Emergency Rooms, Preschools, My New Hair Color and Other Stories

Hi guys! It's 3:30 am here and I cannot sleep. It has been an hour since my mother and I came back from the hospital. Yes, I was in the hospital again! I feel exhausted, but I can't fall asleep so I decided to blog. After all, I have so much to tell you as I wasn't able to blog as often as I used to in the past months.

Emergency Rooms

Earlier, at 12 midnight, I woke up to very terrible stomach pains, diarrhea, and nausea. The works. It's also very similar to the symptoms I experienced during our vacation (which I have yet to write about).

A photo posted by Marie Angeli Laxa (@maanlaxa) on Mar 25, 2015 at 2:16am PDT

"My view earlier at 2 in the morning while lying down on a bed in a run-down hospital in Vigan."

I already learned my lesson (I delayed going to the hospital last time), so this time, after the first "bathroom session," we immediately headed off to the emergency room right away. I was prescribed medicines, but because I was not able to "go" inside the hospital, we decided to go through lab tests tomorrow, err, later today.

A photo posted by Marie Angeli Laxa (@maanlaxa) on Apr 12, 2015 at 11:50am PDT

For someone like me who rarely gets a fever, being in emergency rooms twice within the span of three weeks is an alien feeling. However, I've always had a weak stomach - when I was 10, pabalik-balik kami sa ospital for almost a month because of acute gastroenteritis. LBM is not a stranger to me so I've learned to self-medicate, but for this case tonight and the diarrhea-nausea that happened to me in Vigan three weeks ago, I was in a lot of pain - akin to labor pains actually! - thus the need to go to the emergency room. I'll be having lab tests later, and I hope it's nothing serious!

Preschools

Balik Alindog 2015

Hi friends, how was your weekend? Mine was spent entirely at home for some reason. I have separation anxiety na with the mall. Chos.

But I have several stories to tell. Let's begin with my newest journey to lose weight.

I love you, goodbye.

See, I checked the scale and found out I am now more than 10 kilos heavier than I was the year I gave birth. While some women want to have their pre-pregnancy weight back, I want to go back to my post-pregnancy body. I posted this photo during last year's attempt to lose weight and I'm posting it again:

Sorry for the bagong-gising face, but look at those arms. Well, one arm. Oh those arms. I want them back! Haha. Kasi that's the slimmest I've been throughout my adult life. Thank you, breastfeeding! And I'm determined to lose weight again and keep it off - for real this time.

I attempted to lose weight last year. But even if I consistently worked out and ate healthy, I had to stop during the notorious rotational brownouts in the city. We had 7-hour daily brownouts and I just didn't have the energy to work out and diet anymore. That caused my downward spiral.

Hopefully, the situation this year will be different. For example, I'm taking it easy this year. I just started working out last week and I didn't do the 45-minute runs I used to do last year. I think rigorous exercise would only burn me out and I might quit easily.

So what I'm doing now is using this nifty app called Sworkit. I love it. It's nicely designed (important app criterion!) and easy to use. Best of all, it has a wide variety of exercises and I can choose my comfy level. Oo, beginner. Haha!

How Cervical Mucus Helps you Conceive

Most people know I didn't have a planned pregnancy. However, you might not know that I was certain I was going to be pregnant during that time. That was because I had a very regular period (I still have, actually) and knew that I was fertile and ovulating.

I know many other women who have been trying to conceive. On the contrary, there are also many women who get pregnant unplanned. Save for those who have genuine reproductive issues, I think it all boils down to awareness of your body and your ovulation cycle.

Source: ovufriend.com

Tracking ovulation is one of the number steps you can do in order to get pregnant fast. Being able to know when you ovulate means knowing when to baby dance as well to increase your odds of conceiving.

There are many ways to track your ovulation; one of these is by checking your cervical mucus. If you are into checking your cervical mucus, you know that the cervical mucus change from time to time. Its colors could vary from light brown to light pink to white to clear white.

Our friends at www.pregnancytips.org say that we should be looking for an egg white cervical mucus to determine ovulation. This kind of mucus is very clear and stretchy; it is designed that way to help the sperm reach the egg faster. So when you see that egg white cervical mucus, it most probably means that you are ovulating and you may want to make sure not to miss that opportunity for the sperm to catch the egg for more chances of conceiving.

For now, even if I am not trying to conceive, I still use an app to track my period so that I'm always prepared. If you are TTC (trying to conceive), have you tried tracking your ovulation? How do you do it? If not, why?

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Silly Yuri Stories: The Impromptu Shot

I think you'll agree with me when I say toddlers are truly a joy to be around. For me, it's because their innocent/naughty antics still pass off as funny and adorbs because of their cute faces!

Yuri is always fun to be around with because he's so bibo and talkative (he's kinda shy around strangers though). But out of all the funny moments we have with him, I think Wednesday tops it.

(Before I proceed, have you noticed the memes on Facebook? Yung about books, movies, memories, etc? I actually got tagged in a book meme, but I seriously haven't been reading books since I had Yuri. Bad! Anyway, I love the memes coz they remind me of what Facebook used to be like back in college, only before, we used to write the memes in notes!)

Okay, so much for that intermission. I know. Anyway, last Wednesday kasi, my mom stayed home to do Purok Leader duties. Free polio & measles vaccines were given, so she had the mutipurpose hall and facilities and food prepared. Her presence was also needed.

We really thought the vaccines given were for babies so I didn't pay much attention. Now, that morning, my mom wanted to bring Yuri along para wala lang, to play lang with the other kids and observe the nurses. My mom brought his records, too, just in case neighbors ask her what they should bring.

So yun na. As usual, Yuri was so excited to go out because he's quite the lakwatsero. Also, the multi-purpose hall is just beside the playground. I opted to stay home since I had work. Later that morning, I would receive a life-changing phone call. #chos

Green Eggs and Ham! And Red Rice!

And homemade oatmeal cookies. And fish. And native chicken. And lots of fruits and vegetables.

That's what I have been eating these past days. (Of course, except the green eggs and ham. But I'll get to the green eggs part later.)

I know I promised to make a followup post for Finance Friday today. You see, last week, I talked about the secret key to wealth. It is not my mostly read post so far, but it garnered some of the widest and meaningful reactions in social media. It is also one of my most widely shared posts. And that's great! This is because it means that a lot of us are becoming more aware (or more concerned) of our actions and how it can affect us in the long-term.

Then, I promised that this week, I will talk about the tips that one can use to utilize the power of that "secret key." But I've been churning out one heavy post after the other this week, and I can't manage the weight anymore! I really need to write something light muna!

Monday - School Blues
Wednesday - Priest vs. Single Mom
Thursday - Bad Influence

So, again, let's talk about something light for a change? What about our diet change? Hee hee.

Since the beginning of this month, we have begun eradicating processed foods from our diet. It is a hard change since we all have been using processed foods since, well, birth. What fueled it is my parents' 11-day diet plan. They consulted this clinic, had a complete body analysis, and received a specific diet plan good for 11 days. Of course, damay-damay na. And I'm so happy because my Balik-Alindog program was "naudlot" and I can finally continue it without the temptations around!

I'll talk about our specific diet changes in a future post (I need to compile more photos first). For now, here are some of the "major" changes we've done:

Any household with a toddler would know how important cookies are. Please tell me you're agreeing with me!

The Reveal: Kid Basix Safe Sporter Stainless Steel Bottle!

So on Monday, I told you about the 5 choices I've had for Yuri's first ever stainless steel bottle. Like what I pointed out, they didn't come cheap so I wanted to get the "right" one right away.

By the way, if you still aren't convinced to leave plastic and make the switch to glass and/or stainless steel, I hope this will change your mind:

The center shipped Juliette's plastic cup, along with 17 others purchased from Target, Walmart, and Babies R Us, to CertiChem, a lab in Austin, Texas. More than a quarter—including Juliette's—came back positive for estrogenic activity.

Estrogen plays a key role in everything from bone growth to ovulation to heart function. Too much or too little, particularly in utero or during early childhood, can alter brain and organ development, leading to disease later in life. Elevated estrogen levels generally increase a woman's risk of breast cancer.

- MotherJones.com

I really don't want to scare you, but I think this is a necessary fear to know to prevent unnecessary health problems down the road.

Okay, let's get back to the topic. So out of the 5 available choices, what did I finally buy?

*drum roll*

Tah-dah!

Oh yes, you knew it already from the title haha. Anyway, after the "research" I've done, I finally decided on buying a Safe Sporter bottle from Kid Basix! I understand that it doesn't have the cutest design in the bunch, but "cute" isn't the most important characteristic of a bottle, is it? I'm not that shallow! Hee hee.

It's not locally available in Davao City, so I ordered it online from Youjiandme.com. There are two sizes available: 16ml (P799) and 12ml (P759). Shipping fee is P100.

It was tempting to get the 16-ml bottle since it only costs P40 more than the smaller one. However, I think it was still too big for Yuri. Maybe next time. :-)

As you may see, the package says "4+," but if you read through this review, you'd realize that it's perfect for a younger toddler. Also, I wanted to get the lime one but thought it might not look that good after being used for a while, so I went with the safer blue. I placed the order last week and it finally arrived last Friday.

And you know what? I immediately loved it! The feel of the bottle is sturdy, and its sleek form makes it easy to hold - even for li'l hands! It also experienced its first fall last night. The report proudly states that zero damage was done.

The sleeve is surely a welcome addition. I sometimes put ice-cold water inside the bottle and it remains easy to hold.

My 2-Year Old Says No to Plastic!

I mean, can't you see the agitation in his face?!

That's not a yellow tooth; that's a piece of a pretzel. Okay?

Well, technically, it's not my toddler, Yuri, who said no to plastic. It's his mom. *meekly raises hands*

Okay, I've begun the switch to glass first when I asked for this Snapware Glass Bottle from one of my best friends, George, and second, when I ordered a couple of mason jars.

Spot the plastic Tupperware at the back

This photo made me miss summer!

So you see, I was happily drinking from glass bottles and glass jars - while my own little boy was drinking from his plastic cups. Well, you need to know that I was woefully uninformed; I thought that as long as the cup (or any utensil for that matter) was labeled BPA-free, it was okay.

However, after reading this article one night, I learned that BPA was not the only harmful chemical found in plastic ware. And it makes sense! After all, just how many chemicals are involved in the production of plastic? There's a lot of questions regarding the estrogenic materials found in many baby and toddler products, and that's doubly harmful because these chemicals can seriously wreak havoc in a little body.

Suffice to say, after reading and informing myself about the dangers of plastic, I couldn't sleep. It was just too scary. I know I had to replace Yuri's plastic feeding utensils ASAP!

Allergies? Seriously?!

I've never had allergies growing up.

Nobody in my immediate family has allergies. The closest relative I know who has allergies is my cousin; he's allergic to shrimps and shellfish (sad!), but I assumed he got it from the paternal side of his family. Aside from that, I've never had close encounters with allergies.

Until one day, when I included cooked gabi (taro) in my lunch salad.

I don't think this was the offending salad, but for posterity's sake, let's assume that it was.

All of a sudden, had a feeling of itchiness inside my mouth. Even my throat was super itchy. Now, I've been eating gabi all my life and I never once had a reaction to it. I thought my lettuce leaves were already bad, so my immediate reaction was to throw my salad away and to eat a lunch of rice and viand.

A few days after that, I encountered yet another dish with gabi. Again, I innocently ate the vegetable/ root crop but then, I had the itchy sensation again. This time, I was sure that it was the gabi that caused the reactions, but I was still surprised to develop a new allergy so late in my life. It turns out there is such a thing as adult-onset allergies. Sorry, I was not informed; I didn't have the need to inform myself about it.

I found this interesting, but even though I like gabi, I wasn't so bothered about it because I have the choice not to eat it.

Then I had a new allergy.

My right eye has been itching since last weekend. As in it's really, really itchy at certain times of the day, especially during at night. The itchiness level is the same as when I have pink-eye or sore eyes, but I know I don't have this because my eye is not red at all and there's no puss (sorry, TMI). It's just really really itchy and it feels sandy inside.

A quick Google search revealed that I must be "suffering" from an eye allergy. The problem is I don't know what's causing the allergy! Any ideas?

So , after growing up completely allergy-free, I now have two allergies, one of which I am still not sure of. Life has a funny way of surprising us, doesn't it? :-)

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Help! Home Remedies for Cold Please?

Today is Friday and I'm supposed to have written a post enticing you to make wiser personal finance decisions. In my defense, I already have a draft written weeks ago, just awaiting completion.

However, I was feeling so tired last night that I just couldn't bring myself to completing it.

I wasn't even able to exercise properly, save for around 15 minutes of running. After that, my body couldn't take anymore stress.

Buntis? Charot.

You see, I've been battling what I thought was a common cold for two weeks now. It never progressed because I fought it with fruit smoothies and liters of water. I was able to get through the past two weeks smoothly (and healthily, too).

However, this week, my cold returned and was worse. I have very itchy sinuses and itchy and watery eyes and a sore throat. I'm thinking maybe this is allergic rhinitis. I've never had this before and I'm actually placing my suspicion on the mice that suddenly invaded our home.

So, yes, I've been feeling under the weather. Water and fruit smoothies didn't seem to be enough, but I don't want to take any medication.

Worse, nahawa pa si Yuri. The other day, he developed a cold, too, and just yesterday, he started coughing. I'm praying that his is only a common cold and not as bad as mine.
I want to use home remedies for Yuri, but the elders are persistent in making him take medicine, so I'm giving him little amounts of it. He has been drinking smoothies, too. What else should I do?

Here are my friends when it comes to these situations:

Boogie Wipes to wipe mucus away

Zenutrients Natural Therapy Oil for decongestion. (Last night, I placed some on his feet and covered them with socks. This morning, the socks were all over the bed. Mmmkay.)

Rice powder to avoid irritation (Cologne not included - of course)

Lotsa lotsa water and fluids

Smoothies

What else should I do, mommies, daddies, and non-parentals? This is not the first time Yuri's sick, but I want him to be healed in record-breaking time! (I claim it, Jesus!)

By the way, I'm also thinking of making nasal spray to flush my sinuses. But I can't do that with Yuri. He'll surely hate it and would not stay still. So again, what else do you think I should do?

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Oplan Balik Alindog - Updates

Hi! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was uneventful, but I did spend my Sunday eating as much as I could eat.

You see, I just unofficially declared Sunday my cheat day. Yes, I'm serious about losing weight, but I still love eating! (There must be something done about this.)

Before you get the idea that I'm making an update because I've already lost weight, well, I don't think I already have. Ang hirap! When you plan to diet and exercise with a toddler around, it's so hard! Or at least in my case.

So that you gain a bit of an idea as to how my weight loss journey has progressed so far, let me tell you the story through photos.

On good days, I'm able to exercise while Yuri is still asleep...

At first, I tried my old style of exercising (a lot of running in place and jumping jacks, basically cardio). Brings back memories of my summer days during high school when I faithfully exercised!

It would be nice to have a thigh-gap...

I also tried the 7-minute exercise app on Android, and, man, was I out of breath. I'm seriously out of shape!

Post-exercise selfie

However, I recently found out that exercises like this strengthen the body but do not affect our metabolism. I also noticed that after doing it, I was only dizzy and I did not really feel the burn, you know? So it's back to boring old cardio routine for me!

On some other (equally good) days, though, when I begin exercising, this happens:

And this:

Leave me alone, Yuri:

Just kidding.

And, finally, on weekends,I wake up with the intent to exercise but cannot because here's what I see:

An intruder!

Make that intrudersss!

Now, for food intake, I still count calories (but still often overeat). I've switched from my mobile app to MyFitnessPal because it has a lot of features.

For example, a lot of Filipino foods are in their database, unlike my mobile app where I often had to choose what seems to resemble what I just ate. This led to incorrect readings.

I also liked how it also tracks my water intake. I seriously need to improve on this area, too!

(Hopefully, my accountability partners would create accounts din.)

As for my diet itself, like exercising, there are good days...

Oplan Balik Alindog / Paandar 2014

Most, if not all, New Year's resolutions include losing weight. Mine usually did except for two years: the year when I was about to give birth (2012) and the year before Yuri turned 1 (2013).

The first year was a no-brainer because I was about to pop. Losing weight was the farthest thing from my mind. In fact, if I remember it correctly, that was the month I was beginning to gain a lot of weight due to pregnancy. I was 7 months pregnant then, and before that, I think I only gained around 15 pounds. By my 7th month, tuloy-tuloy na ang pag-gain.

On the other hand, the second year was a Godsend for me. I honestly thought I won't lose all the pregnancy weight because I've been fat chubby all my life. To my surprise, I did not only lose weight but also went back to my highschool weight. All thanks to breastfeeding! What a God-designed wonder.

So I felt smug. I could eat like a construction worker and not gain a pound - at all! I even lost pounds just by lying or sitting down and feeding Yuri. Here's a photo; I think Yuri was 8 months here:

Pardon the kagigising-lang-face. Just look at those arms.

I weighed just a little over 50 kilos then, which was a lot less than my pre-pregnancy weight. It may be heavy for some people, but I certainly felt lightest! That time was heaven because I was losing even more weight each month for the first year of Yuri's life. I was even scared I'd go too thin so I ate a lot. Ong yobong yobong.

Until one day, I hit a plateau. I didn't lose weight anymore. I thought to myself, okay, let's just keep it steady at 50 kilos. I know the reason I wasn't losing weight anymore was that Yuri was eating table foods already. Still, I didn't make any conscious lifestyle changes. I still didn't lessen my food intake nor did I do decent exercise. I tried to depend on what was left of my breastfeeding to keep me from gaining too much, which I thought was fine.

Isang araw, nagising nalang ako sa katotohanan.

The past year, I knew I was fatter than I was the year before, but I wasn't bothered. Okay, I might have been in denial. As long as my clothes still fit me, I was still fine.

A few weeks ago, Yuri and I went to his pedia to have his last shot. The secretary had to get his weight. Since Yuri wasn't cooperating, what we did was we were both weighed first then I was weighed, and the results were subtracted. Alas, I already weighed 56 kilos!

Uh-oh.

What troubled me was that my pre-pregnancy weight was 62 kilos. I'm so near to achieving that weight again, which I don't like! Also, Job only weighs 58 kilos, so no no no no way! So just very recently, nagising ako sa katotohanan that breastfeeding just isn't cutting it for me anymore. Gone are the perfect days; now, it's time to work it.

The gameplan: Count calories and exercise daily.

Easy-Peasy Breakfast Ideas (A Round-Up)

Good morning and happy Thursday! It is Thursday na, right? Oh Mommy Brain is real; I can't keep track of the days anymore, and I'm only 23!

Anyway, to offer you a measly excuse, it is still before 9 in the morning. Mornings are the most hectic part of my days. And when I say "hectic," just believe me that it is. I barely sit from 7-9, and the only times I get to sit are (one) while feeding Yuri (which is a hectic experience by itself) and (two) while working. Okay. Friends with no children: you'll never know what busy is until you have children!

That's not to say that I don't enjoy motherhood. I am! However, when mornings become too hectic, it's not difficult to become super stressed. Lalo na ngayon that we're having a new struggle. You see, I always let Yuri sleep in. It doesn't matter what time he gets up because I believe sleep is crucial to growth. So it's not rare that he sleeps until 7:30 in the morning - and even if I do get a bit stressed (I calculate the time left for me to prepare breakfast, etc.), I let him be.

However, recently, even after getting up and nursing a bit, he refuses to get up. As in he was like me when I was a child. He would go back to lying down and would say, "tuyog," even if he's not the least bit sleepy. So imagine how even more stressed I become!

 Of course, it is hard to stay stressed when I see this face.

The solution, for me, to lessen the hecticness of the hustle-and-bustle of my mornings is to create breakfast the night before. If I get busy in the evening, which is inevitable, I have "backup 5-minute" recipes to make. Here's a round-up of some of the breakfasts I have made for Yuri in the past:

1. Mango Frozen Yogurt

Preparation Time: 2 Minutes
Blending Time: 2 Minutes
Ingredients: 1 whole manggo, 1 cup yogurt, 2 tablespoons fresh milk, and 2 tablespoons honey

2. Banana-Peanut Butter "Ice Cream"

Prep time: 3 minutes
Blending time: 5 minutes or more (depending on your blender's power)
Ingredients: SEE HERE

3. 5-Minute Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cake

Prep time: 3 minutes
"Baking" time: Around 5 minutes
Ingredients: SEE HERE

4. 5-Minute Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Prep time: 2 minutes
"Baking" time: N/A
Ingredients: SEE HERE

5. "Imbento" Brownies

Yuri and the Attack of the Insects! (Review: GIGA Baby Balm)

I always let Yuri play outside whenever the weather permits it. First, Vitamin D is good for him. Second, it tires him out and he sleeps deeply in his afternoon naps. Third, well, I just want to see him a bit tanned than just white.

However, I had to stop him from going out for a while. This is because a few weeks ago, Yuri got a huge insect bite on his leg:

I didn't know what caused the bite. Is it a mosquito? Is it an ant? Within the day and in the next days, he got several new insect bites all over his body:

What caused those big angry bites? And those are just a few of his insect bites ha! There were more insect bites sprouting in the next days. There were a few mosquitoes in the house, but they never bite Yuri because I always see to it that he uses an insect repellent (we use GIGA and Human Nature). Those insect bites didn't look like mosquito bites, either. However, Yuri was visibly bothered by them. Kawawa. :-(

I hate you, but it's not your fault this time!

As first aid, I tried putting on his eczema ointment. I'm sure it doesn't do anything to the insect bites, but because I didn't have anything else at hand, I was hoping it would relieve the itch.

However, it did not. While it did not harm Yuri in any way, using that medicated cream only made him smell like medicine. So the next day, I did my research and found out that GIGA, a store I frequent, sells a baby balm that could be used for insect bites. That Sunday, I immediately bought one:

Like what I said in my November Fun and Frugal Finds post, I like how the balm has a pleasant smell. It's not overpowering unlike medicated creams and Citronella sprays. This means I could use it without irritating our noses (I am very sensitive to strong smells).

More importantly, after just one day, I immediately saw it taking effect. Take note ha, that was less than 24 hours. The big red angry bites immediately reduced into these: