It's been too long!

I can't believe I haven't posted anything here since I gave birth. And I can't believe it's been almost 9 months since Raya arrived. Seems only yesterday that I posted her 4d scans and wrote about my delivery preparations.  

It's been quite a ride. I've learned a lot of things and discovered a lot about myself since becoming a mom. Can't say all the lessons were easy but I can say all were worth it. And I'm still learning! I guess there's no stopping since this IS a lifetime job. Hehe.  

It's such a cliche to talk about the wonders of motherhood that I hesitate to dedicate this entire post for it because I'm sure wiser, more experienced moms would have more to say about that than me (Sidenote: I just saw my daughter munching on another piece of paper she picked up by the bed so can you tell I haven't entirely baby-proofed our bedroom?! 'Told you, I still have a lot to learn.). Don't get me wrong -- motherhood really is WONDERFUL. Just watching all the new tricks Raya can do now and the amazing little person she's turning out to be gives me all the warm, fuzzy feelings every parent has probably talked about at least once. But I'd like this long overdue post to be more of a source of support or information for first-time moms who are less-than-certain that they're on the right track as I was and still, sometimes am. I've been lucky because I have an amazing support system starting from my husband, to both our families but taking care and raising a baby really is more of a journey that every mom has to make by herself since it is her primary responsibility to care for her little one, right? And you will encounter some form of criticism along the way and there will be times when all you have is your gut to go by. So if you find something to relate to in some of the things I'll be jotting down here, then I'd have done my good deed for today. :)

My parenting style AND the decisions I make for Raya may be different from some people but I'd like to say that this is MY style and you're welcome to comment or suggest but you're also welcome to go to another page if some of them offend you or your values. Hehe. After all, this is my diary. 

So anyway, if I were to compile a list of some of the things that I've lived by (or I'd wish I had done) during my entire pregnancy and the first few months of Raya's life, it would include some of these things: 

1.  Don't eat for two when you're pregnant. 

By the time your baby is born, her tummy will only be the size of a marble so there's really no need for her to eat a lot, especially not while she's inside you (She won't be eating through her mouth even.). So all that food and weight gain not only puts you and your pregnancy at greater risk, it also makes getting back in shape doubly hard. 

I was almost 200 lbs. at full-term that means I gained more than 50 lbs. the entire pregnancy. I was bloated. I felt ugly and the last trimester felt like hell. I have lost most of the weight since then but if I hadn't gone past the 30 lb. recommended weight gain for preggo women, I would've been back to my pre-pregnancy size now. 

2. Read and research. 

If you can go and learn a lot about other things, wouldn't you do the same for your most important job? Information is the only thing a first-time mom can bring to the table as far as having a baby is concerned so read up. Also, babies naturally attract well-meaning, unsolicited caregiving advice from other people so sifting through what works, what's scientifically sound and what's not is basically made easier if you're well informed.

A lot of things that were generally accepted practices in the past have been proven to be dangerous now and if you're well-informed you'll be able to make the right choices. Read up on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Nutrition, Medication, Vitamins, Well Baby Indicators, Infant Gear, etc. Buy books, go on legit baby care sites like KellyMom, La Leche League, etc.   

3. Breastfeed. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women breast feed their babies at least for the first two years and then for as long as it is mutually desired. We all know the WHO isn't made up of a bunch of yahoos who just make random recommendations so therefore, they must be coming from an informed standpoint when they say this. 

And if you do your research, you will find NO medical findings that say that formula is superior or even equal to the benefits that breast feeding gives your child. Breast milk has 400 nutrients present in it that have yet to be copied by formula. It also changes its composition according to YOUR child's needs, plus it's clean, safe, always available and FREE! 

Only 1% of women in the whole world can not breast feed for physical reasons but everyone can and will produce enough milk for their child. How else would your ancestors have fed all the generations before you if women did not produce enough milk for their children? Think about it. As long as your baby sucks and feeds, you WILL have milk.  

I'm very passionate about this because I really believe it gives your kids the best start in life. In fact, I think I'll be dedicating a post just for this. And with the advent of effective breast pumps and all, working women have so much options now that breast feeding and having a career is possible! 

Lastly, I'd just like to add that as of writing this: My 8 and a half month-old baby has never had any serious upper respiratory problems, never had a fever, never had diaper rash and is almost always two weeks early in her developmental milestones. She's also very lean and siksik -- not overweight. We've also never had to worry about allergies, running out of milk in the middle of the night, sterilizing numerous bottles (unless I pump and leave her) and milk going bad. I've also lost almost 50 lbs in 7 months just by breast feeding alone (no diet or regular exercise). Need I say more? :)

4. Co-sleep. 

This is more "controversial" than breast feeding because some people agree with it, and some don't. They don't think it's safe and I understand there are risks but in my experience, Raya slept more soundly beside me than she ever did in the crib, and I never got too exhausted too because I never had to fully wake up in the middle of the night for a feeding since I just had to turn to my side and breast feed her. It was just a matter of emotional attachment and convenience for the two of us. :)

5. Talk to your baby. 

Talk, talk, talk. It'll make her more responsive and maybe let her talk earlier. Hehe.

6. Don't buy too much stuff. Buy according to her needs, as they come.

I didn't buy too much clothes for Raya and I was lucky that a lot of people gave her gifts or hand-me-downs that she still uses 'till now so I didn't exactly have to shop a lot for her layette. Though I did buy a lot of feeding bottles which I now regret. I bought them as insurance thinking that in case breast feeding didn't go too well, I'd have them ready. Now, I realize I should've bought only 3-5 bottles and used the money for something else like a breast pump which I eventually had to buy or a high chair (which Mom and Dad gifted us with). But hey, not all is lost, I could hand them down to family members who'd have their kids though I'd hope they'd try and breast feed too. :)

7. Take time off, if you can, when the baby arrives.

I know, I'm lucky I've been able to put off working until now and I know not all CAN do the same thing and that's understandable but if you can, do it. Because this time of your life and that of your baby's is absolutely precious. :)

8. Take care of your partner too.

Taking care of a baby can be overwhelming and it's easy to feel pressured and overworked, especially if you don't have a yaya and the easiest target for your exhaustion-induced temper would be your partner. So take care of your relationship too. :)

I'm sure there are a lot of other things I can say about this but I'll have to write a novel by then. I've already been so presumptuous as to write something like this but like I said, if it helps others, then it's good enough for me. :)

Till the next post! 

       

Ripping off RJ's Ultimate Lasagna Post-to-be

RJ's been so busy with a host of other things that he hasn't been able to update any of his posts...and I can't hold it in anymore! Haha! So I'll be preempting just one of his posts lined up for publishing just to give you all a sneak peak into what he had in store for us last Sunday. 

Ate Rona (and his many fans, hehehe), he finally worked on that Ultimate Lasagna request! And it was supah dupah delish!!!

Most of the pictures are in my Multiply site: http://mavsalmeda.multiply.com but just to provide a glimpse of what RJ's genuis has brought forth now, here are some too! 

Anyhoo, you'll have to stay tuned to HIS blog for the complete recipe but in a nutshell (since I'm such a blabbermouth and I can't resist posting this), what he did wasn't your regular, classic, run-of-the-mill Lasagna. He put together this amazing concoction of classic italian sausages, tomatoes, tomato concasse, olives, garlic, onions and his very own, Swiss cheese fondue! 

Yum, yum, yum!!!  Gastronomic delight indeed! 

We had it with garlic bread and a bottle of Shiraz (well, they had the Shiraz, not me. :)) and it's best served piping hot, by the way! 

Hope you guys could sample it soon! 

Isn't she lovely?

We finally had our 4D scan done! RJ and I had been pondering whether to have it performed even with our OB-GYN's referral because it's quite costly but now, we're glad we did. The experience was totally worth it. 

We wanted to stay hooked forever to that fancy machine that showed us spectacular images of our baby moving, writhing, sleeping and grimacing (yes! she's quite suplada! hehe.) but Raya was already acting up around 20 minutes into the scan because the probe was probably disturbing her nap. The images showed her crossing her brows and making faces at us. And her sleeping with her mouth open. Hehe. But she was sooo cute. :)

I was a bit anxious at first, always asking the OB doing the scan whether she could see any problems, but she said so far, everything looked in order. She's actually average-sized, around 6 lbs. so that means all those chocolate bars and night binges are just all going to me. Hehe. At least that does something for my chances at a straightforward normal delivery. 

We really can't make out if she looks more like me or Arj but her nose looks quite high and pointy (Yay!) and she has very chubby cheeks! The Doc also said she looks singkit and she may have my lips (Don't ask me how she figured that out. She's supposed to be the expert. Hehe.). She also says, the images would've been of better quality if I had more amniotic fluid (since I'm full term, it has considerably diminished by now) and if she wasn't so big as to attach herself to the placenta at times (that's the cloudy part of the image by the way) but considering I'm nearing the D-date, she says we were still lucky Raya was still up to striking a few poses for Mommy and Daddy. 

Anyhoo, here are a couple of snapshots I took of the printed scans. We have yet to claim the DVD of Raya in utero that comes with the package we availed so we'll have to do with these Black and White images for now. Aah, the wonders of technology. :) 

Raya sleeping peacefully 

Raya sleeping with her mouth open :)

Raya acting up later on during the scan :)

Isn't she just precious? We think she's absolutely perfect. :)

 

  

An Update on Raya's Ride

As posted earlier, RJ and I intended to get one of the new Graco Travel Systems for Raya, in lieu of the recalled Chicco lines. But all efforts were to no avail. Joy scouted major stores in the States and she couldn't get the models we asked for. Her only other option would have been to go and buy online but the delivery wouldn't be able to catch up with her departure date! So it was AGAIN back to the drawing board for us. The stroller business was turning out to be really trying...

Joy and her sister-in-law, Trin, were nice enough to suggest other brands like Stoke and Orbit but they were way too expensive for us (even if they looked uber cool!), so we just thought of getting our travel system here in the P.I. 

Stoke Travel System

Orbit Travel System (around 800$-1000$)

We figured we could just check the manufacturing date for Chicco items anyway as their press statement said and check if that particular base was part of the recall. We could take that risk at least. The only downside really is paying a little extra than we would've in the U.S.

And so off to the baby stores we trotted and began our quest for the perfect alternative Ride for Raya...and it was not in vain!  

We were able to buy a Chicco KeyFit travel system whose manufacturing date was not within the recalled batch, and we got it at 10% off too! We got it from Baby and Co. in Powerplant Mall (It was a thousand bucks cheaper than in Rustan's, before the discount.). Incidentally, if you're looking to buy some kids' stuff this would be a nice place to look because they give you an automatic ten percent off on ALL items if you agree to register for a baby shower, 1st birthday or christening, which I did even if there really was no baby shower to register for anymore. Hehe. A tiny, white lie for this...

And the great thing about getting it here too is that it comes assembled already! So that saves me and Arj a lot of poring over the instructions manual and a lot of arguing. Hehe! Such control freaks we can be...

It was manufactured last year so the latch of this car seat base isn't defective as those made between February and March of this year. 

It's not the Chicco Cortina Explorer that we originally wanted, but we still love the sleek design of the KeyFit. RJ brags it's because it's an Italian brand! Hehe. It's also really easy to maneuver and carry around. Everyone, including Mom and Dad, were psyched with all the features.

Forgive my over-eager husband, the pose...

Plus, we got Raya a rockin' stroller cushion for her to lie in when she rides this new baby. There were other designs with pink elephants and other cute, dainty prints. But she's too cool for that. We know already.  :)

ONE MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 

Another Pleasant Surprise

Woke up to a phone call from Dad asking about a Graco playard that appeared with Kris Aquino (of all people, yes, hehe) in Yes! Magazine and since I was still feeling a bit woozy, I couldn't figure out what exactly he was referring to. As the conversation went on though, I realized that he was asking if we ever considered getting a playard/playpen for Raya. 

I said we thought of getting one but because she already had a crib, we figured we may not be able to maximize it. Plus I thought, getting a Pack 'N Play these days can get pretty steep, ranging from 7k to 10k, so it wasn't really on our priority list. Not to say that we didn't want one because it would allow us certain conveniences like a ready sleeping place for her during out-of-town trips (Pansol? Hehe.) and for moving her around the different rooms in the house with ease (Bedroom to Master's Bedroom to Living Room, etc.).

Anyhow, Dad was saying there was a person from work selling him a slightly used (more like barely used we figured later on) Graco Playard for a very reasonable price. And I could only go "Oh okay." But he said he wasn't sure how much these things usually go for or how useful they were, and so...the phone call ended there. At that point I wasn't sure why he was calling but I figured he was probably gauging whether we wanted or needed one. Didn't know he was planning to actually get one. 

So, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that a charming Pack 'N Play was waiting for us when we got back from dance practice in Blue Ridge! The color was a little boyish (denim blue and red) but also practical because the material looked easy to clean and maintain. It also looked brand new! Even the wheels and the aluminum and plastic parts were virtually scratch-free! 

Graco Contour Electra Deluxe Pack 'N Play

AND the best part about playards these days? They can fold to the size of big duffel bags, not like the huge, inflexible ones we had when I was a kid. So we can lug it around practically anywhere! PLUS! They come with hanging animal toys, a vibration device (for soothing baby) and a control pad that lets you turn on a night light or choose among different sounds like soothing music and nature sounds. Dad loves this feature by the way. He actually takes the pad out of the playard to check out the different musical selections. :) 

There's also a changing table (complete with a counter for diaper wipes and other changing/cleaning-up implements) and a bassinet with a canopy for your little one. 

Talk about major convenience! Now, it's almost as if we have another crib for Raya! Another great accessory for our coming Angel! Thanks so much Dad! :)

 

   

Hooray!

We finally succeeded in getting the better part of our "clearing and cleaning" done in preparation for the refurbishing of our room! And I must say this is something short of a milestone for me since I've really been feeling woozy and sluggish the past week (must be the hormones going haywire again). In fact, I was beginning to worry I wouldn't be able to see any of the things in my to-do list through to completion because of my erratic moods and fluctuating energy levels. I really can't wait to deliver. It's getting a little cumbersome, carrying my belly around and negotiating my weight and size every time I move. Hay. Raya, be an angel and arrive at the soonest possible time! Hehe. 

It's also another good thing that my Lola came over to help start the overhaul. I think her fluttering about and supervising the "operations" helped me avoid slacking off the rest of the afternoon.  

That's not to say that the stuff we unearthed weren't interesting and enough to get me going. A lot of it was trash sure, but some were also little treasures. RJ found pics of him from his Les Roches days and he was more than happy to brag about how thin he was then! Haha! But it's true. He couldn't have been any more than 160 lbs! And he actually had a long neck! Hehehe! 

We also found pictures of him and old girlfriends and (oh-so-mushy) love letters. Hehehe. This isn't really a problem for me because I also keep souvenirs from the past and I like browsing them from time to time. ;) I even suggested that he returned part of the album to the party involved because some of them were childhood pictures, and if I were her, I'd want 'em back, diba?!

But really, the find of the day was an old toy camera from his dad's exploratory photography days! We're not sure if it's still working but I'm interested to see if we can still get it up and running by a vintage camera repair shop in Manila. I'd been wanting to get my hands on old film cameras to try and play with them and see what kind of images would turn up...maybe it's just me missing production work or "feeling creative". Hehe. But I really can't wait to get the old thing a'workin! 

I wonder what sort of other treasures we'll be unearthing in the days to come. Hihihi. But one thing's for sure, I'll be posting pics the next time! 

Now, I gotta catch some zzz's. I'm exhausted from all the sorting and packing. I think the dust also triggered my allergies that's why my eyes are feeling a little heavy...Till the next post.

Meet Raya!

Surfing the Internet is one of my favorite occupations. I would say pastime except that I do it so often, it hardly qualifies as a hobby anymore. I browse all kinds of sites and I read all kinds of stuff that sometimes, even RJ wonders whether I don't get information or sensory overload from all the surfing, clicking and browsing that I do. Needless to say, I think the Internet is the best invention ever. Hehe. Next to Ziplock, that is. 

Anyhoo, in one of my internet exploits, I stumbled upon this cool site: www.morphthing.com where you can morph the faces of famous celebrities together (reminds me of a hilarious segment in Late Night with Conan O'Brien, If They Mated) or better yet, register for free and upload your own pics and morph them together. Naturally, with our baby coming, I took the liberty of uploading some of our headshots to see what she would actually look like. The results were, well...very interesting. Hahaha. 

Guys and gals, meet Raya (or at least an approximation of her):

I've been getting mixed reactions to this image. Some say she's pretty, some say she just looks downright weird. Haha. I say she still looks like RJ. Parang pinagbigyan lang yung ibang features ko. :) It'll be interesting to see how she actually turns out. We love her already anyway. Hehe. 

As for how she'll look as a baby, I'm not sure. I don't think morphing baby images will be successful using MorphThing. So you'll just have to do your own mental morphing. Here are some of our pics to help. Hehe. 

Young Mavie (perched on top of cousin, Joe)

Young RJ (with Mommy Vkyh)

Thoughts, people? :)