I know one day I'm apt to forget, so I'm memorializing the bits and pieces of my adventure as a third-time mom:

1. It was in the early morning of August 24, 2007 when I learned through a pregnancy test taken in the car (can't wait till I got home, brought the sample with me pa... hehehe) that yup, I was going to be mom once more. I went, "Oh no, what have I done?" out of sheer surprise. I thought my repro system's a basket case.

2. This baby was brought to you by -- Chinese green tea. I got hooked by the taste, gave up coffee, drank it in the morning, after lunch, in the afternoon and after dinner, and the next thing I knew, my cycles sort of regularized. (Although now we know it was beyond the sort of level.)

3. We had decided to put off telling the boys about the pregnancy till the baby bump showed to a) shorten the anticipation/waiting time and b) make the news more effective with a visual aid. We told a friend however and she let it slip, over dinner at The Bellevue. Gambel stopped eating right away and Jam went, "Buntis ka, mommy? Hala! Buntis ka? Buntis ka, mommy? Buntis ka?...." until I threatened to stab him with my butter knife. :)

4. While I ate bangus at every possible opportunity during my first trime, it was Mike who had the cravings for Chicago White Pizza at Sbarro (and so we were there at every possible excuse). He was wiping out bags of Mrs. Fields' cookies. This is news because Mike was never a sweet tooth before this pregnancy, and was avoiding pizza because of his cholesterol count.

5. Were it not for the ultrasound results that said I'm having a girl, I would have sworn this is a boy. She kicks and moves and jabs more and stronger than the kuyas before her!

6. And now, it's official. Annamika is Miss Banana-Q. She demands it and kicks like there's no tomorrow if she doesn't get her fill at the usual time. :) And she likes Amazing Race, prepping up and moving about when she hears the Amazing Race segue. :)

7. Insomnia, or waking at 2 am. Estrogen induced itching and pantal showing up at no particular time or place, sometimes looking like continents on my back, redness between my fingers, swelling of my fingertips like I was bee-stung. Bummer is when the itch occurs at hard to reach areas at a time when everybody else is asleep. Alangan namang manggising ako.

8. No hunger pangs or cravings as was with my two boys. Just #7.

9. There's a 5-week difference between the baby's age as of my LMP and the first ultrasound scan results. Doc's basing the count on the ultrasonologic age.

10. As I sat at the lounge by the lab waiting for my blood tests the lady beside me asked, "Buntis din kayo?" and I nodded. She asked, "Ilang months?" and I replied, "six weeks." She looked at my belly and exclaimed, "Ang laki!"

Fighting the urge to strangle her for her indiscretion and utter lack of tact (not to mention I was really feeling crabby), I said, pinching my mid-section "Bilbil lang 'yan!"