My First Day Out

by: Aqui Rodriguez

I had my first outing today! Mommy and Daddy deemed I was old enough (I am 16 days old now) to attend mass and go to the mall. Mum took a long time preparing for my day out while Dad was busy making sure that my pram and car seat are ready for the rough weather outside. The weather wasn't so cooperative with my warm and sunny disposition -- there was hail (it was a first for all of us to see hail in Wellington!) and it was freezing outside. No wonder I was dressed warmly and snuggly in my new Pink jumpsuit (courtesy of my Ninang-to-be Doyeth).

My first stop was St. Peter and Paul's Parish as we attended our first Sunday mass as a family. I saw my ninang-to-be Laiz (& Tito Romil) and ninong-to-be Boy (& Tita Cecile and Kuya Joshua) at church too. I got blessed by Fr. Peter during communion and so I was ready to go out and partey!

My next stop was the mall. It was raining cats and dogs (and ice!) in Johnsonville but Lower Hutt was more to my liking. Westfield Queensgate was full of shoppers, especially since it was the Queen's birthday weekend and so there were lots of sales and special deals in the shops. Mum and Dad bought me clothes because I kept complaining that all I had were blue clothes and people kept telling me how handsome I was and how cute my parents' little boy was. If only I could scream "I am a girl! Can't you see how pretty I am like my mum?" Too bad people see how closely I resemble my dad - can't they see I have my mom's eyes?

Shopping for my clothes made my mom and dad hungry so we had to stop for lunch. They had butter chicken while I had my usual fix of breastmilk. I wasn't really much of an active shopper as I was sleeping the whole time and even did a little poo and wee here and there. At least I wasn't a party pooper and didnt complain much even when my nappy was full of you-know-what.

All in all, I think my first day out was a success. I didn't get into an accident - even when mommy kept on shoving my stroller onto the wrong path- and I was a good girl the whole time... until we came home.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my first day out! Watch out for my future adventures.
Here are some pictures of my first day out.

My first Sunday Mass



Don't I look like a girl now?



Shopping Time!



Lunch Time!



Home Time



Hail at our backyard


Nappy Change


More Visitors





Cute Picture Frame from Tita Jenny in Malaysia

El Vicitacion del mis amigas/amigos para Aqui

I'd like to post this as a thank you to all our friends who have been here for us all throughout this wonderful experience of welcoming our first child into this world. Being away from family, Ronnel and I were really worried if we can make it on our own. We didnt have a choice but to be fully prepared for Aqui's arrival. We did that by arming ourselves with knowledge coupled with prayers. But we are very blessed to have good friends who have been very supportive, knowing that we can't ask too much of them but still just being there every step of the way.

In the hospital, friends came to visit bringing us food and warm company. Ronnel and I had a good meal every night since my admission because every day, we had friends bringing food. Even when we came home from the hospital, friends came over our place to bring food because they were thinking we'd be too exhausted to cook or even prepare for dinner. It brings us joy and warmth in our hearts to have such thoughtful friends. To the Baloyo Family and Monera Couple - thank you for making our first night at home with Aqui stress-free.

To Don and Tin, thanks for the wonderful surprise greeting over the radio. Ronnel and I were pleasantly surprised to hear our names being said over the radio. It was such a coincidence that we logged on to listen online to Chico and DelaMar's Morning Rush show in the Philippines. Here's an mp3 of their greeting.

To our Hospital and House Visitors, thanks! You made our ordeal so much easier just by being there. To the Kisteria family who missed this event since they're celebrating Liway's birthday in the Phils, thanks for the clothes and bassinet (originally from Kuya Mel/Ate Bing)- she's enjoying it a lot. To our colleagues at the 2 best banks in NZ, thanks for the cheers and pressies. And to other friends who have sent in their sms, email, FB messages, IM's, YM's, etc - thanks!

Anyway, here are more pictures of Aqui. Yeah, yeah, I'm becoming a soppy mum - can you blame me? Just look at how cute Aqui is!

Her First Bath (Who said babies love water?)


Sleeping Aqui and Daddy


Visiting Friends

Aqui is 1 Week Old! Yay!

Baby Aqui is now 1 week old. And yeah, it maybe overkill but can you blame us very proud 1st-time parents? Daddy bought a nice cake as we celebrated this mini milestone today.







Oh and we'd like to thank my colleagues at work as Baby Aqui got a nice pressie from them...

Aqui Is Here!

14 May 2009

The long wait is over. Aqui is finally here (a bit redundant since Aqui already means “here” but you know what I mean.) Actually, we were in the hospital yesterday, 13th of May, to undergo induced labour but was asked to come back the next day as the hospital was short of staff and vacant birth rooms for. And so we begrudgingly went home. I suppose it was good to stay home as I was able to cross out two more items from my pre-birth to-do-list-- to watch twilight and madagascar 2 on dvd and to do some more washing.

The next day, we were up and about at 5 am and were in the hospital at 8 am. There was no turning back now. I was readied with iv drips and monitored for contractions. There were a few coming but weren't so intense. At around 12, the OB force-broke my waters. It hurt but I was able to endure it with a smile - I think it was the least I can do for the midwives and doctors who were all so nice. The ob was quite surprised that I had little reaction and mused out that I had a high tolerance for pain. That gave me encouragement to go thru labour drug-free. But as time passed by and the contractions became more frequent and pain was more intense, brought about by syntocinin, I realised I could no longer endure the pain. I was blessed to have my husband Ronnel there with me all throughout but even his lamaze massage and words of encouragement were no match for the intense labour pains. And so I gave in. I asked for an epidural. And it was the best decision that I made.

The thing with epidurals is that you have to absolutely stay still when it is applied and it was no small feat especially when contractions were happening every other minute. But Ronnel was there to hold me still and remind me that I won't beable to use my future phone (Yeah, this still works as motivation) if something happens to my nervous system. So it went in without problems and I found my new best friend, Epi the epidural trigger button.

The contractions were happening fast now and I was in full labour but despite that, I was only 5 cm dilated and it remained that way for 3 hours. Moreover, baby was in an anterior position-- in short, however fast or frequent the contractions were, baby won't be coming out right. And so our OB advised that a C-section is the best option and since we trust our OB (we are paying big bucks for her services), we signed all the necessary papers and off we went to the operation theatre.

I was given a stronger anesthetic so as not to feel the cut and as a result, I had the shivers all over. Apparently, with anaesthesia, your body can't tell the temperature properly so you get the shakes. It was the weirdest feeling ever. This was my first operation and I didn't know what to expect. I was aware of the things that were happening around me but I felt my body was too heavy. Ronnel was besideme, holding my hand, trying to stop me from shaking a lot. I felt my stomach being prodded and pushed and saw the reflection from the lights above. It was like a scene in the Saw movies where there was blood all over and the gut exposed. At 10:16 pm, we heard the sweetest sound ever. It was our baby's first cry.
And it's confirmed now - Aqui is a girl.

She was quickly cleaned and brought over to Ronnel's arms. I've never seen him happier. I know in my heart he is going to be the best dad there is for our little Jacqueleen. The first thing he said was, "She looks just like you!" When he brought her over, I couldn't agree more. She had my wide set eyes but she had her daddy's pouty small lips. Let's leave the nose to fate and see what happens. There was only one thing running thru my mind when I saw her, "I love you baby." It was the first time I felt such an overpowering emotion that made me shake all over-- I don't think it was the drugs this time.

The pediatrician did some checks on her and wow, our baby has passed her first test (apgar) with flying colours. Nine out of ten – not bad for her first test! Not only that, she had her first feed with no problems. Even the midwife was amazed how fast Aqui was able to latch and she didn't let go for almost an hour!

We still have to stay in the hospital for a few days for Aqui to be monitored and she's staying in the Natal Intensive Care Unit. I couldn't sleep during that night, babies in the ward kept crying and I keep thinking of my Aqui. Ronnel has gone home since partners around allowed to stay the night. We're both tired and sleep deprived with this longest day of our lives, but it is all worth it.

Here are some pictures we'd like to share...
When the contractions were just starting...


After meeting bestfriend Epi


Prepping for a C-section


Aqui is a Girl!


More of our little Aqui...

Our "Lasts" before Aqui comes out... moved up to Wednesday now!

I got a call from my OB this morning and she told me she was moving up my induction schedule from Monday next week to Wednesday. That's just 5 days to go! I'm now enveloped with a mixture of anticipation, excitement, fear and panic. I still have things to do and prepare. I'm so glad I've started the nesting stage soon enough so at least there are a few things crossed out of my list. Anyway, here are the last things I've/we've done before Aqui comes out....


My Last Day at Work


Packed and Ready to Go


Our Last Walk in Town



Our Last Movie Date



Nel's Last NBA Xbox Game with Buddy Romil


My Last All-Out Cooking
I've prepared 10 different meals and stocked the in the freezer in anticipation of the sleepless nights/days and exhaustion.


So there you go. Tomorrow, we'll be doing our last panic buying of baby stuff. At least we know that we still have a few days left to prepare!

So excited to meet our little Aqui!