PGH-NICU Will Go To Cainta

PGH-NICU is going to Cainta on Friday for cupfeeding breastmilk to flood babies. As of 5 PM today, there were 42 liters of breastmilk donated. More donations are welcome. Volunteers are needed to help cupfeed the babies (and for wet nursing). Please contact Thess, Tina or Grace at 5548400 local 3409 for more info and to register for the breastfeeding drive.

There's a Manila Chapter that will meet at PGH at 6 AM Friday and a QC chapter to go to Cainta directly.

Please help spread the word WE NEED MORE BREASTMILK. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTIVE OF BREASTFEEDING.

Please repost!!!

Get Volunteering

Since school is out anyway, and cable is erratic, and your kids may be bored out of their minds, go and do volunteer work with them.

You can go to PGH, Red Cross, Caritas Manila, Ateneo... in fact, any big school or Church in your area. The internet is also replete with information on where to go and where you may be needed. This is a perfect opportunity to teach them about involvement and nationalism, about environmental and health issues, about breastfeeding and why it's most important.

You don't need to memorize the Encyclopedia Brittanica, have millions to give away, know the best acne treatment or have the ability to conjure up food... you just have to care and give of your time and energy.

Breastfeeding Moms: Help Please

Calling all breastfeeding mommies out there... your life-saving breastmilk is needed! The Medela House is open till 3pm today for milk donations. You can pump here and store in our bags. These donations will be given to PGH and will be made available to children at the different evacuation centers. While you are at the Medela House, you can also drop off any relief item you may have (food, clothes, towels, blankets, shoes, slippers, etc.) as we will be donating these at 3pm to the Xavier School to assist them in their relief efforts. Finally, MedelaMoms is looking for partners as they subsidize the cost of their disposable cups. If you want to donate cups (that will be used by volunteers to cupfeed babies in the different evac centers), contact us at 0917-5614366 or 7386272. We accept bank deposits. A cup will be P30 each only for this worthy cause. We will be accepting donations till 3 pm only. Dr. Silvestre (head of Milk Bank unit in PGH) will be collecting all donations after 3pm. Thank you!


ADDED:

Those who can't make it today, you may deliver your milk to:

1. Dr Zeka Tatad-To, 38 San Miguel Court, Celery Drive, VV5. (contact: tatadto@gmail.com, 0917 8886288)

2. Dr Mi-Anne Silvestre, 17F Greengrove Villa, Lantana Road, New Manila

3. PGH Lactation Unit, 4F Central Block (contact: 5548400 local 3409, look for Thess, Tina, Grace)

If you need the milk picked up, please coordinate with Dr Zeka.

Thanks so much, Bfg Mommies!!!


*~*

It saddens me that I never regularly pumped so I really cannot donate breastmilk, especially now that my Yakee is only nursing for sleep once or twice during the day.

And as much as I want to be a wet nurse, my hubby is against it (he is fearful i'd bring Yakee diseases) and I have to respect his fears and feelings because he has been nothing but supportive of me.

A Mommy's Power

I know, it's not really something to be abused and be proud of... but sometimes, it really makes me smile that I am the most important person for my son. That just being slightly threatened that i'm coming up without him sends him into a flurry of action, jumping off his Pappie's lap and flinging his arms wide open, saying "carry, carry" (well, more, "ke-yi" really).

But with great power comes great responsibility (hello Spiderman). So it's also my task to be the first to applaud and acknowledge and smile. It's my task to calm him down, explain him things and pretend to understand his babble. It's my task to care for him and nurse him back to health and allay his fears. My arms always has to be open when he needs a hug. And I should be the last to reject him or deny him affection. I should be the last person unavailable to him.

Breastfeeding and Disasters

Eventhough my son is not an infant anymore, part of my relief during the trying weekeend was the fact that he is a breastfed baby. When he slipped in the floodwater and I was scared that he drank some and would get sick soon, part of me consoled myself with the fact that offering my breast will give him some sort of protection because of the antibodies and probiotics in it.

And whenever I hear on the news a plea for help because people with an infant were trapped on a roof somewhere, I pray silently... "Please God, let the baby be breastfed."

And now, there are 300,000 displaced, people who may not have a home to return to anymore to receive their holiday cards in. How many of these are babies? How many of them are breastfed? What if they are given formula without clean bottles and sterile water? Would the poor know how to properly make one? Would a scared refugee follow the specifications in the can if she's not sure where and when to get the next one? And when you're stuck somewhere and didn't breastfeed, you've just ensured that your baby will suffer possibly dire consequences.

I worry.

Maybe it's not yet too late to call some radio station later to voice this out.

*~*

Studies show that in disaster situations non-breastfed infants can be 50 times more likely to need hospital treatment than breastfed infants, and they are much more likely to die. Breastfeeding a vital disaster response: Are you ready?

*~*

The Importance of Breastfeeding During Natural Disasters

Breastfeeding saves lives in emergencies

Breastfeeding and Calamities

Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency REsponse

Breastfeeding and Emergency Situations

Breastfeeding: A crucial priority for child survival in emergencies

Rebecca Gayheart: Pregnant and Smoking

After the video leak of her and hubby McSteamy plus that Miss America, all naked and all high, I can't say am surprised that Rebecca gayheart is pregnant AND smoking. But of course, it's one annoying thing to have somebody popular doing this in public because campaigns being made against such a thing get invalidated somehow.

See Rebecca in all her pregnancy glory. I hope her child burns her for this.

Read up on Pregnancy and Smoking.

A Mommy Thing

Do you guys notice one of the quotes in my sidebar that goes something along like, "Jacket: Something a child is made to wear when his mother is feeling chilly." I love that quote because it's so true.

Every night, we sleep in an air-conditioned room. And every night, I wrap my body in my malong because I feel cold. And I struggle with my son all night, every night, because he goes around the bed, sleeping in different positions. I can't stop myself, I have to put a blanket on him, usually sharing mine (because he's slept on top of his). But that would cause him to stir in his sleep and start kicking the blanket off. The minute he feels the blanket on his feet (which I wanted to keep warm in the first place), he'd wake and protest.

But I simply cannot bear the thought that his feet will get cold (even if they're not).

And though I have been looking for those sleeper suits that come with sock-like portions, I also really don't want to use any for him because he tends to play some first before bedtime. That would just result in many slips and tumbles for my over-active child.

So every night, we have this blanket struggle dance.

Good thing we don't need an electric blanket in this tropical climate, huh? Then again, maybe if it's that cold, he'd let Mommy do the blanket thing.

Oh, and it's not that he doesn't like being warm because he absolutely forces his father to the wall sometimes, because he likes snuggling close to his Pappie.

It's My Birthday But...

... I may just ask hubs for us to go to the Expo Kids at Rockwell instead on October 03.

Yes, first off, I cannot seem to avoid sales these days. I like to shop and shop. Plus, at least, for P25/ea, our darling son will have his feel of stimulation and activities. I'll just schedule my meeting with friends some other time.

Yes, I am such a Mommy now!!!

Reorganization

MIL reorganized their home and turned the furniture layout upside down. They even switched beds, and am talking transfering beds between three rooms up and down the stairs.

Meanwhile, here at home, we had part of the ceiling fixed and re-painted. So now we're going to sleep here downstairs because our bedroom still smells of the something that my cousin used on the ceiling.

Sigh. Times like these really make me daydream more about my dream home, and polishing a stone bathroom sink and stacking plastic chests in a closet and having frosted glasses for my kids' bedroom doors. And of course, having a homeschooling nook and a yard.

Frumpy Mummy

Part of the reason why I really should start exercising soon (I still haven't hit the treadmill because I still have my period and I hate being sweaty and having my period!) is because I really don't want to be a frumpy Mommy. But in a way, I have become one. I mean, I don't even comb my hair all day when am at home! I may take a bath twice a day but you know, I wear my ragged pambahays (because really, they're the most comfy!) all the time. They may not be dasters but even tank tops and shorts can look bad on misshapen bodies. Hehe.

Good thing though I won't ever be in this position though. And I really hope to make homeschooling work so as not to deal with cliques at the school gate.

I have vowed to start combing my hair and even putting on lisptick even when am home. I have yet to keep that vow. :D

I have even stopped putting on lotion regularly. Yikes. Good thing hubby loves me but really, I shouldn't let myself go at the age of (turning) 32!!!

Mommy Shopping

I splurged yesterday. I spent some P1k I think and managed to buy the following:

2 adjustable plaid shorts for Yakee
1 belt for Yakee
1 pair of slippers for me
1 pair of shoes for a niece
Great expectations book for niece
Frankenstein book for nice
musical instruments chart for Yakee
drum for Yakee
The First Four Years book for me
Pioneer sisters book for me
Amelia Bedelia, Rocket Scientist (for both Mommy and Yakee)
Honey-scented hand wash

Yup. All that for just P1k. It helps when the books cost an average of P50 and the shorts were only P125 each. I was even kidding hubs that I may not need diet supplements at al, I can just shop till I drop as a form of exercise! :)

Oooh, I really can't wait for the Manila Book fair!!! I am going to make a list of gift recipients already so I won't forget!

Christmas Shopping

I am raring to go Christmas shopping already. I've decided to take advantage of the mega book sale going on these days. I've already bought (finally) a copy of Velveteen Rabbit :) Yakee loves the picture on the cover but does not appreciate me reading the book just yet.

I'm really hoping that OMF Lit will have their children's books on sale. And that I can find a lot of picture dictionaries and encyclopedias at the Manila Book fair. And that we can find more board books with musical instruments in it, for Yakee.

Overweight Me

My recent medical mishaps have really got me wondering about diet pills more and more. And although I don't have any plans of taking any anytime soon, the fact still remains that I am one overweight Momma who should get her act together and start dieting and exercising.

It's just simply irresponsible and inconsiderate to be getting sick when I have a toddler who needs me.

And though the allergic reaction episode wasn't due to the excess pounds, I know in my heart that the extra twenty or so pounds that am carrying for no sublime reason at all is part of why I had backpain in the first place, and why my hormones are crazier than usual, and why my reactions to the antihistamines and steroids were that exaggerated.

Unacceptable, to be so uncaring about my own health.

So now am trying to drown myself in fruits and water. Baby steps.

Cute Signing Baby

How I regret that we did not take more videos, especially when Yakee was younger and really signing a lot. Then again, if truth be told, our house is always in disarray and I never look presentable while at home... so that's really the reason, I guess.

Yey, Milk Still

I know. It's only been three days since I last nursed my darling son. But I cannot quite keep myself from feeling all giddy-happy that I still have milk! The meds have somewhat dried me up but since I stopped taking them yesterday, I need not really worry about having no milk at all for my baby!!!

Yey, yey, yey!!!

I can just imagine the delight and enthusiasm my baby will show once I let him back into the fold. But it warms my heart that he's okay just sleeping on my chest and having me caress his back as an alternative. It just goes to show that it isn't really the milk he wants or needs, but the closeness, the warmth, the beating of my heart.

Dr. Mom Baby Book Team

Just click on the picture for more details. This is the best baby accessory yet so make sure you can get it at the launch and get the P300 discount!

The Baby Book will retail for P1,800.

BSP Milk Bank

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has always been one of the government institutions that's a little more progressive. Essentially, they have the funds to be so.

Anyway, I shall copy-paste the article here in its entirety:

Bangko Sentral puts up 'milk bank' for lactating mothers
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated September 07, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - It’s a bank, but it doesn’t make loans or pay interest on deposits.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has added a new service, “milk banking,” that may not earn interest in the conventional sense but definitely yields high returns for its clients, mainly lactating female employees, officials said yesterday.

Monetary Board member Ignacio Bunye said BSP Deputy Governor Armando Suratos, who heads the Resource Management Sector, recently approved the construction and maintenance of a “milk bank” for BSP working mothers.

The milk bank or lactation room enables nursing mothers to express breast milk during office breaks, “deposit” them in the facility’s refrigerator and “withdraw” them at the end of the working day, he said.

“The BSP has taken on a new role aside from its traditional central banking activities – milk banking or the banking of milk of lactating mothers in the workplace,” Bunye said.

“Of course, the deposits do not earn any interest. But certainly, they yield high returns in terms of the improved health and general well-being of the mothers, their babies as well as improved employee morale,” he added.

Suratos, according to Bunye, said that the project is a special tribute to the unsung heroes of the workplace: “Women who choose to work to help ensure the future of their families and continue to care for their young ones at the same time.”

The recent BSP two-day “Breastfeeding Awareness Festival” has helped increase the appreciation of breastfeeding as a way of promoting a healthy life and also demonstrated that it is possible for mothers to provide the best nourishment to their children even after their maternity leaves end.

“Since she started working at the BSP last year, she has been expressing breast milk for her daughter Naima – who is now nearing two,” Bunye said, referring to his chief of staff, Jennifer Joy Ong.

Ong and Claire Mogol of the BSP’s Corporate Affairs Office, according to Bunye, have been instrumental in initiating awareness on the importance of breastfeeding at the BSP.

After getting the support of other young working mothers, the two approached Ada Cruz and Daisy Sanchez of the Human Resource Management Department’s Wellness Division and suggested the introduction of a breastfeeding awareness activity at the institution.

“Their advocacy paved the way for the approval and implementation of the milk banking project,” Bunye said.

“From the start, I had a fond preference for breastfeeding. My siblings and I were all breastfed by my mother. My mother, however, found me a little problematic. At birth, I already had two lower front milk teeth,” he said.

BSP International Sub-Sector managing director Wilhelmina Mañalac, a working mother at the BSP who fondly recalled having breastfed her three children, said in a speech during the festival that supporting breastfeeding in the workplace means supporting mothers and fathers in their goal of raising healthy, productive citizens.

“We must start giving our babies what is due them and we must help our mothers give only the best to their babies,” Mañalac said.

“The BSP official could not have said it better. Ensuring the future of these babies through breastfeeding also means ensuring our future as a society,” Bunye said. Source

The fabulous mom instrumental for this project, Jen Ong, also blogs and sells nursing accessories. Her husband runs The Stork Studio.

Heartbreak

I cried twice tonight because Yakee was giving me his sad, pondering face. It's not that he was being difficult about not being able to nurse, but he's looking so bereft and sad and lost... sigh.

So despite the drugs, I now can't sleep because am super stressed.

And it's not that I miss the nursing. If truth be told, it's actually very liberating for me to have my boobs all to myself again. But I miss the look of complete trust and surrender in my son's face and demeanor when he nurses. I miss holding him that close that many times in a day. And I certainly don't want to relinquish the power of nursing as a cure-all for anything that will scare and hurt him. Sigh.

I have a plan. If I still have milk and he's still interested after i've taken all the meds, I will nurse him again. But I will only nurse him during the day and not anymore at night. So we'd prevent dental carries too. But I will introduce meme as the alternative sleeping, soothing ritual in exchange of the milk. I hope it works. :)

Tainted Milk Spreads

China's tainted milk spreads while Chinese courts are dishing out punishments.

I can't help but think of the many goods from China finding its way to Divisoria. And people do buy these Chinese products because they're cheap. So imagine just how many poor babies are being given tainted formula... and their parents may never suspect that it's the milk that's causing their babies' health problems.

Skip to my Lou

Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Lost my partner, what'll I do
Lost my partner, what'll I do
Lost my partner, what'll I do
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

I'll find another one, prettier, too.
I'll find another one, prettier, too.
I'll find another one, prettier, too.
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Can't get a red bird, blue bird'll do.
Can't get a red bird, blue bird'll do.
Can't get a red bird, blue bird'll do.
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou
Skip to my Lou, my darling!

Flies in the sugarbowl, shoo, shoo, shoo.
Flies in the sugarbowl, shoo, shoo, shoo.
Flies in the sugarbowl, shoo, shoo, shoo.
Skip to my Lou, my darling!
Source

I learned this song from watching too much of Brainy Baby Music video. And then I realized that it's a classic song because other singers have their own versions. I didn't understand the song, I thought the Lou was spelled as LOO and that it was an English children's rhyme.

I was surprised to know that it was actually a folk song, and something that was popular during the time of homesteading and pioneers and crossing prairies. And that it was American. However, it turns out Lou means "love" or "sweetheart" :)

reference

Sad, Touching Commercial

It's really a tragedy for a child not to know his parents. And an even bigger tragedy for parents to never know theirs.

Manic Digiscrapping

Because of the recent pics taken of the Monkey Kids, I am manic digiscrapping. It was great that they were all dressed up and hammit it up for the cameras. It's even a lot easier to get them all to smile for the cam now.

Great thing my hard disk is great and I have some sort of online storage in my Smugmug account. I really don't know what will happen if I ever lose my pictures. And pictures really seem to say more after they're digiscrapped. Mind you, am no great shakes at it, which is why I love freebie kits.

I made some layouts for a friend who's a new Mom. I love digiscrapping for newborns and girls!!!

Lourdes' Like a Virgin Pose

Madonna's firstborn is coming into her own... and could she be following in her mother's footsteps too? The little girl has been joining her mother onstage and recently recreated mommy's Like a Virgin pose.



Am not quite sure whether I like it or not. Sure she's cute and looks a lot like Mommy Madonna... but I dunno. Madonna has started disturbing me lately with her choices.

Source: babyrazzi

Postponed EB

Supposedly, Plurk Moms are meeting at Mega Mall today for some gab fest from lunch to heaven knows when. Unfortunately, two suddenly had important family affairs, another one's child got sick and another one's Mom is being threatened by cancer. I decided to call it off so that we can all just focus on where we have to be (in my case, since they were supposed to cheer me up from missing hubs, that would be at National Bookstore).

I know that Plurk is not a chat software per se but we've been using it as one. And yes, it helps that our Twitter, Facebook, Multiply and even Friendster (I think) accounts all get updated too with our plurks. I love Plurk. And i've come to depend on the social life I get from it, even if I have to make do with EBs that are few and far between.

Some Germs Is Good

Moms want the best for their children. And we all want to protect them from harm. The boom in bottled water is testament to that. Before, we'd only boil tap water for their ees, now people boil mineral or distilled water. Some even buy the Dr. Edward's kind that costs twice for the same amount.

Unfortunately, too much of a good thing can be too much as well. Nobody wants diarrhea to serve as a colon cleanser to tots who don't need one but some of those who grow up with super sterile evrything end up being hit the worst by common germs. So easing your child into less sterile stuff may do him good. I don't mean parents should feed them mice droppings and the like, but easing them into plain mineral water (or even tap water if it's proven safe) and introducing foods prepared in different ways can be a start. Also, at a certain point, ease up on disinfecting his toys with alcohol. And do allow them to play in the sand.

Nursing In Public

Just would like to share a helpful article on Nursing in Public written by a fellow LATCHer.

*~*

I only really had an issue about breastfeeding in public when I was doing it the irst few times, and mostly because I didn't want to embarass my husband about his wiffe being so exposed.

I later realized that I wasn't really that exposed anyway... because my son's head covers my breasts. And pervert is the person who will stare :D So I stopped using my breastfeeding bras and just lifted my shirt/top and used my old brassieres. And I took to heart what the LATCH women said: to make it part of our advocacy to bring back nursing in public to our culture.

Breastfeed for the Right Reasons

Image Source: Google

Oh and if it's not too much to ask, please Be a LATCH Fan in Facebook.

Spanking Out Of Fear

I was ashamed of what I did. Spanking because I was scared was wrong but I was really, really mad with fear when my son tried climbing up to where the stove is to watch eggs boiling. He could have had a serious accident.

I screeched and started shaking there and then. Fortunately, I only gave my son one good smack and had the presence o mind to put him down already. He cried but more because of hearing me screech :D

But really, after the spanking, I felt so bad. I think my blood pressure shot up because I had the shakes for almost an hour, I felt nauseous and dizzy and I had a pounding headache. Stress. Major stress. And guilt. My mind need not tell me I did something awful because my body was already doing the telling.

Sigh.

Thankfully, my son was sweeter after the episode. I think his guardian angel told him that Mommy loved him still and wrong it might have been, my reaction was still purely out of love for him.

But yes, I have revisited my parenting ways so I could be a better one.

*~*

Karma struck when one of my son's favorite books struck a nerve on my foot and resulted in major swelling and limping and pain and discomfort over the long weekend.