Water

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Tip for those taking Clomiphene Citrate, commonly known as Clomid: drink tons of water!

One of Clomid's side effect is drying your cervical mucus. Sperms thrive on cervical mucus and it helps them "swim". To counter this drying side effect of Clomid, keep your water bottle or your glasses filled and drink up.

13th Acupuncture

Went to St. Francis Clinic for my 13th acupuncture treatment with Hubby. There were not much patients around and I was assigned to cubicle #3.

Sister Regina asked me when I got my period and I told her about the fever/cough I had a few days earlier. Seems there's a virus in town. I told her I started taking Clomid, actually it's Ova-mit, and I will be visiting my OB on my 12th cycle day.

I lay down the bed and she inserted the needles in the usual areas - head, tummy, knees and foot. I had two rounds of moxa.

As always, I try to take a nap during my treatment. I meditate. I release the negative emotions and thoughts. I welcome the bright light to shine inside my body as I call upon our baby. I pray that this cycle Hubby and I will be successful. Sister Regina prescribed another set of herbs for me (P1,150). 

I don't want to stress about the future but I do. Sometimes, the envy bug hits us when we see other parents with their children. I just remind myself that God's timing is best and always perfect. We may never understand what's happening  now but we will in the future.

Duchess Pension

In our Puerto Princesa vacation, we stayed at Duchess Pension located in Valencia St. It is a popular place among backpackers and tourists who want to save on accomodation without sacrificing a comfy stay in the city. According to its brochure, Duchess Pension is 3 minutes away from the city center and 7 minutes from the airport.

I booked an aircon room for two which costs P850/night. Cable tv and safekeeping are optional amenities and you have to pay P100 for each to avail them.The pension house provides breakfast for P100-120 and also laundry services. You will see their "price list" on how much they charge for each clothing item that you want to be washed.

The receptionist is friendly and very informative. He gave us tips on how to vacation well in Puerto Princesa. He told us to avoid riding tricycles that are in queue since they charge P20-40. Instead, we should hail tricycles plying the streets. Fare within the city is P8/person. He gave us a map of the city with marks on where to go and eat in the city.

clean bathroom is a must!

Our room is located in the second floor, facing Valencia Street. Puerto Princesa is a city that feels like a province. In the early mornings, you will hear roosters crow and few tricycles passing the street. Such a nice way to start the day.

That's me overlooking the street below.

TTC Cycle 1, Year 2 - Neg

I got my period on the dot.

Hubby and I decided to take clomiphene and see what happens. Dra. Aguilar has given me a prescription last August. I bought 5 pcs. of Clomiphene 50mg, the pharmacist gave me Ova-mit. He said it is the same as Clomid but cheaper at P100 each tablet while Clomid is P240+. Might as well try this brand. Hopefully, I'll get good results in a few weeks.

For TTC Cycle 2, we'll try acupuncture + herbs (if any) + Ova-mit + a positive attitude + more prayers. Baby dust to all of us!

One-week wait

I'm now on my one-week wait. Today is my cycle day 32, the day when I usually have my period. My BBT this morning is still high, meaning I'm not getting my period today. Hopefully, this high temp continues for this week. :)

This week, I will try not to overthink if I'm pregnant or not. Hard as it is. You see, when you are trying to conceive, you're an expert at counting the days, monitoring every little body changes, mood swings, etc. I always associate something with "Am I pregnant?". Hopefully by the end of this week, we will know.

Underground River Photos

Underground River

Palawan is famous for its Underground River, the Philippine's official nominee to the new 7 wonders of the world. Tourists visit Puerto Princesa to go to the Underground River.
The Underground River is in Sabang which is 73 kms from the city and can be reached in 1.5-2 hours travel. The roads leading to Sabang have sharp curves, you must have an experienced driver. There's a part where there are sharp curves every 3 seconds!

Hotels and travel agencies offer the Underground River tour at P1,500/person. This includes the aircon van transfer, permit, motorized boat ride, paddle boat ride inside the cave, lunch buffet and tour guide.

Our permit for the tour is scheduled at 7:30 am so we should leave the city at 5:30-6am to be able to be in Sabang on time. This is the first tour of the day, usually, tourists leave the city at 7am.

Our tour guide, Grace, picked us up at Duchess around 6:15am. We stopped by two other hotels to pick up other tourists. Since we were running late, the driver sped through the National Rd. going to Sabang. It was drizzling and the skies promised rain for the day.
We reached Sabang and Grace went to get our permit. It was raining! Flimsy raincoats were being sold at P50. since we have to travel by boat to the Underground River, I bought one. I urged Hubby to do the same but he insisted that he can take the strong winds and rain. He was wrong. He bought one just as we were leaving for the Underground River.

Only six persons are allowed to ride in the boat so our group was split. Grace joined our boat. The sea was not calm. Our boat challenged the waves as the boat man expertly maneuvered the boat to the island where the Underground River is located.
We registered and wore life vests. It was hard to take pictures since it was raining. You either get your shots or risk your camera to be wet and damaged. My advice, bring an underwater protector with your camera.

A five-minute walk under the trees will lead you to the area where boats await the tourists. We wore our plastic helmets and rode a boat. The tour lasts for 45 minutes. Despite the rain, I told myself to enjoy this experience with nature.

The foul smell of bat dung will welcome you at the mouth of the cave. Since it's daytime, the bats are sleeping so don't worry if you're afraid of bats. The Underground River is 8.1 kms but only 1.5 kms is navigable by tourists. The rest of the river is reserved for researchers and scientists and they need to acquire special permits to be able to go there.

People who sit in front will be the light man/woman. The boat man sits at the end. He tells stories and shows the different formations of stalactites and stalagmites as he solely paddles the boat. The best spot in the boat for me is either near the back where you can hear the boatman or in the second row, near the light. If you are assigned to hold the light, you won't be able to take pictures.

Whenever another boat passes our boat, the boatmen will greet us "Good evening!" and will joke to check if the number of people in our boat is the same now as when we road it at the start.

The official photographer takes the picture of each boat entering and leaving the cave. A small photo costs P150.

We ate lunch at a nearby resort. The buffet consists of four viands only - BBQ liempo, chicken adobo, fish steak and adobong kangkong. There's also a buko tinola soup and sliced cucumbers.

Padre Pio

Women like me who are trying to get pregnant almost always look for divine intervention in their quest to conception. Being in a mostly Catholic country, we pray to God, attend healing masses and pray novenas to Mama Mary and different patron saints. One such patron saint is Padre Pio.

Last year, I bought a Padre Pio novena and attended a healing mass at his shrine near where I live. My mother-in-law said that a novena should ideally be given to the woman wanting to get pregnant. No one has given me a novena yet. I don't want to ask my family and friends to give me a novena. :)

Then, one morning my officemate, G, said her mother is pestering her. Her mom was always asking G if she has given me Tintin Bersola-Babao's article in a local newspaper about Padre Pio. She gave the newspaper to me. Included in the article is the Prayer for the Intercession of St. Pio of Pietrelcina. I told her it must be a very good sign. :)