Already? 8 months already this week? Yes! We kick off the 8th month this week. The past months have been one hell of an emotional and physical rollercoaster, but my 7th month was the most challenging. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s currently going on.
The bad things: (I am not going to sugarcoat the bad things because this is reality!)
Feeling:
More tired – I can’t walk long distances anymore. Walking around the grocery for an hour used to be a pleasure, now it’s not.
Tight in the tummy – I was prescribed a uterine relaxant because my uterus was getting stressed out or something last week. It was hardening, Braxton-Hicks in a weird way. It’s too soon to give birth. I’m much better now, thank goodness. My tummy is back to normal and I don’t feel as tight.
More easily irritated – My patience with the littlest things is shortening, getting hot-headed now. I have to work harder at relaxing. Ironic huh? I blame it on the hormones.
Ugly. – My belly looks like a spiderweb of stretchmarks. My cheeks make me look like a chipmunk. I’m running out of clothes to wear, but don’t want to buy new ones because I’m giving birth soon. Because I feel down a lot, I feel it reflects on my looks too. Good self-esteem is hard to hold on to, honestly.
Thinking:
“I wish I weren’t so helpless.” – I miss puttering around the house without getting tired. Getting up in the middle of the night to pee (and it happens 3-4 times) is a struggle now with my added weight.
“I’m not yet ready.” – There’s still a lot on my to-do list for the baby that I have not done. The perfectionist in me is screaming “What are you waiting for!?!?!” and the realist in me is screaming back “I’m too tired to do anything!!!”
Doing:
Resting more – Because I get more stressed out easily, I have to relax more. I try to go home earlier if all the work for the day is done. On weekends, I choose to stay at home than do my usual malling.
Trying to learn how to delegate – This has always been a struggle of mine, pregnant or not. I like doing things a particular way, but the truth is I can’t do everything myself. So I’m carefully letting go of things I can no longer do myself.
RAWR! But it’s not all bad, okay? There are more good days than there are bad days, honestly. The negativity of bad days is hard to deal with, but with the support of loved ones, friends, and H, each day gets easier. Now let’s look at the happier side of this rollercoaster:
The good things:
Feeling:
Amazed and amused. – I think of this growing baby inside me and it just moves me to tears. His movements are getting more obvious. I see my tummy make waves and have pointed corners now. He responds to my voice and my caresses, and it’s just an AMAZING feeling. It’s like your heart wants to explode.
Blessed. – My close friends know that I’ve been waiting for this beautiful blessing to come into my life for a long time. Someday I’ll share my Trying-to-Conceive journey with you. Each time I feel my baby kick, and each time I see a new stretch mark grow, I’m just honestly grateful and thankful to the universe, to God, for this baby blessing. To be a mother was always my ultimate dream. It’s not to be CEO of some company or a famous author, but to be a Mother. I am very thankful I am experiencing pregnancy now and will experience motherhood for real soon.
Excited. – You know who I’m excited for? Naturally, H and myself. But other than us, I’m super excited for my parents! Timmy is their first grandchild. I love it when my Mom feels Timmy kicking. I love it when my Dad tells stories of how he’s going to be “kulit” or silly with Timmy. I am truly excited for them. So excited I want to cry. Hormones again, yes.
Thinking:
“I can’t wait to meet you.” – I am just so excited. I see H playing with the baby doll in birth class and I know we’ll be a good family for Timmy. He’ll be a good baby, I am certain, and I cannot wait to say “Hello” to this wee one.
“I’ll be the best Mom I can be.” – I talk to Timmy a lot when we’re alone. I tell him my worries and the possibilities we’ll have together. I’m absolutely clueless about motherhood but I believe I will do the best I can. I have to. I want to. I need to. This is all for the baby boy I’ll love forever and ever and ever.
Doing:
Getting my baby bag together. It’s halfway done. I aim to complete it this week and just place it in the car. If I place it in the hallway, we’ll probably forget about it. So better to put the bag in the car already!
Writing in my baby journal more. I keep a handwritten journal for Timmy, which I hope to share with him when he’s old enough to appreciate it. I write to him about family, about what I’m feeling, about my journey with him. Writing online is more convenient, but writing by hand is still more personal. It’ll make a good gift to him someday.
Seeing my OB every two weeks now. As the 8th month comes, I will see him more frequently. I always look forward to my OB visits because I get more and more enlightened about what’s happening to my body and the baby.
Graduated from birth class last weekend! The past 6 Sundays have been very educational. I will miss sharing stories with my classmates and I do hope we still stay in touch. I’ll write about the wonderful benefits of birth class separately.
There you go. 7 months in a huge nutshell. Now that July is all about celebrating 8 months of pregnancy, I hope hope hope that things continue to go smoothly and happily.
Image credit: Square 1, Square 2
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.
blue rose
June 29, 2009 at 12:17 pm (15 years ago)wow! lapit na toni. konting tiis nalang. unlike you, i got easily irritated after ko na manganak. good luck to you. i’ll pray na sana hindi ka mahirapan sa panganganak.
blue roses last blog post..over the top award!
mariaR
June 29, 2009 at 2:29 pm (15 years ago)Hi Toni, I’m a fan of your blog. I don’t comment as much but I make time to check what’s new. I think I remember stumbling on your blog when I was searching for a recipe. I think it took to me a site I found in Google about the Philippines best blogger of the year( was it in 2006), and Market Manila was there and so is your blog and I click on it and has been following since then.
Anyways, long story short I like your blog site and I’m excited about you having your first baby soon, like I did just six months ago. I had a girl. Was an extraordinary experience and loving being a mom.
Okay, I think in your past column you had ask for some tips for what stuff that’s important to take with you to the hospital and I’m not sure if anybody mentioned about taking with you a squirty bottle you can use when washing underneath because it will be soar and with the open wound you won’t be touching it in awhile. I had my baby here in the United States, and in the hospital room is a squirty bottle. I guess they provide it for women who had a normal delivery, it made sense, I mean you just fill it up with clean water and squirt! And oh, use warm water, it feels better than cold! I actually took one home with me and it was a huge help and convenience. I wonder if they would have it in hospitals in Manila, but if not go look for it now and you’ll be good to go I’m sure. Good luck and baby Timmy will be here soon. Four weeks is not that far at all, I was four days early!
rowie
June 29, 2009 at 2:33 pm (15 years ago)Hey girl! *Hugs!* Hang in there! Have you thought about taking an early leave from work? 😉 That’s what I did when I was around 8-1/2 months old (although many moms prefer to save their VLs for after the maternity leave so that they can spend more time with their baby while the baby’s newborn … although in my case nag-part time na lang ako after my maternity leave). And about feeling ugly … trust me, when your baby sees you, you will be, to him, the most beautiful beautiful beautiful person in the world! 😀
rowies last blog post..Parenting Seminars
rowie
June 29, 2009 at 2:36 pm (15 years ago)Oh, to add to what mariaR said re. stuff to bring to the hospital: if you’re planning to breastfeed Timmy in your hospital room, get a nursing cover already. I didn’t bring one and I’d get really embarrassed when doctors, nurses, or orderlies would come into the room while I was in the middle of nursing. (Of course this was back noong mahiyain pa ako … 8 months of breastfeeding makes a nursing mom walanghiya and if it were to happen now I would care less, hehehe!)
rowies last blog post..Parenting Seminars
kreez
June 29, 2009 at 2:57 pm (15 years ago)Beautiful post Toni! ang bilis talaga its 8 months already, I’m also excited for you and H and your entire family. Hang in there, timmy’s coming out real soon.
kreezs last blog post..A very delayed Father’s Day Post
Rachel
June 29, 2009 at 3:30 pm (15 years ago)wow ang bilis 1 month to go na lang Mommy Toni =D
yummybite
June 29, 2009 at 7:31 pm (15 years ago)hi toni! i feel excited na rin with Timmy. one month na lang!!! i’m almost 3 months preggy and i could almost feel na gagawin kong reference ang blog mo every now and then. i am having difficulty with my first trimester, esp with the mood swings and nausea. but it’s all worth it kasi excited na rin kami ng hubby ko. anyways, i hope everything will go smoothly until your little Timmy comes out. God bless!
yummybites last blog post..all-day sickness and more
Eper
June 30, 2009 at 9:38 am (15 years ago)Before I begin, can I just share that my keycode is “child”? La lang, aliw
First of all I want to advice you to relax and delegate. It’s very important that you are not stressed or else you might go into preterm labor. Look what happened to me! Delegate the non-essentials. I know it’s hard, I’m a perfectionist too. But once the baby comes, you will really need all your energy. We are lucky because we both have partners who are behind us 100% percent, sharing every moment of this experience. I’m very thankful that my husband is very hands-on. We share all the responsibilities, from feeding, changing, burping, etc.
And don’t worry about the feeling-ugly stage. I went through that too. You’ll forget about that once you meet your little one. Parenthood can be overwhelming at first but every second is worth it
Epers last blog post..Bathroom Break
Tessa
June 30, 2009 at 9:47 am (15 years ago)Toni, I’m so happy for you. God bless you and your family always. I’ll pray for you.
Anna
July 1, 2009 at 1:58 am (15 years ago)Penpal dear – 8 MONTHS KA NA BA?!! oh my gosh! how time flies. Well, I hope the last month of pregnancy is good to you and know that you’ve got a lot of people over here in the states praying for you, the baby and Dennis. How exciting!
Take care!
Annas last blog post..
Kay
July 1, 2009 at 6:12 am (15 years ago)Hey girl,
Soon it will be okay. You’re lucky that you only get up 3-4 times a night. I had to get up every 15 minutes. I timed it. It was very depressing.
Cheer up. There will be more down days after giving birth but you need to remember the good parts, and only the good parts to help you through.
You can do it! Smile.
Kays last blog post..UPDATE: Farmtown
lady cess
July 1, 2009 at 9:44 am (15 years ago)soo true! the negativity doesn’t strike me every day, but it sure can cripple. good thing we have great family and friends we can turn to when we get the blues
lady cesss last blog post..Life Is Like This Watermelon
lleng
July 1, 2009 at 2:04 pm (15 years ago)toni and bilis noh?8 months ka na..just savor every moment of your pregnancy girl. kasi in the future ma mi miss mo ang pagiging preggy.
happy 8 months! excited na akong makita c baby timmy.big hugs!
llengs last blog post..weekend slash birthday gifts
rowie
July 1, 2009 at 10:06 pm (15 years ago)Toni: my nursing cover (I have more than one actually) doesn’t have a pillow but I have a separate nursing pillow (Boppy) that was really useful when Rafa was newborn kasi nakakangawit magbreastfeed at that age (since they feed for so long and so frequently!). It isn’t super-necessary to have a breastfeeding pillow though because you can actually use any pillow.
rowies last blog post..Parenting Seminars
smarie
July 5, 2009 at 6:54 pm (15 years ago)just a few more weeks toni! woot! 😀
err… after the delivery, it will feel like you have had your back and pelvis run over by a compactor, and it will seem impossible for one to be able to sit up again 😛 but sa start lang yun, it will feel better when you have started to walk na a bit.
the thing that’ll also be painful after is the flower and the part they sew. maybe for a week or two. the hot lamp helped a lot. pero walking made it very sore in my case because it was scratching on the maternity napkin i was wearing. i just kept thinking.. this too shall pass!!! lol!