Wordless Wednesday: Together

Photo taken by Butch, my husband.

Pedia check- up, street food, dinner with friends then back to Nigel

We brought Nigel to the Pedia today for his monthly check-up. In the waiting area I saw this baby that kind of resembles Nigel- also big and plump. Actually he’s bigger than Nigel. I asked the daddy how many months old he was and apparently he’s even younger than Nigel- 5 months old!

I think we’re gonna stick to this pedia we just consulted. I like her. She seems experienced. I can tell by how she answered my questions and the long line of patients she has. Nigel is now allowed to drink fruit juices. I’ll be giving him an ounce of freshly squeezed orange juice diluted in water tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Butch and I satisfied our craving for street food in U.P. I thought this cheap date of ours would be canceled because it was raining. But we still went ahead. We just ate our fruit shake, chicken and squid balls inside the car.In the evening, we had dinner with our dear couple friends- Apol and Cyrus, Ethel and Rio. We ate at this restaurant also inside the U.P. campus called Chocolate Kiss. It was good to meet up with friends again. We haven’t done this in a really long time since I gave birth.

We went home at around 9 pm. Nigel, held by my mom greeted me at the gate. Nanny Weng said Nigel was restless and kept looking at the door when somebody came in. Though he was already tired, he refused to sleep because he was looking for mommy. After washing my hands I took Nigel into my arms and his worried look turned into a smile. I nursed Nigel after which I took a bath. I left Nigel playing with his daddy. When I came back to our room our li’l angel was already asleep.

300!

After such a long time because I put on the mommy hat, I was able to drop 300 entrecards. Not for this blog though but for nurturingnigel.com, my mommy blog. I also want to drop for this site eventually.

Its funny. I was about to submit this site, shards of thoughts to some search engine so it can get a pagerank. But when entered its URL in my pagerank checker, I saw pagerank 2! I guess google has already indexed this site. Hmmm I wonder when did they rank it. The last time I checked was about three months ago and it said n/a. Does anybody know how often and when google updates pageranks? I really want to know.

Being Humbled

God has a way of humbling His children. He knows which of your buttons to push, when and how long to press.

Bad mommy, BAD!

Nigel bumped his head twice already this week. On the first incidence he fell from the bed. It was his first time (and I definitely hope the last) to fall. He was sleeping soundly already. I placed pillows all around him because I badly needed to change pads. When I went back I saw him on the floor face down crying. I immediately picked him up. There was a bump on his forehead. This happened about two days ago. Just this afternoon, he bumped his head again while playing. He was seated on his rubber puzzle mat. I think he saw the curtains being blown by the wind behind him. He tried to turn around and fell on his back bumping his head. The poor little thing cried loudly. All I could do was comfort him.

Of course, I hate myself for this. Nigel is growing so active and mobile everyday. He needs to be supervised at all times. Nevertheless I reckon all children have bumped their heads at one point in time. I guess I just have to be more attentive.
I’m dropping entrecards for nurturing Nigel again. I want to to this an everyday thing once more. I’m going to work on a schedule so I could accomplish a lot of things. Its time to conjure the Lynette Scavo archetype!!

I signed up for Facebook. I’ve seen Butch tinkering with it and having fun. And boy was it addicting or what.

Anyway, I hope things work out. I wanna do a lot of things.

Butch and I went back to Tramway because…

…we wanted to savor the eat-all-you-can buffet food without any cares! One of the reasons why we chose this restaurant for the baby dedication reception was because the food is good and the price is very reasonable. But both Butch and I were not able to eat as much as we wanted to. We were very busy table hopping with Nigel making sure our guests were entertained and eating well. So yesterday, we went back. This time we took our time and enjoyed the buffet!

We came early. Around 11 a.m. which was good because after an hour, lots of people started coming in. This was probably because yesterday was a non-working holiday in respect of President Corazon Aquino’s burial. I saw some people wearing yellow. Perhaps they came from Manila Cathedral or something. I also saw a group of nuns! This is very odd and surprising for me. I know for a fact that nuns, are folks who chose the religious life and vowed a life of POVERTY, CHASTITY and OBEDIENCE. What the heck are they doing in an eat-all-you-can buffet?I once thought nuns weren’t allowed to eat meat. Oh well. I guess they are.

Rain, rain go away, mommy Wendy needs to go to the bank.

It’s raining cats and dog outside. Apparently, there’s a storm they named Kiko. I wish it would stop. I need to go to the bank and do some stuff. Our part-time nanny is now a full time one. Nigel is beginning to be a real handful to take care of. He has become very active and easily bored. For sure, he’ll be more active once he learns to walk. Since I already have help, now I can take care of some of Butch’s needs. I’ve sort of neglected him since Nigel came along. But this morning, I prepared him breakfast and his packed lunch for work! For which he thanked me.

What is up with neobux? It keeps telling me that my ip address has clicked on the ad within 24 hours when I hadn’t in days. I saw in their forum other “clickers” are also having the same problem. One suggested that this happens to users who share their internet connection with other users. Unfortunately, we share ours with my sisters. I prayed about it the other night. “Lord, how am I going to solve this ip address problem?” All of a sudden, an idea crossed my mind. I thought of using Internet explorer as a browser (I normally use Firefox). I tried it just now. And it worked. As I write this post, I am clicking ads and happily seeing “ADVERTISEMENT VALIDATED…” ! Yey!

Lord, please make the rain stop. I really want to go out later.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, a migrain inducing movie

After such a long time, Butch and I were finally able to see a movie together. Since Nigel was born, we couldn’t go out as a couple. We would always take turns just to go malling or spend time with friends because Nigel needed our 100% attention. How were we able to go out together then? We hired a part-time nanny! I refused to get one before because Nigel was too young and the thought of leaving Nigley boy to a total stranger bothered me. He is 5 ½ months old, and mommy and daddy needs some alone time. Grandma Noni assured me that she was going to supervise anyway, so we finally got one.

I really wanted to see Transformers. But just to see how Butch would react, I said I wanted to watch Hannah Montana, the movie. I was very surprised for he easily agreed. I didn’t think he was keen on spending money to see a kiddie flick that I could just catch on HBO or something. But he did. When we reached the mall, I told him I was just kidding. I think he was relieved.
I thought I was going to have a good time. But in the car, I felt like I was losing an appendage or something! Was I missing Nigel already? In the movie house, I couldn’t focus on what Optimus Prime was saying. It was hard concentrating, all I could think about was going home to Nigel. Something inside me ached to be with my son- hold him in my arms and smother him with kisses.

Boy, Transformers was a very fast paced flick. It was action packed and looking at the transforming auto-bots gave me a migraine!

I learned two things that day
1. No matter how tired Nigel makes me, I cannot stand being away from him.
2. I do not like robot flicks

Perhaps Butch and I will just eat out in our next spend-quality-time-with-your-spouse day.

After three months...

It is eleven thirty p.m. Both my boys are finally asleep. Butch is snoring and Nigel is sleeping on his tummy after a satisfying meal of breastmilk in a bottle. It was a rough day for my li’l angel. This afternoon, he was given the DTP immunization shot. He didn’t have fever but he was fuzzy nd whinney the whole afternoon and Butch couldn’t appease him. I guess he wanted his mommy.
At three months old, Nigel is now 7.2 kilos. He can roll over, raise his head 90 degrees, put his hands together, laugh out loud, giggle, vocalize and hold his toys. I am happy to witness how he is developing and growing. By now, he can already sleep through the night in most days. For this reason, Daddy’s night shift no longer exist. I am the one who gets up when Nigel cries for attention once in a while. His pooping has also lessened to two from five to six for the past months. Sometimes he doesn’t even do it in a day.The parenting book What to Expect the first year says this is perfectly normal. At this point the baby is using more of the nutrients cause he’s rapidly growing. That’s why there is less waste product.

As for me, My tummy has definitely shrunked but its still not the same size pre-pregnancy. I don’t think its ever gonna be that flat again. My wound from having a c-section has completely healed. I no longer feel any sort of pain that used to bother me a lot during the the first and second month. My period is even back. Not too happy about this. I was told it wouldn’t come back as long as I am breastfeeding. Apparently I’m not that lucky. I also noticed that my milk supply drops days before and during my period. This has forced me to supplement with formula. I give Nigel four ounces of S26 everyday. I still give him breastmilk 95 % of the time. I just don’t want to see the small can of formula put to waste. It is pretty costly.

I can say that I’ve adjusted to my new life as a mom. But for some reason, I still couldn’t fit blogging into my day. I try whenever Nigel is asleep but I find myself too tired so I also sleep instead. I wanna have more energy to do the things I want. I don’t want to get stuck in this routine. I wanna do other things besides being Nigel’s mommy.

Some snapshots during our stay in the hospital

Of course Butch was snapping pictures with his Nikon D40 during my stay in the hospital. Here are some of his shots…

Taken inside the operating room. I specifically told Butch not to take my headshots while inside. Otherwise I would throw away his camera with every strength I had left in my body hahaha! All I see of myself in this picture is my left hand. I was very groggy and half asleep during the operation. I didn’t feel a thing! Thank God for epidural.

My sister said It really hurts when they take the catheter out. This was taken when my doctor was removing it. They also changed the dressing of my stitches for the first time that's why was covering my eyes. Here at home, Butch does it for me. I don’t want to look at it. I haven’t checked out my post pregnancy body yet. But I know my tummy is still big and I bet there’s a some loose skin.

Just out of mommy’s tummy! Nigel looked more like me on day one. He’s definitely got my eyes and skin color. Everyone’s saying this as they looked at Nigel’s pictures. But on the second day, his skin turned a little redish and he started looking more like Butch especially when he’s asleep. He has Butch’s nose and lips. Oh well, I guess he’s a combination of him and me.

I gave birth at the New Era General Hospital. An institution built and run by the “Iglesia Ni Cristo” Church. A Christian sect here in the Phlippines. The picture above is their place of worship. My cousin/ doctor is an active member of this church. I have no regrets giving birth in this hospital. The people are courteous, the service is good and the price is very reasonable. We spent a lot less than we expected.

Like I said, we weren’t able to take Nigel home right away. He had to stay in nursery a couple more days. We visited him everyday though. I breastfeed him. I am so glad I practiced taking care of babies with my nieces Iris and Chloe! Otherwise I’d be so clueless the first time I picked Nigel up. Butch wasn’t allowed inside. I had no one to help me or to panic with hahaha! I would take pictures of him with my cellphone camera and look at it all day with Butch.

He cooked “Tinola” for me

For the past weeks, these are what I’ve been eating

Breakfast: Low fat milk and 3 tbsp of instant oatmeal
Lunch: less than a cup of rice, 1-2 slices of meat and 1 cup of whatever veggies
Dinner: Green Salad or All-Vegetable Sandwich

These meals are easy to prepare and are low in sugar and calories. It has helped me lose weight. But like any food, if you eat it every day you will surely grow tired of it. Butch has been in his paternity leave since Thursday and last night, he cooked “Tinola” for me. He thought of it because green papaya, one of its ingredients is said to encourage contractions on pregnant women. Tinola normally has chicken, malungay leaves and green papaya. But since we are after eating the green papaya, Butch didn’t put chicken just the malungay leaves and other spices.
I am happy that Butch is with me now. He said it was okay. He was not able to use up his leave credits last year and this is the perfect time to use it. Two days ago, he took me brisk walking in U.P. At noon time we went to Wildlife, a park/ zoo housing endemic animals here in the Philippines. We ate our lunch there and walked around seeing all sorts of animals (in cages of course)- different species of snakes, birds, fishes, mammals etc. I’ve been a resident of Quezon City for a long time but that was my first time in that park. I enjoyed very much. It’s unfortunate though he was not able to take pictures of the animals. His Nikon D40’s battery run out after we ate lunch.

Someday, we will take Nigel to this park to see the animals.

I wonder what will Butch cook for me tonight.

Wordless Wednesday: Walking, walking and more walking... to induce labor

*picture taken by Butch as I walked in U.P.

Kate Winslet Finally wins Best Actress

Kate Winslet won the best actress award during last Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards for her role opposite Leonardo Di Caprio in “Revolutionary Road”. She also won the best Supporting actress award for the movie “The Reader”. This is a long awaited win for the British actress who has been nominated 5 times for an Oscar but has never won. Like what she said in her acceptance speech for best supporting actress “I have a habit of not winning things…”Well, her luck seems to have changed. Will she finally win an Oscar too this year? The nominations are yet to be announced. But I am very sure Kate will be nominated for best actress as well.

It was pretty obvious she would win for best supporting actress category. Her contenders namely Amy Adams, Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis, and Marissa Tomei are no match for the Kate’s caliber and experience as an actress in my opinion. She was very composed and prepared going up the stage as she held on to the list of the people she wanted to thank. But when she heard her name came up as best actress winner, Kate seemed stunned. Who wouldn’t be? Beating Ann Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Kristin Scott Thomas- all spectacular actresses is quite a feat. Here’s a video clip of her acceptance speech as best actress…



Congratulations Kate, you deserve it. Oh boy! This makes me want to watch Revolutionary Road even more but I don’t know when it is showing on this side of the globe.

The American Idol Season is upon us!

I was channel hoping yesterday and I saw that American Idol Season 8 will premiere this January 14 on Star World (Asian cable channel that carries it via satellite). This talent contest is by far the most entertaining there is for me. I’ve been a follower since Carrie Underwood’s season.

They say the ratings have been slipped though. I wonder what they will do to make the show more interesting. Around mid last year the producers announced that there will be another female judge for season 8. Joining the three will be songwriter Kara DioGuardi. This grammy- nominated composer has written songs for successful artists like Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, Hillary Duff, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Lachey just to name a few. Will she be harsh unlike Paula? I really don’t mind if they add another judge as long as they don’t remove Simon Cowell. He may be really harsh, but his comments are quite entertaining. And his judgment is one of the reasons why the show is so successful.

Last season two males, David Archuleta and David Cook battled it out for the title. I was rooting for David Cook and I am glad he won. I wonder who will win this year. Will it be another male or a female singer? Though Cook got the title, Archuleta seems more popular; at least here in the Philippines. His song “Crush” was Song of the Year in RX 93.1’s year end count down. Though it was only released late this year, it still managed to be 2008’s number one hit! Cook’s “Leave the Light on” on the other hand was only number 16 or something.

Anyway, I am looking forward to an enjoyable show this year. I will be watching it with Nigel!

I’ll be asking for Pancakes with maple syrup

After I give birth, I will be finally off the “no-sweets” diet. I miss eating carbs. But right now I need to be focused to make sure Nigel comes out healthy. They say that once you get into labor you’re no longer allowed to eat till you give birth. I think it has something to do reflexes. Where in the world where will I get the energy and strength to push if I hadn’t eaten anything?! Labor could last for hours and hours. I guess one forgets the hunger when the labor pain is really bad.

I’ve already told this to Butch. I want pancakes with maple syrup to be my first meal when it’s all over. I have a sweet tooth, that’s a fact but I will still limit my carb intake even after I give birth. I want to eat more healthy stuff- fruits, veggies and fiber so that I can be healthy for Nigel and Butch.
My Ob-Gyn asked me to do a count of Nigel’s fetal kicks to make sure he’s healthy and there’s no problem. Starting tomorrow, I will take note of how many his kicks are within 1 hour after a meal. I’ll be recording it in the same small notebook I use to record my blood sugar.

I was hoping for a PR3, oh well…

As the New Year kicked in, Google also gave away new page ranks. I’ve been waiting for this especially for my blog, Nurturing Nigel. I’ve been posting regularly, exchanging links with the same niche, and making sure I had constant traffic. I was aiming for a PR 3 but I entered my domain’s URL in the pr checker site and www.nurturingnigel.com is only PR2. I know for a fact that Google updates page rank every three months. I guess I’ll just continue blogging and wait for the next update. I don’t want to think about PR too much or pressure myself about it. I’ll just enjoy writing and interacting with other bloggers. When From the eyes got its PR3 before, I didn’t know anything about blog rankings. I was just happily expressing my thoughts, sharing my life with other bloggers. I guess I’ll do the same with Nurturing Nigel. As Butch always told me, the unlimited internet access he pays for every month is for my enjoyment, so I’d be relaxed and stress-free (He knows for a fact that my atopic dermatitis and asthma flares up when I am stressed). He said the moment he sees that the internet causes anxiety on my part; he’s going to have our DSL cut-off! I don’t want that to happen, I love blogging- it keeps me grounded and sane but sometimes the money-making part is the one that gives any blogger pressure.

Anyway, just enjoy blogging, Wendy, just enjoy it!