Parenting Archive

My thoughts on parenthood, and what it's like to be a mom in the Philippines.

Nutrition Month Celebration

My kid’s school held a parade earlier, one of the activities for their Nutrition Month Celebration. I really enjoyed it though the pre schoolers did not join the parade. I had fun taking photos of the kids and their small band. I had fun looking for the most veggie decorated kid..LOL After the parade, there was a program and the pre schoolers grace the audience with their Lady Gaga’s Poker Face. My kids did not join the intermission number, I wished they had.

Mico was a bit clingy during the ceremony. He was not like that when I am not with him. I guess he is still a baby after all. I wish he can be as sociable as me. I am trying my hard to show him that his mom is not the shy type and he should not be too. Maybe in time..

As for Kayil, he is more confident now, socializing and being on his own. It was such an achievement for me and I am very proud of him. I actually asked him to look after his younger brother so I can take some pics and he willingly obliged. My baby boy is not so baby anymore.

What’s with us parents? When our baby is clingy, we hope they are not but when they become independent we become sentimental on how big or mature they have grown. Being a mom is not an easy task. You always have to balance between babying too much or expecting too much from your kids.. but at least we can have all the hugs and kisses to fend off our worries. Don’t you just love being a mom?

the boy with the veggies is not mine.. just so you know.. although I would have decorated them with the prettiest veggie I can find or even a strawberry or pumpkin costume.. I was not prepared.. we were not advised to dress the kid up.. and as for my kids, it was a good thing.. haha

Is Baby Wearing Safe?

You know I am a fan of slings. I love it and I find it very convenient and very easy to use. I browsed some sites that offers ring sling, looking for a nice idea for another sling. My old one was handmade. I got a malong and turned it into a sling, a wooden ring made the trick. This time I plan on buying rings for the sling, wooden rings are hard to maintain! Back to the sling seller I just saw, I don’t get it why they post pictures of them wearing the sling and yet they look like as if they are protecting the baby. Come on guys, the mere purpose of the sling is so you can have your both hands at your disposal. How can you convince your future buyers to buy one (except of course for fashion’s sake) if you have photos that look as if you are afraid your baby will fall from the sling? A lot of people are shocked every time they see me and my baby on sling. Their first concern was if it safe for the baby. How can we guarantee the safeness of this product if we posed like that (and I am guilty yes, see above photot). I hope I can say right it to your face guys, that you should revamp your photo section and post pictures where a mommy is confident not to hold the baby while it is on the sling..just like the photos below..

source

Anyway, this is just a rant, sorry if I have to indulge..

Hours Before Ultrasound

I just want to share with you, elaborately, my feelings during my ultrasound. This is the first time that I will have an ultrasound at four months. And the first time that I want to know badly what the baby’s sex is. This will be my last pregnancy and I can’t just hope for 7 months and be disappointed in 5 or 10 minutes. Deep within me I was really hoping for a baby girl. In my head, it’s a boy. My mind is telling me that scientifically we can’t have a girl.

Lot of factors contributes for me to think that it was a boy. The first, being my husband’s semen is acidic. I have read from somewhere that for you to have a baby girl, the vagina of the mommy should have an acidic ph level. The explanation behind this is that, the sperm cell carrying the y chromosomes (that says the baby is a boy) can be killed easily. The y sperm is actually the weaker one, although it swims faster, its life span is shorter than the x sperm (which says the baby is a she). And since my hubby’s semen is acidic and as you can see we already have three boys, it is safe to assume that it won’t be effective to us. The chances of us having a baby girl through this are very slim.

Then there’s another way where it takes advantage, again, of the fact that the y sperm cell has shorter life span. They say that you should do it, days before ovulation, and so the time that the egg cell is released from the ovary, the only surviving sperm is the one carrying the x chromosome. Uh, not again, as I remembered it correctly and based on what I felt during the intercourse, I am ovulating right at that moment.

And so as I browse around Megamall, looking for a cheaper place to have an ultrasound, my mind and heart was in war. I knew about In My Womb but thought it was too expensive, but ended up there, well I have no choice. After some minutes of waiting for the OB, they finally led me to a small room. Lay down and was asked to show my stretch mark filled tummy. A good twenty minutes is all it takes and I am in heaven. During the time that the OB was explaining and checking the baby, counting the fingers, heart rate, diameter etc, the more important things, my mind is winning (it says it’s a boy dammit! Stop hoping!). And so when she finally says let’s take a look on the sex and we can’t find any balls, I was ecstatic, I was happy; I was everything words cannot explain. It was more than having a Page Rank of 10, more than having an Alexa ranking of 1, it was more than having 100 comments a day. The feeling was more than I could imagine, more that I have ever felt in my whole life. Oh shit just right now while writing this, I am crying. I cried a little, was embarrassed to do a cry a river scene there. I kept my composure but my whole body is aching, there is so much happiness in me that I need to let out. As soon as I got the results I went to the nearest bathroom and poured my emotions there. I guess I convinced myself too much that it was a boy. I really did not expect it to be a girl. I know now how it feels when you want something so bad but gave up on it already.

And so from then on, our excitement for our Sati hasn’t died down..