Archive for the ‘Pregnancy’ Category

How could I forget April of 2012?

I was profusely bleeding yet I was taking everything lightly. My work was my priority and I couldn’t give it up. That until my ob-gyne told me that I have to be confined soon if I don’t want to lose the baby.

My sister accompanied me to Medical Center Imus armed with nothing but prayers that the baby will be safe. Thank God the facilities and staff of MCI were awesome. Everything was clean, from medication carts to beds. The staff were also very nice and I have a super reliable ob-gyne, Dra. Lucia Kalaw-Garcia.

Turned out I had placental infarction. I listed to my OB and really rested until she allowed me to leave home again. The following month I was already shopping and the month after I was in Cebu and Leyte already, painting the cities red. LOL

After giving birth to a bouncing tsinita baby girl, I just lost my appetite. So I said “hello” to weight loss and back then it was sooo easy. In three months I was able to shed them all off and weighted about 143lbs. I was so in love with my body though I was not model-thin. It was because I felt lighter and looked better.

Then came Christmas season. The main culprit why I stopped breastfeeding and gained weight again. I just couldn’t say no to the variety of foods arriving almost everyday at home. then WHAM! This time I said “hello” to  appetite and weight gain.

And now, three months later, I am more than decided to shed off this extra weight and be at least 145lbs. How?

I gradually decreased my rice intake and 6 days later my body has fully adjusted and I no longer crave for rice. How cool is that? The rice lover losing interest on her staple food

Praying so hard that I would be successful this time

After almost 3 months of using Lana’s baby bag, nasira na siya. I got so upset because it wasn’t cheap at all So now I am looking for the best  baby bag that I can get for my little girl, it has to be roomy yet handy like a yoga bag so I can easily carry it whenever I am with her.

I know there are a lot of online sellers out there so if you have any idea, please post the link in the comments section.

Thanks much =)

I used to have a lot of pimples. I suffered for years and my loyal knew everything I went through and every single product I used just to get rid of pimples. I tried Thanakha, which worked wonders by the way, Cetaphil, Celeteque, Ponds, a local product of mineral makeup because I thought my powder was causing the allergies, and many others.

And guess when did the pimples stop? When I got pregnant! hehe When I gave birth however it started coming out again due to stress and some other factors like hormonal changes and lack of sleep. Brought this topic to my my doctor and she advised me to use Dove Extra Sensitive bar for my skin and my daughters. Her exact words were “Try Dove and you won’t use any other soap again.” I used it immediately and saw a HUGE improvement on my skin. SHE WAS RIGHT!

Our whole family now uses Dove Extra Sensitive Bye pimples and skin irritations!

Today’s a day of so many firsts in Lana’s life and I have to blog about it before the anesthesia side-effects sets in again LOL

1. 16 days after her birthday Lana had a full bath for the first time. We waited for her umbilical stump to fall off before giving her full bath. It fell off last Saturday but the thought of her running a fever last Sunday scared the hell out of me. Her temperature rose from the usual 36.00++ to a 37.6 – 37.7 degree Celcius. I called her pedia and she informed me that it’s a normal temperature for newborn babies.
2. I clipped her nails for the first time today – easy, NOT! I tried not to tremble when I did the cutting.
3. She visited her pedia today and got awesome feedback All’s well with my little girl, yay!
4. Her skin tag fell off today – woot! we’ve been worrying about it since it was on her face (see photo below). She scratched it by herself LOL
5. She went to SM for the first time, too! – something that I don’t want to do again. It’s just too stressful for her
6. She experienced riding a tricycle and yellow cab for the first time today The hassles of being carless in this generation arrrghhh…

The best part today? It was our first time to leave home as a family

I never thought lactation was hard until I started breastfeeding my youngest daughter, Lana. Sure it’s natural and free but nobody said it is easy. I went through hell before I gotten used to it. Now I can nurse with ease, thanks Medela and muscle memory LOL

But hey, everything’s not perfect as it seems. I am dealing with a few issues right now like watery milk, less milk than before and dehydration. ProMama will address these issues, thanks to Wyeth.

ProMama, helps women meet the increased nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women. Only ProMama contains Pro-Nutri Builders, ingredients that support the health of both mother and child during the delicate journey of pregnancy. These include Maternal Immunity Enhancers like Beta Carotene, which has antioxidant and immunostimulatory properties, and Vitamin C, E and A, which also helps promote good vision and cellular growth.

ProMama’s Pro-Nutri Builders also include Fetal Mental Enhancers like DHA, a nutrient important for a child’s visual and mental development. Folic Acid, which is essential for the development of the nervous system and in preventing neural tube defects, and zinc are two more ingredients in ProMama that help in fetal neurodevelopment.

ProMama also contains Fetal Bone and Muscle Builders like Vitamin D, important for calcium metabolism and to support fetal bone and teeth development; Protein, the building block of all tissues; Iron, which helps in the generation of red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of the body and Calcium, which supports bone development.

Just 2 servings of ProMama daily can help promote appropriate weight gain during pregnancy.

By supporting the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women, ProMama helps mothers-to-be and their babies stay in the pink of health and fully embrace the gift of motherhood.

So aside from taking lots of soup, moringga capsules and rest, I’ll include ProMama on my diet. Thank you Wyeth

Giving birth to my second child was as painful as the first. I bled and it hurts so bad but what makes it more painful now was the fact that I committed myself to breastfeed her until she’s about two. Fellow breastfeeding moms reminded me not to give up and with this in mind, I didn’t, and survived the hellish first 3 days of adjustment.

My milk didn’t come out until the 4th day just when I was about to give up. Lana only had glucose solution for days because I believed that she wasn’t getting any from me. I also have flat, inverted nips making it harder for Lana to suck milk. I was getting frustrated because first I couldn’t move that much – my body was sore from the operation but my mind was willing to do everything to feed little Lana. On top of that, I felt that I was neglecting my eldest Yona which I promise not to do when I learned that I was pregnant. I was worrying about so many things, making me cranky — and they call it “postpartum blues”. LOL

Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety.

My husband and the whole family were all supportive, thank you Lord! For without them I wouldn’t survive the first week alive.

I am very thankful for my FB mommy-friends who were all willing to share their tips and tricks on how to breastfeed successfully. My friend Tin from Canada also introduced me to a reliable pump, Medela Swing! — I so love it! It’s worth the investment, really

So right now, a week and a day after giving birth, I’m emotionally stable and my milk is overflowing!

Thank you good Lord for surrounding me with wonderful people.

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September 4, 2011 3:08PM – Baby Out!

After nine long months of waiting, we finally said HELLO to our newest princess, Irina Mirabella. The whole family (yes, everyone!) went with me to the hospital around 11:45am of September 4th. It was a scheduled C-section operation so we were all calm (yet nervous inside).

I got interviewed, checked and guided to the operating room after an hour. 3:08PM, Lana was out.

Here are some photos taken before, during and after the operation. I was so thankful that my anesthesiologist who didn’t just took good care of my life but also took good shots during the entire operation I so love my doctors!

cord coil! she has two coils on her neck, arrrggggh!

my lovely OB, Dra. Lucy Kalaw-Garcia

the pretty mom, in eyeliners and sparkly lip gloss hahaha!

proud dad and ate <3

hello love! we’re sooo thankful that God gave you to us.

WE LOVE YOU, LANA!

Finally, after 9 months of anticipation, we’re finally saying hi to our second daughter Lana today, September 4, 2011. Yay!

The original plan was to give birth via C-section on September 8, 2011 – Mother Mary’s birthday but the latest UTZ showed that she was already excited to say “hi!” to everyone today. So there! Off to the hospital we go later

I am so excited, okay, the whole family’s excited to see her especially her Ate Yona. She couldn’t wait to make gigil LOL

Lana or Chuchubels will be named Irina Mirabella which simply means “peace” and “admirable or beautiful”. I am fervently praying that she’ll grow up like her Ate Kristiona Ma. Ysabel.

What are your sibling dos and dont’s? I haven’t read ANYTHING to prepare myself for this. I sooo love them both and I don’t want any of them to feel that I love her any less. I only know a few things, lousy ones: no jewelry like tire chains, power dressing ALWAYS! and love, love, love them with all my heart

Care to share some tips? Feel free to leave any comments here TIA!

A friend suggested that I go running after giving birth to lose weight. Told her that it’s a far-fetched lidea because for one I’ll undergo a caesarian operation and I am such a “lampa”. I never owned a running shoes my whole life! I bought rubber shoes before, yes but all of them were for porma purposes. I couldn’t see myself jogging nga eh LOL how the hell could I run?

A runner friend has an aircast ankle brace on her left foot. I have no idea what is it for but as I see it, the brace is there to protect her ankle from sprains. I can not, I will not try running to avoid MAJOR injury LOL but her before and after running photos are just too tempting! She looked like a penguin after giving birth but she’s back to her old vavavoom body in just a matter of months. Waaaah! I so want to lose weight without taking in pills and getting all so sweaty, but how?