My Most Frightening Experience: My Almost Christmas Gift

Yesterday, we had a writing workshop. One of the exercises (vivid imagery exercise) was to write about your most frightening experience. I wasn’t called to read it aloud (thank God) in front of everyone, but I’ll be more thab willing to share what I wrote. This is the unedited version but with suggestions given by my writer friend and group mate. Here it goes:

My Almost Christmas Gift

Quietly and anxiously waiting for five minutes to be over, my husband squeezed my hand tightly as two, faint, pink lines appeared on the strip. It’s positive. My feeling matched the lights of the Christmas tree and joyous sound of carollers. It’s Christmas and I’m finally pregnant after nine months of being married.

Shortly after the holidays, we visited the doctor’s office for a consult. It was confirmed that we’re having our first baby. New Year’s Eve, I had a spotting. The doctor advised me to have a 2-week bed rest and to take a pill to prevent further bleeding. That moment, I didn’t want to go to the bathroom as much as possible and find out that the medicine I’m taking is not working. I was just in the room praying while I hear the fireworks and sounds of celebrations from nearby cities. The bleeding got worse as days passed but I never stopped telling myself that everything will be fine. The doctor doubled the dose of my medicine and scheduled another ultrasound after the holidays. That day came, my husband and I were holding hands again. Quietly and anxiously looking at the ultrasound image, but this time we saw nothing.

Lucas’ 1st Decorate Your Cake Experience

Thanks to the Summer Fun teachers for giving Lucas one of your extra DYC kits from your Goldilocks field trip a while ago :).

Here’s his masterpiece 🙂 haha! I think it was a fun experience for him and for me :).

Celebrating My Nanayhood – Year 2

Two years ago (May 21, 2012), I/we found out about the most incredible thing after months of feeling sad and low because I had a miscarriage during my first pregnancy — I was pregnant again! I actually tested 2 weeks earlier but it had a negative result. I normally get late periods but at this time it was so late that’s why I decided to take another test. Another reason why I decided to do the PT was I wanted to dye my hair and I wanted to make sure that I’m not really expecting before I have my hair colored — well then, it turned out my hair color remained as it is because the test came out positive.

I can still remember how I felt 2 years back, I was happy and excited at the same time anxious because of my previous pregnancy. I immediately told hubby about the result and my mom. We decided to keep it to ourselves until it’s confirmed by the doctor. I visited my OB the same day I took the test. She also got a bit paranoid so she gave me meds and scheduled an ultrasound 2 weeks after for further confirmation (June 2). My hubby and I also decided to disclose the info to my dad, his parents and my employers (I requested for lighter or computer-based tasks as we’re preparing for a new school year then).

It was a day I’ll never forget. I consider it as the start of nanayhood for me the second time around. It was a day God gave me another chance to be mother. And now that I am, I just can’t help but feel so happy and blessed :).

The Avengers in Us

It’s been almost a month since the movie Avengers came out and it was just this week my hubby and I was able to watch it. Well, I won’t actually talk about the movie here, but I just had some reflections and relate it to real life.

In this world, everyday is a battle that we must defeat. We have our own “Loki” who always pisses us off. This villain in our lives also tests us if we should make use of our strengths to help us succeed and accomplish our tasks for the day or use our powers to actually compete and have friction among the people we’re with. “Loki” could be anything or anyone in our lives which possesses the “Tesseract”–a powerful source of unknown potential, that can either do good or bad to us.

In the movie, there was a scene where the Avengers were arguing that strengthened Loki and enabled him to get out of his cage which also created chaos in S.H.I.E.L.D’s headquarters. Just like in our lives, we tend to let distractions such as power and greed lose ourselves. When this happens, it’s sad that there’s a need for someone or something to be sacrificed (in the movie: death of Agent Phil Coulson) for us to be awakened and learn to do the right thing. If in the movie they have Nick Fury (director of S.H.I.E.L.D), in life we have God, who brings us together, or even just ourselves together.

A little nudge from Him is good enough for us to be aware about life’s realities. He wants us to become team players and asks us to listen to the “Capt. America” of our lives. Make use of the wisdom plus pride of the “Ironman” inside us. Give importance to our relationships with others as our “Black Widow” and “Hawk Eye” come together to defeat negative vibes. And of course He wants us to use our unearthly strengths as the “Thor” and “Hulk” in us hammers and smashes down the challenges we’re facing each day.

In a non-fiction world, I think we all have the Avengers within us. It just really depends on us how to activate each characters to defeat life’s dark forces.

Thank God I’m A Nanay :)

Today is my second Mother’s Day and sometimes I still can’t believe that I’m already one..not in a sad way of course, it makes me smile when I get greetings from friends and relatives. It just feels heart-warming 🙂

Since Lucas is still recovering from his cough and colds, his pedia told us that he’ll be in house arrest for one more week to be sure. So we didn’t go out (we actually don’t go out in times like these to avoid long waiting lines in restos and crowded malls), it was just me and hubby who went to church. We just had yummy lunch with my husband’s family in their San Juan home and I just goofed around with the little boy :). There’s no moment better than this :). That’s why I thank God for making me a nanay (mother) to our Lucas :).

goofing around with Lucas

Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch

Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch

I just love this book 🙂  A great book for all the wonderful Nanays (Mothers) out there 🙂

I love you forever, I love you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

What Language should we Teach our Kids First?

I have been asking this question to myself, to my friends and to my colleagues:  if ever you’ll have kids, what language will you teach them first?

Now I’m a mother and my baby is starting to babble some words, I still ask this question to myself.  Should I speak to him in Filipino or in English?

I’m not sure if this is a trend, but most Filipinos now speak to their kids in English.  Main reasons?  I’m not so sure as well.  Others would say it’s better, others do it so their kids would sound nice, intelligent, educated and “sosyal” (belonging to the high society).  Yes maybe some of their reasons are true, and English has been widely used in this country.  A person who is proficient in English gets hired easily when applying for a job.  But there are also disadvantages.  Majority of the Filipinos (let’s face it..it’s true) can not speak in English well.  They are the people we usually encounter everyday.  Our house helps, drivers, vendors, security guards, etc… not all of them would make an effort talking to us in English right?  Another is, the Filipino class we have in the big school.  It’s so ironic that most students now are really having a hard time or even failing their Filipino subject.  It’s embarrassing because we are in the Philippines, our mother tongue should be Filipino, and the fact that the Filipino is the only subject using the Filipino language as the medium of instruction (for some private schools this is true because parents have requested that even Aralin Panlipunan or Sibika be taught in English but I think in public schools they still use Filipino for AP) and yet most kids have a hard time or even fail the subject.

I’ll share my personal experience as a kid and a student.  My parents spoke to me in Filipino when I was little, so that’s the first language I learned.  I was sent to Kindergarten school and I’m not so sure if they were very strict in what language they’re using as their medium of instruction.  But surprisingly, I learned how to read and understood English.  When I went to the big school, I remembered that we had this “English Campaign” that we should talk to one another in English all the time except for Filipino class and Aralin Panlipunan because if we don’t, there’s a monitor who would confiscate our ID’s or list our names.  I don’t remember what was the punishment if you’re caught speaking in Filipino, I don’t know if there was even one :s.  But there was also a year or two when I was in grade school, wherein other subjects that are supposed to be in English used Filipino as their medium of instruction.  I’m not sure if I remember these subjects right (so for those who went to the same school as I did, please don’t hesitate to share 🙂 ):  CLE (Christian Living Education) and PE (Physical Education) together with Filipino and AP.  Because I can remember learning prayers in Filipino and praying the Angelus and 3 o’clock habit in Filipino.  For PE, I can also remember copying notes about “balibol” (volleyball), “kikbol” (kickball), and even the reproductive system (“obaryo”-ovary, “anurang itlog”-fallopian tube, “bahay-bata”-uterus, etc). Personally, it was difficult when we had that.  I’m a Filipino speaker but I thought some words are way too deep for us.  I didn’t fail my Filipino class but it’s true that what’s difficult was the technical parts of it.  I was not excellent in English class but I learned it and I can communicate in English well.

So what’s it going to be now?  What we do with Lucas, is we speak to him in both English and Filipino (this is different with TagLish – mixing Filipino and English words).  We sort of translate phrases or short sentences when we speak to him.  Like, “Lucas where’s Grandpa?” then we’ll say “Lucas, saan si Grandpa?”  We want him to understand both and surprisingly he does.  We also want to instill in him the polite expressions “po” and “opo.”  Because I noticed that kids nowadays don’t know how to use these expressions anymore because there’s no English translation of that.  I don’t know if this will create confusion on his part, but it’s really up to him which language he will use when he starts to speak.  I’m sure he will learn both languages better when he goes to school :).

So mommies, soon-to-be moms, and friends who are planning to have kids in the future, what are your thoughts about this? 🙂  Fee free to write your comments and cast your votes 🙂

Summer Filipino Class

For the very first time, the Integrated School for Young Children (ISYC), opened a Filipino Summer Enrichment Class for students ages 4 to 6 (especially those who are about to go to the big school this coming school year) which started last Monday, May 7, 2012. I’m very happy to be a part of it because I was assigned to assist Teacher Yeng who developed the module for this class :).

ISYC is one of those preschools that uses English as the medium of instruction. Though we introduce and integrate Filipino words (most common such as shapes, colors, numbers, etc) during Junior and Senior Nursery Levels and Kindergarten most especially during August which is the Buwan ng Wika. But we also provide supplemental worksheets for the kids. However, we thought it wasn’t enough. And parents of our graduates who are now in the big school said that their kids excelled in most subjects but is having a hard time in Filipino class. So the school decided to open this class to equip these kids when they transfer to the big school.

We only have 14 days for this class plus 1 day for a culminating activity. We have 8 students (4 boys and 4 girls) who are not really Filipino speakers. Basically, the module would want the children to understand and somehow converse in Filipino. We also want them to be familiar with words that are commonly used and know the Filipino translation of the things they see around them. Also, we want the children to understand and appreciate stories in Filipino. To achieve these, our routine songs and greetings were translated and we even labeled the classroom parts, fixtures and furniture so they’ll get familiar with them. They are also given worksheets and daily homeworks. Arts and crafts and cooking activities are given as well that are related to Filipino traditions. And of course we have games and a “lakbay-aral” (field trip) to make the class even more fun and interesting. Finally, for the culminating activity, the kid will present by singing a famous Filipino Folk Song (Bahay Kubo) and a short poem (May Isang Ibon).

Teacher Yeng and I together with the school’s president, Teacher Leah were really excited when we’re preparing for this class. I am also enjoying this class especially when you see that the kids are really making an effort to learn the Filipino language. We’re hoping that this will help the children with their Filipino subject in the big school.

*photos and videos to be posted soon 🙂

Scared Nanay

I just want to share, right now I’m experiencing the feeling that all moms never want to feel — having a sick baby/child. Babies as young as Lucas (a year and about 4 months old), still can’t express how they really feel and tell us what’s painful or what’s making them so uncomfortable. So first time moms like me of course can’t help but feel scared whenever our babies get sick.

The summer of this year, he went to his pedia more often than he was still an infant. He used to go there just for his monthly check-ups and vaccines. But now we paid her a visit like every other week. I don’t know if the weather has something to do with it, or there’s a strong virus around who’s making a lot kids sick recently. He has taken a dose of antibiotics, antihistamine and has been nebulized for his cough and colds. After enjoying a week of not tasking any medications, here he goes again with cough and colds. This time he just needs to nebulize and take montelukast. But then, he was also given a first flu shot (last Monday). His pedia said it’s ok despite his condition. I don’t know if this was thr culprit because he actually didn’t have fever, but a slight one. His temperature just rose a little bit. Because of this he became cranky and irritable so I decided to give him paracetamol and let him consume an oral rehydration to prevent him from getting dehydrated (these were instructed by the pedia in case there’s a rise of temperature). He became a lot better afterwards. But the cough and colds are still there and continue to irritate him. He wasn’t able to sleep so well last night because of this and yeah me too because I kept on checking up on him. Today, I decided to take a leave off from work so I can personally take care of him observe his condition. I’m so relieved now that he’s asleep. I started holding him into my arms to give him the most comfortable position for him to drink his milk. And when he fell asleep, I laid him on the bed and on his own, found his most comfortable sleeping position.

It’s just scary when your child is sick or just not feeling well. Whenever this happens it comes to my realization that it’s really not easy being parents, especially a mom. Now I realized how much my own mom got scared when one of us gets sick. I’m experiencing it now and I’m praying that Lucas gets well soon.

My Top 5 Preggy Mom’s Must-Haves

In my previous entry, I listed down the natural baby products that I’m using for Lucas.  I thought maybe I should also make a list of products or things I used (others I’m still using) when I was pregnant.

Here’s my TOP 5 Must-Haves when I was pregnant:

1.  What to Expect When You’re Expecting Book

One of my students mom, gave me her copy of this book.  She has two kids:  one girl and one boy.  Unfortunately, she told me that she can not have another baby anymore because of health reasons that’s why she decided to share the book with me when I was pregnant because surely it’ll be very much helpful.  She’s right.  The book was really helpful especially on how to take care of yourself when you’re pregnant.  Most of my questions were answered (I’m sure the new editions will answer more concerns) and learned a lot from it.

There was just a downside when I read this book.  Since it has all the descriptions per week, per trimester as how the baby develops and grows, I became too excited and a little bit impatient to give birth.  🙂 Because I read the topics in advance :P.  Well, that was just me.  But generally, it was a good read for expecting moms :).

2.  Fit Flops and Oka b. Slippers

I found these foot wears really essential when I was pregnant.  You can read through my previous entry how I journeyed with these brand of foot wears when I was pregnant with Lucas. 🙂

3.  Human Heart Nature’s Sunflower Beauty Oil and Unscented Body Butter

These two products worked wonderfully!  And yes if you’re a very conscious mom who doesn’t want to have stretch marks, these are the solutions.

I just can’t get enough of the Sunflower Beauty Oil.  I’ve been using this ever since because of its benefits.  You can read through the 20 miracles it can do…and yes they’re true.  Initially, when I got pregnant, I had stretch marks in my inner thighs.  I just religiously massaged the oil to my thighs and belly day and night.  Sometimes, I alternate this routine with their Unscented Body Butter.  It’s great that they have the unscented one because most pregnant women have very sensitive sense of smell and gets nauseous when there’s a strong smell of something.  And yeah, they are very affordable compared to other brands who promises to prevent appearance of stretch marks.

Surprisingly, I didn’t have stretch marks on my belly! 🙂  The ones in my inner thighs are there but they lightened quickly 🙂

4.  Human Heart Nature’s Natural Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner

I’ve been using this shampoo and conditioner even when I’m not yet pregnant so I guess that’s one reason why it was effective for me.  These products are must-haves for me because I know that some pregnant women tend to have falling hair problems.  My continuous use of the shampoo and conditioner prevented me from experiencing that hair problem.  So this worked for me and maybe it could work for others too :).  You’ve got nothing to lose if you try this because it’s all natural and there aren’t harmful chemicals in it.  But I suggest, for those who have longer locks to get the pair of the shampoo and conditioner.  Because since it is natural, there is a tendency for the hair to get stiff when you’re just using the shampoo that’s why there’s a need to use the conditioner as well.  But as for me, having a short hair, I didn’t feel the stiffness even if I just use the shampoo alone.

5.  Belly Belt

I wore a lot of jeans when I was pregnant but I didn’t want to buy those jeans with garters on them.  I found them expensive.  But I bought the Belly Belt which abled me to use my jeans even when my tummy’s getting bigger each month.  It came with 2 elasticized Belly Belts, 2 slide Belly Belts and 3 colored panels to mix and match denim, white and black.  I bought my kit in Big and Small Co.

For more info about the Belly Belt you may check this link out 🙂

So there you have it.  MY Top 5 Preggy Mom’s Must-Haves.  I hope you found this list useful :).  Moms and Preggy Moms out there, you might want to share your own Top 5 Must-Haves as well 🙂