Friday, October 28, 2011 | By: Jenggai

One of my favorite photos

As Napoleon Bonaparte puts it "A picture is worth a thousand words". We all love to keep good memories in our minds and hearts and one concrete way of doing this is by taking a photograph. Looking at old photographs brings back memories of those special milestones in your life. Some may not be so pleasant but I'm sure most of them are those that you would always want to remember.

I like browsing through the pictures saved in my laptop every now and then. The picture below is one of my favorites. This is the first ever picture of my two boys together.
 

My husband left to work in a ship when I was only three months pregnant with little Andoy. The contract was supposed to be for 12 months only but it was extended to 14 months. Andoy was already 10 months old when he and his dad first saw each other. Andoy didn't even hesitate when his dad carried him. He must have thought he was looking at himself in the mirror, haha!

This is one of those priceless vivid memories in my heart and I'm looking forward for more.


Thursday, October 27, 2011 | By: Jenggai

That Starbucks time of the year

One of the signs that Christmas is just around the corner is when Starbucks start taking out the red cups! It's time to fill up the Starbucks planner sticker card for that 2012 planner.

I don't really know when Starbucks started this annual red cups and planner custom. My first Starbucks planner is their 2005 edition. I just missed the 2009 planner because I was in my last trimester of pregnancy and eventually just gave birth during the sticker collection period. I wasn't able to drink much coffee that time. Too bad. :(

The first few years planners were so "sulit" because the coupons were almost all-year round. Most of which are free drinks! Those were the days!

When I opened my Facebook account this morning, I saw this from Starbucks Philippines' official Facebook page.


Yay! Just seven more days and I can get to taste my favorite Starbucks Toffee Nut Frappuccino again! I am not quite sure what other Christmas drinks they will feature this year in addition to Toffee Nut. Let's wait and see.

Much to my delight, I even stumbled upon a blog where the 2012 planners were featured. Cool designs and they even added more designs to choose from. There were three designs last year and now they have five. I like the pouches that goes with the planner. For a more detailed description, head on to this blog by frannywanny.com.



Head on to your favorite Starbucks branches on November 3, 2011. Save the date, my fellow Starbucks addicts :)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 | By: Jenggai

One big thank you

After six days of confinement, my little Andrei is all well and back to his old playful self. I was so happy when Andrei's pedia called early morning of Wednesday, October 18, to inform me that the platelet count went up from 124 to 151. Although, not too high as we were hoping, at least it is already in the normal range. Dra. Jenny Santos told me that she will be giving discharge instructions to the nurses on duty so we can go home. One big hurray!

I immediately kissed and hugged Andrei and started packing our things while waiting for the nurse to give me the discharge slip to be presented to the billing department. After saying goodbye to the friendly resident doctors and nurses, we were able to leave the hospital after lunch.

All smiles at St. Luke's Medical Center lobby while waiting for lolo to get the car

My Andrei, a few pounds lighter

He was even able to attend his Ate Iana's birthday celebration in school

Many thanks for all the prayers and for the encouraging words. God is good and He always hear our prayers.
Sunday, October 16, 2011 | By: Jenggai

Asking for more prayers for my little one

I haven't had any decent sleep for almost a week now since my little Andrei developed a fever last Monday night. I didn't go to work on Tuesday so I can bring him to the doctor. The doctor's advice was to continue taking paracetamol and prescribed his usual asthma meds in case he will have an asthma attack. When we woke up the next day, the fever has not subsided so I decided to bring to the hospital for another check up and a CBC and platelet count.

The platelet count is 186. The pediatrician advised for admission for monitoring of platelets and for hydration by dextrose. However, when we arrived at the emergency room of Marikina Valley Medical Center, the doctors said that there are no more rooms available so we have to wait in the ER. There were a lot of patients lined up in the ER waiting for a room to be available. I talked to one of the patients and she said that she has been waiting since morning. I have been carrying Andrei the whole time since he is so weak. I can't just wait there and watch Andrei cry. My mother asked if we could transfer to The Medical City since Andrei's pediatrician is also accredited in that hospital but upon inquiring at The Medical City, there were already 67 patients waiting to be admitted since no room was available.

The pediatrician told us to just transfer to one of the tertiary hospitals in Antipolo. I declined and told my mother to just get Andrei's records and we'll bring him to St. Luke's Medical Center instead. I have nothing against small hospitals but I could not risk anything when it comes to suspected dengue cases. My two-year old nephew, the first and only "apo" that time, died of dengue in 2007. He was confined for several days at a tertiary hospital before he was transferred to The Medical City wherein, unfortunately, it was too late as he was suffering from internal bleeding already.

So we rushed Andrei to St. Luke's Medical Center where he was immediately attended to by the doctors and nurses in the emergency room. We were advised that the hospital has no rooms available that time so we have to wait in the ER until one becomes available. It's okay for me since they have already thoroughly checked Andrei and also found out that he has acute tonsillitis pharyngitis (ATP). We only waited for three hours before a room became available.

At the emergency room while waiting for a room to become available

My heart breaks every time I see him cry. I was always on the verge of tears but I had to stop myself because I do not want my mother to see me crying as she was the one who was more worried and had been crying on our way to the hospital. I had to be strong for my little one. It was harder for me this time because my husband is not by my side. Andrei was hospitalized last year due to bronchitis but I feel less worried that time because I am with my husband. The ship is currently in Fiji Islands where there is no cell phone signal. I could not contact him and let him know of Andrei's condition. That was one of the many things that I have been thinking about.

I have been trying to call and e-mail my husband's agency but to no avail. I tried sending a message to one of his crewmate in the ship through Facebook. Andrei was admitted in the hospital on Wednesday but his dad only learned of this Friday morning only. I left a message on one of his crewmate's Facebook account and asked him to tell my husband to call me as soon as possible if he happens to read my mail. I have been praying hard that night and on Friday morning my husband called me. Thank God! That's one worry out of my list. We were both crying while talking on the phone. He has been making Skype calls since Friday to talk to Andrei and to assure me that everything will be alright.

Aside from ATP, Andrei also developed a viral infection. He has been vomiting and is having frequent loose bowel movement since Thursday. I have not been worrying much about his ATP and viral infection because I know that the antibiotics will heal these. I have been more worried by the dropping of his platelet count and white blood cells (WBC) and his fever. I have been praying hard while the hospital staff extracts blood from his fingers everyday. Praying for better results, even just a slight improvement. But this has never happened yet. Just this morning, the pediatrician told me that his platelet count is down to 128 and WBC down to 3,560. These figures are below the normal range. When he was admitted in the hospital, his platelet count is 186 and his WBC is 6,900. Andrei has dengue.




We had to stay in the hospital until the platelet count is at least 180 to be sure. I need more prayers for my little one and for me as well that I can stay strong for my child. I have been crying every night. I hope tomorrow will bring us something to smile about.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 | By: Jenggai

Andoy and the PSP

My hubby usually plays with the PSP everyday but when he boarded the ship last January, I kept it in the closet. After all, Andoy is too young to play with it. I used to play with it, but without hubby around, all my time at home was devoted to taking care of little Andoy.

When Andoy was younger, he used to watch his dad play with it.


One time at my parents' house, Andrei saw my brother playing with the PSP. My brother lent him the PSP. Little Andrei was so happy. I saw how he enjoyed the toy. And so I decided to take the PSP out of the closet. Imagine how excited he was. Andoy and the PSP were inseparable that night.




The next day, we went to my parents' house for a PSP bonding time with his cousin Ate Iana. My parents' house went quiet for a while. No running and screaming kiddos. They were both engrossed in their games.

Friday, October 7, 2011 | By: Jenggai

Mommy's Hobby


During my grade school days, I would always ask my parents to buy me a book as a reward for being one of the top students in our class. I am glad that even as a kid, I always thought that reading books as an interesting hobby. Those were the days when the Sweet Valley book series dominated my world. In high school, teen romance novels were added to my collection. Reading books became a part of my life as I was growing up.

Back in the days when I was still single and have all the time in the world, reading a book would always be my stress reliever. I like reading children book series such as Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Percy Jackson series. I always lose track of the time when I am reading especially at night. I could stay up all night reading.

Before watching a movie based on a novel, I always make sure that I read the book first before watching the movie. There’s always a lot more details in books. Reading helps widen one’s vocabulary and improve one’s imagination.

When I had Andrei, I only had limited time to read. Whenever there’s free time, I would always squeeze in an hour or two of reading. And since Andrei couldn’t sleep with the lights on, I would resort to reading an e-book from my phone.

I hope Andrei will grow up with the same hobby as mommy. =)


Saturday, October 1, 2011 | By: Jenggai

Mommy Moments - Parenting Tips

Being a first time mother, I know I still have a lot to learn about parenting. Parents play a big role in molding their children to become good persons. With my husband out of the country most the time, I have been left with the task of juggling my time between work and mommy duties. It was never easy. Raising a child is a tough job.

 Children look up to their parents and will most likely follow what they see or hear from their parents. My son still speaks jargon words but I was able to teach him to say "sorry" and "thank you". Whenever he accidentally step on someone else's toes, he would immediately say "soyi". Whenever, you hand him something, he would say "enk you". Even in the middle of the night when he can't keep his eyes open because he is too sleepy, he would always thank me whenever I hand him his bottle of milk.

These may seem like two simple phrases but hearing your child say these would mean a whole lot to a parent.