Dear Knetina,

When you got your first vaccine on your 6th week of life, you were terribly crying all throughout the day until night. I questioned everyone in the world on why did they allow these practices to continue. Babies don't deserve such pain. I wanted to take away all the hurt you were feeling but then I realized that there are things in life that you should face on your own. There are fights that you should win alone, with your own strength. There will be a lot of pain when you grow up but remember that Momma and Poppa will always be here to help you. When we're gone, I hope you use our teachings as armor in this battlefield. I hope you grow strong physically and especially spiritually. Just as how I endured my labor with you, I want you to hold on tight to God on your most painful experiences in life.

Love,

Mudra

I brought my beloved (yes, that adjective is necessary) one year old to her pedia earlier this day because she's constipated. Every time she poops, she exerts a lot of effort, cries and turns red. At first, I googled about this and look for suggestions to ease her constipation. I got results that said it was just normal, to just give plenty of water, etc. How could this pain be normal? I gave my baby lots of water in a day but it did not helped. So we finally decided to bring her to the doctor which told us that, it's not just about the water intake but the fiber intake that would ease constipation.

Apparently, according to doc, the cause of my baby's constipation is that she is not getting a balanced meal. I'm guilty about this because I got so busy with my work that I was not able to monitor my baby's food intake. She should be eating food that consist of fiber-rich food such as vegetables and fruits, mixed with proteins and carbohydrates in one meal.

The doctor have me a list of of food that will help soften her stool:

• Camote
• Green Peas
• Peanut
• Prunes
• Papaya
• Yogurt
• Corn
• Oats (Mixed with baby's milk)
• Mango
• Green leafy vegetable

Doc also recommended to change our milk from Progress Gold to NAN Optipro 3. She said it was a common complaint from parents that once they changed their milk to Progress Gold 1-3, their babies constipate.

Hope this helps. :)

Chopsuey is great because it consists of vegetables and proteins but make sure to prepare it healthier by using less oil.

On the first year of my first baby's life, she caught 4 major colds. Major colds for me means that she had slight difficulty in breathing, lacked appetite and the cold led to cough. What I'm sharing with you is real life experience and info from our pediatrician. Every time the cold turns out to be out-of-control, we immediately seek pedia's advice because, just because, I panic.

Major cause of colds
The major cause of colds as what the pediatrician said, and according to my observation also, is having contact with someone who has cold. So if your baby's parents (yes you!) have colds, your baby has a 99% chance to have colds too. If you notice slightest symptoms of colds, the best thing to do is to drink medicine immediately. There are over the counter medicines such as Neozep or Decolgen that would ease out your colds immediately. Keep your baby away from relatives that has colds. Just explain to them that the baby will suffer if the colds will be transferred.

• DO NOT kiss your baby on the face as you may transfer virus without knowing it.
• DO NOT give your baby to any relative that has colds.
• DO NOT let your baby play with his/her brother/sister, cousins, playmates or neighbors that has colds.

Relief

You cannot force the cold virus to go away immediately because that's not its nature. Additionally, your baby's immune system is still developing that's why colds will usually last for two (2) weeks. This timeline includes your baby's improvement in breathing and mucus secretion. These are the things that helps in making the baby feel better:

1. Using nasal spray and rubber suction
Nasal spray helps the mucus in your baby's nose to loosen up and would also make your baby's breathing easier because of unblocking the mucus. However, it should be used in moderation with a maximum of two times daily. This is because the spray can irritate and eventually wound the nose lining that will cause more problems.

Around 10 seconds after you sprayed your baby's nose with nasal spray, it is best to use a rubber suction to remove remaining mucus inside the baby's nose. This will definitely make your baby feel better afterwards because the thing that makes his/her breathing difficult will be removed. I have to warn you, though, that babies don't like their noses to be suctioned. They will definitely fight it. Just take the proper timing or distract your baby so you could suction properly.


2. On the first sight of runny nose, give your baby Disudrin BUT on a maximum of 7 days.
Follow the dosage of Disudrin (written on the box and on the bottle). Remember that you could use within 7 Days ONLY. Overusing of this medicine will cause rhinitis to your baby. I suggest that within 7 days, you make the most out of your baby's recovery, suction his/her nose, give lots of water, let her rest, give fruits, and follow this list.


3. Giving your baby lots of water
What can I say more? Water therapy is best for babies and adults too. Give her water every after milk or as often as possible.


4. Let your baby rest
Everybody needs rest when sick, that includes your baby. However, rest doesn't mean your baby doesn't have to play. He/she can still play as long as it's not with somebody who has cough and colds and as long as there will be no physical exhaustion.


5. Do not bath him/her on the first two days of serious colds
This is not our pedia's advice. I even know one doctor that bathes her baby with fever. There's nothing wrong with taking a bath but giving baby a bathtub-break is my rule when my baby is sick. Bathing alone cannot aggravate your baby's colds. What I'm concerned about is the long exposure to water that will lower his/her body temperature and will cause cold virus to spread more. You can still wipe your baby with warm wet cloth anyway.


6. Give your baby fruits with Vitamin C
Vitamin C works wonders. But also make sure that your baby gets a balanced diet to maximize the absorption of Vitamin C. I give my baby a mix of green leafy veggies, mangoes, tomatoes, apples and oranges in a day in addition to milk and some carbs.

The relief I listed is not applicable to your baby if he/she has:

• Temperature higher than 38 C - rush him/her to the pedia immediately.
• Serious difficulty in breathing where he/she cries for hours because she cannot breath - rush to pedia immediately.
• Mucus in nose has blood - rush to pedia immediately
• Coughing blood - rush to pedia immediately

An example of a bulb syringe to suck out mucus from nose

Image from http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-6d81/k2-_10ad3f44-f3d1-4a4b-8ed9-68eee3d4221c.v1.jpg

For new moms like me, there are some newbie mistakes that we make. When I first learned that I'll be having a baby girl, I got so excited like a little girl waiting for her doll. I browsed the net for possible clothes to buy. I've bought some, around 1% of the overall clothes I put in my wishlist, and disregarded most. Here's a list of my personal insights when buying clothes for your little ones:

1. Choose comfort over style

• In my experience, always go for clothes made in COTTON. It is soft and gentle on my babies' skin.
• If I buy clothes with mixed fabric, I still choose cotton as the main fabric. Fancy dresses are no-no's if they are made of heat-inducing materials.
• I tried to buy this beautiful cheap dress without thinking if my baby would like its "feel". The result is that everytime I put the dress on, she freaks out like there's something disturbing her. The dress ended up as a display in our closet.

2. Buy size 2-3 months advanced than the current size of your baby.

• This goes to shoes also. Babies' feet are rapidly growing that's why it's good to buy shoes with size allowance. Make sure that they can still use the shoes even with extra space.
• When my baby will about to turn 6 months, I bought a cutie sleeveless top with bow on it having  a size for 6-month old babies. When my baby tried it on, it doesn't fit her and she freaked out that's why it also ended up as a display (and waste of money) in my closet.
• This formula worked well to me:
• If your baby is newborn, you may buy clothes for Newborn (NB) - 3 months.
• If baby is greater than 3 months old, buy clothes 2-3 months bigger than her size. For example, for 6-month old babies you may already buy clothes in 9-12 months category.
• If the clothes are too big now, don't worry there will come a time that it will fit already (very very soon).

3. Don't buy too much nor too few clothes 

• First of all, your newborns don't need to go out more often to avoid viruses that's why they won't need too many fancy clothes.
• Second, newborns until infancy up to toddler years, your baby will wee, spit out, vomit, get wet and get dirty a lot so make sure you just have enough clothes.
• During their 6 months onward, I found the need to buy additional going-out clothes because I tend to bring the baby out more often already.

I think that's all I can think for now. I will update this list if ever I remember something. Post a comment if you think I missed something. Back to baby sitting duties now!

Dress we bought for baby's 1st bday party

from http://zuribabycouture.ph/collections/tutu-set/products/good-as-gold

I WILL RECLAIM MY LIFE!

This is what all mothers should shout after a long, stressful and sleep-deprived life. Do not allow your motherhood to remove all the glamour and happiness from you. You should take care of your self.

Steps to take:
1. Stabilize baby in this world - may take up to 3 months.
2. Shop shop shop! Do things that you wanted to do. Leave your baby if you must. Just make sure you leave him/her to a trusted person.
3. Vacay! You may do it alone or with your husband. But sometimes being alone and masochistically free is not that bad.

Dream for your self. Don't worry, some time soon your life will be yours!

• Your baby will soon grow up and leave you
• Your house will soon be clean because they won't be around too often
• Your laundry will soon be free from poop because they will poop somewhere else, in their dormitory's bathroom probably.
• Your house will be quiet, no crying, shouting, playing, because they're not their.

Soon it will happen. For now, enjoy the suffering and pay attention to them, they won't be babies forever.

Expecting a baby? It's not just all fun, there will be more frustration than happiness.

The pain doesn't stop after delivery
I had a normal delivery/ natural birth with my 6-lb baby after 24 hours of painful labor. The delivery was painful too but not as intense as a day-long suffering. I thought all the pain in the world I experienced from conception will disappear in a flash after that.  What other moms don't tell you is that the pain will continue for some time after giving birth. You will feel the laceration on your vagina, your stomach will ache every now and then, your back will hurt, you will feel dizzy and you just want to sleep the whole day. It will be difficult to poop, wee, eat and you will always cry. It will be intensely painful.

The longest weeks of my life
The day after going home from the hospital is the start of the longest weeks of my life. I counted each day, each second, and pray that it will go by fast. My day consisted of waking up after a nap (it's not even sleep), attending to the baby's needs, soothing her cries, changing her diaper, entertaining her and massaging her. I could barely escape from her to take care of my self. Brushing my teeth and taking a bath would be a marathon.

I was thinking that it would rather be easier if I just went to work so I can escape taking care of this baby. But that will not happen because deep inside I'd rather experience these difficulties than entrust my own child to a complete stranger. I'm on my second week with the baby now. They said that you and your newborn will eventually discover your rhythm. Well, I think we just did. It was a catastrophic rhythm, an unordered chaos.

The strength is from within
I don't know where I'd find all the strength to last the day. I just find comfort in the thought that my child will not be a baby forever. I just have to wait patiently, for how long I do not know, for her to grow up. I know this will forbid me to enjoy this moment but that thought keeps me hopeful. I never felt this incompetent. For years that I've been in corporate life, I've been very tough and proud. But this time I felt like I am out of control and I do not know what I'm doing. I realize clients are easier to please than babies. I also get strength from my ever supportive husband who've been through with me all the way.

Constipation and Indigestion are common problems you may experience any time during your pregnancy. There are lots of articles that explain why pregnant woment but in my own words, I would explain it as "the result of uncommon (BIG) foreign object inside your tummy that blocks normal functionalities of your intestines and rectum".

I've encountered indigestion which feels like the food I ate still resides in my stomach after how many hours when they should be digested already. One way to avoid this is to eat slowly and do not lie down right after eating even if it's so tempting to sleep. Wait for, maybe, an hour or more before hitting the bed.

The feeling of constipation is like you wanted to let go of something but hard-headedly clinges on you. My tips to avoid constipation are the ff:

• Drink Milk suited for pregnant women, twice a day. I love Anmum Chocolate.
• Drink Yakult everyday. This is a probiotic dairy product I've been drinking ever since because I really have bowel movement problems even when I was young. If you do not like the taste of this, you may choose any probiotic drink with live lactubascilusshuratstrain (this is how I hear it but the name is Lactobacillus casei Shirota Strain which are friendly bacterias to help regulate bowel movements). There were lots of issues about the validity of this product's claim, but hey it works for me.
• Yogurt! Everday! No doubt, this will help you a lot. 'Nuff said. I personally love Nestle fruit selection yogurt in mango and Nestle Acti-V.

 


Image sources:
http://www.youbeli.com
http://www.foodprocessing-technology.com
foodrecipetraveltheworld.blogspot.com