In Need of Breast Milk?

I have recently discovered this great page in Facebook where you can ask for breast milk or donate your extra to those infants in need. It's good to know that there are still a lot of people willing to help each other. 

Human Milk 4 Human Babies - The Philippines

Etiquette for Milk Recipients

If you are asking for breastmilk, you must know how difficult it is to express milk and fill up that milk bag you will be receiving.  Breastmilk is made with love and care.  Donor moms also pack their milk with love and care.  For people asking for breastmilk, please read the following guidelines:

1. When you say you will pick-up the milk, please do pick-up the milk.  If you promised to pick-up at a certain date and time, please text or email the donor if you will be late or can't make it.  Do not pick up late at night.  Donors are also mothers with families.  BE SENSITIVE!

2. If you fail to pick up the milk at a certain date, CONTACT the donor first if the milk is still available.  IT IS THE DONOR'S OPTION to give the milk to another recipient if you cannot pick up on the date you stated.

3. AT THE VERY LEAST, please replace the milk bags that the donor gives you.  Milk bags are also purchased by the donor so please replace them so the donor can continue giving milk to other needy babies.

4. Be prepared when you pick up. Bring clean coolers.  Donors prepared their milk with care and do not want the milk to be thrown out because of improper transport.

5. Do not ask the donor to text you if she has more milk.  It is YOUR OBLIGATION to monitor the HM4HB Page if there are more milk offers posted.

Remember, it is not the donor's obligation to give you milk.

At the end of the day, it feels good to know you are able to help other people. Thank God, He made me an instrument to make other people happy and to help those in need. That's one secret why I remained happy in my entire life. :)

Maternity Leave: What To Do

I can't believe I've used up 1 1/2 months of my Maternity Leave already. How time flies. Now I only have a month left to be productive! I filed my ML ahead of time, it was hard to decide when because I was always assuming I'll be on labor sooner than the due date given by my doctor. Turned out I was right on my guess! I filed my ML to start on February 6 (on my 37th 1/2 week) and I gave birth February 5! 


I planned to do a lot of things while I'm on ML. I have the perfect schedule for almost everything! First, I gave myself 3 weeks to recover from my Cesarean Section. Actually, one week was supposed to be enough for that but I was confined back in the hospital for another week after giving birth, so again I was right on schedule. I did a lot of things after my recovery, taking care of my baby has the biggest part of that of course, but I also made sure to get enough rest and to use my time away from work productively.  


If you're wondering what to do while you're on ML, here's my personal to-do list:


1. Train your Yaya. - Whether your Yaya is new or not, make sure to train her on how to take care of your baby. You might have special rules on things like cup-feeding or keeping the baby on a particular routine or whatnot, also make sure your Yaya understands the importance of following those rules. If you need help on this, Medela Philippines has a 3-hour Yaya Seminar on Newborn Care and Proper Breastfeeding Support. You might want to check their website for their schedule and other details. 


2. Read. - Do this especially if you're a first-time mom, trust me you'll ask too many questions! Sure you'll have friends, parents and relatives giving you many advises on parenting but it's still best to educate yourself ahead. I bought this book to help us on our common questions on baby's monthly development and also to get more tips.

The book is around Php800.00 at Fully-Booked. If you don't want to buy a book  you may also read from the internet. My favorite links are Baby Center and WTE. Of course on your free time, read other books of your interest too!




3. Sleep during the day. - Or at least try to do so. I know that this is the number one tip everyone gives a new parent, but this may also seem to be hard for some people like me. I'm a light sleeper plus I'm breastfeeding my baby every 2-3 hours during the day. There are times I can sleep with him in the afternoon but sometimes I just don't get sleepy right away then the baby starts to wake up for the next feeding. 


4. Get the baby's Birth Certificate. Schedule when you can get your baby's Birth Certificate from City Hall. It's good to have an authenticated copy in your hands for filing claims or other documents in the future like getting your baby a passport or visa.


5. Plan the baby's Baptism/Christening. You have more time to do so while on ML. You can start deciding the perfect date, church, list the  requirements and start gathering them right away, find the right location for the reception, list your baby's godmothers and godfathers, finalize your guest list, contact suppliers for your cake, souvenirs, invitations etc..


6. Online Shopping. You may not be able to go out right away after giving birth. While spending most of your time with the baby and getting enough rest, this is also the best time to list all the important things you need to buy for the baby. Perhaps things you didn't know you need like a pacifier or a second crib in my case for instance! You can search on the web which is the best product to buy, read reviews, participate in forums, order online and etc. You can also check out discounts or great deals from the many coupon sites available nowadays. Maybe plan your next vacay too! 


7. Fix your home. It won't be too long before you see your house with so many toys everywhere, broken tables, walls with drawings and etc. Try to spend one day just fixing the house. Maybe fix your closet, the baby's closet,  baby-proof the house, change all curtains and linens etc. Get a cleaner to help you on this of course. If you don't have a helper ask for referrals from friends, other maids, office janitors etc. They usually cost P350 a day with a free meal. 


8. Baby Book! It's fun to put your baby's compilation of firsts together! It can be a nice gift to your son/daughter someday. 


9. Warm up. While you still can't go back to the gym, you can start with buying a work-out DVD and do a little exercise at home. 


10. Watch DVDs. If you can't go to the movie house yet, you can still buy a bunch of DVDs and watch them at home. I'm not proud to say this but even though my husband is collecting original DVDs, I sometimes buy pirated ones at Metrowalk. They have good copies there. Hi hi hi...


11. Pamper yourself. Get that home-service mani-pedi and that glorious full-body massage! You must have missed it after a 9-month long pregnancy. For those living in Paranaque, Makati and The Fort areas, I call  SALON AT HOME 473-77-77 for massages. Only P250/hour and I recommend "Lumen" as the therapist.


12. Be creative. Bake. Cook. Start a blog or a small business. Anything!


You can surely do a lot of things while on Maternity Leave as long as you do everything when the baby is sleeping! Make sure to spend quality time with him because you'll miss all these moments alone with your precious one when you start working again.

My Cuddle-holic Baby

While it's true that taking care of your baby is the most wonderful feeling, it can also be frustrating when you can't make your baby stop crying.  I never thought babies cry A LOT! I only see cute little pictures of them, I see them running around, playing, laughing, throwing some cute tantrums but I never imagined the reality of taking care of a newborn baby. It is difficult to a point that I sometimes feel like crying when I can't understand my baby in the middle of the night!

During the first month all he did was sleep, then cry a little when he's hungry. The hardest part was waking up every two to three hours for feeding time but pretty much that's about it. Now on his second month he's starting to be fussier and a bit irritable. My greatest problem now is that he cries when I'm not beside him or when he's not being carried. After feeding he stays awake for a while then fall asleep during burp time but when you bring him back to his crib he'll start crying again after 5 minutes of realizing you're not with him anymore. He definitely wants to be cuddled all the time!

At first I thought it was "Colic" but then he didn't have the symptoms of it. Unlike colic he immediately stops crying after feeding and cuddling. He doesn't even cry for dirty diapers! It's very challenging now for how can you discipline a 1 month old infant to stay on his crib for bedtime??? We can't let him sleep on his tummy (burping position) nor stay in our bed too, those are the common causes of S.I.D.S..I've been reading some tips on light sleeper babies and what to do when baby wants to be carried and cuddled all the time or sleep on their sides and tummies. I'm really hoping for better results!

Baby Xavier's two favorite positions while sleeping:

On Yaya Dilemmas

Almost all working parents have the same dilemma - "Who takes care of the baby when we start working?" Not only we want somebody to take care of our baby but at least treat the baby like their own. Well, it's hard to find someone who will love your baby the same way, which means it's harder to find a Yaya you could REALLY trust your baby with. You're lucky if you have at least one of your parents to help and stay with you. In our case, everyone in the family is working! So there goes our quest to find the perfect Yaya for Xavier and I had 2 and 1/2 months to get one. Now make it 1 and 1/2!

We want an All-Around Yaya because I don't want to crowd our home with helpers. Besides we only have a small house with 2 rooms and Nash and I are both very diligent in cleaning and organizing the house (of course with no baby running and ruining everything inside the house... YET). Our daily household chores remain very light and any maid will be lucky to work with us.

We are now screening the 4th Yaya. Yes, 4th Yaya in 1 month! Since direct referrals didn't quite work well with us, we decided to get from an agency. It's actually more expensive but at least they do the screening for you. You can give them your requirements and they will look for the best person for you. It's also good that they will give you the complete identification of the maid/yaya eg. NBI Clearance, Police Clearance, Work Experiences etc..

Here's the Yaya/Maid Agency we contacted (of course referred by a friend too) :


LYNX AGENCY 
Tel. No.: 437-22-13

They will ask for your requirements, you'll agree on the monthly salary then they will do the all screenings /interviews for you. Once they have the right person, you can interview the yaya/maid via Skype or over the phone. If you like to hire the yaya/maid, the agency will deliver her to your doorstep the same day! You have to pay the agency P3,800 and sign the contract.

The yaya has 6-months contract with the agency, which means she has to stay with her employer for 6 months. After 6 months the yaya can then extend her stay with her employer if she wants to. If the yaya unfortunately has to go before she finishes the 6 months contract, the agency will replace her with a new one ASAP and renew the contract for another 6 months. It's like a guarantee that you'll have a yaya/maid in 6-months (or even longer!). The rate for an All-Around Yaya is P5,000/month. If Yaya duties only it'll be P4,000/month.

So there, we're trying our luck to get a good and experienced Yaya for Xav. We'll see about this one. We're praying for the best person to take care of our precious baby.

For now let me share the picture of her bathing Baby Xav. So far so good.