Our Precious Angel

"I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him."

~ 1 Samuel 1:27 ~

Meet our precious little angel, our greatest answered prayer,

Annika Emmanuelle Bersoto-Guela

Born on November 23, 2015 at QMMC

3.7 kgs

51 cm long

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Yehey, we're now a family of three! 

Thank You Lord!

Very blessed,

It's A Girl!

The long wait is over. Today, we already know for sure what our little angel has been hiding in between those legs. Our baby is a SHE! We're expecting a baby girl! :)

Percy and I are very, very happy! Though we kept on saying that it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl, in my heart of hearts, I was secretly wishing that baby's a she, that I may be blessed with a mini-me that I can doll up with ruffles and ribbons and all things pink. Haha! :) Percy's excited, too! He said baby is going to be daddy's sweet little girl. ;)

Thank You Lord for an answered prayer! :)


Very blessed,

Baby's Gender Prediction

Few more weeks, we will be finding out the gender of little angel and hubby and I could not be more excited! Though we kept on saying that it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl, in our hearts, we were praying that little angel's a she. Haha! :) But whatever God will give us and whatever our little angel will turn out to be, s/he will be loved just as much.

Until the official "big reveal", there are many ways to predict whether the baby is a he or a she. Of course these ways are far from being accurate and are mostly based on old wives' tales, but still compiled a list of all the clues, simply because I am curious and I think that they are fun to do! Each one has a 50/50 chance of being correct anyway. :)

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Morning Sickness 

It is said that if you were sick or felt really nauseous during your pregnancy, count on a girl. If you had a smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness, it's a boy.

Me: During my first trimester, I always thrown up and always felt sick. 1 point for Team Girl

Cravings 

Craving sweets? It's a girl. Craving salty or sour foods? It's a boy.

Me: Well, I have been all about sweets. Anything sour makes me feel sick to my stomach. 2 points for Team Girl

 

Shape of Belly 

If you are carrying high with a big, round belly, you are having a girl. If you are carrying low with a smaller belly that sticks straight out, it's a boy. 

Me: My bump is high. 3 points for Team Girl

Face Shape 

When your face gets fuller and rounder when pregnant; it means you're going to have a girl. If your face is long and narrow, it's a boy.

Me: I've always had a full, round face. BUT ever since I got pregnant, my face gets bigger and rounder! Haha! 4 points for Team Girl

Nose 

Do you feel like your nose is growing and getting wider? If so, you might be having a boy.

Me: At 20 weeks now, my nose gets wider! Haha! 1 point for Team Boy

Chinese Gender Chart 

The Chinese Gender Chart claims to have an accuracy rate of over 90%. It is based on how old the mother is at conception and the month that she conceived.

Me: This chart tells me I'm having a girl! 5 points for Team Girl (You can find the Chinese Gender Predictor here.)

Mayan Tale 

The Mayan tale adds the mothers age at conception and the year of conception. If the result is an even number then mom is having a girl. If the result is an odd number then a boy is on the way!

Me: I got 2044, so it's a she! 6 points for Team Girl

Baby’s Heartbeat

According to legend, if your little one's heart rate is under 140 beats per minute, you're having a little boy. If it's over, get ready for your little girl!

Me: The last time we checked, baby's heartbeat was at 135. 2 points for Team Boy

Pretty or Ugly 

Simple. If you have that glow and look prettier when pregnant, it's a she. If your beauty has disappeared, it's a he.

Me: I definitely feel and look uglier these days. Also, my skin has gotten oilier. 3 points for Team Boy

Acne 

If you're breaking out like crazy, then that means it's a girl. The belief goes that girls steal their mother's beauty, hence, those annoying zits. Clear skin means a boy.

Me: I have these annoying zits on my face that never seem to go away! 7 points for Team Girl

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Team Girl got 7 points and Team Boy got 3 points! Yey! Claiming it’s a girl. Haha! But no matter what, as long as our little one is healthy, we will be the happiest parents on the planet! :) We love you, little one!

Very blessed,

 

My Glucose Challenge Test

I've always had a sweet tooth, pregnant or not. But being pregnant was never an excuse to me (pasaway lang, Haha!), I can’t stop eating chocolates and other sweet stuff, and it has been much harder to resist! You'd probably guess I'm prone to gestational diabetes (a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy). Huhu! :( Glad my OB ordered an OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test) for me, so that we could catch it early on, if ever. 

My OGTT schedule was last Sunday together with my other set of laboratory tests, and to prepare for it, I had to fast for 10 to 11 hours prior. My last food and liquid intake was at 9:00 in the evening, just in time for my 6:00 am arrival at The Medical City. 

Minutes after hubby and I got to the lab, a blood sample was taken from my arm. Then I was asked to drink a sugar solution containing 75 grams of glucose.

It tasted like a very sweet soda pop. I was happy that at least it was chilled; I was already very hungry and thirsty at that time from almost 10 hours of not eating or drinking anything. After that, I had to endure another two hours of starvation.  My blood sample was taken again at around 8:00am, and another one at 9:00am, then finally, I was already allowed to eat. Well, I didn't just eat. I pigged out! Haha! We also celebrate Father’s Day with hubby, the future dad, so we went on buffet lunch! 

The OGTT results would be available tomorrow, and I have to visit my OB within the week for a follow-up check up. Hubby, baby and I will be praying harder for good results! In Jesus’ name! :)

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UPDATE as of June 23, 2015:

I passed! My numbers are in the first and third columns below, and they're within the normal range. Thank You Lord! :)

Cheers,

 

Our Little Angel

Last Thursday, we got a glimpse of our little angel for the very first time.. Priceless! :)

Our baby's first ever photo

It felt so surreal! There's really a life growing inside me! *tears tears tears*. Percy and I could not contain our happiness, especially when we saw our little angel's fluttering heartbeats! The feeling was so overwhelming. We were so amazed how God created a life inside someone's body, truly, truly magnificent! *sighs*. Although I’ve seen this truth behind this verse in Psalm 139:14, “I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Thank You Lord for this wonderful blessing.

By BPS, it was our 8th week + 1 day last Thursday, and our little angel was still tiny, measuring 1.86 cm from crown to rump and his/her fetal heart rate was 176 beats per minute.

We are so thankful to God for this wonderful blessing! I have a long way to go and time flies by so fast. But there is grace in the Lord. We’ve never been parents before, but God is the greatest parent of all. I know God is sovereign and I know He will be with us every step of the way.

Very blessed,

The Faint Line

My monthly period is super on the dot, as well as my Ovulation Calculator which has been, so far, always correct about its predictions. So when my period got missed for a couple of days after my supposedly red day, I started feeling excited that maybe I was pregnant.

Then, I began searching for the most common symptoms of early pregnancy. I did not have much except for fatigue, and extra sensitivity around the breast area. I don't want to quickly believe it was pregnancy because who knows, I might have produced them psychologically in my desire to get pregnant. Haha! :)

A friend advised me to test after a week of delay, to be sure that my HCG or human chorionic gonadotropin levels are high enough to manifest in the pregnancy test. So I did. Many articles online also say to do it first thing in the morning upon waking up, so the concentration is high. And I did that, too. However, the result was negative. :(

But after a few days, my period was still delayed. So I told my friend DK (Doc Karen) what happened. She then told to me that there are really cases like that where in the HCG was very low thus negative results occur. She advised me to take folic acid and then wait until March 25 and took another test.

Today, I took another test. What so funny was, I knew that “two distinct lines” indicate positive pregnancy and so I'm looking for 2 LITERALLY distinct lines. Few minutes later, that is when I saw a very very faint second line. But I doubted it because at that moment it was very faint and so I thought it was still negative. I was asking, why is it negative but still I missed my period for 2 weeks? Then, I told myself that maybe my HCG was very low and the test cannot detect it yet. I almost threw it to the trash can and go back to bed and decided to just wait till afternoon because today is our scheduled check up to an OB-Gyne.

When I got back to bed, what I did was pray. I talked to God and told Him that I am still believing and claiming that I was pregnant because I am 2 weeks delayed. I cried out to Him.. Praying for safe pregnancy and healing for whatever reason the tests was still negative. I also rebuked whatever sickness I may have or have been, believing that my God is my Great Healer.

After praying, I started googling photos of positive/negative pregnancy test results and I froze for a second realizing that almost everyone says: “2 lines” is “2 lines”, and that faint line is still a line! So I got my test again and grew even colder looking carefully at the very very faint second line, which means… I’m maybe positive! Yay! :)

So yeah, turns out I am positive. It was confirmed to us by our OB-Gyne. Yey! Although pregnancy tests never declare 100% accuracy, false positives are also said to be highly unlikely. So if you test positive, to be super sure, go to the doc right away! :)

The faint second line

Very Blessed

We Prayed, He Answered

The past nine months have been full of ups and downs, tears and disappointments. But Praise God, our faith has been able to get us through every obstacle along the way. 

Late last year, I declared my greatest desire in this blog, and that’s my desire of becoming a mommy. At that time, hubby and I had already been waiting for 4 months, and there were moments when I would feel very concerned, though according to many, it's too early to worry. It was the time I realized that, a baby is not that easy to make (at least not for all.) But one is thing is for sure.. God is really the one to give, and to open our wombs.

As months went by, I realized how His timing couldn't be more perfect. We had always known that God will make it come true, in His perfect timing. All we have to do is trust Him and have faith in Him because God's plan is always the best plan. Maybe God is just waiting for the time, when He will be most glorified! :)

After about nine months of actively trying, it is with great joy and unimaginable excitement, that I am able to announce that God has finally answered our prayers. Thank You Lord! :)

As of this writing, by LMP I am already 7 weeks pregnant! Praise God! And we are so excited for the arrival of our little angel on November, my birth month! :)

1 Samuel 1:27

BIG THANKS to those who joined and stood with us in prayer for this little angel. I firmly believe that the faith and love of those around us and the power of prayer truly made this baby a reality. The more people we got involved in an act of faith asking the Lord for a baby, the more magnified became God's glory. So when God answered our prayers, many are blessed, many are sincerely rejoicing, and many praises His name! Because God answered not only my prayer, or Percy's prayer, but all OUR prayers! :)

Truly, my joy is nothing compared to the joy of knowing that I have a gracious God. It is really all about Him.. even my pregnancy is for God's glory! 

Very Blessed,

Day 4: Macau Adventure

Our 4th day was allotted for a day trip in Macau. If your flight back to Manila was from Macau, maybe you could stay here for a night. But in our case, we will be flying from Hong Kong so we only did a side trip to Macau. :)

Because we were staying in Tsim Sha Tsui, we chose the China Ferry Terminal along Canton Road. We just walked from our hostel going to the ferry.

We were leaving Hong Kong territory so we underwent another immigration check, but this time, for exit. Though Hong Kong and Macau are both Chinese Special Administrative Regions (SARs), they both have their own immigration policies, etc. Boarding a ferry was a breeze. We didn't have any problem with the Hong Kong immigration. The navigation time was approximately one hour so we reached Macau at 10 in the morning.

Welcome to Macau! :)

There are no trains yet in Macau. You may opt to ride a public bus, or a taxi. Hotels do have FREE bus transportation from the ferry or airport going to casino hotel. So basically, transportation is a lot cheaper here in Macau than in Hong Kong.

Upon our arrival to Macau, Kuya Toff hired a tour guide for our Macau tour. And so there came Zhu Li Chan (English Name: Rosa). All reliable, multi-tasker tour guide. Worth every cent and second of our Macanese adventure! :)

The Venetian Macau

Our first stop was at Venetian Macau. Venetian Hotel has always been part of itinerary of people visiting Macau.

Upon entering the Venetian, one can’t help but be amazed at the interiors of the hotel. With inspirations coming from Italy’s finest cities of Rome and Venice, the level of detail given to the halls and walls of the Venetian can only be summed up with one word: beautiful.

Photoshoot inside The Venetian

The Venetian is not only a hotel and casino, it also houses an indoor mall complete with designer boutiques, fancy restaurants and a man-made river with gondola rides.

The Grand Canal of the Venetian Macau

We also tried their indoor gondola ride along this man-made river. 

Pardon the quality of the photos. :)

Grand Lisboa 

After cooling off inside The Venetian, it was now time to head to Grand Lisboa.

Wynn Hotel

Wynn Hotel was another casino hotel within the vicinity.  From Grand Lisboa go straight to its adjacent building, Hotel Lisboa, then infront of it, on the other side of the road is the Wynn Hotel.  It is another luxurious hotel to explore.

Galaxy Hotel

Have you ever seen or watch a diamond show? A shining, colorful, brilliant diamond show? This is what you should not missed. Everyone will truly love watching this kind of show, especially the kids.

The Galaxy Macau Diamond Show is a show of what they called the “Fortune Diamond.” In the lobby of Galaxy Macau Casino you will see a giant roulette wheel where casino goers are wishing for luck and prosperity. The wishing crystals will float above a pool of water every five minutes with its advance motion sensor technology which gives visual effects.

Senado Square 

Our next destination was to see Senado Square. The place is very representative of Macau’s past, being a former Portuguese colony. The unique building architecture and classy pavements are testaments enough.

Commercial stalls are aplenty along the narrow streets leading to the Ruins. With countless clothing boutiques, sneaker shops and food stalls, among others, the place is basically an outdoor mall. Be on the lookout for beef jerky free taste, which tasted like bacon! :)

Of course, we wouldn’t miss out on Macau’s most famous dessert, the Portuguese egg tarts. The combination of the hot crust, sweet filling and flaky texture was a match made in heaven. They were absolutely delicious! :)

After munching on those savory egg tarts, we headed on to the Ruins of St. Paul. This is our first visit to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ruins of St. Paul

Basically a stone facade of the Cathedral of St. Paul, this iconic Macau landmark is rich in historical importance as the ruins have stood the test of over 4 centuries time.

Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre

Next up on our itinerary was Macau Tower, home of the world’s tallest bungee jump. On our way, we saw the tower from afar, we then drop off the car and took photos with Macau Tower as our background. Haha! :)

The tower measures 338 m (1,109 ft) in height from ground level to the highest point. An observation deck with panoramic views, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and the Skywalk X, a thrilling walking tour around the outer rim. It offers the best view of Macau and in recent years has been used for a variety of adventurous activities.

At 233 meters, the Macau Tower's tethered Bungee jump by AJ Hackett from the tower's outer rim, is the highest commercial skyjump in the world (233 meters), and the second highest commercial decelerator descent facility in the world, after Vegas' Stratosphere skyjump at 252 meters according to wikipedia. But unfortunately, we haven't try both activities. Sad! :(

 The view from the 61st Floor

A-Ma Temple

After our thrilling adventure at the Macau Tower, we went directly to A-Ma Temple, one of the oldest and most famous Taoist temples in Macau. Built in 1488, the temple was dedicated to Matsu, the goddess of seafarers and fishermen.

World Heritage Marker

The Main Hall of A-Ma Temple

Prayer Cards surrounding a tree inside A-Ma Temple

Burned Incense

A day tour in Macau can be a very exciting yet tiring. We didn’t have much time inside the hotels and even skipped some staple landmarks like the Fisherman’s Wharf. We might have missed the Skywalk and Bungee Jump, much less The House of Dancing Water, but hey, this shall not be our first and only time in Macau. Till our next time! :)

Check out my Hong Kong and Macau Blog Series!

Day 0: Getting to Hong Kong (Part 1) 

Day 0: Our Hong Kong Accommodation: KG Garden Guest House (Part 2)  
Day 1: Hong Kong Disneyland 

Day 2: The Peak Tram, Sky Terrace and Madame Tussauds 

Day 3: Ocean Park Hong Kong (Part 1) 

Day 3: Avenue of the Stars (Part 2) 
Day 4: Macau Adventure


Xoxo,