Mommy Moments: Bump Tales

I’ve only given birth two months ago but yes, I already miss the bump. I’ve been able to have three successful pregnancies and though the experiences each time were unique, I loved each one of them. I LOVE being pregnant, everything about it, even the hard and challenging things are all worth it. 

I’d love to share photos of my first two pregnancies, with Zoe and Ziya, but unfortunately that was 9 and 8 years ago and all of my photos then are in hard copy. I have no immediate access to a scanner and so I’ll just share the details. With Zoe, the pregnancy was a breeze except for me getting Cervicitis during the first trimester. I did experience nausea and vomiting during the second month but it wasn’t as bad as other women’s. I delivered Zoe normally two weeks before she was due. I was still working full time then. It was a Saturday and I had a scheduled check-up. Before leaving the house, I experienced slight contractions already. When my OB-Gyne checked I was already 5 cms dilated. I gave birth just a couple of hours after. The whole labor process took only 4.5 hours. That was when I learned I had a strong threshold for pain. It was just really easy! Thank God! That day, I officially became a mother and my life was forever changed.

With Ziya, the whole pregnancy was pretty much the same as when I was pregnant with Zoe, down to the Cervicitis and even the cravings. I craved pizza during the first trimester and salads during the second. I also delivered Ziya two weeks earlier than due date. It was January 2 and I woke up very early in the morning. I was expecting to go back to work that day from the holiday break but I started feeling contractions and so the hubby and I headed straight to the hospital instead. The labor lasted only 4 hours this time around. It was also easy though I bled a little after because of the Cervicitis. The bleeding led me to fall asleep right after giving birth and so I was actually sleeping when they first took a photo of me and Ziya in the delivery room.

Now with my most recent and third delivery, this time with Ziggy, I was hoping that I’d have an easy pregnancy too. But I guess, since I’m older now, things were different. I experienced some bleeding during the first trimester and had to go on bed rest twice. That eventually led to my decision to quit my job last August. You’d expect that without a job I’d have more energy, right? Wrong! I was actually more tired this time around, maybe because we lost our household help and I started to take over most of the household chores. This time too, the baby was more active inside the womb. That’s probably because the baby turned out to be a boy. And oh, I was so happy it was a boy! I’ve been praying for a baby boy for years! But after separating with Zoe and Ziya’s dad I never thought I’d ever have another baby again. But then I met Kai and now we have Ziggy.

I’ve blogged about Ziggy’s birth story just two months ago. But for the purpose of this blog, let me tell you a shortened version. I was feeling really exhausted already about a month before my due date, which was March 13. My OB-Gyne said I will probably give birth around my birthday, February 21, and so we were already prepared around that time. But nothing happened and I was getting really antsy already. But on the night of Feb. 27, my water broke and Kai and I headed to the hospital. I gave birth at 5:11 am on February 28. The labor took about six hours this time because my cervix just wasn’t dilating and Ziggy was still too high up. Turns out he had a hard time going down because his umbilical cord was tied around his neck twice!!! And yet, I was still able to deliver him normally. Really amazing. Thank God! For the complete story of his birth, click here.

Here’s a photo of me when I was 9 months pregnant with Ziggy. I’ve been lucky to only gain less than 20 lbs during all my three pregnancies.

Here’s the first photos of Ziggy and I when he was born.

Now I still can’t believe that I am a mother of three. I am surely blessed!