We had a very long day the day before and so we started our day late again on our second to the last day in Paris. We arranged our luggage to prepare for our departure the next day for Frankfurt before leaving our hotel. We left the hotel around 11 PM and took the MTR to go to Versailles (which is a city outside Paris).

We saw a Mc Donald’s restaurant when we arrived and so we deiced to have our lunch first since it was already close to 12 nn. There was already a long queue when we entered the castle and the heat of the sun was so draining that is why when he heard the announcement that they are offering guided tours so we can skip the line, we decided to just take it. It turns out, there are a lot of people who did the same thing as what we did and so the earliest schedule that was given to us was at 2:30 PM.


We were so tired and lazy already and so instead of touring the garden first (since we have more than an hour to wait) while waiting for the tour to start, we just decided to stay at the waiting room. The guided tour does not cover the entire castle (I can’t remember exactly, but I think the tour includes the outer part of the castle where the extension rooms were built and it also includes the tour of the chapel inside the castle) and there are some parts of the castle that we can just explore on our own using the free audio guide. Since we saw the Schronbrunn Palace first in Vienna, we find the Versailles palace a little simple compared to Schronbrunn. The highligth of the palace was the Wall of Mirrors. It is a big hall surrounded by mirrors and it is indeed grand. I think the castle is only open until 6 PM and so when it is time already for us to explore the other parts of the castle, we only have 1.5 hour left and so we were already in a hurry so we can finish touring the entire castle.

After the tour of the castle, we went inside the garden. We were not able to watch the fountain show but the garden is so amazing. Would you believe it, it has an amphitheater and a makeshift grand canal where you can ride a canoe. The garden is open until 8 PM (and the sun is still up by that time), so we stayed there until it closes.

After Versailles, we head straight to our hotel and ate again at the nearby Chinese Restaurant (where there is rice) and call it a day. You can view more pictures here.

Since it is a long weekend for hubby, he was able to accomplish a lot of things. We just stayed at home on Christmas eve and Christmas day and celebrated with my family and since we were still tired during the weekend, we just decided to stay at home and relax. And knowing hubby, he can’t stand a day without doing anything and so he took the opportunity to do some house repairs.

He started with the leak in our faucets, and then he started to fix the cabinets also. He also continued with the clean up of our spare room and he also started arranging his toy collection. (I was really surprised with his toy collections because I did not realize that he has that much toys already. LOL. He will really need a separate room if we finally able to start the renovation of our dream home for his toys alone. LOL).

He was also able to set up Bela’s new toy – her Clickstart, which is our Christmas gift for her. Hubby was also able to teach Bela how to play with it and use the keyboard and mouse. Bela is already comfortable with the keyboard but she would always ask for her dad’s help for games that needs to use the mouse.

Though our weekend was just spent at home, it was still a time well spent as we really had a fun with our family bonding.

Have you seen my café lately?


I am now at Level 28 and since Facebook is one of my companions while I am at home taking my bed rest, I am continuously moving up my level in Café World.

I wanted to upgrade my floor to stainless steel tiles but I like to add more private rooms with TV set and so I am holding the floor upgrade for now so I can save up for an expansion.

That is one of the things that I love about Café World. There are a lot of things to look forward to so you won’t get tired playing it. I am aiming for a lot of upgrades and expansion that is why everyday, I have to log in to my café world account so I can cook and serve meals so I can earn more coins. LOL.

Do I really sound to be a Café World addict? LOL.

A few days before Christmas, I was awakened when I heard my mom panicking while she was looking for Bela’s ice pack. I asked her the reason why she looks really flushed and nervous and she told me that my 85 year old grand mother had an accident again (this is her second accident this year). She tripped while walking in our kitchen and fell on her face. She has a big contusion on her head and they rushed her to the doctor. The doctor even asked for a CT scan to be sure that there is no crack in her skull.

I was really in shock when I saw how big the contusion was on my grand mother’s face (this reminded me also to renew our social security disability insurance). She is too old already for this kind of accidents. We always remind her to stop doing things in the kitchen, but she is so used to doing it that she really finds it hard to break the habit. But we are so thankful that the result of the CT Scan is good as the doctor did not see any break in her skull. My grand mother just has to take pain reliever and a medicine to stop the swelling.

On Christmas day, her left cheek and forehead was all color purple so she was hiding from the camera. Even though injured, she still remained to be our fashionista lola as she said she doesn’t want her photograph taken looking that way. LOL. At least we know that even after the accident, she is still the same “Nanay Puti” that we know. We are happy that she is recovering very well and nothing really serious happened to her.

I was checking the pictures of my friend of their recent family vacation when they tried outer banks vacation rentals. If only I can travel and if only we have the budget for it, I would have packed my bags and ride a plane for another family vacation.

But we are still recuperating from the expenses that we incurred from our last Europe trip and I was even advised to have a complete bed rest so I don’t think an out of country vacation would be possible for us in the next coming months (or even years).

So for now, I will just have to finish my chronicles of our last Europe trip and I am now on our Day 17 in Europe.

Day 17: Paris, France

Shopping malls and outlets in Europe have weird opening schedule and they are close on a Sunday and are open only until 6 PM from Monday to Saturday so we decided to go shopping for the bilins of our friends before we start with our IT for the day.

Chanel store and the flagship store of Long Champ in Paris is just a couple of blocks from our hotel but since we have unlimited MTR pass, we decided to take the MTR to go there. Howell already reviewed the map so he knows already where to find the store. We first went to Chanel and bought the Grand shopping bag of Jacqui and then went to Long Champ to buy the bag of Jody. The price of Long Champ bags were so hard to resist so I end up buying two bags for myself too (the limited Edition Le Pliage and a chocolate brown bag).

After shopping, we went to check out Notre Dame. After seeing other churches, particularly the one in Rome, I was really surprised to see that the famous Notre Dame was not as grand as I imagined it. I decided to use my chocolate brown bag and I find it too big and I asked hubby if we can go back to the Long Champ store after lunch to exchange it to the smaller size Le Pliage and just skip the free tour of Notre Dame as what we originally planned. After I had my bag changed, we went to Basilica Sacre Coeur, which is a church overlooking Paris. Unfortunately there was a demonstration going on and so we were not able to go inside the Basilica but the view outside was really breathtaking and so it was still worth the trip. We had our merienda at the shops near the Basilica and we also did some souvenir shopping there. Then we went to the famous Moulin Rouge and then we decided to go to Disneyland Paris. We did not went inside as it is already almost 5 PM when we arrived and we thought that it would be no fun to experience Disneyland without Bela but it looks really big. We just had some picture taking at the entrance and then we went to Disney Village and bought souvenirs and toys for Bela.

Then we head home after our short trip to Disneyland (Disneyland was like an hour from our hotel via MTR) then we just had dinner at a Chinese restaurant which is just near our hotel and then we called it a day.

You can view more pictures here.

As for me, it was indeed an almost very merry Christmas. I say almost merry because hubby was not able to visit her family in Tandang Sora this Christmas. One of hubby’s niece have chickenpox and we were advised by our doctor that it is not safe and way too risky if we go there to celebrate Christmas with them since I am just on my first trimester of my pregnancy. Even hubby and Bela can’t go since it is also a risk that they might be carriers too after they got exposed with the virus and so there is still a big chance that I can get the virus from them. So hubby made a sacrifice and chose not to spend Christmas with his family this year.

But it is still a happy Christmas for us because we are complete as a family especially because we have received the best Christmas gift ever this year, which is an addition to our family, our second child.

We went to hear mass on the eve of Christmas and had our Noche Buena with my side of the family at my grand mother’s house. Then we had videoke after eating and went home around 12 AM. Bela stayed awake until around 1 AM so she woke up late the next day. But as soon as she sees her cousins all dressed up, she ran to the bathroom to take a bath as she is really excited to open all her gifts.


We had lunch at my grand mother’s house again and when all of us are complete already, we had our traditional exchange gifts. All the kids were all smiles after they opened their gifts, and Bela was the happiest especially when she saw that she has tons of gifts to open (I asked her not to open the gifts that she received from her god parents so she can all open them on Christmas day also). We spend the whole day, eating, chatting, playing, eating again and just having fun with.

By 8 PM we are all tired already after the long day and so we all call it a day. After all, we still have our New Year’s celebration to look forward to.

I love living here in Tondo. Our neighbors are all friendly and helpful and you can really feel that you belong to a community. But if there is one time that I hate living here, then it is every New Year’s Eve.

I hate firecrackers and as early as now, our neighbors are all going crazy with firecrackers. I can’t even go out because I am so scared of the children playing with firecrackers. And also, since it is a special occasion, you can expect that there will be lots of drinking and when people are drunk, people can do crazy things.

So all of us agreed that it would be more stressful to stay in Manila on New Year’s Eve that we all decided to celebrate New Year away from Tondo. I would have wanted to avail one of those hawaii vacation packages and take my entire family to a vacation in Hawaii, but since I am not allowed to take any long travel because I am pregnant and it is really not feasible budget speaking (LOL), so we will just settle with a short trip outside Tondo for now. We already booked the guest house of my mom’s friend. The guest house has four rooms (all fully furnished with aircon, TV set, toilet and bath with hot and cold shower), a billiard room with two billiard tables, a videoke room, a roof top and a garden for our outdoor activities. They also have a kitchen so we can cook our food too for our overnight stay so it will be a big saving for us. My mom has stayed in this guest house and she said that it is big and clean so hopefully we will have a relaxing and fun stay.

My cousins are all excited already since this is the first time that we will be spending our new this way. I know that my aunts, my mom, my grand mother and including me will be able to relax here. The kids and my other cousins on the other hand can go out if they get bored and if ever we ran out of activities to do during our stay at the guest house.

I am sure this will be one New Year celebration we can all look forward to.

That is how I can describe our Christmas celebration.

Just like what my cousin Tessa mentioned in one of her Twits, we ate, chat, ate, had our exchange gifts, ate again and when we had nothing else to do, we ate again. LOL. Looks like all of us will need the best fat burner to loose all the pounds that we gained during the past holiday season.

But it is really a common fact that any Filipino celebration won’t be complete without good food. As for us, we just ordered food from CCME to make it easy for my aunt. We had Lengua in Salsa Blanca, Morcon, Paella, Chicken Lollipop, Fish with Mayo, and Lechon Kawali which we all ordered from CCME. Then my aunt cooked her specialty Baked Macaroni and she prepared Fruit Salad too. For our Noche Buena, we had Chicken, spaghetti, barbeque and cake. We were so busy eating that no one thought of taking pictures of what our aunt served for Christmas.

With all of this food, we thought that we will still have some food left for the next day but lo and behold, all of them were a big hit to my hungry family. LOL.

Hope all of you had a Merry, Merry Christmas!

My friend in Las Vegas has been very lucky as the restaurant that she put up is really doing well. I have no doubt that she will really succeed as it has been her life long dream to put up her own restaurant so I know how much passionate she is with her business.

Business is really doing well but now that business is growing, she should not just rely on her manual way of bookkeeping and auditing and reporting to stay on top of her business finances. That is why she decides to get the service of a Las Vegas cpa firm.

CPA firms like Kondler CPA have accounting software like QuickBooks that can help my friend with her business. Instead of using a manual system, which is prone to mistakes and human error, a computerized accounting system can help my friend control everything about her business – from cash flows, inventories, accounts receivables, etc.

I know my friend is in good hands with Kondler CPA and I am sure it will help her manage her business more efficiently.

Since we had a very long day on our first day at Paris, we started our second day late. We left the hotel around 10 AM and we took the metro to go to the Louvre. The Louvre is just two stations away from our hotel. There were still not much people on queue at the ticket booth when we arrived so we were able to get in right away.


We decided to have early lunch at the cafeteria there since we haven’t had breakfast yet before we start to explore the Louvre. The Louvre has three galleries which has three floors each. It is a very big museum so what we did is we just got a map at the Information Center and we just checked out the list of “Not to Miss” art pieces per floor per gallery.

We first went to see Mona Lisa of course and then followed the list in the map from there. We explored the Louvre from 11 AM to 6:30 PM and there are still a lot of art pieces that we miss but we were able to cover all the recommended art pieces to check out from their list.

We had dinner at the Louvre and then we went back to the Eiffel Tower so we can have a picture of it at night. There is also a light show every hour which we were only able to see while we were at the top of the tower and so we wanted to watch it from below where we can have a good view of the tower.

Then we went souvenir at the small store near the tower and we called it a day after that.

You can view more pictures here.

Last December, my kumareng Peachy and I bought a Chocolate fountain machine (Mc Gregor brand) from a nawie supplier. My chocolate fountain machine and Peachy’s machine have the same problem – every time we will use it, it will just run for 2-5 minutes then the motor will stop running. Even if I turn it off and on, the motor will not work and I have to send it to their service center for repair.

I tried to use the fountain three times and every time after I used it, I have to bring it to the service center for repair before I can use it again. So I give up and decided to put it in storage.

But my aunt decided to have it repaired again so we can try using it for our family reunion come Christmas. My technician said that there is something broken inside which he has to glue together using Mighty Bond. We tried to turn it on for a couple of minutes and it continues to run. Later, my aunt will buy a chocolate bar so we can see if the fountain is really working this time. (Crossing my fingers).

My cousin from Canada just got back from their Adults Only Caribbean Vacation at El Dorado Seaside Suites and she has nothing but raves for the resort and is encouraging me and my husband to try it also.

I am really not used to leaving our daughter behind when we go on vacation but my friends advised us that once in a while, it would be nice to go on a bonding moment with my husband. It would be really healthy for our relationship.

So I checked out the website of Karisma Hotel and I really fell in love with El Dorado Seaside Suites. Imagine, we will be staying in one of their Junior Suites which are just a few steps away from the beach, and then the resort offers an all inclusive package so we can just play, enjoy and eat all we want. They also have a Jacuzzi in their junior suites for a really romantic stay.

Maybe after I give birth, hubby and I can go on this Caribbean vacation at the Mexican Riviera Maya.

Because I have to take a complete bed rest, I have no choice but to stay away from malls and just stay at home. My sister went to Greenhills today to do some shopping and I was really envious because I really need to go shopping because I still have nothing to wear for Christmas.

I wanted to buy a nice dress that will hide my baby bump and something that will match my Stuart Weitzman sandals. Before I learned that I have subchorionic hemorrhage again, I was able to check out the shops at Mall of Asia and Robinson’s Place but I was not able to find a nice dress that I like so I said that I will really have to go to Greenhills one weekend.

I was really planning on going there this coming weekend but I guess I have to cancel that plan because there is no way my husband and my parents will allow me to go out. LOL. But at least I was able to buy something from Katrice Wear when I checked out their stall during their last bazaar at SMX Convention Hall so I might just settle for that as my Christmas attire.

We woke up early and left the hotel at 7 AM to get to Anangnini Station to catch the bus that will take us to the airport. The bus that arrived as soon as we reached Anangnini station doesn’t pass to the airport (I miss this detail when I checked the bus schedule the day before) and the next bus arrives at 8 AM and we have to be at the airport at 8:15 the latest to make it before the check-in window closes.

I saw that there are cabs waiting near the bus station and so I told Howell that we should just take the cab to make it to our flight on time. We saw a couple approached one of the cab but decided to just take the bus instead. I talked to them and asked them if they are heading to the airport also so we can share the cab (the beauty of watching Amazing Race. LOL). So we shared the cab with the couple and we end up paying Euro 10 instead of Euro 20. We made it just in time for our 8:55 AM flight.

We are taking Easy Jet from Rome to Paris and since it is a budget airline, they only allow one luggage per passenger. Since Howell bought his Ferrari car in Venice, we have one extra luggage. Howell wanted to try to squeeze everything in one bag but I told him I don’t want to be under stress since the plane is ready to leave so we just paid the extra Euro 20 for the extra luggage.

The flight was on time and we arrived at Paris before lunch. We bought 5 day unlimited pass that covers all sectors at the airport so we can take the airport express that connects the airport train to city train. I had instructions from the hotel on how to get to the station where their hotel is located from the airport but we had a hard time looking for the hotel itself. I booked the hotel (Hotel Saint Honore) from booking.com and the reason why I booked this hotel is that according to reviews, the location is good because it is near the tourist spots, the shopping district and near the MTR station. But I was really disappointed with the hotel. It is not really a hotel (the apartments that I see from MyNewPlace.com is even better). The hotel has no air conditioning system, no elevator (and we are staying at the 5/F), the room is small, and it looks old that is why I hate the bathroom. But the rate is really affordable considering it is located in District I (which is the best district in Paris according to my friend who lives in Paris). There is also free wifi and the receptionist is really very helpful and friendly.


After Howell went up and down the flight of stairs to bring all our luggage up, we left the hotel and had lunch at the nearby mall. Then we went and explore the city. We checked out Place dela Concorde, Champs d’ Elysee, Arch de Triomphe, and Jardin de Tuillens. We were also able to watch the ceremony at the Arch de Triomphe every 6 PM honoring the soldiers. Then we went shopping at the stores along Champs Elysee and bought toys for Bela at the Disney store there.

Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and Howell suggested that we go up to the tower since the sun is still up even tough it is already past 7 PM. I think we queued up for less than an hour before we were able to go up. I was really scared while riding the elevator going up since unlike the Empire Tower and Macau Tower, where the elevator is enclosed so I can’t see the view outside. But with the Eiffel Tower, I can see that we are going so high up as we ride the elevator.

We were only able to reach the 2nd level because the 3rd level is close that time. But I am okay with that because I think that I might get really scared once I am at the topmost level. But the view was really nice up. Howell went around all the four corners of the tower to take pictures and we have quite a lot of pictures.

We had dinner at the café at the 2nd level of the tower. I just bought crepes and sandwiches then we bought souvenirs at the souvenir shop then we call it a day after that.

You can view more pictures here.

LMP: Sept 16, 2009
Menstrual Age: 12 2/7 weeks
Problems/s: Follow up scan to determine viability

Scan: TVS
Gestational Sac Visualized: Yes
Location: Intrauterine
Borders: Thick and well-defined
Fetus Recognized: Yes
Number: Single
Well-Formed: Yes
Heart Motion: Yes (171/min)
Body Movement: Yes
CRL: 4.77 cm

Remarks: Single, live, intrauterine pregnancy about 11 4/7 weeks by CRL with good cardiac activity. A fundal subchorionic hemorrhage is seen measuring 2.31 cm x 0.81 cm x 0.71 cm. no cervical funneling noted.

===

This is the reason, why I have to take a bed rest. I thought that I am already ok since the hemorrhage was gone already during my 2nd TVS but maybe I got really tired from doing all those Christmas shopping (pasaway kse. LOL). And by the way, the doctor who conducted the ultrasound said that there is a possibility that the gender is male since she saw something pointed. LOL. But she said that we have to do an ultrasound by 7th month to really determine the gender of the baby. But Howell is already so excited. LOL.

I went to my OB last Friday for my weekly check up. She was still not able to hear the heartbeat of the baby the last time I had my checkup using her Doppler and so she wanted to be sure and she ordered for an ultrasound.

Thank God, the baby is ok and he/she has a good cardiac and somatic activity as indicated in the ultrasound. But the bad news is I again have subchorionic hemorrhage and the size is almost triple than my first hemorrhage. So my OB got alarmed and ordered me to have one month complete bed rest. She also increased the dosage of my medicines and I will have to visit her every week for my weekly injection. Ouch.

Too bad, I am already planning for a Tagaytay trip this Christmas vacation since Bela got new equestrian apparel so she can go horse back riding in Tagaytay. I also wanted to eat at Bag of Beans.

Oh well, I guess I just have to follow my doctor’s advise as it is for the safety and health of my baby. The good thing is, at least I will be at home the entire holiday season. Hubby is jealous. LOL. I can spend bonding time with our dear princess since it is also her vacation.

Now that I am almost finish blogging about our Europe adventure, let me post here some of my favorite highlights of our Europe tour:

1. Frankfurt, Germany: When we were able to sign the condolence book of our late President Corazon Aquino who died from Colon Cancer. This really reminded me that I should start reading about colon cleanse reviews so we can get protected from colon cancer. Also, before I left I tried to go to Intramuros to pay my last respect to our former President but the weather is really bad and the line was really long, we were not able to go inside Manila Cathedral. So I did not really expect that I will have the chance to sign the Condolence book of Corazon Aquino in Frankfurt.
2. Prague, Czech Republic: Everything about Prague is very memorable to me. In fact, it tops my list of my favorite places in Europe. It is the best for me, better than Paris.
3. Vienna, Austria: Our visit of the Schronbrunn Palace. It was a great experience to be able to see what kind of life the royal families have during those times.
4. Venice, Italy: One of my favorite also (actually Prague and Venice ties on the number 1 spot for my top Europe destination). But the most memorable part of our Venice trip is being able to enjoy the Grand Canal while riding a Gondola because it is a dream come true for me.
5. Rome, Italy: The Papal Audience and be able to see and hear Pope Benedict speak to us up close. It was a great opportunity to be blessed by God’s representative on earth. Side Kwento: I met my neighbor on our second day in Rome. She is from Milan and it is her last day in Rome and she is inviting us to take a plane and fly to Milan with her. But I am glad that we passed her invitation and still chose the Papal Audience. It was really a priceless experience.
6. Paris, France: To be able to go inside the Colosseo and go up the Eiffel Tower.

Up next, our 5 day adventure in Paris.

I can’t believe that this is our last whole day in Rome (Imagine, I was just looking for free insurance quotes for our travel insurance and now I am already blogging about our last day in Rome).


We woke up early because we need to line up early for the Papal Audience. August is a holiday month in Rome so they are not providing tickets for the Papal Audience. It is on a first come-first served basis so we have to be really early.

Fr. Lito asked his friend Angelo if he can drive us there since Fr. Lito only has a small car and his mom, Meg, Kuya Danny and Kuya Chito will be riding with him. So we went with Angelo and Fr. Jessie and left Fr. Lito’s house at 8:30 AM. We went around the Castel first while waiting for the siblings and Fr. Lito. We also went inside the chapel inside the Castel and we also had a picture by the lake.

By 9:30, they started to let people in and we were so happy when all of us we’re able to make it inside. The Papal audience started at 10:30 AM it was really an experience. I cried as soon as I saw the Pope waving at us, all smiles and he has really this unique presence and aura, he really looks Holy. I cried even more when I saw Howell crying too. And I was really touched when the Pope said that he is extending his blessings to all our family and friends whom we left at home. I feel so really blessed after the audience and I will not trade this experience for anything else.

We were lucky because Papal Audience is usually held at St. Peter’s Square which is a really big venue. But since it is summer, Pope Benedict is staying at his summer house in Castel Gandolfo and the audience was held at the garden which is just a small venue so it was like an intimate meeting with the Pope.

After the audience, we drive back to downtown Rome and had lunch at a Chinese Resto near the Vatican. After lunch, we went to St. Peter’s Basilica and Fr. Lito gave us a personal tour of the Basilica while he shares stories and history of the Basilica to us. After a visit to the Basilica, we parted ways and we were emotional. Even though we’ve only known each other for just a few days, we all felt that we have developed a deeper friendship and we vowed to see each other when we are all back in Manila.

Fr. Jesie and Angelo drove us back to our hotel so Howell and I can freshen up then Howell and I explored Rome by ourselves. We visited Piazza del Popolo, Villa Borghese, San Giovanni, St. John Lutteran and went back to the Colloseo and Arch of Constantine to have a picture of it at night. Then we called it a day as we have to pack our things for our early flight to Paris the next day.

You can view more pictures here.

We chatted with Bela again before going down for breakfast. We left the hotel around 10 AM, took the metro to go to the Vatican Museum which is just a few stations away from our hotel. We lined up around 10:30 AM to go inside the museum. It took us 30 minutes to line up to go inside, then another 30 minutes to buy tickets and get audio guides.

The museum was really huge and all the pieces there were really amazing and jaw dropping. We were inside exploring everything for the whole day. Our last stop is the Sistine Chapel which is also inside the Vatican Museum compound. We are not allowed to take pictures so we just enjoyed the moment and we really felt greatful that we were able to visit the Sistine Chapel. After the tour of the Vatican Museum, we went to St. Peter’s Basilica which is just walking distance from the Museum.

While inside the Basilica, we saw our neighbor (Vicky) who is now in Milan and is having a vacation in Rome. She is with her cousin who lives in Rome so they offered to give us a tour of Rome. We went to Castel d’ Saint Angelo and Piazza Navona. Before we knew it was time for us to part ways because we have to take the metro because we will be meeting with Fr. Lito at the Ananini station at 7 PM to have dinner at his house and meet up again with Meg, Kuya Danny, Kuya Chito and mommy whom we met at Venice.

At Fr. Lito’s house, we met Fr. Edison, Angelo and Fr. Jessie who are all residing in Rome. We really enjoyed dinner since they prepared Filipino food which we have been missing already since we are gone for almost two weeks now. Just like in Venice, we all had fun again talking about anything that we canthink of. Fr. Lito suggested that we spend the night there since his house is close to the Pope’s Summer house for the Papal Audience the next day.

You can view more pictures here.

I had my check up again with my OB yesterday. I lie on her exam table (which I think she ordered from Claflin Medical Equipment because it is so comfortable and so durable. They even offer discounts and free shipping.) to check my condition. She was still not able to hear the heartbeat of the baby using her Doppler so she asked me to come back again next week to check the heartbeat. If she can’t still hear the heartbeat again next week (since I am already on my 11th-12th week that time), she will order another ultrasound just to be sure.

I had my second ultrasound two weeks ago and the results are all okay. I was a bit worried when my OB told me that I need to go back next week to check the heartbeat but she assured me that it is just normal. I even checked my book, “What to Expect when you’re Expecting” and I confirmed there that the baby’s heartbeat can be heard from a Doppler anytime between 10-12 weeks.

Below is the result of my second TVS:

LMP: Sept 16, 2009
Menstrual Age: 9 3/7 weeks
Problems/s: Follow up scan for AOG and subchorionic hemorrhage monitoring.

Scan: TVS
Gestational Sac Visualized: Yes
Location: Intrauterine
Borders: Thick and well-defined
Fetus Recognized: Yes
Number: Single
Well-Formed: Yes
Heart Motion: Yes (182/min)
Body Movement: No


Other Findings: The right ovary measures 2.14x1.66x2.07 cm. The left ovary is not seen. No subchorionic hemorrhage seen.

Remarks: Single, live, intrauterine pregnancy about 8 4/7 weeks by CRL with good cardiac activity. Right ovary is normal size. Left ovary is not seen by transvaginal scan. No subchorionic hemorrhage seen at this time.

Undergoing a lasik surgery is one of the best decisions that I have made so far. I used to have a 900/900 vision and I am literally blind without my contact lenses. After the surgery, I feel really free and I never regretted my decision. Now I can do all kinds of sports and I enjoy the beach more without having to worry about my contact lens. Now I can wake up and see everything clearly not like before where I have to wear my contact lens first before everything becomes really clear.

That is why when my friend told me that she is considering having Lasik Surgery Boston, I really convince her to push through with her plans.

I tried browsing the website of Boston Laser and I learned that they are really the best when it comes to Lasik Surgery. Even famous people trust them and had their surgery done at Boston Laser. They use state of the art equipment so they can assure all their patients that the procedure is really safe. In fact statistics shows that they have 100% success rate for their patients to be able to see 20/40 or better and 92%-96% success rate for their patients to see 20/25 or better and that is some serious numbers. So this just goes to show how effective and safe the procedure is and how reliable Boston Laser is when it comes to Lasik Surgery.

My friend is now convinced to undergo lasik surgery and I am sure, like me, she will never regret this decision.

This post is brought to you by the site mentioned above.

I met up with my cousin last week and asked him what he wants to receive for Christmas and this is what he told me:

“I want a baseball set so I can play with my friends at school.”

Since then, I have been looking for the perfect site to get my cousin’s wish list and I am so happy to have discovered the site of Kid Sports Inc.

They sell all sporting goods like Baseball Equipment, baseball gloves, sport starter sets, and even soccer and hockey equipment. What I like about Kid Sports Inc is that they have a wide variety of items that I can choose from just like these baseball equipments:


Their prices are also so affordable that I can even buy my gifts for my other male cousins and god children from this site. They even offer a rush delivery sale where I only have to pay $10 for ground shipping. And they even guaranteed that all items will be delivered before Christmas, just in time for the Christmas gift giving, if I order on or before December 16.

So if you are looking for nice and affordable baseball equipments or any other sport equipments, just check out the website of Kid Sports Inc.

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I was checking bcbsnc health plans online when I remembered that I haven’t posted results of my ultrasound here.

I went for checkup with my OB last November 7, 2009. Since my OB said that I am already on my 7th-8th weeks of pregnancy based on my LMP (September 16), she recommended that I undergo a TVS. And here is the result:

LMP: Sept 16, 2009
Menstrual Age: 7 3/7 weeks

Scan: TVS
Gestational Sac Visualized: Yes
Location: Intrauterine
Borders: Thick and well-defined
Fetus Recognized: Yes
Number: Single
Well-Formed: Yes
Heart Motion: Yes (114/min)
Body Movement: No
CRL: 0.44 cm

Other Findings: The right ovary measures 1.76x1.42x1.34 cm. The left ovary measures 2.18x2.18x1.78 cm. The corpus luteum is seen on the left. An area with subchorionic hemorrhage measuring 0.96x0.46x0.30 cm, is seen on the posterior fundal area.

Remarks: Single, live, intrauterine pregnancy about 6 1/7 weeks by CRL with cardiac activity noted. Both ovaries are normal size with the corpus luteum on the left. Posterofundal subchorionic hemorrhage is noted. EDC based on today’s scan is July 2, 2010.

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I am now taking Duvadilan and Duphaston for the hemorrhage and Folart for my vitamins. I am trying sometimes to drink Anmum but the taste is making me feel sick so I will try again on my second trimester. I will have my second checkup this coming Saturday and I will find out also about the results of my laboratory exams and hopefully everything is ok. When I had Bela, I had problems with UTI so I am really praying that I will not have the same problem again this time.

We arrived in Rome around 7 AM then we went down the subway to check the map so we can find our way to our hotel. Our hotel is just a few stations away from where we are at and it is on the same line so we don’t have to change trains (which we are really thankful because we are carrying big luggage).
Our room is already available when we arrived so we we’re able to check in right away. We just left our luggage, took a bath, and had breakfast at the hotel and walk to the Colloseum as it is just walking distance from our hotel. It was already around 10 AM when we reached the Colloseum and there was already a long queue to go inside so we just decided to join a group tour to skip the line. The cost of the tour is Euro 20 per person and the tour includes a tour guide and entrance to the Colloseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum.

I enjoyed the tour of the Colloseum though it was really hot inside (I think it was 33 degrees when we were there). We took lots of pictures and I even wanted to stay longer but we have to go out already to continue with the tour of the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum which is just at the opposite street of the Colloseum.

After the tour, we just bought sandwiches at the small shops near the Colloseum and we walked again to go to Bocca de Vereta (Mouth of Truth) then we rest at the Bocca de Vereta Plaza.

Then we took the subway to go to the Trevi Fountain. It was the most beautiful fountain I have ever seen. No wonder tourists kept going here and you really have to wait so you can go closer to the fountain for a picture. There are also souvenir shops near the Trevi Fountain and we did some souvenir shopping here.

After the Trevi Fountain, we walked to the Pantheon and got audio guides for our tour. Then we went to the Spanish Steps and we were so tired already that we decided not to go up to the top. We had dinner at Mc Do near the Trevi Fountain then we decided to go back to Trevi Fountain after dinner to take pictures of it at night. It was already past 9 PM when we decided to call it a day and head back to our hotel.

You can view more pictures here.

Now that I am finish preparing for Bela’s birthday parties, I can now start with my Christmas shopping. Yesterday, I was finally able to sit down and finalize my shopping cart at Amazon for our Christmas gifts for Bela and for my cousins too. I initially plan to buy at Etoys but unfortunately, they don’t accept our local credit cards so I decided to check out Amazon and I was really lucky because prizes at Amazon are cheaper and they also comes with free shipping.

As for my other relatives:

1. Hubby saw Transformers robots on sale at Toy Kingdom so I might buy those for my male cousins and god children.
2. My parents need a new steam cleaner so I am thinking of buying one for them as our Christmas gift.
3. For my aunts, female cousins, my sister-in-law and Bela’s teachers at MSS, I am planning to buy the Belle de Jour Planner.
4. Then I will just got to Toys R’ Us in Robinson’s place to buy toys for all my other cousins and god children.

I know it is just a few days to go before Christmas so I am really hoping that I will be able to get through this difficult phase of my first trimester of my pregnancy as I still have a lot of things to do in preparation for Christmas.

I snagged this picture from my kumareng Peachy’s Flickr Account. This picture was taken during their last family getaway at Shangri-La Mactan and I am really jealous. Wouldn’t you be after seeing this view? I can already imagine that it would be one relaxing vacation. We will just stay there for three days to enjoy the beach, the sand, the sun and the food. I can already imagine myself lying in one of those outdoor cushions while Bela and hubby are enjoying their time at the beach. Then we will have a sumptuous buffet meal. They also have an arcade and play area where Bela can spend time if ever we get tired of the sun (which I really doubt we will. LOL).

Hubby was asking me if I want to spend our anniversary there this coming January. I will be on my second trimester by then so I might be feeling a little better. And hope during that time, the hemorrhage in my uterus will be gone so my OB can give me the go signal to travel. I wish, I wish, I wish.