It’s hard to give a gift to someone when that someone would say that he already has everything.
Sooo… let me just start with this until I can find something that you would really need, hehe!
11 years. 11 birthdays with you. That’s one decade and one year that seemed to pass by so quickly.
This year has been the toughest. I almost lost you to a bacteria but God has been most gracious to let me spend (hopefully) more decades with you.
We have gone a long way from what was supposedly a funny Boracay story to being parents having the scare of their lives because of their children’s mischiefs;
from just the two of us enjoying our carefree drunken nights to experiencing the realities, joys and hells of adulting;
from suffering great losses to holding on through heart surgeries and dysfunctional immune systems — all these events that molded us… YOU, especially, to become what you are right now.
What’s amusing is that I couldn’t say that you have changed a lot. You are as “chill” as you can ever be — still the old Eggy yet someone, who has changed all the same.
Because it is in the little things…
How you ALWAYS prioritize me and our family;
How you don’t seem to listen to my complaints but I see gradual changes;
How you are never, ever selfish with everything – from giving your time to providing the needs for our family to exerting an extra mile kahit ang hassle na.
For all these things and more…
… thank you!
Thank you for being the man that you are for Santiago to emulate when he grows up.
Thank you for being the man that you are for Lucia; I know, as early as now, that she will be daddy’s little girl.
Thank you for the man that you are for me; you make it easier for me to fulfill my promise to God to submit to you as your wife until we grow old and grey.
We love you, Pooch. Happiest birthday and I pray that God grant you everything your heart desires.
At 26 weeks, I am already nesting (I know, I know, this is too early!) and I keep on wracking my brains as to what baby items I should be getting for Lucia.
So just to end all my worries, I am finally putting in down here – on the blog, just for the record. Haha!
How ’bout you, mama? What other items do you think I should include? What brands worked for you? Hit me up in the comments! <3
At around 5 PM, I asked my boss if I could leave a few minutes earlier because I thought I was having some crazy contractions. I went straight to the High-Risk Pregnancy Unit of St. Lukes BGC as per the advice of my perinatologist so that I could have myself checked. I was feeling a little odd since Friday, with Lucia>>, who doesn’t seem to stop moving and is seemingly awake 24/7.
So they hooked me up to the cardiotocograph and monitored contractions and fetal heartbeat for three hours.
One of the bad things about having a repro-immune disorder is that you are always paranoid that something drastic is going on inside the tummy. We never really know what our immune system is doing to our baby, right? Sometimes, I do feel guilty that I seem to waste money on hospitalizations but common sense always tells me that it is better to be safe than sorry.
After three hours, the doctors ruled out premature contractions and told us that it is just Little Light doing her never-ending somersaults inside my tummy. Phew!
Guess we know what you’re gonna be when you grow up, Lucia love! Kiti-kiti like Mommy. Haha!
It has been a while since I was able to update my APAS diaries segment! This year has been a roller-coaster ride. We started the year with the husband having to undergo an open heart surgery last January; then I got pregnant (yes, it was unexpected) in May>>. We suffered the loss of my father-in-law in July and I had to be on bedrest in August because of hyperemesis gravidarum>>. Santi’s yaya left us in September (the horror!) but I was so grateful that my Tita came over to help us. So yeah, the past months have been craaazzzyyy!!!
Slowly, things were looking up when the -ber months entered so I thought we could all use a little bit of positivity, don’t you think so? 😉
For some reason, the blog seemed to gain a little more traction at the latter part of this year. I have received several encouraging words from APAS mommies who were telling me to continue writing because this little space has given them hope. I was filled with so much inspiration that in this little way, I am making a difference in the lives of those mommies who are as lost as I was when I learned about APAS and all other RID categories. And so, here I am, rallying behind you <3
This APAS fighter that I would like to introduce to you today was born to a super pretty mom, who I envy because she vlogs so well – check out her Youtube channel here>>. We haven’t met each other personally but we are updated with our little boys’ happenings through Facebook. Learn about the journey of APAS Mommy Ailene.
-o-
Name: Ailene Camino
RID (repro-immuno disorder) Categories: Cat 1, 2, 5
OB: Dra. Cristina Murakami
Immuno: Dra. Caroline Gloria
Age (optional or estimate, e.g. early thirties, late twenties) : 28y/o
How many pregnancies? 2
How many miscarriages? 1
Live births?1
1. How did you know that you have RID?
When I was at the hospital having a miscarriage, I remembered what my (previous) OB said. She said, “Don’t worry, you can try again next time because this is just the first MC. We will have a problem if it happens again next time.”
I didn’t ask anything since I was still overwhelmed with what was happening. Hindi pa nagsink in lahat agad. I looked for another OB because I felt like my previous OB who handled me was not as eager as I was to find the reason why I miscarried.
Then I went to Dra. Murakami who is also my sister’s OB. I shared what happened then she mentioned APAS. It was the first time I heard about it.
May ganun pala?
Dra. Murakami briefly explained what is it and she told me to do my own research about it. Don ko nalaman yung mga lab tests and treatments na gagawin pati mga presyo nila. Haha! She ordered some lab tests ( APAS PANEL and LAT) and said that if my LAT is below 50%, she will refer me to an immunologist for treatment.
She told me, “I would normally have these lab tests done after 2nd miscarriage, but with you, let’s not wait for the 2nd time.”
For that, I was grateful. <3
When the results came out, I got 1%. (That’s way way way below 50%) I went back to Dra. Murakami and she referred me to an immunologist.
2. What did you feel when you first found out you had RID?
I was in denial and scared at first. When I did my research, I realized that I should be physically, financially, emotionally prepared. Lahat na!
The greatest challenge of having RID is not the pain we get from our daily heparin injection but the anxiety I felt, thinking that a miscarriage might happen again or that something could go wrong. I was like this from the time I learned that I was pregnant until I gave birth. I was a paranoid preggy! (And now, a paranoid Mommy! I know I’m not the only one! Haha!)
5. How long after the treatments did you get pregnant?
7. Any advice to those who are diagnosed with RID and are still trying.
My advice is if you’re battling with RID, you have to trust your doctors. I followed everything what my doctors said because I don’t want to regret something that I did not do. Also, it could be financially, physically and emotionally draining but believe me it’s all worth it! And in times that you want to give up, just pray! God will not give you anything that you can’t handle.
8. Please share your RID timeline
Nov 2014- MC at 8 weeks (blighted ovum) Dec 2014- diagnosed with APAS, performed other tests and tests revealed that I am cat 1,2&5 May 2015 – 1st LIT session June 2015- 2nd LIT session *My immunologist advised me to take tissue cross-match test after 2 sessions but result was still negative. We were given a go signal to conceive despite the negative result. Immuno advised that we’ll continue the treatment once I got pregnant Nov 2015 – I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant. We immediately consulted with ob and immunologist. I started my Innohep shots right away. After a week, i had my ultrasound and found out that baby has a strong heartbeat.???? Dec 2015- after it was confirmed that baby has a heartbeat, we immediately had our 3rd LIT session and 1st intralipid infusion after a week. 4th LIT session after two weeks. Jan2016- 2nd intralipid infusion April 2016- 3rd and last intralipid infusion June 2016- gave birth at 36weeks via scheduled CS, who’s now 16 months old 🙂
9. What is your greatest realization?
God will not give us anything that we can’t handle!
10. What/Who helped you through this difficult time?
My husband, my family and friends. Praying also helped me get through this 🙂
So there you go, my loves. I hope that gave you a little sunshine in this gloomy day.
On another note, let me leave you with this little unsolicited nugget. Please indulge me.
If you see the trend of these stories (APAS Baby Bella here>> and APAS Baby Kiel here>>), you will notice that faith and prayers have played a significant role in the journey of these mommies.
I, myself, was on this road; my faith was stretched to its limits until there was nothing humanly capable that we could do to have the baby that we wanted. We did all the treatments, had follicle monitoring and all the she-bang but we couldn’t conceive for a year. In the end, when we finally surrendered, that was when Santi was given to us.
I trust my doctors. I believe that they are God-sent. But what was more important was that my doctors trusted God and always told me that we should always accompany our treatments with prayers. I am not religious but I am a believer. I believe because I have seen God’s miracles in our lives.
So, I leave you with this – may God’s blessings pour into your lives as well.
Luke 8:43-44
“And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years,
and could not be healed by anyone,
came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak,
Welcome to my first video blog (or vlog, as they call it, haha.)
I am really just experimenting (or too much time in my hands, right now? haha) because I feel a little inspired (whhhuut!!)
I have been wanting to be consistent with the blog – set aside time to write as much as possible and so far, this month, I have been hitting my (self) targets.
So indulge me, my loves, and let me know what you think! Haha!
