Mommy 101: Francesco Matteo's Baptism

Before I gave birth to Cesco, as early as 6 months in my pregnancy, I started planning his baptism. Yeah...I know, I am a very excited mommy. Anyway, the first thing I thought of was the church and venue. Because the possible dates for my son's baptism will fall on the rainy season, my husband and I agreed that the venue should be covered and the proximity of the church from the venue is near. =)

Church: Santuario de San Antonio (Forbes Park, Makati City)

We narrowed down to 2 churches, Christ The King in Greenmeadows or Santuario de San Antonio, and my husband and I decided the latter mainly because of the venue proximity. It was easy booking baptism in SSA. You just need your baby's birth certificate, your list of godparents (max of 5 pairs) and 4,000 pesos for the baptismal fee. Candles and baptismal booklets should be bought from them. Candles are priced at 50 pesos each and the booklet at 35 pesos each.

Venue: Santuario de San Antonio Social Hall (Bays 2 and 3)

I inquired a lot of possible venues near Christ The King and Santuario de San Antonio. Though there are a lot of nice subdivision clubhouses near Christ The King, we chose the social hall of SSA because we will just walk from the church to the venue. We booked 2 bays because we planned on inviting 150 guests. Booking was easy, you just need to go to the parish office and look for Ms. Alice. The venue rental is 7,500 per bay inclusive of sound system and 4 hours rental of the place.

Catering - Queensland Catering

After reading a lot of forums regarding catering services, we decided to book Queensland Catering because they offered the most affordable packages and the quality of food according to the reviews were great.  We attended their free food tasting which they hold every Sunday afternoon at Ysabel's Garden to make sure the food was good. True enough, I got raves from my family and friends on the food.

Our Menu:

Steamed Rice

Roast Beef with mushroom gravy

Pork Spareribs in BBQ sauce

Fish Fillet with Tartar sauce

Chicken Flambe

Garlic Sotanghon Pasta

Buco Pandan Salad

Decorations - CreativeMinds Event Management

Canvassing for decors really paid off for me. After countless email inquiries from different event stylists, I finally found the most affordable package with nice styro artwork design and balloon decors. It was easy transacting with Luchille from CreativeMinds, everything was done via email and text messages and payment was made thru bank deposit. 

Giveaways - Little Bites Cupcakery (Red Velvet Crinkles)

I first tasted these red velvet crinkles from my officemate and had the idea of ordering them as giveaways for Cesco's baptism. I contacted Charmaine and finalized my custom order. It was easy transacting with her. I just paid 50% for downpayment and the balance was paid during delivery at the event. I also emailed the tag I wanted to use and she did the printing and packaging. The red velvet crinkles are also available at SM Megamall and SM Makati Marketplace.

Photography - Photo Carousel Weddings

I first thought only photo coverage for weddings are expensive. Man, was I wrong. Little did I know photo coverage for kiddie parties are also expensive! They could go as high as 15 to 20 thousand pesos and this only includes the raw files stored in a dvd. Good thing I researched until I found Darlene Joy Huab of Photo Carousel Weddings and was able to grab their promo that includes baptismal and reception coverage, 8x8 coffee table album (30 pages) for only 6,000 pesos. Darlene was 1 hour early at the event and she did her work right away when we arrived until the end of the party. I received the dvd with all the raw files from her cameras 4 days after the event and they are in very good quality. The coffee table album will be delivered after a month.

My Birth Story: Francesco Matteo

Well, hello there!

Let me just update you with something...I am now officially a mom!

It's already a month since I had given birth to a bouncing baby boy named, Francesco Matteo. But before I gave birth, I wanted to be super prepared so what I would do is to read other mommy bloggers' birth stories every night. But it is true...every pregnancy is different so I am here to share my own birth story:

On June 19 around 4AM, I woke up to pee in the bathroom and when I wiped, I saw a tinge of blood. The first thing I did was that I smiled to myself. Really. I did smile, because I was already 39 weeks and 2 days then...and it is true when they say that on your final month, it feels like forever to wait for your baby to come out. Anyway, I tried to go back to sleep because I know I'm still at the early stage of labor as I only felt very mild contractions and back pains.

At around 6AM, the pain started to escalate but still bearable. I woke my husband already to tell him and we started timing my contractions for an hour. By 9AM, we agreed to go to The Fort already because the contractions were at 5 minutes apart and the pain was increasing. By 10AM we were already in Fort area but because I can still bear the pain, we went to SM Aura to pass time and for me to walk and walk and walk...and to window shop a little to divert myself from the pain.

By 1PM, we went to the delivery room of St. Lukes - BGC to have myself checked (IE). I did not notify my OB then because I was afraid it was only false contractions. However, when the resident OB IE'd me and informed that (lo and behold) I was 4cm already...it means I was ready for admission. A rush of excitement came to me and my husband and he started calling our parents to inform them. I thought to myself..."THIS IS IT! WE WILL SEE OUR BABY SOON!"

I handed over my OB's admission forms, birth plan and mother's information sheet to the nurse. I changed to a hospital gown and was admitted to the High Risk Pregnancy room so I could be with my husband while I labor. I specified in my birthplan that I did not want IV inserted (just heplock) so that I could still walk to hasten my labor. By 4PM, I was asked to be IE'd again, but to my dismay, I was still 4CM though I was 50% effaced. I wasn't feeling pain in my abdomen as opposed to the birthing stories I read from other moms, instead the pain I was feeling was at my lower back.

By 7PM, the backpain was getting more intense so I started doing breathing exercises I learned in birthing class. (It was really useful!) But again, I was disappointed to learn I only progressed to 5CM. The resident OB assured me though that I was doing good because I was already 90% effaced. My OB also dropped by to check on me and assured me everything is going good.

By 10PM, the IE progressed to only 6CM. Also, the IE came painful because the resident OB stripped my membrane to help hasten my labor. True enough, after a couple of minutes, my water bag broke. When my water bag broke, the backpain was so intense already. And even though I planned to have a natural, unmedicated birth, I finally gave in to ask for epidural because I thought my labor would continue till morning.

At 11PM and 8CM, I was given epidural. And my oh my, it was like the bestfriend that I've been waiting for in my life! It helped me rto rest for a while. 12MN came and my personal OB was the one who IE'd me. I heard her say "Very good!" then she informed the nurses and resident OB to start prepping up the delivery room. I WAS READY! My husband was also being prepped because he was going to be with me in the delivery room.

My husband being prepped for the delivery

At around 12:40 AM, I was wheeled into the delivery room. The nurses and doctors were preparing while I watch them. My OB then asked me to begin practice pushing. I tried to remember what I learned from birthing class and at the same time listened to my OB on what should I do. Note: contrary to what we watch on movies, it is not advisable to scream while you push. Instead, you tuck your head down, make a deep inhale and hold your breath for 10 seconds while you exhale and push at the same time. The nurses, doctors and my husband counted in unison to help me focus. 

My husband with the wonderful doctors and nurses of St. Lukes BGC

At 1:27 AM, after around 7 pushes, they all cheered as my OB announced "BABY OUT!" 

Part of my birth plan was for my husband to cut the umbilical cord of our baby which was truly a memorable experience for him.

Thanks to my BFF epidural, I could smile!

Cutting the cord

Our very first family picture! :)

Meet our little baby boy, Francesco Matteo

Cesco weighing 7.2 lbs and 49 cm in length and 9.9 apgar score

My boys <3

I would like to thank God for this wonderful blessing and safe delivery, to my loving husband who stood by me all the way, to my amazing OB, Dr. Regina Capistrano and her awesome team of doctors and nurses of St. Lukes BGC, to my supportive parents, in laws, family and friends who visited us in the hospital...THANK YOU VERY MUCH! 

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless"

Psalm 84:11