Mommy Diaries

My pregnancy at 32 weeks

2009-11-13T11:36:00.000+08:00

I'm in my 32 weeks of pregnancy and I must say, it is taking its toll on me. I always feel tired even after waking up in the morning. Sleeping is not doing anything worthwhile for me because I only end up with painful ribs, sore muscles, back pains, leg cramps and difficulties in breathing. Believe it or not, I even get cramps on the arch of my left foot. First time I've experienced it. My first pregnancy was quite better than this one, except maybe for my ribs.
My first pregnancy was like 10 years ago. It felt like I was on my first since I've already forgotten how it feels like when you are in your last trimester.
The 7th month was pretty much OK. I didn't quite experience a handful of discomforts, but this time, whew! The 8th month is so not good.
My baby girl is kicking quite often now. Although it is not that painful, she is surely giving me quite a discomfort. Sometimes, it would feel like she's stretching and waving her hands and she would kick my ribs and my bladder. I just get surprised every time she does that.
I also experience short bouts of contractions. My tummy feels hard to the touch but it would only last for a few seconds. Usually, deep breathing and resting would relieve it.
I get easily tired whenever I walk even a shot distance. Once in a while I have fainting sensations as soon as Is top walking. My legs would also feel tight. There would be pronounced swelling on my ankle although it is only temporary.
I started visiting my doctor every two weeks. That would be until I am on my last term of pregnancy. I also had a tetanus toxoid shot. The doctor said it would be given in three doses with four-week intervals.
I just feel generally tired throughout the day. I can't even concentrate at work because of the aches and pains especially on my back. Not to mention, I also feel sleepy upon arriving at the office.It takes a lot of effort to fight back the sleepiness.
Can't wait for my little bundle of joy to come out. I know that I won't get enough sleep after she comes out but I'm ready for that. It sure beats a tired and stressful day when you see the prettiest smile of a baby eager for your hug and kisses.

"Our dreams will never die"

2009-09-29T17:43:00.001+08:00

This Lucky Me noodles commercial about a boy, who went home crying because he failed a basketball try-out used to amuse me. I find it funny and cute at the same time.
However, recently, my 10-year old boy was in the same situation. After two consecutive weeks of "rigorous" basketball training, muscle aches and pains, the day came when the names of those who made it in the team was announced.
One Saturday morning, my boy came home, all flushed and sweaty, with his face very rosy from the heat and probably from disappointment.
I could not forget the look on his face the moment he entered the house. He immediately ranted about how unfair the try-out was, telling me most of those who passed did so only because they have older brothers in the high school basketball team.
Then came the moment when he can't hold back his tears any longer, he tried but I could see the disappointment and pain in his eyes that he was one of those who failed to make it to the team.
How it just broke my heart to see him cry. It was not just like any other crying bouts where children just cry because they could not get what they wanted.
It was a cry where all the bitterness, disappointment and a broken dream just came out all out once. I can't help but cry myself seeing my child undergo the first of his "heartaches".
I had to usher him inside the room and talk to him to comfort him and soothe him of his pain. No amount of words, hugs and kisses seemed to take the pain away as he continued pouring his heart out.
He stopped crying and ranting after around a few minutes and finally said "yes" to my offer of going on a trip to the mall.
This happened a month ago, and just like what the mom said to his little boy in the commercial, "Never say die", "Tomorrow is another day" and "Our dreams will never die", my boy has finally accepted the reality.
And just like the boy in the commercial, he faces yet another challenge and another opportunity of achieving another feat. He will be competing for the "Science quiz bee" in their school today, and I sure expect that when I come home from work later, I will be greeted with a smile on his face and probably a medal or prize plus a cheerful recount of how he managed to make it through the "tough" competition.

Preemies may develop cerebral palsy if given steroids

2009-09-29T13:28:00.000+08:00

I have been writing about this article regarding steroids and incidentally, the topic involves babies. I thought of posting into my blog, which I haven't done for a very long time, with the morning sickness I felt all throughout the first trimester. It was just too much for me, and it doesn't even feel like morning sickness at all as I started feeling nauseous in the afternoon until evening.
I have also gotten a little busy with blog and article writing, although not in my blog. At least I have a full time job while I'm pregnant.
Anyway, going back into the topic, I have read from Science Daily that those mothers who received steroid injections in multiple and repeated doses could get their babies at risk of developing cerebral palsy.
You might ask what the hell steroids are for when you're pregnant. Steroids, particularly the corticosteroid betamethasone is used to hasten the development of the baby's lungs.
Personally, I would not prefer corticosteroids for my little one, even if I run the risk of delivering him or her prematurely. No way.

I'd rather resort into incubators and other medications, whatsoever. Imagine the life your little one has to live if he or she has cerebral palsy. It would surely break my heart.
I know, every mother runs into a certain amount of paranoia during her prenatal period, obsessed with the thought of delivering a normal and healthy baby.
That's why as much as I hate taking vitamins in capsule and tablet form, I make it a point that I take everything that the doctors give me. I's rather drink a bottle of vitamins than to see my baby suffer because of my own carelessness.
And I don't take care if I look a rooster every time I have a to swallow a pill. I don't care if my husband finds it really amusing that I have to swallow a vitamin while looking up in the ceiling for a minute or two. Having a healthy, normal and beautiful baby is all worth the perseverance.

Choosing the Gender of your baby

2009-05-27T15:43:00.000+08:00

*Have you ever heard of the Chinese Birth Chart? I happened to get a copy a year ago when I was still working in a department store. A co-worker from another department mentioned it to me, seeing that my son was old enough to have a younger brother or sister. I told her that I would have like him to have a baby sister and she started telling me how 90 % of the time, this so called Chinese Birth Chart is effective. She gave me a copy, although not an original, so I just copied it on a piece of paper and transferred it later on in my computer. This is how it looks like:

Since the image is quite blurry, here is the legend of this chart:

*Blue - Boy
*Girl - pink
*yellow with black chinese character - high error % for boy
*yellow with white chinese character - high error % for girl

The uppermost row represents the age of the mother at the time of conception which is from 18 to 45 years. While the first column corresponds to the months of the year.
To use the chart, To use the chart, locate the age of the mother at the time of conception on one axis and the month of conception on the other axis. The meeting point indicates the baby’s gender. The ages and months are based on the Chinese Lunar calendar, which differs from the Gregorian calendar used today; it coincides with the cycle of the moon. To find your Chinese age you must add one year to your Gregorian age if your birthday falls after the Chinese New Year, which typically falls in late January or early February. If your birthday falls before the Chinese New Year then your Gregorian age is the same as your Chinese Age.
For an easier calculation of your Chinese age, please refer to this link below:
Baby Gender Prediciton - Your Chinese Age at Pregnancy Year

The Chinese believe that choosing your baby's gender has something to do with the woman's acidity level which usually changes depending on the lunar month. Some women also believes that the Gregorian age is much more accurate when used.
However, there is really no harm in trying, although Westerners and modern medical science also have their own methods, one being Shettles Method or the Ovulation Calendar. It generally works this way, timing intercourse in relation to ovulation date, use of sexual position, and depth of male penetration. The logic underlying the Shettles Method of sex selection is that by changing these three factors above, X or Y chromosome sperm will be offered a differential advantage in being able to reach, and therefore fertilize, the egg.

However, I won't delve further into the Shettles Method because I find it a little complicated especially since no specialist explained this method to me. Besides, I am more fascinated with the Chinese Gender Chart especially since I have known several women who attest that this method worked for them just fine, so I am also giving it a try myself.

The Importance of Exercise during Pregnancy

2009-05-25T12:44:00.000+08:00

I was only eighteen years old when I got pregnant with my first child, so I was still in college living quite an active life. Active, in a sense that I went to the gym four times a week, I attended summer classes for my college course, and our Physical Education class during that time was swimming. Even after I learned that I was pregnant, I continued attending gym classes extending until two months and a half of my pregnancy. I also went through with the first semester of my second year in college, and since learning to swim is a pre-requisite, I need to attend swimming classes until the end of the semester.
I hardly felt the symptoms of my pregnancy. Never undergoing morning sickness, dizziness, fainting or nausea, that was because I have learned later that the more active and well exercised you are before and during pregnancy, the lesser would you feel these pregnancy discomforts.
Several benefits of exercising includes fewer symptoms associated with pregnancy, including backaches, excessive weight gain, fatigue, cramping, nausea, anxiety, and stress. Shorter labors and a lower frequency of cesarean section for the mother; higher APGAR score and fewer neonatal complications for the baby.
An ideal exercise regimen for pregnant women is composed of Cardiovascular exercise, the easiest cardio would be simply walking for 3 - 7 times a week for half an hour or 30 minutes. If you like, you could also monitor your heart rate with a portable heart rate monitor, keeping it between 140 - 160 bpm.
Second component is the resistive exercise, something to keep the important muscles for labor healthy and strong. Resistance must be focused on upper and lower back since during pregnancy, the breast and abdomen, respectively, increases in size. Tendency is, if you have weak back muscles, you will have a round shouldered, extra protruding belly (lordotic) posture.
Most importantly, pelvic and thigh muscles must be strengthened to help during the labor stage. As a Physical Therapist, I find it quite useful to purchase an elastic band, "Theraband", is the most common brand which can be found in pharmacies. It comes in different color, and each color in return provides different resistance. The lightest being the less resistant and the darkest being the most resistant. I suggest you get the blue or green color since I think it provides the ideal resistance for pregnant women. This band can be used by tying it in a post or simply asking somebody to hold it for you, folded in two, insert your thigh inside. Pull the band with your thigh towards the direction of your other thigh, and the two open ends to be pulled by somebody or tied to a stationary object. Do ten (1o) repetitions for each thigh. This is to help strengthen the inner thigh muscles. This exercise can also be done the same with the outer thigh muscles. Only, the direction of the pull should ba away fro your other thigh and the one who holds the open ends should be situated beside your other thigh to provide for the opposite resistance. Do ten (1o) repetitions for each thigh.
Kegel exercise, which is specific for women, is usually taught by Physical Therapist to women who have weakened pelvic floor muscles or those who have urinary incontinence. We usually advise the patient to feel your pelvic floor muscles by trying to stop your urine from flowing midstream. After identifying the muscle which contracts during urine stopping, it would be easier for you to contract the muscle even while sitting, standing, or lying in bed. All you need to do is to do ten (10) repetitions each day. This could greatly help during normal labor because this muscle is exactly the same muscle you need to use while pushing and bearing down and totally not your anal muscles. Plus, sometimes there are cases wherein too much trauma to the pelvic muscles during labor may cause urinary incontinence, so this is exactly the exercise which is right to prevent it.
Personally, however, I would also strengthen abdominal muscles by doing a simple form of abdominal crunches by trying to reach your bended knee with the tips of your fingers while lying on your back. This is personally tried and tested that if abdominal muscles are well toned before the tummy becomes more pronounced, there would be lesser to no appearance of abdominal stretch marks.
The last component would be flexibility or stretching exercises, which should be focused on back muscles to prevent back pains. Try "Cat abd Camel" exercise, same exercise used for patients with scoliosis. To do this exercise, you need to be on all fours, curl your back up like a camel's hump and down, creating a a slight U shape with your back just like how a cat stretches. Care must be taken to keep each position for ten counts and doing also ten repetitions of each.
Tailor exercises, which is done by doing a cross legged position and slightly leaning forward, much better if the arms are outstretched and reaching forward as far as you can. Another variation would be to do a cross legged posiiotn but the bottom of both feet should be in contact with each other and try to bring down both knees down to the floor, to stretch the pelvic floor muscles.
There are actually a lot of exercises you could do even while pregnant. If you have a regular exercise regimen, you may even continue it as long as your docotrs approves of it and you do not experience dizziness, fainting, nausea, vaginal bleeding or fluid leaks or uterine contractions during and after the exercise.
The most important thing is to keep your body healthy, even maintain an ideal weight during pregnancy ( body weight before pregnancy + 10 kgs) and I think the ultimate goal is to deliver a healthy baby with fewer labor complications.

"The Itchy, itchy skin"

2009-05-24T14:15:00.000+08:00

My son has been experiencing a several skin allergies even before he turned a year old and up until now that he is already ten years old. I remember rushing him to the hospital when he was only eight months old due to a very severe case of diaper. Severe in a sense that rashes formed into a shape of a diaper all over his buttocks, lower hips and crotch region which also gave him an infection on his genital area, making it red, swollen and a little pus coming out from the tip. The doctor diagnosed him of having "Cellulitis" , a skin infection by staph aureus (staphilococcus aureus) bacteria, a common bacteria we often hear which causes different type of sickness to our kids from skin infections to respiratory tract infections. Usually, it starts with a break in the skin, or in some cases, in patients which have a weak immune system. In the case of my son, it was triggered by simple diaper rash. After the bacteria sets in the skin, the child would usually get high fever, sometimes with chills and sweats. Skin upon examination would look really red, some areas with pus-like breaks, and would feel warm when toughed due to the inflammation. I could imagine that it would really feel itchy, but when scratched would be too painful for the child to bear. After my son was admitted to the hospital, he was administered with an antibiotic intravenously for faster effects.
Aside from intravenous antibiotics, the doctor also gave him an ointment with "Gentamycin" , something to be applied to the skin lesion twice a day after bath. The skin must also be cleansed with a soap free cleanser to prevent skn from getting dry, and producing further irritation.
In our case, the doctor recommended "Cetaphil", a skin product that could be used as cleanser (soap) and as moisturizer (lotion), it comes in the form of a bar or liquid, however, the liquid form is quite cheaper compared to the bar, probably because it is diluted with water unlike the bar form.
My son was treated for almost two weeks in the hospital, with continuous and rigid treatment, and with great help from the antibiotic administered intravenously, he was able to recover from cellulitis. Athough he was discharged from the hospital, and the use of the recommended cleanser, and skin antibiotic ointment continued for another week, the danger of the cellulitis coming back is close to none. Recently, however, it made me do a little research on the net regarding this skin condition and I learned a few simple additional treatments recommended by dermatologist. Some of which include elevating the area affected higher than the heart level which could actually hasten the effect of antibiotic, assist the lymphatic system in draining out the bacteria and minimize the discomforts of inflammation. Depending probably on the affected part and the severity of the lesion, an occlusive dressing is also recommended. If unfortunately, a working adult is afflicted with this condition, he will experience pain and discomfort which could prevent him from going to work, and therefore must need to stay home.
The unending quest for the cause of my son's skin condition has never been identified until now. Early on, his pediatrician suspected a food allergy caused by "yellow" foods, any food which is yelow in color like cheese, cheese powder, potatoes, even carrots but these was never ruled in or ruled out. I suspect an allergy with chicken and all poultry products, which I noticed is the most likely food allergens. Recently however, even if my son eats chicken or any poultry product, he does not seem to experience skin itchiness (which mysteriously is localized on his lower legs only). He is venturing into eating dried, salted fish and other seafoods and these also, I have noticed caused skin itchiness on his lower legs especially pronounced at night. He seems to itched the most at night during his sleep time. This usually results in skin breaks caused by severe scratching. It seems like a perennial worry for me and I am worried that it might be a cause of embarrassment for him if other children will see what his legs look like.
Right now, I am trying to minimize the effect by letting him use a sulphur soap with additional anti-bacterial properties and buying an ointment with "Fluocinolone acetonide" since it is four times cheaper than the previously used skin ointment with Gentamycin.
Right now, I am just downright thankful that the condition is under control, not threatening to spread to other skin areas, and not progressing towards the dreaded "Cellulitis", but I am still hoping and praying that this skin condition would end especially that my boy is fast approaching pre-adolescent age. I also hope that the condition would finally be diagnosed and that the root cause would finally be discovered. If given the financial budget, I would give skin patch test a try, which might be a very useful tool to identify the main culprit.

The Joys of Having a Kid

2008-07-22T00:02:00.000+08:00

I always miss him everytime work takes me away home. I always feel incomplete if I don't get to kiss him at night. He is surely somebody I couldn't live without. That's how I feel about my nine-year-old boy.

I had him at the age of eighteen while in college. Not exactly the best time to hav a kid I know, considering that I'm taking up a degree which, would always keep you up until the break of dawn in order to pass. Yes, I must admit, when I learned that I was pregnant, I thought of teminating it, but having been brought up as a Catholic, my conscience prevented me from doing so. I didn't know if it was a good idea to continue with the pregnancy or not, considering that my parents didn't want me to marry the father of my kid and I have to raise the kid alone while still studying in college.

But as years passed, I have realized that it brought me more joys than hardships, and am proud of myself the more that I decided to have him in my life.

How nice it is to come home (and always looking forward to it), knowing that somebody is waiting for you at your doorstep, all excited to shower you with hugs and kisses.... and always asking you if you brought him something to eat. Boy, he always has this very huge appetite and the fear that his cute belly with shrink, and always threatening me to bring KFCs or Mc Donalds or else he might lose his cute belly!

Of course there are times, and I'll say a lot of times when he would try out your patience, and I couldn't help myself but spank him (which I feel very guilty of), and he would go on ranting that parents who spank children should be reported to Children's & Women's desk, and from there he would cry, the loudest and the meanest he could manage; until you'll feel very guilty and you would try to comfort him. From there, he would act like he won't talk to you and he doesn't need you, in which case, if you try to act out as if you're angry yourself, he'll try to creep behind your back and steal a kiss on your cheek. And guess what will happen next? Voila! You won't feel angry at all as if the kiss erased all the bad things he has done.

I guess that what Moms are all over the world. One minute, you want to strangle your kid, the next minute, in a snap of a finger, you would even ask yourself what made you angry with this cute little angel looking at you with big, round, teary eyes and is ready to give up anything just to have you give him a hug and a kiss and the assurance that your "friends" again.

I guess that's the ultimate JOY of having a kid.