So-Cuddly.Net

Please visit my 2nd domain blog and link exchange with me! It's a blog dedicated to my son so most of my posts there will be related to motherhood, parenting and the like. Hope to see you all there! Just leave a message and I'll add you up right away.

Thanks a lot and happy blogging! God bless!

Greggy's 2nd Birthday

We love you so much, baby! Mwahhh!

Greggy Turned One!

My Greggy just celebrated his 1st birthday last January 16. We held the party at home so we could invite more people, but spend less. LOL.

The preparation got us really exhausted. But it was worth it coz we were able to feed about 70-80 people. Whew! 40 kids arrived (some of them we didn't even know) and the rest are adults.

Anyway, the kids enjoyed the program and the magic show that the clown facilitated. I'd say that everything was almost perfect. Except that some of the "invited" kids were not able to get a Barney loot bag that we gave away after the party. So we kinda felt bad beacuse of that.

But I'm glad everything is over. We're almost broke but we're glad that we were able to throw a decent party for our little angel. That's what's important.

Check out his birthday website.

Announcement, Guys!

The entries from Greggy's blog has been migrated here. Please be informed that I will not post new entries there anymore. Starting today, new blogs about my son will be posted here under My Little Angel category.

To be honest, I'm also thinking of killing this blog because of the silly pop-ups. Im quite sure you find it annoying too. I'm sorry. But the only thing that's preventing me from doing so is the fact that this blog has a sentimental value to me. I really regret signing up for that banner exchange site. I tried to delete my account but there was no option to do so. I hate that site. Because of it, my blog had too many pop-ups when being accessed. Is there anyone who knows how to remove them?

A New Blog For My Greggy

I created a new blog for my son so I can just post everything about him there --his achievements, activities and everything that he will learn as he grows up. And hopefully, you'll visit and read my entries there too.

Here's the link:

www.ilovegreggy.blogspot.com

Feel free to link it up too. Thank you so much. Oh by the way, please continue answering the "Nine weird things about you" tag. Pretty please?

Have a nice weekend.

Happy Eight Months, Greggy!

We went to Market Market yesterday so our family could spend quality time together. Greggy has just turned eight months! Oh I love him so...

My Only Treasure

Laughing Out Loud

Just wanna share this video to you, guys. Walang audio? Sorry. Hehehe...It's still a .3gp file. Got no time to convert it to wmv. I gotta go. My workload is killing me. Have a nice day!

Greggy Kulit!

This was shot when Greggy was 5 months old. Sorry it's kinda shaky. And also, this video was cut short when I was trying to convert the file to wmv.

Morning Bonding...

There's nothing could be more wonderful than spending time with my family. This is what we usually do first thing in the morning...

Click here --Updated with new pictures!

Greggy's Guardian Angel

It's been five days since the accident happened. And I'm sooo thankful that my son is quite okay...I guess it's true that guardian angels look after our babies after all. Wow. It's amazing. I told my son, "baby, let's say thank you to papa Jesus and to your guardian angel for taking care of you...". Then he uttered a sound something like "a-ahm..." as if he understood what I just said. Haay, I adore him so... and so does my husband and everyone else.

Greggy just turned seven months. He can now crawl, get up from bed and sit by himself for a few minutes, walk and run quite fast with the help of his walker, utter and create funny sounds like bab-bab-ba, mam-mam, papp-pa-pa...If you hear him say that, you'll surely burst out laughing! I even heard him saying "mama" once when he was crying coz he wanted me to take him in my arms and cuddle him. He has tried several brands of rice and cereals too. So far, his favorite is Milupa Mixed Fruits and Veggies. He also loves the Kiwi -pear juice from Nestle and Gerber Apple. Yummy!

The Nightmare

My heart stopped beating when I heard my husband screaming and crying at the top of his lungs. I could not believe it. Our precious 7-month old baby fell off the bed! I felt like dying that very minute. I was trembling when I ran from the kitchen to our bedroom. It was such a horrible feeling to see my baby got hurt. My husband was carrying him when I entered the room. He really looked horrified! He was stomping his feet and crying his heart out while sort of blaming me for leaving our angel on the bed while cooking something for lunch. I hated and cursed myself silently. My spirit died when I saw my little angel crying. I was in a state of shock and was not able to say anything. Then our helper, who at that moment was doing our laundry, came running to us with an ice-pack on her hand and took the baby away from my frantic husband. I was devastated...and all I did was burst into tears.

When I came back to my senses, I took Greggy from Ate Jessie and put some ice on his swollen forehead. He was shaking a bit when I held him close to me ---I died once again. I hugged him so tightly and said sorry countless times for being such a negligent mother. I have never been this scared in my whole life! He stopped crying after a few minutes and started smiling at me, like he always does. I was still crying non-stop while I was putting ice on his forehead. I still could not believe it. I know it was my fault. I shouldn't have left him alone on the bed. I just thought he was secured enough with those tons of pillows I put all around him...But I was terribly wrong. My husband was right in the living room working on our curtain rod and I even heard him check our baby out every so often to see what he's doing so I thought everything was okay. We didn't turn on the aircon so we can leave the bedroom door open while we were doing our tasks. I also checked on him every now and then.

My husband and I were not in speaking terms for a few minutes. He was walking back and forth in the living room ---still ranting and crying. I felt his pain and that even rubbed salt into my wound. But thankfully, Greggy did not show any signs of abnormal behavior. I was surprised to see him laughing and jumping once again. He was looking at me as if nothing happened. I hugged him once again and thanked God he looked okay.

When we finally got on our feet back again, we decided to call his Pedia. We just wanted to make sure that his brain was not damaged by the fall. We were advised to observe his behavior within six hours before taking him to the hospital for a complete check-up.

By God's grace, our little angel showed no signs of abnormality in his behavior. He was calm, happy and was even playing with us. We were relieved somehow... but still worried --and paranoid. I didn't wanna go to work because I wanted to watch over him further but I just couldn't. Damn our office! We are not allowed to be absent on a weekend because there's only four agents on duty. Otherwise, we'll get a memo. So my husband decided to drop his work instead.

So with a heavy feeling, I went to work carrying this pang of guilt in my heart. As I write this entry, I'm still crying. This is a lesson I will never forget. I'll die if this happens again. I have to remember this day...It's sad that sometimes we need to learn things the hard way. I know his fall was not serious but the fear was too agonizing for us to handle. I thought I would faint. Next time, I'll do the best I can to be more careful and watchful.

I am sorry I was not able to protect you, baby... :-( I'm so sorry...

Greggy's Different Faces

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Thanks to my officemate,Mikee, for teaching me how to use Fireworks 8

Greggy...The Frog

At four months, my baby would sit and pull himself up everytime we hold his hands (sometimes he would even pull my hair so he could sit!). A week after that, He won't just sit but stand up instantly! (strong baby huh?). And the next thing he would do is jump, jump and jump till you get tired of holding him up. Very funny...He loves jumping like a frog...jumping as if he had a spring underneath his feet. And when he gets tired, he would sit down and rest for a while. Then, jump again! hahahaha!

 

Haay...cute baby. He brings us so much joy. We are so lucky to have him as our baby.

Tummy Sleeper

My son loves sleeping on his tummy a lot! He could actually sleep from 5-9 hours in that position. I just could not help but worry though. In the US, parents do not allow their babies (especially the ones below 6 months old) to sleep on their tummies because it could lead to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). And according to some of the books (including e-books) that I read, it is safer for babies to sleep on the side or back because it alleviates the chances of SIDS. I guess there's nothing wrong if we, Filipinos, follow that practice. It's better safe than sorry...SIDS might be rare and unpopular here in the Philippines but hey, there's nothing wrong if we train our babies to sleep otherwise, right? I heard from a friend that someone's baby died while sleeping on his tummy. It's like, all of a sudden he stopped breathing! I can imagine how devasted the mother was when she found out that her baby suddenly stopped breathing. How tragic! And If I were the mother, I would have gone crazy.

 

So now I am training my little angel to sleep on his back or side. And so far, so good! He may not sleep as soundly as he does on his tummy, but at least it gives me some peace of mind. He can still sleep on his tummy during the day when I am awake to look after him. But during the night, I never let him sleep that way anymore. Call me paranoid but I'm not gonna risk my son's safety just to get a good-night sleep for myself. I still wake up every now and then to check if he's breathing or if he's sleeping in the right position. And i'm so proud to say that he's quite improving! Before, when he sleeps on his back or side, he would wake up after about 30 minutes. But now? He could sleep at least two hours straight without any interruption! Not bad huh? I feel better that way coz I know that it's safer.

Dilemma of a fist-time mom

My son hasn't been pooing for three days. I really think that's weird since he used to defecate everyday. I really don't want to switch milk coz I know that he's really "hiyang" with it. He gains weight continuously and I never had a problem feeding him. His bowel movement only started to mess up when he turned three months. But despite the fact that he hasn't been pooing for 3 days now, he doesn't seem to be in pain or uncomfortable. His stool was pretty much okay the last time. It wasn't even firm at all. The only thing that changed was the color. From yellow (like mustard), it became greenish-black and really sticky.  But I'm quite sure he's not constipated either.

 

I googled and found tons of articles about my son's condition. And surprisingly, I found out it was normal. Here's the summary:

 

"If the child seems to be in pain, has vomiting, or has blood in the stool, he should be seen by the pediatrician immediately. Otherwise, it can be completely normal to go only once every eight days -- as long as the stool is soft when it comes out"

 

""Most babies produce from 2 to 5 big stools a day as long as they are only breastfed, while other babies may have a bowel movement only once a week. If the stools are infrequent but remain soft, there is no cause for concern.".

 

"For a girl who is just breastfed, stools every five to seven days can be fine. But once rice starts, we like to see the pace pick up a bit, because these stools will contain more stuff and can get progressively harder to pass."

 

"These infrequent stools might not be a problem at all, but using diet to try to make them a bit more frequent and comfortable may be wise. If things don't improve soon, be sure to report in to your doctor."

 

They all came from different websites so I would like to believe that they're true. I just don't wanna take the risk of switching milk and have my little boy suffer from diarrhea. He's such a healthy baby and has no tummy problems as well. When my husband brought him to the Pedia, he was not able to tell her that we switched vitamin one time and bought a small can of S26 plain instead of Gold (it's only for a week) since the latter was not available in our neighborhood, which I think caused the problem. My baby did not like the plain one. My only confusion is that, why did our Pedia tell us to switch milk right away? She did not even advise us to observe if my baby's condition will improve or not. And how come it is written on all the websites I googled that it's normal for babies not to poo everyday?

 

So now I am torn whether to switch or not. Before I read those articles, I was determined to finally switch. But now I'm not sure anymore. My Mom-in-law has been pressuring me to switch for the last few weeks but I refused all the time. I know she's starting to think I am such a pain in the ass. We have a very good relationship and I don't wanna ruin that just because of a milk issue. But I hope somehow she would understand that I only want the best for my son. I am the mother and I will do what I think is right. I was not able to breastfeed my son due to three major operations that I had and I really feel bad about it. So I want to give him the best formula any baby could ever have just to compensate for not having to breastfeed him...He loves his milk and he looked really healthy. I am just scared that he might get sick if I switch right away and that will result to a bigger problem.

My little angel saved me...

Here's the story of my very complicated delivery...

I had a minor contraction at 2AM, January 16. I was on my way home from my parents' house. That's the very first time I felt it and It was quite strong. It did not last for 5 minutes though. But I knew then that I would be giving birth that day.

So I went home with my mom and brother. They accompanied me coz my husband was at work (graveyard shift). At 6 AM, i woke up and peed...suddenly I saw some blood! I got so nervous coz I knew that my time had come. So I immediately called my husband to inform him that my waterbag broke. I called my OB right away to inform her about what happened but I refused to go to the hospital because I felt no contractions at all. So she said "Ok. Just call me when you're on your way to the hospital so I can reserve a room for you."

A few minutes later, my husband came and we had breakfast. At 12 noon, there was still no contraction but we decided to go to the hospital anyway.

Upon arriving to the hospital, my OB checked me up right away. I was only 1cm dilated...So she suggested that I went for a walk. My husband and I decided to go to the mall. I was in a very good mood while we were walking around as if I wasn't due to give birth. My husband even said I was sooo cool daw. But what he didn't know was that I was just trying so hard not to let my fear get over me. You see, I have never been hospitalized in my whole life! I don't even know how it feels to be on a dextrose. But then, I told myself I had to be brave...for me and my baby. I was really determined to have a normal delivery.

At 5pm, we went back to the hospital and guess what? I was just 2cm dilated! Arrggg...I went for a walk for four hours only to find out that I was only 2 cm dilated?! Whoaa...

At 6pm, I had an induced labor. My doctor decided to do so because I may not have enough water and my labor hasn't even started. I was really sad because my husband was not allowed to go inside the labor room. A few minutes later, I could feel minor contractions. I could still smile because the pain was too tolerable for me! (LOL). At 7pm, I was still ok...the pain was still manageable. At 8pm, That was it! I started crying due to so much pain. I could not help but groan and moan (but with poise of course!)... I didn't want the nurses to hate me because I was too noisy. So I tried so hard not to scream at all.The room was so cold and yet I was perspiring to death. A few minutes later, I was begging for a pain reliever coz I could not take it anymore. The next thing I knew was that I was rushed to the delivery room. But I was only 4cm dilated then, so my doctor decided to bring me back to the labor room. She said it was really weird that it's only the lower part of my tummy that's hurting so bad. She said the upper part should contract as well so my baby would be pushed towards my pelvis. But that did not happen. Contractions came minute by minute and they're quite strong I had no time to regain my strength. That's the time that I started praying...I asked God to protect me and my baby or If I were to die that day, I wanted my baby to be safe at least. I stared through the glass door of the labor room and saw my husband standing there, looking at me with tears in his eyes. I wish I could reach out for his hands to assure him that I'd be okay and that there's nothing he should worry about.

At 10pm, I was rushed to the delivery room for the second time but was immediately brought back to the labor room a few minutes later.

At 10:30, I was already 8cm dilated and was dying to give birth. I could not take the pain anymore. After having an IE, my baby's head still could not be reached. I told the doctor, "I have to deliver now! What will I do?"

The last thing I heard from her was "Keep pushing if you can. The Anaesthesiologist is coming!"

So I tried pushing once. But when I tried to push again, I suddenly felt calm and sleepy. I couldn't even move. My head was spinning...lost strength...and eventually got knocked out. I was not even able to wait for the Anaesthesiologist to arrive. I just realized later that I was given a sedative that's why I fell asleep.

But the last thing on my mind before I lost conciousness was : "Oh my god! I'll be having a C-section!". And I was damn rignt.

During my operation, I was asleep. Thank God it was totally painless! I just woke up when I heard my little angel crying... But I was too groggy to even open my eyes so I didn't see him.

Then I fell asleep once again... I was dead to the world and didn't know what really happened after that.

I woke up at around 7am lying on a stretcher and found myself in the recovery room. Still feeling dizzy, I asked the nurse, "Na-CS ba ako?"

"Yes, ma'am. Do you wanna see your baby?"

The next thing I knew, my baby was right infront of me. The nurse was carrying him. "It's a boy!" (Of course I knew my baby was a boy because I had three ultrasounds!)

My reaction the first time I saw him? Nothing! I know it could've been the most dramatic part but I guess the anaesthetics they injected on me had somehow numbed my emotions. I couldn't even cry or react. All I knew was that my head was heavy, my body was numb and I couldn't move. I touched my baby's head and told myself, "Wow, sobrang gwapo naman 'ata ng anak ko!" :-) Then, he was taken back to the nursery.

"Dadalhin ko na po kayo sa room nyo," The nurse told me. I just nodded and she started pushing the stretcher. Upon exiting the recovery room, I saw my husband waiting for me. He reached out for my hand and said, "Ang gwapo ng baby natin, sweetie!" I smiled and thanked God silently that my baby and I were safe.

When I entered the room, I saw my mom, my sister Kristel, my friend Tootsie and my mother-in-law waiting for me. My husband treated my extra special that time and was kept on saying that he loves me even more. He even told me that he was inside the delivery room with me all throughout my delivery which I think was WEIRD. I mean, How could he enter inside the delivery room when he wasn't even allowed to enter inside the labor room? But I was too tired to ask him that.

To make the long story short, I was not allowed to eat for five days---which I kept on asking my husband why but he refused to answer! Most CS patients are not allowed to eat only for 2-3 days. So in my case, why 5 days? I really ain't got a glue...

My husband just said, "Your doctor will visit you in the afternoon to make sure you are okay. And please stop talking. You're not allowed to talk either."

So I was like, "Oh, okay. whatever..." and sealed my lips.

In the afternoon, I was surprised to see a male doctor visiting me. And it surprised me even more to know that he was a Surgeon. So I was like, What is a Surgeon doing in my room?! Where is my Obstetrician? She's the one who's supposed to be here, right?

I was still clueless. Until my husband said, "Doc, kayo na po mag-explain sa kanya. Di nya pa po kasi alam e."

Then the Surgeon started telling me what happened. I was dumbfounded of course. If I had known I had two other major operations aside from CS, I could've died in fear that day. When he said I had a tumor and had to cut 20 inches of my instestine, I was speechless and got scared. I tried so hard not to cry. The only thing I managed to ask him was: "Am I going to die? Do I have to undergo a Chemotherapy?"

He answered, "Let's just hope that the tumor is benign..." He also assured me that everything's gonna be okay because he already cut 20 inches of my intestine just to make sure that the tumor was completely taken out.

When my Surgeon left, I started crying. Now I know why I wasn't allowed to eat for five days!

A month later, we got the biopsy result. The tumor was benign! (Praise God! He's sooo good!)


WHAT REALLY HAPPENED DURING MY OPERATION(as narrated by my husband).

Dra. Coralde, my OB/Obstetrician, told my husband that I'd be having a caesarean operation because the baby was too big to pass thorugh my pelvis. Thinking about my safety, my husband agreed.

During the entire process, I was under a Spinal Anaesthesia so I was sleeping the whole time.

After Laurence (my son) was taken out of my tummy, they immediately ordered my husband to buy S26 GOLD while my son was being groomed in the nursery. Upon his return from the drug store, a nurse was waiting for him in the entrance and handed him a lab gown.

"Sir, bilisan nyo po! Pinapatawag po kayo ni Dra. sa operating room! Suutin nyo po yang lab gown kasi sterile area po yun!" The nurse said.

"Huh? Bakit? Ano'ng nangyari?" he asked nervously thinking that I might not have survived the operation.

"Basta si Dra. na lang po magpapaliwanag sa inyo!"

He handed the milk over to the nurse, got himself dressed and hurriedly proceeded to the operating room with his heart pounding so fast. When he arrived, he was shocked to see me lying on a metal table like a piece of dead meat with an open stomach and totally unconscious (Eeww!). He really thought I was dead. Then, Dra. Coralde showed him my swollen appendix that's ready to explode! She explained that it needs to be taken out right away before it explodes and got myself poisoned. She said they needed his permission to call a Surgeon to remove it. He immediately agreed. But unfortunately, the hospital's resident Surgeon lives far away and they needed to have my appendix removed ASAP!

So they contacted Dr. Raquepo, who arrived right away because he happens to live nearby, and got my appendix removed. My husband didn't see the process anymore because he decided to leave the operating room when the Surgeon arrived.

Then after a few minutes. He was called again by a nurse and handed him a lab gown. "Sir, bilisan nyo po! Pinapatawag po ulit kayo sa operating room!" (uh-oh...not again!)

He rushed to the operating room thinking I died (again!).

There he found me looking half-dead with my internal organs exposed. And this time, with a long tube inside my mouth that passes through my esophagus (ouch!). I was under a General Anaesthesia this time. Dr. Raquepo, the Surgeon, then explained that when he was about to close my tummy( after removing my appendix), he saw a tumor in my intestine. My husband said it looked liked "buto ng santol". He said he saw everything. My intestines, kidneys, etc. and it made him so nervous that things got so complicated. After approving another operation, he was asked to leave the operating room so they could start the procedure.

When he finally got out, he started crying because he was so scared that something might happen to me. It was almost 2am and he was all by himself. Then he decided to call his mom and told her what happened. She cried and arrived after few minutes to give her son some emotional support while I was being operated. Then he called my mom but didn't tell her about my real condition. He just told her I already gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. But my mom still went to the hospital together with my sister and my friend Tootsie just to make sure I was okay. Well, call it a mother's instinct. She probably felt I was in danger.

So there you go...That's what happened to me. Now I know why my husband was so emotional when I came out of the operating room. He really took care of me and treated me extra special...He stayed in the hospital for five days without even going home and without any reliever. I wouldn't have survived without him...

But one thing's for sure, I know that God had used my little angel to save me...