Despite the total firecracker ban here in Davao City, I, together with my family, my brother and his wife and two children who came all the way from Bukidnon,  still celebrated the New Year with a BLAST.  With their presence, our house came into life again like a firework because ,  my child, Chesska, had a new playmate, her 6-year-old cousin. Both kids ' noise and mess temporarily broke the silence and tidiness of our house, as you know how "hyper" kids are. Also, I was able to chat with my older brother and his wife for the longest time. We barely saw each other due to the distance of our home place, so a holiday like Christmas and New Year allowed us to be complete once again.

Here are the best parts of our New Year Celebration:

1. To make their 4-day vacation worth spending, I brought them over to eat-all-you-can buffet during my mom's birthday on December 29th.


2. On the same day evening later, I strolled my family at the Davao Rizal park. My friends posting Christmas events at the Rizal park over Facebook have convinced me to pay a visit on that place very soon since it's been a long long time that I haven't been there.  Finally, we were able to take pictures behind these colorful and attractive Christmas lights. Our picture is a bit dim though..





3. On the 31st , we went to the mall nearby just to go around and buy cake for my niece for her birthday, luckily her birthday coincides with the New Year. Her family saves time and money. hehe


4. Heart (my niece) blowing candle on her birthday.



5. Finally the highlight of our New Year, January 1st,  was held at Japanese Tunnel.

My husband and 3-year old in front of the Japanese Tunnel swimming pool

From the top view

Mom and my brother together with his family

Japanese Tunnel Swimming Pool

Bucket Challenge (haha!)

Beside the Japanese Tunnel Restaurant

Japanese Tunnel Restaurant Front View

Inside the Restaurant

Entrance of the Hotel and Reception Area

Inside the Tunnel

Replica of a Japanese Golden Buddha

Gold Bars Replica

Japanese Soldiers Statues

Inside the Tunnel

Main Entrance to the Tunnel

Slaves ' Jail

Japanese Tunnel Hotel. This picture was taken during our first visit here.

Hotel Lobby

Hotel lobby. This picture was taken during our first tour here.

Charges:

Entrance for Adults and Kids ......100.00
Japanese Tunnel ...........................50.00
Hotel Rate......................................2,100 per night with breakfast

Corkage:

Every Viand.....................100.00
Cake.................................300.00
Lechon.............................300.00
Soft drink.........................30.00
Rice..................................100.00

My New Year has been great so far. How about yours?

I was hesitant to register my child in the Halloween Spooktacular Costume contest held last week but for the sake of developing my child's social skill, I gave it a try! Unlike some other kids who are very sociable, Chesska doesn't seem comfortable with groups whom she's not familiar with. That is one of the concerns, as a mother, I need to address to.

However, Chesska loves dressing up. While at home, rarely would I see that her closet was well-arranged for she loves pulling her tops and pairing them with leggings or shorts, or whatever idea she has in mind. I admired her creativity! So I haven't had a hard time to dress her up in Halloween costume.

So before we went to the venue held at Gmall Toril, approximately 15 minutes from our place, I had her wear her costume to see how she looks. She made a cute pose while taking pictures of her (costume idea here.) I likewise oriented her that she would be meeting lots of kids later, wearing scary costumes (she was a bit terrified). Read the full story here.

I've never heard of this place before until a friend of mine recommended Rancho Palos Verdes for our family getaway last weekend. A lovely place indeed, near the crocodile park! Never have I seen such place, the fact that I had gone to crocodile park for a few times.  Rancho Palos Verdes offers multiple amenities, but we just intended to go swimming since my 3-year old kept begging us for quite a long time. So this time, her persistent request was granted. At long last!

Rancho Palos Verdes Swimming Pool Rates with Free Use of Cottage:

I don't know when the country club opens but am pretty sure it closes at 8 pm.

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is NOT intended as medical advice.  Please consult with a licensed medical professional if you have any questions or concerns related to your health situation.

How are you, moms?

It's been a while since I last updated my blog. It's because I was hospitalized a couple weeks ago (September 6 to be exact) due to miscarriage. Unfortunately, I lost my baby that is supposed to be my second child. Now I wanted to share with you what I went through during miscarriage. The information shared below, I think, is essential to all women most especially who are preparing or planning for pregnancy.

Let's begin...

My LMP (last menstrual period) was either first week or second week of July (Sorry, I am not brilliant in remembering dates). When I learned I was one-month delayed, I already concluded that I got pregnant. But I didn't bother to use the urine test, nor did I consult my OB to confirm my pregnancy. However,  my gut feelings told me that there was something wrong with my pregnancy. Because the first week of August, I felt stabbing pain in my abdomen that I thought I was going to have a monthly period. Strangely, it did not really happen as expected until a few more passing weeks. There were times the abdominal pain re-occurred though it was tolerable. Since I already missed my period for 7 weeks, I decided to ask my husband to buy two pregnancy tests to find out whether I was pregnant or not.

First Pregnancy Test - two clear lines appeared,  which means positive.

Add caption

We were so elated of what we saw, so husband and I decided to schedule for an ultrasound with my OB on September 5. But prior to that day, evening, undesirable things happened. I found out some brown discharge/spotting, though it had never soaked my panty liner, but I was still terrified. Again I made my second pregnancy test, reassuring the baby was okay.

Second Pregnancy Test - one line is clear while the other one is somewhat faint.



Upon seeing it, we decided to consult my OB on the following day. I underwent TVS (transvaginal ultrasound). Yes,  the OB confirmed I was pregnant but I should have been more than 7 weeks based on her examination. She saw yolk sac, but no embryo detected, as well as the heartbeat. Also, while on TVS, my spotting began to get worse (I saw fresh, red blood already). But she did not tell me right away that I was going to miscarry my baby but sadly expressed the baby's development would not probably be good if the pregnancy continues. But she did not also suggest a D&C (raspa). She advised me to get back after one week for another ultrasound, take a complete bed rest and she prescribed Duphaston as pampakapit. But she said if the bleeding persisted and was heavy, I shouldn't wait any longer but go immediately to the emergency. Then on September 6 morning, I found out some blood clots already but I refused to go to emergency yet, hoping that what I went through was just normal. But in the late afternoon, I bled heavily accompanied with abdominal pain, much like dysmenorrhea. I then made up my mind to go to the hospital and the doctor told me I had to undergo D&C.

Sad to know that I miscarried my baby and it was a traumatic event. My doctor told me that stress, as well as food intake, have nothing to do with the miscarriage.  This type of occurrence is really common in one out of a hundred pregnant women.  In spite of that, I should take extra precautions, like my body should be in optimal health before planning for another conception to avoid the same problem in the future.

I would be forever grateful if you help my blog grow by liking my facebook page here. Your single click means a lot to me. Thank you so much.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is NOT intended as medical advice.  Please consult with a licensed medical professional if you have any questions or concerns related to your baby's health situation.

Chesska, 3.7,  barely gets sick, but when she is ill, it will definitely stay longer and even get worse if not attended immediately.

Last week, Monday, she was feverish associated with a nasty cough. She also felt like vomiting every time I gave her medicine. So I decided to take her for a free medical check-up near our village sponsored by a certain congregation which is conducted every Tuesday.

Since heaps of people, including us,  were waiting for our turns to be checked, and the fact that it was free, the doctor was rushing checking each patient so she could accommodate everyone. When my turn came, she interviewed us about how the fever and cough started. Then hurriedly patted her stethoscope towards Chesska's chest and back but said nothing.  But she advised for urinalysis and cbc, which was performed right away in the mobile lab in front the checking venue (I doubt the facilities are clean).

A few minutes later, we got the result and went back to the doctor for the final analysis. She told me, Chesska had urinary tract infection and her cbc showed fine except that her hemoglobin's score was below the normal level. In other words, Chesska was anemic. I silently asked myself, how come she got UTI, I didn't even give her junk foods, nor I let her sip even a little amount of soft drink. To give her the benefit of the doubt, I still followed her prescriptions (after all she's a doctor).

For her UTI along with her cough, she prescribed an antibiotic, Co-Amoxiclav to be taken twice a day, 7.5 ml, for 7 days and Salbutamol Guifenesin, thrice a day, 5 ml,  for 7 days.




However, after taking the prescribed medicines plus the paracetamol I gave her, and on Wednesday early dawn until the sun shone, I noticed that her fever didn't go away. Her cough was getting nastier.  Her stomach also got upset that she had to poop several times (around 3-4) for that day. It bothered me even more. My husband and I again decided to repeat the laboratory: urinalysis, cbc, and fecalysis in the hospital that we used to consult every time Chesska got health problems. It is approximately 10-15 minutes away from our house. I was confident that the results were more reliable than the previous one because the examination lasted for about an hour (at least it was examined thoroughly....)

We brought the results to the attending physician (resident doctor) since the pedia was no longer around then (it was already 8:00 p.m). Both urinalysis and cbc were read okay, contrary to the previous results. Meaning Chesska was cleared from UTI and she's not anemic.  But we came to the worst part, that Chesska had ameoba. Again, I initially doubted the result. I stubbornly insisted that it might be only the side effect of antibiotic since Chesska suffered from frequent pooping five months ago after taking the same medicine. But the attending physician strongly emphasized that the results were correct (pointing on the paper).


She prescribed a Metronidazole for amoeba to be taken 3 times a day, 7ml,  for one week.


But that time, I was so concerned about Chesska's cough, not diarrhea or whatsoever. Because her cough was pretty bad.  I finally requested the doctor to check Chesska with her stethoscope. According to her, she heard no phlegm, but I was half-convinced. She advised me to continue the antibiotic and Salbutamol given to her by the first doctor.

While I continued giving the meds, Chesska's cough remained hard, fever persisted. On the following day, Thursday, I went to Chesska's pedia, Dr. Sweet,  asking for another opinion. She was actually Chesska's pedia ever since.  What I liked about having an appointment with your pedia was that you could discuss things thoroughly. Then she let Chesska lie down on mini-bed and checked her chest with a stethoscope, listening carefully if there were phlegms. She noticed some. Then she had her mouth open, inspecting the throat thoroughly, and gently pressed her tummy. I also handed her the lab results from the previous day, and she saw no indication of UTI shown from the urinalysis, but she confirmed Chesska had amoeba. She told me to continue the med for amoeba, which is the Metronidazole, but she increased the dosage, from 7.5ml to 9ml for 10 days. Plus she shifted the antibiotic from Co-Amoxiclav to Cefixime, to be administered twice a day, 3ml, for 10 days.


Today is our 6th day of medication, and I can see tremendous improvement in her health. I seldom heard her cough at night, unlike in the past few days, it was quite bothersome. I did not also see her poop today, and I hope she will continue to improve until the next few days.

Lesson Learned:

I wish I had gone to my pedia right away when the first symptoms occurred so I did not waste my time and money. It doesn't mean I don't trust the first check-up, it's because my pedia knew well Chesska in terms of her health from the very start, and we have consulted to her several times for years.

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