Ja-NEW-ary Favorites!

Happy new year, y’all! I have fresh new favorites for this year and I hope these will all be helpful and interesting. Join me again this year as we continue this series!

1. Wooden Fruit Cutting Toy from For Mom and Tots Online Shop

I’ve wanted one of these sets ever since I laid eyes on them online! Yep, I personally wanted it to play with it too. Haha. It’s so cute and satisfying when you hear the crunch when cutting them up! I personally think and know kids know when you’re genuinely into playing with them! It’s great to actually enjoy playing with your kid – it takes you back to your childish (or child-like?) ways and be silly with your little one. Not only is it very enjoyable to play with, it also teaches hand-eye coordination or fine motor skills, practical life skills and habits, and you can also teach them the various toys and vegetables they’re cutting up – super fun! It’s nice that these toys are very gender neutral nowadays – it breaks the stereotypes of only girls having cooking toys. Thus that also breaks the barriers and teaches our little boys that men should cook at home too! This toy from ‘For Mom and Tots’ literally is the story of my life since this toy is for me too – its been on my list since forever! It has such amazing quality which I know will hold up for a long time for my son to play with and you can never go wrong with wood.

2. Lavie roller, Moms and Beauty

For a breastfeeding mama, I have been obsessed with this LaVie Lactation Massage Roller! It’s an actual breast massager to stimulate milk flow. It has a holder but you can also disconnect it’s roller to really get into those clogs to empty more effectively. I’ve always struggled with massaging my breasts and I’ve never really figured out hand expression. I don’t really know if I’m ever doing it right since I don’t get much milk out like I see on demonstrations. This is a God-send to me and I know every breastfeeding mama would give me an amen! Thank me later.

3. 360 Smart Camera PH

This little thing is so high tech! It has a 360 degree panoramic cruise, high definition and infrared night vision, and two-way communication which is great for when baby’s asleep in the room and you can talk to him or hush and lull him back to sleep. You can track baby from your phone, has cry or abnormal sound detection and face detection which is also amazing for the play room! I’ve had a generic kind of baby monitor and it is nothing compared to this fancy baby – the swipe panning of a room is so snappy and it follows baby like a hawk that you’ll never miss a thing! Perfect for any paranoid parent out there which is every parent.

4. Luggage Wear

The first time I opened my package from them I could really feel the difference of their fabric from regular luggage protectors. It has a very luxurious feel and fits my luggage like a glove! I love that you can personalize it however way you like with your name and your design of choice.

I found this specific design from their instagram feed and fell in love with it! They have very accommodating staff as well that caters to your customization and you can even send your own design! It’s perfect for a traveller who’s always on the go – your luggage will love fabulous and also very much protected! I also love that it gives you the illusion that your luggage is very expensive but in reality mine hasn’t been changed in years! It hides the fact that it’s ratty and old, haha! It’s a really good trick too if you have an old luggage; maybe your funds are low or you just don’t have it in your heart to get a new one if the old one still works, a luggage sleeve is a good way to go! I even had it break on me but this protector kept my luggage tight that none of my belongings exploded out of my bag! How’s that for a trusty protector, right?

5. Zendure X6 Powerbank from Exotech Shop

I’ve tried and tested this powerbank for a couple of months and it is one mighty thing! It really comes in handy especially since I usually vlog on my phone and it can really last me a day or so which is a really big deal! This baby can even power up my macbook (yep, it’s compatible)! It can also endure all my slip-ups when I drop it by accident (I sooner read up on it and it turns out its crush proof). It juices up my phone quick too with its fast-charging sturdy wire that comes with the powerbank. Not to mention it also has a very sleek and handsome design!  It has a (believe it or not) 5-port output! What!?

6. Kumori Philippines I’ve tried both Kumori’s cake cups and soft cookies and they have never let me down! The cookies in particular are my absolute favorite – they’re so soft and chewy even if it had been in the fridge for a while. I just popped it in the toaster and it’s as chewy as a dream! A definite must-try! I’m dreaming of one right now…

7. Elarz LechonElarz is known for their lechon but did you know they also have them canned too? And they’re amazing! They have corned lechon with various flavors like spicy Lagablab and my personal favorite: Paksiw na Lechon (and many more flavors to try)! It’s very meaty and a great alternative for your roasted pork cravings on regular days – now you can enjoy Elarz lechon anytime, anywhere! Canned good goooodness! Yum.

Hope y’all had a great holiday season! Happy 2020! Stay tuned for more exciting things to come for the blog this year, thank you for your continued support!

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AS-Q Me Anything: Q&A on Breastfeeding

I’ve had a ton of DM’s from fellow moms asking about breastfeeding and I want to share these with all of you since they may help y’all as well. You can AS-Q me anything as well click here and just shoot me a message!

For this question, I always taste my breastmilk or smell it before giving a bottle to my child for safety reasons. But I have always been safe with storing my breastmilk and always follow guidelines. And as I’ve said in the conversation, if it’s been in the fridge for too long before freezing and you do that with most pumped milk, always always check first! There are different pieces of information on the internet and I guess you do you. Taste your breastmilk when it’s freshly pumped and when you’re about to serve it to your child, it should be somehow the same taste – the smell may change to a metallic smell and sometimes taste (almost like blood), that’s more often than not normal.

After birth, I did have massive hair fall problems – so massive that even everyone around

me took notice. I also researched that breastfeeding may also be a factor to such hair fall since we lose so much nutrients in our body to provide our milk (which is why we should eat healthier too). As I advised, I rarely use shampoo (even before I was pregnant), and I use a narrow tooth comb to spread my hair’s natural oils up until my ends. I also suggest using this specific hot oil conditioner from Mother Nurture. It helped me a lot not to just stop my hair fall altogether, but it also helped me gain back some luscious locks!

Lack of calcium also affects hair loss which we also need more of when pregnant. To pregnant women or those who have been pregnant, I know you know how brutal those middle of the night cramps are! And more often than not our gynecologists prescribe us some calcium and then when we give birth we either stop taking it or simply also because we stopped getting check-up from our OBs. Guilty as charged.

Mommy #1 has requested to remain anonymous for this blog. She was asking about how I got my son to sleep through the night. This question was the inspiration for my previous blog: 15 Ways to Get Your Breastfed Baby to Sleep Through Night (As Early as 6 Months!) My son wakes up at midnight and he dream feeds for a maximum of 5 minutes and that’s it. The second issue of this mama is that baby doesn’t want to take a bottle even if its breastmilk. My first answer to that is maybe he doesn’t like the bottle and I do suggest trying a bottle that is more like a boob, there are tons of bottles now that really do promote breastfeeding to avoid nipple confusion or preference. My second piece of advice and ask someone else for help and feed him the bottle. My son pulls on me especially when he knows he can just easily feed from me and can smell me. It’s a challenge to feed him a bottle so I have my husband give him the bottle.

Mommy #2 also requested to be anonymous. This is a very controversial question and even answer. Most say that you shouldn’t drink at all when breastfeeding or like what I suggested, just one glass. Its also been said that a glass of alcohol after two hours can be out of your system (after 2 hours). I would take this bit of advice with a grain of salt and go by what you believe. In this mom’s case, she drank well more than one glass. I suggested that if she wasn’t comfortable breastfeeding her baby, she can just pump the milk and use it for other things such as a milk bath. You can even use it for small rashes, dry skin, and etc (the list goes on and on).

Another common question I get even from people who aren’t moms and are just really curious: for extended breastfeeding, or when baby grows his teeth out, is it painful, or does it hurt when baby sucks? No* (asterisk). There are moments when my son tends to bite and there may be other kids who bite a lot – but it takes communication whether verbal or nonverbal between the mother and baby. Other moms go through this and think, okay, he’s biting it’s the end for breastfeeding. It’s all in your decision-making, but it doesn’t have to be. Before I became a mom I thought breastfeeding a baby that could already stand up was just straight-up weird. But now that I’m on the other side of the tracks its nothing but normal, and it seems to me all the other people who think its weird along with my old self are the ones who are abnormal to think it’s unnatural. And if you read labels on formula boxes, it says breastmilk is still the best for babies up to two years and beyond.

This is one of the more practical advice that can be used as I’ve been asked any other advice you have up your sleeve? This app “Baby Daybook” has done me wonders and I still use it to this very day. I believe I’ve mentioned it before, I used this app in the beginning to track breastfeeding, record pumping sessions, time outside to get some vitamin D from the sun and fresh air, tummy time, and the list goes on (this app does a ton!). The one feature I have been consistent in using is the sleep timer since I really have to record my son’s sleep since its also where I base his mood from. He absolutely needs a 2-hour nap daily and if he doesn’t he goes berserk the whole day!

I’ve never really followed the two-hour interval for breastfeeding. I’ve always breastfed on demand; its best for baby, for your milk supply, and your sanity too. Especially being a boy mom, boys are hungry like 24/7 (even full-grown men are) so I just feed him anytime he wants to feed instead of my eardrums shattering from all the crying, haha! But kidding aside, breastfeed on demand!

Thankful for all the moms who trust me even if I am in no way a professional, all I have is experience and my willingness to help and share to all (not just moms)! Also really grateful they allowed me to share our private conversations for the purpose of this blog. Don’t hesitate to hit me up and follow me on instagram for more. As always, hope these snippets helped! 

 

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How My Breast Pump Saved My Life

Breastfeeding (exclusively) and pumping saved my sanity. I really believe this helped me prevent or get through postpartum depression. Being a stay at home mom and going through all these changes (especially in my situation) can very lonely. Being at home all day when everyone else has somehow “gotten over” the baby fever and I’m left alone with him. But all this fulfillment I had was through ofcourse caring for him and being able to feed him completely. Motherhood and breastfeeding had given me purpose like nothing ever had.

It helped me chill on the expenses. As a stay at home mom and being out of work and income for a while now and giving birth and having my baby, it can be quite stressful to think of providing. When I gave birth my husband was also out of work and diapers can be quite expensive so we just felt so blessed that we didn’t have to buy formula. It eased my mind that I am doing my part and being able to provide in that way.

It’s a cure for anxiety: they say releasing breastmilk releases endorphins. Benefits of endorphins is boosting positive feelings and self-esteem which is ofcourse important at this stage. It’s also been found to help you lose weight because it regulates your appetite and lessens your eagerness to stuff your face by alleviating depression. 

Relaxation and less stress. Whenever I breastfed my son I thought it forced me to be in one place seated for hours on end. But when I changed my mindset – it made me be in the moment in this fast paced world. I watch my son feed, I love him and enjoy him – I could rest and just be.

Then I could also be a total couch potato and catch up on Netflix and be on my phone and relax. Our babies are connected to us and I do believe that they stay attached to us to keep us calm and find rest with them. And with that I learned the balance.

My first breastpump was a gift to me and it was very affordable too. It was the best breastpump for that time in my life when I was just trying out pumping first and see how I like it. But well after that phase, I tried investing on my Spectra S1 which is one of the most famous and highly recommended hospital grade breastpumps. It was quite pricey but it is definitely worth the investment because of how efficient it is, it saves me so much time and pumps out in about half the time I used to pump before so I get more time to do other things. It’s also rechargeable and portable so it didn’t have me stuck on a wall plug!

This thing also took out all my clogged ducts and saved me from fever and chills! It also helped me to save a ton of milk since it draws out milk so well!

Building up my milk stash also gave me time away for date nights, rest, and it bought me time to heal when I got a bleb!

Time management and discipline. It helped me become more organized. Before being a mom or a breastfeeding mom at that, I used to get things done here and there at my own pace and in my own time. But now, each time I set my baby down for a nap or for bedtime I knew my clock was ticking so I literally had to schedule each chore and anything I wanted to get done. At first I thought I was paralyzed and that I would never get to a place where I can balance it all but I got used to it and I got better at managing my time. Now, I get to take care of the ones I love and do what I love both at the same time.

Responsibility. Aside from being a mom, you also need to provide and make milk (this takes a lot of energy too, believe me), also prepare and secure it (pumping, ‘making’ a whole bottle, and making sure it’s stored safely and correctly).

Faith and Spirituality: it strengthened my faith and dependence on God in his miracles and provision everyday- you never know when you might dry up and everyday is a blessing- its beautiful and refreshing. It was so beautiful to see how God made a woman with purpose and how I felt that this is what I am made to do. I can nurture and nourish my child because of my body and his blessing.

Along with that it helped me appreciate the female body. I used to think women are weak and its just biologically how we were created. But it was just realization upon realization on how much women can endure. We cannot deny the strength of a man but its just that women’s strength is of a different kind. It may not be as strong, but it endures, it perseveres. It helped me pride in myself on what my body can handle, how it restores and replenishes.

It brought out the researcher in me. it made me a herbal hippie freak who just rubs breastmilk on everything. I also read so much about its uses and its miracles in every drop.

It made me think healthier, take care of myself along with the baby because I knew what I ate and my whole well-being also affects my breastmilk production. This is is such a great benefit to me since it keeps me strong enough to endure the sleepless nights and also possibly lose the baby weight or even more.

It made me be one with community: with other moms, stay at home moms and pumping moms, etc. And mind you, that is so not me. But it made me really believe on that quote that no man is an island and mothers bear lots of responsibilities and honestly I would not have made it on my own without other moms on social media who are so nice! They honestly respond to comments on Instagram, Youtuber moms. There is this mom world and community that is so loving and accepting.

It made me want to mother every other child out there. I felt that there was so much love to give. I read about this journey of women in tribes who breastfeed each other’s babies as if they were their own hence the quote “It takes a village”. I felt that I was so blessed everyday and I wanted to share that with other people so I joined a Facebook group with moms with premature babies asking for some breastmilk donations. I just think that being able to exclusively breastfeed my son and pump on top of that is already astounding and its a blessing meant to be shared.

It revealed my commitment, dedication, love and passion that I never knew existed in me. I have never had such a strong belief and principle in something such as promoting breastfeeding, normalizing it, and spreading education about it which I continually do to this day after 18 months of breastfeeding. I post, blog and answer anyone’s questions about breastfeeding and anything I can do to help to spread knowledge to everyone. It needs to be everyone to normalize it and knowledge so they would understand why.

Girls, women, mothers and future mothers need the education that I never had before having my son. Men need to know in order to not take it maliciously and thus, normalize it. This is not to accept ‘nudity’ but accept it as a natural thing simply because it is. Boys, men and future fathers should also be educated so they would support their wives in their breastfeeding journey because it really is hard.

And for the public, for elders, people who choose not to have children and the like; even if it doesn’t affect your personal life, it’s still important to know about it so you would be more open to see it in public places. For elder men or women who never breastfed or maybe you are just more conservative – yes, I get that. But in my experience my son hated a breastfeeding cover and it was never my choice but my son’s. It’s also very hard to breastfeed in public while handling a child and maybe I can never actually truly explain that, but all I ask is empathy for mothers like me and know that its honestly never the intention to offend you or ‘flash‘ you. And besides, why would we?

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What’s in my diaper bag? Birthday gift too!

I chose a mommy bag over jewelry or anything else for my birthday. Well, because, mom life! And besides, I always have to lug it around everywhere – its essentially my bag too. Hence, ‘mom bag’ instead of ‘baby bag’ (Plus I’m just more practical that way). I always end up thinking its not my style nor does it go with my outfit and I’m guessing the sleekness of this Paul Frank backpack would be much more suitable for me aside from quality-wise.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my first baby bag! I think at that time it was the best decision I would have made since I exclusively breastfed my son, we always needed a cooler to keep the temperature of his milk when we go out. It was quite sturdy since this bag has been ripped to shreds. Its been thrown, it’s been wet, soaked with breastmilk, and it has certainly been places! For the price, the quality and the sleek look – it’s definitely worth it but its also already served its purpose.

My previous bag was branded Colorland which is all over Lazada when you look up baby or mommy bags (insulated/thermal backpacks). Their bags are often insulated and come with its own changing pad too! You can use it as a pumping bag as well, it can fit quite a ton of pumping supplies, no doubt!

I used to put my son’s breastmilk in the cooler, some baby food and a sippy cup. At the top, I can fit 2 burp cloths, a change of clothes, 4 diapers, my mommy things in the zipper, snacks, his sandals (in a drawstring bag) comfortably. If I needed to I can still fit quite a few stuff like a breastfeeding cover, a toy, and even an umbrella – yes, an umbrella. With just a bit of packing tips to ram all those things in that backpack, I’d turn you into Mary Poppins!

Now lets talk about my pretty new member! I love the color, the design, the material of the zippers and metals. I chose this gray color so it’s unisex for my husband (there was another color option which was pink) and my previous bag was already black. There is a big back pocket where I can keep my mommy stuff like my wallet, cellphone and etc where they are really safe and I can be more carefree. I love that it has a tissue/wet wipe holder, it just makes on the go diaper changing a breeze.

It has one insulated cup holder which is fine with me – I only bring 1 bottle of breastmilk anyway, sometimes I don’t and just breastfeed him directly! I’m sure with how I pack my bag, I can fit his sippy cup just right and snug (his sippy cup is non-spill and insulated anyway). I would have preferred probably two thermal bottle holders and that would be enough now that my son is bigger and eats solids. A sippy cup and one bottle of breastmilk (plus snacks) and his little tummy is happy. It doesn’t comes with a changing pad, but my old one had one so I just transferred it. I love the separate compartments (no need for a bag organizer!) and the “wet pocket” as I like to call it where I put anything that can spill like alcohol and baby oil to avoid any messes. I use the middle compartment for diapering like his changing pad, diapers and wipes which makes it such a breeze for changing time!

 

I essentially pack the same old things, just in a different order and its definitely more spacious without the cooler bit of it. And super duper cute! I used to pack my mom stuff in the front pocket but I have to check it often if anything goes missing, especially from thieves, a backpack isn’t as safe as I would want it – but it’s the only easiest way to go out with a toddler. But hey, with this backpack’s mommy pocket is at the bag and essentially not visible when worn so I can keep all my valuables there! I really love backpack baby bags, I really do suggest it, if you go out with your toddler alone often or you are a single mom. Really love this new purchase/gift! Happy birthday to me!

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