Saying Goodbye to This Blog (For Now!)

I've had this blog for just about a week. I really thought it would be easy to manage two blogs at the same time. I was dead wrong. I realized it just takes too much of my time. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy blogging. In fact, I think I've done a pretty good job with my first blog, Roller Coaster Ride, since I first started it last November. I was able to get a lot of followers already in less than 3 mos and I've been able to do a lot of improvements already on the blog itself.

I just realized that in order for Chronicles of Ziggy to reach the status of Roller Coaster Ride, I would have to double my efforts as well as the time I spend on line. With just one blog, I already spend so much time online, writing, researching, networking, etc etc etc. What more with two blogs, right? I can't imagine how I'll be able to sustain two blogs once Ziggy arrives so, I've decided to say goodbye to this blog for now and just merge the contents of this blog to Roller Coaster Ride. I will still continue to record anything and everything about my pregnancy as well as Ziggy's birth and upcoming adventures on Roller Coaster Ride. 

For those nice people who are already following this blog, I am very grateful and I thank you for supporting me. I would appreciate it though if you can just follow me on Roller Coaster Ride, for the meantime. I look forward to seeing you there!

Infant Massage

I heard about the Infant Massage service by Orange Home Spa. It's supposed to be a really soothing massage for newborns that involves slow, rhythmic stroking. Benefits to the infant include appetite stimulation and brain development, as well as making the baby calm.

Sounds good to me! The fact that the massage therapist will do home service is a major plus. However, I can only imagine how much it will cost. I've done baby massage with Zoe and Ziya before, though I don't know if their methods and techniques are the same. They're professional massage therapists so they should know what they're doing, right. Maybe I should try this once when Ziggy is born, then just copy what they do later on so that I can give a proper massage to Ziggy everyday. 

Braxton Hicks

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions since I hit the 7th month of my pregnancy. I wasn't really concerned about it at first because I've had them during my previous two pregnancies and I knew they were normal. However, I did note that they came earlier and stronger this time around. With Zoe and Ziya, I started feeling the Braxton Hicks only about a month before I gave birth. I researched about it and found out that it's common for women who've had prior pregnancies to start feeling the Braxton Hicks earlier during their next pregnancies. So, there's nothing to worry about, right?

Well, apparently, there could be a reason to worry. According to my OB-Gyne, if the contractions are too strong and too long, it could lead to pre-term labor and so I have to be very careful in monitoring them. That's exactly what I've been doing the past couple of months. Actually, during my last visit to the doctor, she already prescribed me to take Duvadilan to help with the contractions and avoid pre-term labor, especially since I will be going out-of-town this weekend and it will be a long drive. I'm taking the medicine twice a day now and it usually helps but last night was just crazy.

I went to bed at around 11:30 p.m. and I could feel Ziggy squirming around in my tummy. I didn't think much of it because I'm used to him being rowdy in my belly every night around midnight. However, last night, aside from him just squirming, the Braxton Hicks came and went every now and then, to the point that it already felt a bit painful. I began to worry that I might end up going to labor already and I'm not even on my 36th week yet. I was able to sleep, though, I kept waking up every hour or so because the contractions kept coming and going. Needless to say, I didn't really get to sleep well last night. But the good thing was when I woke up this morning, the painful contractions were gone and I just went about my day the normal way. Hopefully, they won't come back that painful and that long within the next few days. They can come back next week, when it's already safe for me to give birth.  

What I Look Forward To About Having a Son

For the past 9 years, I've only had daughters and being a woman, I really love raising them especially when they were still younger. I did everything moms dream of doing if and when they have their own daughters someday. I dressed them in really frilly, girly dresses. I let their hair grow long and experimented with all sorts of different hair styles. We played with dolls, and pretend make-up, manicures and pedicures. We had tea parties. We pretended to be princesses in far away lands. They loved the Disney Princesses and they wore the costumes numerous times over the past few years. They liked Dora, the Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and Barbie. It was like living my own childhood all over again. It was a blast!

However, it's really no secret to everyone I know that I also wanted to experience having a son. Most of my friends, and even my brother, only have sons and they have all expressed their desire to have daughters for a change. They always say that I'm lucky to have daughters because sons are more rambunctious and difficult to raise. They admire my daughters for being the prim and proper girls that they are, who were always just content to sit and play by themselves while the other kids were being rowdy. I admit, I am lucky to have my girls but I still want a son. So just imagine how elated I was when I found out I was pregnant with one.  There's so much I want to experience with Ziggy. I know that raising him will be different but that makes it all the more exciting. Here is a list of things I look forward to about raising my baby boy:

1. Having fun getting dirty (without him saying "ewww, yucky!" all the time)
2. Running around (I'm sure it will be a great work out for me.)
3. Playing with cars, planes, motorcycles and trains (for a change!)
4. Having that bond only mothers and their sons have
5. Decorating a boy-themed room
6. Buying boy clothes (which I imagine will be a lot easier!)
7. Getting to know the cartoon characters for boys ( I don't know much about this right now)
8. Having him circumcised (weird but it's a milestone for boys, right?)
9. Helping him practice for a game (assuming he'll be into sports)
10. Buying boy-themed costumes
11. Watching him bond with his Dad
12. Watching him bond with his sisters
13. Getting him his first haircut (my girls had their first at age 1 then after that they rarely have haircuts because they always want their hair long)
14. Hearing about his first crush (which I expect will break my heart but I guess, that's normal)

All these things (and more!) I want to experience with Ziggy and I can hardly wait! 

Famous Baby Boy Quotes I Love

As I was looking for some inspiration for this blog, I came across some quotes about baby boys. Let me share with you some of my favorite ones.

"A boy is a magical creature you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can't lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can't get him out of your mind. Might as well give up he is your captor, your jailer, your boss and your master a freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only the shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words Hi, Dad!" ~ by Alan Marshall Beck

"Boys are found everywhere -- on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket." ~ by Alan Marshall Beck

"Build me a son, whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget to weep, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past." ~ by Unknown

"Even before the stars lit up the sky, your little boy had a special place in the heart of God." ~ by Unknown

"Close your eyes

Have no fear

The monsters gone

he's on the run 

And your Daddy's here

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Boy."

by ~ John Lennon

"How soft and fresh he breathes!

Look! He is dreaming! Visions sure of joy

Are gladdening his rest; and, ah! who knows

But waiting angels do converse in sleep

With babes like this!"

~ by Bishop Coxe (1818-1896)

"If I have a monument in this world, it is my son." ~ by Maya Angelou

"Little hands and little feet, Little toothless grins so sweet, Little eyes that shine so bright,Little arms to hug you tight - Everythings little except your joy when you have a new baby boy." ~ by Unknown

"Merry-hearted boys make the best men." ~ by Irish Proverb

"Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys." ~ by Unknown

"You don't raise heroes; you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes." ~ by Walter Schirra Sr.