Monthly Archives: November 2013

Baby under the weather

One of the things that parents pray for is to have their children in the pink of health. When our little ones are sick, they require extra attention and care. Usually our sick babies are needy and often fussy and grouchy.

In the last 11 months, Joshua has recorded three visits to the doctor for being under the weather. First one was the strep throat and nasal drip. This happened when we were trying the “Cry It Out” method for sleep training at 5 months. We never got to sleep train completely because he scratched his throat from screaming and crying because he did not want to sleep by himself and wanted to be held. With all the crying it caused his nose to get stuffy. Since babies do not know how to blow their nose, we had to take out the phlegm by sucking it with a nasal aspirator. Also he had to take paracetamol for the first time.

The second time was when Joshua was 7 months. Everyone in the household got the flu. Joshua was over powered by the virus that he started to have fever, runny nose, and cough. This time, my baby needed to take antibiotics and nebulize. He was a good sport about that and he did not mind his medicines.

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Just recently, Joshua started getting fever for 3 nights. He was very needy and cranky. We had him checked for UTI and thank God he was cleared from that. It was something else causing the fever. We started to take antibiotics just in case the infection becomes bacterial. But after 3 nights of fever, a rash started to form on his chest then on his back. Fever was gone but the rash on his body increased. Our doctor was out of town, so the best resource a mom can have is the internet. The symptoms appeared to be like the measle-like virus called Roseola.

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Since the rash appeared on a sunday, no pediatrician had their clinics opened. My husband who happens to be a health conscious person was irritable with me. We often get stressed when sickness falls into our family. He gets stressed with the disease and the medical services. Meanwhile, my stress is not often on the disease but how my husband handles this kind of stress! Hahahaha…

When sickness befalls on us, I claim healing from God. I lay my hands and pray and believe that God has power to heal. God’s word teaches us,
James 5:13, 15 ESV

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up…”

I have not stopped claiming God’s shield over my son’s life and health. He is the ultimate healer of any sickness. And True to God’s faithfulness we have confirmed that Joshua has the roseola, and this viral rash will just leave my son’s body naturally in 2-3 days.

When my baby is sick, all my other plans are cancelled. Despite the many things I missed out over the weekend, I do not regret missing them. I have been given the privilege and blessing to be the mother of my baby. So I take being a mom quite seriously. And only mommy can make a sick baby laugh and smile like this.
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11-12-13

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My little boy has taught me so much in 11 months. One of it is this…
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Being a mom, has introduced  me to new dimensions of emotions. It has made me experience deep joy, a new perspective on love, cherished moments of great thanksgiving.. It has also revealed that my patience still needs further stretching. Also learning to relax in tense situation, is a must!

Well let me just share one story. Our funny and scary 11-12-13… The exact date that Joshua turned 11 months.

Because Joshua has started to walk short distances, his confidence began to build up. In the norm of every toddler learning to walk comes the falls, the bumps, the accidents. That morning we were playing and I decided to put shoes on his feet. I thought, lets practice walking with shoes. He was doing fine.

Every morning his yaya (nanny) would get Joshua from me for his breakfast time.. About that time, I left both of them in the sala.. Suddenly in about 3 minutes, I hear a big “KABOOG” and deep sigh then my baby crying from the depth of his lungs.

I rushed to the scene and found the yaya picking up Joshua from the floor. I sounded angry and nervous interrogating her how he fell. I immediately got Joshua and there I saw a deep line on his cheek. He was in pain and the line turned black. I was saying it is ok and I breastfed him immediately to soothe and distract his pain. His tears rolled down from his eyes. It hurt!

I found out he tried to turn 180 degrees from the chair to the table. In doing so, the shoes he wore made him trip, and his entire body weight landed on his cheek. Ouucch!!! We placed ice on the cheek and the deep black line became swollen. Ok, I could not get angry at the yaya because the reason he tripped was because of me! The great big idea of practicing his walk with shoes! Grrr… on myself.

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No matter how big the black and blue, it will be okay as long as mommy is there to hug, kiss, and assure that baby is okay. Pheeeww! So hard to see your child in pain and tears. Makes you nervous for a few minutes, and like any mom, one must carry on.

The little jet-setter

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Since Joshua was 10 days old, he has taken plane rides with me almost every month. My little one is a frequent flyer.

We learned many things throughout our travels and I’d like to share these with my other mommy friends.

1. Always pack the essentials in your carry on bag. It is so important to have the following in the bag: 2 diapers, travel size wipes, changing pad, baby blanket, jacket, extra shirt and pants, breastfeeding cover, and a few toys. These sound bulky, but it really is not. All these can fit very well in one carry on bag. I have changed Joshua in airplane toilets for pooping up in the air. So better be prepared than sorry.

2. Breastfeed going up and going down. Our baby’s ears are subject to pressure because of the change of altitude and it needs to equalize. To relieve the pain, the moving of the jaws help equalize the ears. When breastfeeding or bottle feeding the motion of sucking allows the ears to readjust its pressure. I have become sensitive especially during the descend to feel my ears. I take it as a cue to start feeding my son. This usually is about 25-30 minutes before landing. If I dont catch it on time, I end up really stressed because Joshua would cry and it would be very hard to console. Not to mention the embarrassment and having to apologize to other passengers for bothering their flight with my crying baby. To make it easier for myself, I have prepared a pre-pumped milk in the bottle for Joshua to drink during the descend.

3. Cheap distractions. Usually the domestic flights we have taken are about 1 to 2 hours. Sometimes Joshua would sleep on the flight, and sometimes he won’t. My objective is to make him as comfortable and relaxed as possible. So, packing about 2 handy toys and a book can help. I also use the emergency instruction card as a “story book”. The bottled water is also good distraction by shaking the water inside and allowing him to play “shake the bottle”. It is also free to pack some nursery rhymes to keep baby from boredom.

4. Note the time. By 4 months, our babies have already accustomed themselves to a schedule of sleeping incorporated with eating and playtime. So it is super important to check the schedule of the flight and what your baby is doing at that time. For instance if the flight is at 12nn, make sure you packed lunch for babes who have started solids (usually 6 months and above). Always pack crackers in the bag and fruit for snack periods. Never make the mistake of starving baby from food or sleep….it is stepping on stress zone!

5. Never forget to pray! This seems like last on my list, but in reality it is what parents should do all the time. When we pray, God takes over as our pilot and He is our best travel companion. Every time we travel, we pray and lift to God the specific details of the trip. “Lord make this flight enjoyable for us, that Joshua will be comfortable and will not have tantrums or cry on the plane. Lord, we thank you that it will be a delightful trip and we ask you to make the take off, flight and landing smooth. Be with us all throughout the flight”. In my experience when I pray I have more pleasant flights than unpleasant ones.

As a newbie mom, traveling can either be stressful or be enjoyable. I think traveling will become a norm in our family and so I choose to make good memories by enjoying it with my little jet-setter.

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Swimming Time!

Ideally I was hoping to introduce swimming at 6 months… However, my husband is so afraid that Joshua might contract a disease from the swimming pools. While he was saying “don’t let him swim, it might be dirty…” I was debating in my mind that probably the chlorine will kill it and so we should not worry.

The best person to settle this issue would be the doctor. So, the pediatrician advised it will be safer if the baby has completed the following vaccines: hepatitis, rota-virus and polio. Good thing at 7 months, Joshua has completed these. It was great timing because I was joining a conference in Shangri-la Mactan, Cebu and I was bringing along Joshua. It was my intention that Joshua gets in the big pool and try swimming!

So, on the day when the conference ended, my early bird baby got his first try to jump into the big pool. I brought with me a baby rash guard (to protect his skin from the sun). I also had a baby sun block that had uv broad spectrum to protect his baby skin and face from burning. To top it all, the best gift we received from my cousin Carissa and Os was the inflatable baby floater.

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My son loved the water! He was smiling, kicking his legs and playing with the water. He loved it so much that leaving the pool was one crying session.

Since we swam without his daddy, we had to swim again this time with his dad. He was not afraid to even go under water because he was clasped in his dad’s embrace. It made me realize that as long as Joshua sees us his parents confident in the pool, he too can feel secure about swimming. It was such a joy to see our baby becoming a water lover…

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