I'm baaaackkkk!

For some reason today, I said to myself (I really said this to myself. Out loud.) : "I think I'm going to revive my old blog." So I logged on to that account, uploaded a test blog post, and lo and behold, the damn thing worked! So despite having said that I'm migrating here, I'm happy to say - I'm baaaackkkk!

Hallelujah! 

You will find that I have exported the posts from this blog to my new (old) blog. I'm sorry for making you bookmark so many pages. I'm a woman. I have the license to be fickle-minded. See you there!

In my cart

It may just be because we're second-time parents, but it seems that taking care of Izik is relatively easier than how it was with Malik.

Malik to Izik: "I object."

I say "relative" because I'm still as sleep-deprived as the next parent but when compared to our experience when Malik was a baby, Izik's baby-hood feels like a field day (again, relatively). Izik sleeps longer at night. He doesn't cry so much. And since he's not as heavy, it's easier to carry him around.

"I'm sexy and I know it."

There are things that we did differently this time. They may have helped so I'd like to share them here. In no particular order -

Minions!

I panicked the other day as I was looking for yet more minions. The friendly neighborhood McDonalds server said I only had until July 10 (yesterday) to get my grubby hands on them.  So naturally, I moved heaven and earth to collect all nine. 

Stuart the one-eyed minion holds a special place in my heart. Malik asked that we get him first.
We went to at least four McDonald's stores one weekend but all minions were sold out.
I got Stuart from an officemate. It was fate. Malik calls Stuart "Papuy".

Yipee yey!

We've so far given three to Malik. I hid them inside Malik's school bag, his sock drawer and our cabinet. I don't know who had more fun - Malik who was hunting for the minions, or myself while pretending I had no idea how they got where they were. Heehee

Here's Malik playing with his minions before bed time last night.
He has 6 now. He doesn't know we have more, hidden nga lang.  Sssshhh.

In other news, Izik's being adorable as always. He knows how to play with us now. For the first 3 months, all he ever did was sleep, poop, cry and drink milk. Now he likes looking around.

Why so serious, Izikoy?

He especially likes it when we move his arms and legs.

Our playtime repertoire: "Shake body body dancer,"
"Head and shoulders, knees and toes," and
Izik's all-time favorite "Copacobana"

It's time to bring out ye ole toys.

Izik's starting to discover his hands and feet.
He stares at his hands when he's not otherwise occupied with reaching for his toys.

Lesson learned

On Wednesday, Malik left his bag at home. Yaya ended up buying Zest-o and SkyFlakes for him from the peddlers outside his school so he wouldn't feel left out during snack time.

So yesterday, Malik looked for his bag as soon as he woke up and held on to it everywhere he went. He wouldn't let it out of his sight even when Yaya was putting his snacks inside. That, my friends, is one hard lesson learned.

All about nursing

Congratulations are in order. As of yesterday, I've officially been nursing Izik for a week more than I did Malik. That's 4 months plus plus for you. Yey.

Doesn't that smile just make nursing worth it?

It hasn't been easy. I get recurring milk blisters that make breastfeeding very painful. They go away on their own after some time but for some reason, I develop them again. Tiis-tiis lang when that happens. I tell myself it's just one of the things that mothers have to put up with for the love of their children.

Also, my milk supply noticeably decreased as soon as I started going back to work. I've been desperately trying to maintain my supply at least. It's still decreasing as we speak, but I like to keep the faith. So far, here's what I do.

The wheels on the bus

I had the pleasure of bringing Malik to school yesterday. Malik was as excited as I was, seeing that it was the first time that I'd get to ride the school bus with him. He normally would dilly dally in the morning before waking up. But yesterday, Malik took no time at all. All I had to do was to say "Wake up, honey. Mommy's riding the school bus with you" and he was in the bathroom getting ready before I could even bat an eyelash.

Here's our happy trooper.

After bringing Malik to his classroom, I stayed for a few minutes to take pictures of Malik's school projects. Here's one where the kids tell the teacher how they spent their summer.

Most of the kids remember swimming pools and going to the mall.

Here's Malik's answer. Sa totoo lang, we didn't get to take Malik anywhere nifty this summer because we were busy taking care of Izik who was just a teeny newborn. Most days we were just holed up in our room, watching TV, and waiting for the sun to go down a little so Malik could play outside. But we're happy Malik imagined he went to the forest. We didn't even know he knew what a forest was! 

This I particularly liked. Hehe

In celebration of Rizal day, the kids asked Dr. Jose Rizal questions. 

My favorite question, apart from Malik's? Chase's, of course.

On our way home Malik insisted that I not go to work the next day. His exact words were "No work tomorrow, okay?". I felt heartbroken. I wish I could spend my days like I did yesterday. But well, bills have to be paid. Taking Malik to school, fetching him, and dressing him up would have to remain an occasional privilege in the meantime.

A sentence (or two) a day

Izik's grown a lot since I last posted.

Izik at 3 months, 3 weeks and 4 days. His forehead is decidedly mine. :)

I've been watching him grow every day before my eyes and I can't help but think of how it was when Malik was still a wee-baby. I wrote about every single thing that Malik did no matter how uneventful. Now that Malik's all grown-up, I like to go back to those blog entries and grin at the thought that once upon a time, Malik wasn't so kulit.

We bought Malik these goggles so he can pretend to be a pilot. 

I've been busy, you see. It turns out, being a parent to two kids is as stressful as being a parent to three (or four, or five). I rarely find time for myself. Today, for example, I got my hair colored over lunch break at work! So necessarily, a few of my daily activities would have to be sacrificed - one of which is this blog.

I will try to post about the boys at least once each day - the goal being to document their lives and to an extent, my life. I know I've said this before and have not been able to meet my commitment with success. But I'm willing to give it another go. Shall we?

Izik: "Yes! Let's do this, mommy."

Got Milk?

We got actual breastmilk yesterday, 5 days after giving birth. I knew our milk will come in later because I gave birth via C-Section. Versus those who give birth vaginally, our bodies need more time to process the fact that the placenta has been expelled from the body before the milk-producing hormone prolactin is produced (Thank you, Google).

Malik and I got milk on the 5th day as well. So for the first five days after giving birth, Izik and I just kept at it to trigger the let-down. I doubted whether he was getting anything from me at all. Nothing resembling milk came out of me. But here's what he looked like after one feeding -


He looked fine and content naman. And he was regularly passing off urine and stool, which the Internet says are signs that a breastfed baby is well-fed (Baby should at least "gift" you with 6 wet diapers and 3 diapers with poop a day). [Photo courtesy of Malik Hehe]


The milk is just enough to feed Izik, I think. I'm not lucky enough to be able to store milk and even donate some to charity. But I've resolved not to torture myself over not producing more milk. Not this time. I just want to be able to feed Izik on demand direct from the breast like my grandmother did with her kids. But in case I decide I can't handle the exhaustion anymore, we have formula somewhere in the house that we can use. No pressure.

I hope we don't have to give Izik the formula though, until I have to return to work. To do that, I will have to do my best to manage the two horrible things about breastfeeding in my experience:

(1) It deprives me of sleep. Breastmilk is more quickly absorbed by a baby's system than formula, which means they have to be fed more often. By that, I mean at least every 2 hrs. And by this, I mean I haven't slept for more than 2 hrs. at a time since giving birth AND while recovering from major surgery.

(2) TMI: I have developed blisters in my nipples that make breastfeeding plain torture. They may be due to clogged milk ducts or an improper latch. All I know is that it stings and burns like hell everytime Izik feeds. Like HELL.

I know this period in our lives when I can still hold Izik against my chest and he can get all the nutrients that he needs from me is short and irretrievable when lost. I want to be able to cherish it, not dread it. I at least scheduled a session with a lactation masseuse tomorrow. I hope that in addition to increasing our milk supply, she can also help us with our latching technique.

- posted via BlogPress for iPad

Kuyaaaaahhh

Malik is taking the older sibling thing well. I was worried because I've been spending most of my time with Izik (gotta get the breast milk a-flowing). But so far, Malik's just been playing the adult by mimicking what we like to say to him when he's in certain situations. For example, when Izik cries, he'd say "It's okay Izik, don't cry. I'm here," which is what I usually say to him when he's upset. Fascinating.

Malik did "hit" Izik twice already in Izik's 4 days as the baby brother. But those were good faith accidents that should not have happened had the adults been paying closer attention. Boys will be boys, I say.



In other news, Malik caught a fever yesterday. 39C temperature, chills and the whole she-bang. Pao had to take him to the hospital at close to midnight to get tests taken. Nothing extraordinary turned up. Plus Malik's feeling better now. I hope the fever doesn't re-appear because it would certainly be easier for us if we're allowed to have both kids in one room.

And finally, Malik's been taking pictures with the iPad...





This one's more like it...


As you can see, I have yet to lose the baby weight. Moms can relate, that is just the least of my concerns. Zzzzz.

- posted via BlogPress for iPad

The iZik

Hello world, meet the newest addition to our family, Izik (pronounced 'Ay-Zeek' but spelled like the iPod Wekwekwek)


We're getting ready to go home after spending three days in the hospital. We're still sleep-deprived but not as much as we were with Malik. I guess we know better now.


We also have the advantage of having bought an iPad two years ago, which means I can now post updates about Izik real-time.


Okay, gotta go. A nice warm shower and a big warm hug from Malik are waiting for this 2nd time new mom at home. We'll see you.

- posted via BlogPress for iPad

Location:Wilson,San Juan City,Philippines

Peek-a-boo, I see you

Another thing that had to be done before the baby arrives was to get his 3D ultrasound pictures and 4D (ultrasound video) taken. We didn't get much use of Malik's ultrasound video 3 years ago, so we thought of just getting pictures taken this time. But again, that wouldn't be fair. :p

At least we found a cheaper alternative to In My Womb. I forget how much we paid then, but it was definitely more than the P3,300 that we paid for the Gold Package at the Face 2 Face Baby Ultrasound Company, The Block, SM North. P3,300 will get you a 30 min. ultrasound session, 6 prints, a 10 min. (approx.) DVD of the scan, and a CD of your baby's pictures for Facebook and what not. Not bad, but we expect the price of these things to lower already if there is any truth to Moore's law. Magastos lang.

It is apparently ideal to get your 3D/4D stuff taken when the baby's 6-7 months old, which is a time when he's not yet cramped inside your uterus. We forgot how this worked and had Baby No. 2's pictures belatedly taken at close to 8 months. Luckily, Face 2 Face allows you to avail of a lower package first to see if you'd get good scans of the baby. If that seems likely, then they give you the option to upgrade. Good deal, I say.

And so, without having to write a paragraph more, let me share pictures of Baby No. 2.

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

Looking for

We took our pregnancy photos at 34 weeks.

 

Click after the jump if you care to see more. :)

Let the countdown begin

We are almost 39 weeks pregnant today. Here's how I looked like this weekend -

I have no idea how much I weigh and I wouldn't want to know.
Let's just say the baby's the size of a watermelon.

I am getting anxious every minute. The verdict on whether I'll give birth normally or via cesarean section is still out there. I did not experience labor the first time considering the scheduled surgery, so I'm wondering now how that would feel. We've prepared as best we could. The other room's been "spring cleaned" (more on this later), new air conditioning has been installed, I've prepared the baby's clear book (that thing that contains legal and medical documents), and our bag is packed and ready.

I'm bringing just one bag (the red one) this time because I know that the hospital will be providing most of our essentials while were there. Malik and I had separate hospital bags 3 years ago. 80% of the contents of the bags weren't even used.

We're also done with shopping for the baby (mostly online because the Philippine Peso is da bomb now) and have been practicing our newborn parenting skills with the help of our toddler.

Malik swaddled in a huuuuge blanket.

 It is only a matter of days now. Let the countdown begin.

A crafting we will go

We cut back on Malik's access to the iPad when we noticed that he wasn't paying much attention to anything else. 

My pre-shus...

Papers and pencils especially do not interest him. He will hold one for a few seconds alright, but soon his eyes will be wandering off to something else, like a lizard on the wall or...his slippers. Now Malik gets to use the iPad only on weekends. Sadly, this hasn't improved his interest in writing. If at all, he just loves Saturdays more. 

Anyway, we noticed that Malik may also be watching too much TV. We haven't thought about imposing a limit on his TV schedule until we realized it's all he ever does. The moment we get home, he asks that we go to the bedroom because it's the only room in the house with cable TV. I like Jake and Finn, and Gumball and Darwin as much as any three-year old but I swear, four hours of Cartoon Network everyday is just the death of me. So last night, I resolved to steer Malik away from the TV for a little longer. My solution was to get him crafting.