Lessons of Mama La Vida Lanka

This is MEGA exciting!  My very first guest blogging piece over at MyMommyology!

Just to give you a background, MyMommyology is my cousin-in-law – our husbands are cousins and share the same birthday (way cool huh?).  We first met in 2009 when she and her family were in Manila for a vacation.  When we moved to Sri Lanka and I was traversing the unfamiliar grounds of becoming a housewife, she was one of the awesome wives I turned to.  In fact I interviewed her here and she was The Academic Housewife.  I also asked her to write a post for me when I got pregnant and I wanted to find out how to manage my first pregnancy sans family away from home.  She wrote about it here and here are my thoughts on it.

Now it’s my turn to share my own learnings of mommahood away from home here.

Thank you Mymommyology! It is awesome partnering with a kindred soul!  Sa uulitin (let’s do this again)!

Mama La Vida Lanka: Blog Update!

After 6 months and a dose of creative inspiration, I've changed the series title from Mommy Diaries to Mama La Vida Lanka. 

What brought about the change?  Well let’s say that when I first “concocted” Mommy Diaries I was in the midst of the first trimester and as you know it was a season of morning sickness for me.  Not exactly the pinnacle of my creativity.

There is also such a thing as “mommy mush brain” characterizing mothers pretty much going out of their minds or their normal minds at that!  I don’t mean it as an excuse but it sure is true people!  And I haven’t even given birth at that!  Haha!

So in my moments of lucidity and inspiration, I realized I wanted to breathe a new life to my so-called journal through motherhood in La Lanka.  Better late than never, I am re-naming this series from Mommy Diaries, to Mama La Vida Lanka.

Enjoy the rest of the story (which will be for the rest of our stay here in La Lanka!) and if you have not checked out the other stories, here is the list thus far:

The Background Story 

Finding the Right Doctor

Morning Sickness

Another one on Morning Sickness

Just Before The First Trimester Ends

First Trimester Reflections

Pre-Natal Yoga Part 1

Prayers for Pregnancy

Maternity Fashion

Mommy Club Away From Home

Thoughts on Parenting

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

What is baby going to call us?

What Will We Call Our Baby?

There is a Bump!

Learning From Another Mama Away From Home

The Bump Update!

Mama La Vida Lanka: Learning from My Mommyology

Sorry I won’t mince words here but being pregnant away from home sucks.  Especially if you live in a country where you don’t even have family or even relatives.  So to ease the anxiety and even the general feeling of not knowing what to expect, I asked the help of my My Mommyology cousin-in-law who has not only gone through the same experience once, but twice!  So she gladly accepted my blog request and summarized 10 tips on how to survive first time mommyhood away from home.  Check out her post!

And here’s where I am in that.

My Pregnancy Answer Book (photo courtesy of amazon.ca)

#1: Thank God for my inquisitive nature and I always ask!  Thank God for officemates and Sinhala classmates who serve as wonderful resources.  But most especially for What To Expect When You’re Expecting (and What To Eat When You’re Expecting).  My other cousin-in-law lent me her books (the first of which incidentally was a gift from My Mommyology cousin-in-law!).  It is filled with very relevant information in question and answer form that pretty much provides information for your concerns each month.  If all else fails, I have my Dr. Nalini to ask of course!

#2: That has not happened to me yet! But if it does, I will throw my pride out the door and say YES!

#3: I wish I was in a country like the US where a lot of free and quality services are offered…

#4: This is a tricky one… it gives me great relief when I’m in touch with my friends and family back home.  But being in touch with my family has been quite a stressful experience.  One, I am not sure that they even want to come when I give birth (this being a third world country and my brother graduating from his Masters in a much nicer country like Australia during the same time, coupled with that kind of statement when we broke the news) – I really need them here and I really hope they figure something out.  Two, I feel like in grade school again.  With don’t do this and don’t do that.  Specifically my planning a trip back home in my 2^nd trimester.  They don’t understand how it feels and I really need that trip to survive this.  More on this later! Haay… hope our next conversations would be better…

#5: One of my most important learnings especially during this time that I can’t be as productive as I would love to be!

#6: I realized that I married the right man.  I swear! I don’t need to delegate to hubby.  A lot of it is his initiative.

#7: That’s my exact fear, “your pre-disposition while pregnant affects your baby’s disposition as well.”  I felt I have matured over the past couple of years, but now I have regressed to my overly emotional self! So this tip, I will definitely need to learn.  Plus, I find it hard to allow myself to indulge especially when I haven’t been as productive. Tsk, tsk, tsk!

#8: At least Dr. Nalini speaks very good English!

#9: Another lesson to be learned! But somehow I don’t have any choice but to just take it day by day.  Or rather the objective is to just get through the day.

#10: I’m on it!  

Thank you My Mommyology for accepting my blog request! Your post has put a lot of things in perspective for me and reminds me of my gifts (a wonderful hubby for one!) and things I need to learn (allow myself to indulge) in the “greatest journey I’ll ever take.”

Check out mymommyology.wordpress.com for more thoughts on motherhood away from home.


Note: After 6 months and a dose of creative inspiration, I've changed the series title from Mommy Diaries to Mama La Vida Lanka :-)