My mother and I has this constant battle, the friendly battle, everytime Kate's new tooth erupts. My daughter would be irritable, with decrease appetite and fever. She would insist that it was caused by the tooth eruption. Being a doctor, we would always dismiss this thought. Irritable and with decrease appetite maybe, but the fever would always cause a debate.

When her fever got to the fifth day, she developed erythematous papular rashes (raised red rashes) on her trunk. I just had to bring her to the laboratory and later to her Pedia. I could get the blood sample myself but I couldn't stand her looking at me teary-eyed so I had to let the med tech do it.

Turns out she had viral exanthem (is a widespread rash usually occurring in children) Thank goodness.

While her Pedia was writing his notes, I just had to ask.

Me: "Doc, nagfe-fever ba talaga pag lumalabas ang ngipin ng babies?"

Pedia: (with a grin) "Hindi naman." (smiles)

Hearing that I was excited to tell my mom who was waiting in the van with my eldest daughter Reese. I told her. Knowing my mom, she wasn't about to let it go.

When we got home, I still wasn't contented so I opened my Nelson's Pedia Book and read it again.

Children who are teething often present with irritability, decrease appetite and low-grade fever. Remedies would include pain relievers or teethers to help soothe the pain.

Reading it let me speechless. I think I missed this part.

So I guess mother really know best! Now the debate would finally be over for me and my mom :)

Home and Crocodile Park

As I have mentioned in my previous post, I was inspired to take photos when I stumbled upon iheartfaces.com. They give you a quick tutorial on the basics of photography. Plus, they had an article on great apps for my iphone. They also introduced me to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. It's not as easy as they tell you but it's a food application.

So when we had another visit at Crocodile Park, I was happy clicking my camera looking for good shots. I've also included photos taken at home. Some I took, and some by my daughter Reese. I must say, she's got some talent.

Some of the photos are in their original colors, some I had to tweak a bit to make them more dramatic.

My daughter, kate, sleeping.

Using the bathroom in between swimming in the kiddie pool. She just had to go. hahaha

And then they woke up. Happy being photographed!

Kate saw this at the butterfly park and I just had to take a shot.

Reese loves looking at this pond. She always stops by before circling the butterfly park.

Having fun on the slides and swings.

Something to take my mind off of things

I found this great website (iheartfaces.com) while browsing through my favorite blogs. It has so many tips on how to get good photos. Even us non-professionals can do them too. You might wanna check it out if you're into photography.

For me, I just love taking pictures. I don't have the skills and the gift but that's why we have brains right? TO LEARN...

Enjoy...

Options

Last night, hubby and I had a deep conversation. I explained to him that I wanted to start saving up for our home. Yes we are living at my parents' house. Here's the situation, hubby is still in residency training. To those who said that being a doctor will make you rich is full of crap. His pay is not that well. Needless to say, I had to resort to some other things to make ends meet for the kids, go moonlighting, start my business and some other things. But this isn't enough for a house of our own.

I was to start my adjunctship but I cancelled because I knew that I could not give my 100% to my job, let alone wake up in the middle of the night to attend to some sick patient and being pregnant at the same time. Yes I am 21 weeks on the way and having all sorts of aches and pains that will not go away unless the baby comes out, which is another 4 months. I was planning to continue with the adjunctship later this year but now, I'm having second thoughts. I told him about it and I knew he would not be so happy since we both want to specialize in the field of our own.

As we were weighing things out, we went for the bigger picture. Sure hubby is in his last year in surgery, but there's still the diplomate exam and the subspecialty training which would make us poorer that I could imagine. We had a lot of obligations, to our kids and to ourselves. Living with my folks after marriage was never my plan.

Personally I would love to go into residency training. But looking at the kids, thinking of leaving them with the nanny and still living here with my parents, makes me wanna try harder for something else. But I'm still looking around and weighing my options. Will see...

What I'm Loving Right Now

So yesterday I bought myself Nutraganics Smoothing Night Cream from The Body Shop, added another item to my new routine. It's still the same consistency as my day cream, and same smell.

Plus, I got a free membership and they gave me a freebie, the Vitamin E moisture cream and Vitamin E toner which I'm loving also.

It's not stingy and it doesn't have a strong smell.

My Take on Washing Cloth Diapers

When my eldest was born, I was confronted with stacking pile of disposable diapers that cost me more than I expected. Newborns poop and pee almost every 2 hours, same time as they feed, almost every 2 hours. In fact, most of the time I noticed that after every feed they poop or they pee. SO then I decided to try cloth diapers. I used to think they were still the same as how my cousins we're clothed. Oh boy was I surprised. Turned out that there were cloth diapers that looked like disposable diapers. SO I bought a pack of Tushy from next9. That was the first time and then more followed, from different brands. Why so many brands? I like to see what other options there are.

Sure they include a care instructions at the back. But they don't include to tell you that there's more to it that just washing it. Just like stubborn stains, pee stain sticks. and you can see it 'cuz it stains yellow.

Over the months, I have developed a system that worked for me and over the ears, my system have been, tried, tested and improved. Here is how we do it at home:

1. I prepare 2 buckets filled with soap and water. One for the colored and the other one for the whites. (I do put bleach a little bit. This helps get rid of stubborn stains. I use the cap to measure the amount of bleach I use.)

2. After each use, I separate the outer layer and inner layer, wash them with water and put them in the buckets and let them soak. I do this for all the used diapers.

3. By night time when my buckets are full, I wash them and hang them dry.

4. For those with stubborn stains, I let them soak overnight. By morning I wash them and hang them dry together with the other diapers.

5. If you prefer to wash them in the morning together with your other laundry that's also alright. I like to do mine at night so by morning all I do is hang them under direct sunlight.

6. By afternoon, my diapers are dry and the inserts are ready t be ironed.

How about you, how do you wash your cloth diapers???

Something to look forward to in October!!!

Here's a treat for the whole family. Expo Mom Davao!!!

Yep this will be the first time Expo Mom is coming to our city. Isn't it nice that we get to be a part of something wonderful?!

Is it separation anxiety or is she becoming too clingy???

I've noticed for the past few days that my daughter has been too clingy. I'm 4 months pregnant (19 weeks) and I don't move much since my tummy has been contracting, much to me and my OB's surprise. So most of the time I stay in our bedroom and let the children play downstairs in the living room. Though I never close my door so I can listen to them, I can hear her say, "Mommy yaya, mommy." She knew I wasn't going anywhere and she knew I was in the bedroom. Even though she just left the bedroom about 5 mins prior, she'd come back again to look for me.

And during night time, she'd always want to sleep beside me. Even though I have a 1 year old who also needs my attention, we end up moving the 1 year old closer to hubby so she can sleep beside me. She cries when she notices that she's beside hubby instead of me.

I've tried to weigh things whether it was going to be for awhile but it wasn't. Now they're visiting my in-laws and she's insisting on coming home and she's looking for me.

I've always encouraged her to be independent, to let her play what she wants. Maybe she's feeling alienated since I don't play with her much since my pregnancy.

When she wakes up in the morning, she just asks if she could watch TV, then she let's me sleep a few more mins. When I open my eyes and caresses her face, she smiles. And when I tell her we're going to the living room, she tells me, "c'mon mommy. let's go mommy."

Such a sweet child!

I'm growing

I feel like I've grown bigger as I discover the wonderful world of blogging. I get to meet people, maybe not in person, but I do get to communicate with them. I don't know if this is way better than writing on a journal but I get to socialize. yay!!!

In this times of technology, I should always be a step ahead right?! SO what better way than to socialize through the world wide web.

Lovely day for a swim

My kids love their pool. Even though it deflates all by itself from time to time:) When they are in the pool, they eat more, they tire more and they smile more.

Here they are with their trusted yayas. They've been with me thru thick and thin.

Here they are after a day full of fun and play.

Mano po...

When my eldest was growing up, she had a lot of people around her teaching her all sorts of things. But with mother always on the side, everyone was careful with what they were saying.

Every time hubby got home from work, he would always tell her, "bless daddy.." Looking at her then, she had no clue what it meant. It went on every night. Although I never really asked her to do that to me since I'm always on her side.

When I got pregnant with my second daughter, I had to send her to my parents' place. I had nausea and round the clock vomiting, had to be admitted in the hospital 'cuz I wasn't taking anything. I didn't know then if it would stuck to her what hubby was trying to teach her.

When she came back during the weekends, I was amazed how she tried to take my hand and do the mano po. As it turned out, yaya was teaching her good manners while they were away.

I'm so glad I have people around me who thinks of my kids as their own family and not just someone they had to take care because they are paid to do so.

Product Review: Baby Jills Cloth Diapers (1SF3) Part 2

So we tried it out, on both my 1 year old and my almost 3 year old. One thing I noticed on both of them is that if it's not too tight, it's too loose. The buttons are too far apart. So it's either we snap the buttons more on the left or more on the right to tighten it up.

If it was to be a one-size-fits-all, the buttons should be able to overlap to make it tighter for a newborn.

On the other hand, the designs are nice.

And just look at my daughter smiling:) Wouldn't you say she loves her diapers?!

Update: April 16, 2011

I was just in talk with the makers of this diaper for some changes and they've agreed to do some changes. Will keep you posted for the new changes and having tried it out. Fingers crossed!

Product Review: Babyland Cloth Diapers

This one we've tried. I've been very curious with this so when we finally got it, I had to try it on my toddler who refuses to go to the bathroom.

This is a one size fits all type of cloth diaper.

The outside is made of PUL material.

The Slit for the insert is just enough.

The inside is made of microfleece.

The insert is made of 3-layer microfiber superabsorbent cloth.

It has snap buttons which I love.

My daughters has no complaints either and they love wearing it.

If you would like to get yourself a piece, you can order it online by clicking here.

Product Review: Baby Jills Cloth Diapers (1SF3) Part 1

I was so surprised that the package came early. I found it cute looking at it online, it was even cuter when i got hold of it.

This is our waterproof one size fits three (1SF3) diaper. It's a bit bulky as compared to other cloth diapers.

The opening where you put your insert is very wide. I'm hoping the insert won't move out of place.

The insert is made of microfleece which is different from other cloth diapers.

The diaper is made of snap buttons which I love.

And best of all, it has cartoon character on it's back.

We'll try it on to my kids when they arrive and after I've pre-washed them.

So will be keeping you posted guys.

Cordlife

I was in college when i first heard about stem cells. But back then, fetus don't get to live once it's harvested. At least that's how it was portrayed in documentaries and movies. Now, it's harvested only at the time of giving birth and the technique is safe for mommies and babies.

Once baby is separated from the placenta and the umbilical cord is cut, only the cord blood is harvested and stored. It takes about 3 minutes to do the harvesting.

I never really thought about it again until my OB suggested it. As a doctor, I always wanted to be prepared for my family. And hearing that it has progressed far from what i used to know, made me so happy. But of course, it comes at a price.

She gave me 3 choices: India, Singapore and UP. Of course I chose UP. It's closer to home. Then i asked how much, "P50,000 or more" I was told. Expecting a hundred thousand or more, this was enough for me. Of course the problem now is how to save up for just that. But considering what it could do should the need arises, I am definitely going for it.

If you wanna know more, you can visit their site at www.cordlife.com/ph.

Furious!!!

So last night before closing my eyes, I was browsing through my fb account. I stumbled upon this video posted by a friend of mine in his account. Caption was something like "Mother's Luv", and that 'one' should definitely view it. I was hoping to see, as the caption said, a mother's love.

I was so disgusted when I saw a mother kicking her, I think, 2 year old child while giving her a bath and pushing water down her throat. I was so furious that I wanted to punch her in the face right at that moment. I couldn't finish watching it 'cuz it was making me so furious.

Why would anyone bring a child into this world and just treat them like that??? A message to women who doesn't want the responsibility of raising kids... Don't get pregnant!!!

Product Review: Leyende Shampoo and Conditioner

Every time i get pregnant, i get so paranoid with the products i'm using. So in my first trimester, aside from being so picky with the smells, i wanted to use organic products.

I tried leyende shampoo and their conditioner. I was hoping that the scent won't be that strong. But was I mistaken!

The scent was too strong for my picky nose. Plus hubby seem to confirm what i was smelling. so maybe the scent was really strong. But they did make my hair soft and smooth.