There was a crazy airline sale sometime last year, so my husband, mom, and I booked a flight from Manila, Philippines, to Los Angeles, California, USA for March 2017. I was already pregnant when we booked the fare, so we knew that we would be traveling with our little one, but he was not born yet, so we just booked ahead because an infant is easy to follow – all you have to do is call the airline and ask […]
Google “BREASTFEEDING BENEFITS”, read a book on breastfeeding, or attend talks on breastfeeding and you will be bombarded with information on why breastfeeding rocks for both mom and the child. I am not here to collate all the benefits for you (that would probably be good for one whole book!), but on this blogpost, let me share my personal favorite benefits of breastfeeding! These are the reasons why I keep going! 1. IT’S ALIVE AND CUSTOM-MADE TO MEET YOUR BABY’S […]
When I posted about applying for my son’s passport, I got so many questions, so I’m sharing our experience here! We booked a long-haul flight for March 2017, and I gave birth late October 2016. I have about 4 months to complete both a passport and a visa. With this in mind, we decided to work on our son’s City Hall Civil Registrar Copy (aka Certified True Copy/CTC of city hall’s birth records) on our own. The day after I […]
I have read up A LOT when I was pregnant. I have read up on how to have a beautiful birth experience, I have read up on child care, I have read up on breastfeeding…what I did not read up on is well, what happens to ME after birth. We always hear of post-partum depression, but I now realize it isn’t just that – post-partum (whether you feel depressed about it or not) is real, and these are some of […]
*photo from http://obgynmiami.com/obstetrician-in-kendall/ When preparing for your birth, it is important that you’re on the same page as your main healthcare provider (Obstetrician-Gynecologist or Midwife) in terms of philosophies and expectations. Here are the questions I asked my OB-Gyne during one of our checkup sessions. These questions helped me get to know my OB more – and to manage my expectations (as well as hers) for our upcoming work: which is my birth. Asking these questions and hearing my OB […]
BIRTH PLAN: Many expecting women hear this term nowadays, but what exactly is it? A birth plan is a document that lets your medical / birthing team know your preferences for things like how to manage labor pain. Keep in mind that you can’t control every aspect of labor and delivery, and you’ll need to stay flexible in case something comes up that requires your birth team to depart from your plan (definition from babycenter.com). Basically, it’s a list of […]
Now that my pregnancy is about to come to an end, I’m sharing the pre-natal yoga poses I practiced during the latter part of my pregnancy (maybe on the 6th month onwards). I am sharing them with you because I believe they greatly helped me in keeping my balance and mobility (and sanity). Stretching really helps a lot! And believe me, the more hip-opening exercises you do, the less pain you’ll feel on your lower back and hip area. I’ve […]
When I first learned I was pregnant, stretch marks was one of the very first things that came to mind. I mean, that’s mostly what I hear from people who have been on the pregnant road. When you join groups on Facebook or google about pregnancy, it’s impossible not to come across this topic. Thankfully, I had existing oils/ salves at home that were part of the recommended brands in forums. You can find that post HERE. Apart from that, […]
Some of you have asked me if I have packed my hospital bag already. We’ve done it before I reached my 37th week, and we have two separate bags: one for me while I’m in labor (to post-birth), and the other for my baby when he’s born and I’m breastfeeding. #1: MY LABOR TO BIRTH BAG Please take note that I’m bringing things for my plan of a natural, normal birth (for the hospital we picked, we are eyeing the […]
Now that my pregnancy is almost over, I am sharing the products that have been truly helpful in my journey to motherhood. These are products I believe are worth investing on, and in the end, I feel that they’ve done their job in helping me save more. [2019 EDIT: Some of the links mentioned here are now under my affiliate account. This means that when you purchase the product/s using the links from my blog, I will earn credits or […]