take your vitamins

At 15 days old, my baby started taking vitamins already. He was prescribed to take Cherifer and Pedzinc Plus C (both drops) as his daily supplement. Like all new moms, I was scared to give my baby his vitamins because I wasn't sure if he'd take it well. I must say, this is one of the hardest things to learn because unlike us adults, we already know the benefits of taking vitamins that no matter how awful it tastes, we just take it anyway. Some moms would opt to mix the vitamins with the milk formula because it's more convenient that way. However, the chances of your baby getting the whole dose is 50/50 especially if he doesn't finish the entire amount of the milk you're feeding him. I had to scrap this option. An old school trick my mom taught me was to pinch the baby's nose for a couple of seconds upon dropping the vitamins inside his mouth. Blocking your baby's nose for air passage apparently triggers his gulping reflex since he would find himself gasping for air, therefore taking in the vitamins in the process. At some point I find this a little too harsh for my baby. I probably wasn't doing it right because my baby, instead of swallowing the vitamins with ease, ends up getting irritated and later on tries to puke out the vitamins. So, I tried my own way of doing it.

When my baby wakes up in the morning (usually around 8am, I was able to train him early on with his feeding schedule, which I will talk about in another post), I don't feed him right away even though I know he's already hungry. Instead I stall him with a little playtime while the yaya sets up his bath. After bathing, that's the time I give him the vitamins, right before giving him his milk. I pop the vitamins in his mouth, pinch his nose for about 2-3 seconds just to get his gulping reflex going and follow it right away with milk to wash it down. I do this so that he'd be hungry enough not to care what I'd feed him with. Kinda sounds brutal, I know, but it's effective. The trick is not to take too long with the stalling so your baby won't end up becoming too cranky because he's just so darn hungry. Watch the signs that your baby gives you. Wait until he's fully awake before doing the ritual. Fully awake means his eyes are way wide open and starting to wander, perhaps looking for a familiar face that he can complain to about his hunger. Attend to your baby right away, try to put him in a good mood by singing songs to him, playing with him, etc. Also, talk to your baby. Tell him the process he's about to go through. Don't surprise him, especially with the bathing as he can throw it back at you with a huge fit. I've been doing this since my baby was 5 weeks old, he's 10 weeks now and so far, giving him his vitamins has been a breeze. Hope this advice helps other moms as well. :)

the smart parent's bible

One of the best gifts I received when I was pregnant was a copy of The Smart Mom's Guide to Pregnancy and Baby's First Year. I was on my 4th month then and even before that, I tried to get hold of literature that could guide me through my pregnancy. Even though it's easy to find information on the web, a good book that I could just grab any time I needed comforting (especially during sleepless nights when I had nothing better to do) was still necessary.

I must say this is a good investment for expectant moms as it doesn't only discuss things you need to know while your baby's in the midst of developing inside the womb but all the way through his infancy. I particularly loved their checklists on how to pack your bags or the hospital and the things your baby would be needing once he arrives. Even though shopping for your little one could be therapeutic for the pregnant woman's anxiety, still you need to be practical on what stuff to buy and save up for the more important expenses such as the hospital bill, baby's check ups and vaccines, and things you need for your post-delivery well-being.

I read through the book as I go along. My baby's more than 2 months old now so my bookmark is right around those pages. I'm enjoying this book a lot because it talks of parenting and pregnancy in the Filipino setting. Things like "to use or not to use abdominal binder (bigkis, which is a Pinoy tradition)" as well as other FAQs of Filipina moms are addressed by this book. It even helps you find a good yaya for your baby, should you choose to hire one.

hello mommies!

Since I found out I was pregnant in August 2009, I became passionate about motherhood, parenting, and homemaking. I tried to read every literature I'd get my hands on, surf through the net, and even ask around from other moms for every information I need to guide me. However, I feel that nothing beats first-hand experience in learning how to perform the toughest job on earth. And so as I go through this amazing journey of discovering new things about my child and myself (every night before I go to sleep, I smile at the thought that I survived another day at being a young mom), I decided on documenting my motherhood through blogging so that in the future, I can look back at my achievements and mistakes, and share my learnings with other mommies who would read my blog.

So, this is where it all begins! I hope I could be of help to every mommy who would read through my online diary and I hope to be able to share insights with some of them soon. Please enjoy reading through just as much as I enjoy writing them.

Cheers, mommies!