's talk about mine first: It was awesome!!!!! I am not a big fan of gourmet food because sometimes, the combination of flavors is so intricate that somehow, things get lost. However, this was one very good exception!!! The dish was made of strips of pork tenderloin cooked with mozzarella, shitake mushrooms and spinach. The cheese was quite understandable but the combination of mushrooms and spinach was what caught me by surprise and it was awesome!! Admittedly though, I thought it had a tad too much spinach and I felt like a little kid as hubby tried tried to finish off the rest of the spinach on the side of my plate. (sheepish grin)

At first, I was disappointed that it didnt come with rice but surprisingly, I felt very full after eating it(sans rice)

Now, lez talk about hubby's meal: Santol Smoked Pork Belly. Truth be told, I was disappointed with this one. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious but I had very high expectations on this dish given that 1: it was one of the more popular dishes and 2) it was kinda their best seller (or both). Like I said, it did taste good but it was very reminiscent of Christmas ham (the pork belly, only crunchier) plus ham sauce (the santol sauce). All the same, hubby finished it in a flash ^_^

  

Hubby only had water though I did mention that their coffee was good(according to reviews) while I had pink lemonade. It wasn't so pink(i was expecting it to be flamingo colored) and it wasn't so sweet nor too sour either- In short, the taste wasn't overpowering, which I liked. 

We also had mochi which was okay but for 90, I wouldnt recommend it since it's just the same mochi you'll get in stores

Verdict: We would definitely come back and we definitely recommend Big Bad Wolf considering the value for money, location, ambiance and service.

Points for Improvement: Better line up of desserts

Til Next time!