Finally, after nine long months, our little angel is born.

While waiting for September to come, my baby surprised us, coming out two weeks earlier than her due date. She’s another addition to the family’s August birthday celebrants – my parents and my mom’s parents.

Our baby sort of “talked” to us yet again. She named herself after Saint Ariadne of Phrygia. How? The story is found on this post. Now, it was her birth date that she chose herself.

Last July, our Shrine Rector, Msgr. Bobby Canlas, gave us a prayer booklet as remembrance for the Shrine of Jesus Anniversary. It is a collection of common and daily prayers, special prayers for special intentions, and novena prayers. One novena prayer is to Saint Raymond Nonnatus, the patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, and expectant mothers. I prayed the novena every single night as my husband and I say our evening prayers.

I only had my prenatal checkup on August 30th. The doctor said I can go safely on labor anytime since I’m already on full term.

Then came August 31st, three in the morning. My water broke as I was sleeping. My husband and I rushed to the hospital and in a span of nine hours, our little angel came out. It was the feast day of the saint who interceded for us, resulting to a normal and safe delivery.

Our Ariadne was indeed a great blessing. God used me to give life to another human being. For that, I praise Him for allowing me to experience the past nine months of sacrificing my career and a lifetime of motherhood at hand.

Saints Ariadne and Raymond Nonnatus, pray for us.

– Touringkitty

As I approached my last month of pregnancy, the Schatzi household is preparing for the arrival of our new tenant.

I told myself, I will not buy anything unless it’s only a month until I give birth. So last weekend, my husband and I finally took the courage to hit the infant section, took advantage of the sale, and bought everything we’ll be needing for our Aria Baby.

We were both overwhelmed with the stuff we saw, because being first-timers, we don’t know if we’re buying the right stuff. I have listed down the more important items, such as clothes, diapers, and toiletries. I set my eyes on that, but hubby decided on buying a playpen and tub also. So we did.

Not only that, I already packed my hospital bag (the black one) so I’d be ready just in case D-day comes unexpectedly.

We didn’t buy much as I expected.  This is because my family and some of my friends threw two baby showers already last month. Two baby showers mean twice the gifts, thank you. But more than the gifts I received, it is their company and thoughts about parenthood that I appreciated the most.

So we ran a total of… (do I dare mention? NOT!) for Aria’s first things when we welcome her in this world. I know it’s all worth it, especially when we get to hold our precious angel.

Now, we need space for these. That’s why this week, we started arranging/disarranging/rearranging the Schatzihaus. We’ve given away old clothes and items to charity. My husband is discarding unused books (for more of the books, visit his blog). I’ve filed papers and music sheets in neat ring binders. We’re practically dusting every nook and cranny along with my mom and our house help, which we haven’t done for quite a while. I never thought having a new tenant in the house would make us this busy!

There’s still a lot to be accomplished. We have barely a month to finish. And the dream of creating a perfect abode for my baby is slowly taking shape.

– Touringkitty

Dig this: a classroom full of moms and expectant moms (and a handful of dads as well) who are total strangers exchanging knowledge about breastfeeding.

It was a breast-opening, I mean, eye-opening morning for me and my husband as we decided to attend a breastfeeding seminar. We were totally clueless about what to expect during the seminar. I knew about the seminar in an email group where I belong, started texting the contact person signifying our interest to attend, and found ourselves sitting in the Play Area in one of the posh malls in Makati. Interesting, I said, as we were heading our way to the venue, seeing even more beautiful, not to mention, expensive, baby stuff that I will just dream of buying.

Upon arriving, some fifteen women were already seated. Some of them chatting, others just silently waiting. And then, the facilitator came. She is Abbie Yabot, a leader of La Leche League Philippines, an organization of nursing mothers who advocate pure breastfeeding to their babies.

Back in high school, I remember commercials of milk formulas for babies telling us that breastfeeding is good for babies up to two years old. Yet, I was surprised to find out that some of the moms in this group breastfed their babies up to four years old! Now, that’s saving a lot of money for buying formulas.

The topic of the day was about pumping and going back to work. I also learned about different types of breast pumps. There are manual or electric, single or double breast pumps, you take your pick. You’re supposed to use them if you are a working mother who needs to store extra milk for your baby.

That morning, I didn’t have any breast pump yet. But I was surprised to receive one at the end of the day during the baby shower given by my family and friends. It was a manual single breast pump which uses forearm power to extract breast milk. Great, I said. At least I don’t have to buy one, which can be quite expensive, by the way.

I don’t know if the men felt awkward being in the midst of women talking about breasts. At least I know my husband wasn’t. He was even taking notes about the lecture. I’m happy that my husband shows his full support in my quest for breastfeeding. Oh, if only men could breastfeed!

Got milk? Then start breastfeeding. As what I’ve learned in this seminar, all mothers have milk. There are exceptions, though, like you cannot breastfeed if you have certain conditions. Breast milk has a long list of health benefits for your newborn. Being closer to your child is added bonus. As they say, breast is best.

– Touringkitty

How much time do you really need to spend thinking about baby names? Well, you’d probably stop until your own baby(even in utero) “dictates” what she wants. And in our case, our baby girl did.

We’ve started thinking about baby names long before we thought of making babies. My choice for a baby girl’s name was Tala (star). My husband thought of naming our baby boy Arjuna, a character he read from the book Bhagavad Gita. Unfortunately, they’re out of our list.

During the fourth month, we shifted to either Maristela or Aaron. I opted for Maristela because it has a Marian touch to it, and it’s a mix of my father and grandmother’s names. Aaron, on the other hand, means High Mountain and is a biblical character. Options are still open, not until after we determined the gender.

I had my routine ultrasound during the fifth month of pregnancy. We were glad to see that the baby is doing fine, doing all those kicks and punches and even swallowing. I am content seeing her arms, legs, hands and feet complete, and heart in steady pumping action. We’re even more elated to know the gender bythis time. At least I know I’ll be buying more pink stuff. Yes, the baby is a girl, and she is expected to come out September 17.

It’s easier to play the name game this time. We trimmed down our options. It has to start with A. So, being opera buffs, we want to call her Aria (Italian for Air, a solo piece sung by the lead opera character). It can stand alone as her name, actually, but it’s much cuter as a nickname. Still, wes earched for other options, so we added a third syllable. It could be Arianne or Arianna, until I saw the German Ariadne (from another opera, Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss). I almost considered Ariadna, which is the Spanish variation, and is the real name of Mexican star Thalia aka MariMar. In the meantime, I settled with Ariadne.

The name Ariadne (pronounced as ar-YAD-nee) means holy woman. She was the daughter of the Cretan king Minos in Greek mythology. As far as the website babynamespedia.com is concerned, this was the only info available. So I looked for other baby name websites, until I found out about Saint Ariadne.

Saint Ariadne of Phrygia was a slave of a Phrygian prince and refused to participate in a rite intended for a pagan god that involved flogging. As she escaped from the authorities, a chasm opened miraculously and she was entombed.

As I clicked on the link, I found this: her feast day is September 17,130 AD. I was crying while my husband was speechless. Both of us cannot believe that somehow our baby was telling us she already had a name. I remember the Ilocano epic Biag ni Lam-ang where the young boy Lam-ang named himself as well. Now my baby’s a record breaker. It all happened on the evening of May 6th.

If this is not Divine Intervention, then I don’t know what is. All I know is that my baby spoke to me, telling me that everything will be fine despite the risks of my pregnancy. Now, my husband and I are praying for the intercession of this unknown saint. And I shall not cease to seek for her intercession.

Saint Ariadne, pray for us.

– Touringkitty

Like: I can eat twice the amount (or more) of what I was used to, especially now in my seventh month
Dislike: No coffee, tea, softdrinks

Like: I have all the reason to shop for new clothes
Dislike: I can’t wear heels

Like: I can use my pregnancy rights when traveling, i.e. using the service cart in the mall, hopping on the first cab in the MRT and LRT, and being offered a seat anywhere and a ride home by friends
Dislike: I can’t travel too much and too far, can’t ride anything three-wheeled, and I walk like a former president

Like: Nightly massage courtesy of my husband to alleviate leg cramps
Dislike: Sleepless nights because of a heavy tummy

Like: Everybody’s concern towards your safe delivery
Dislike: In two months, I will miss being pregnant

Nevertheless, I love pregnancy, and I look forward to the blessing that is to come.

– Touringkitty