Aiza Bautista's blog

I just stumbled upon this article at gmanews.tv today. PETA is enlisting the help of world famous ice cream maker, Ben and Jerry's, on creating breastmilk ice cream.  They wanted to reduce the suffering of cows and calves and at the same time, giving an healthier option for ice cream lovers all over.

They got the applauses from some orgs including La Leche League International, the oldest breast-feeding support organization and Ben and Jerry's owners and customers.

On the other had, I'm sure they're going to get a lot of raised eyebrows from other people too.

How I would love to buy so many shoes for my little girl, especially those cute mary janes she could wear with her sunday dresses or those astig designer rubber shoes with a nice pair of shorts or jeans. But there are just so many factors that's stopping me from doing so. One is the fact that in just a few months or even weeks, she'll just out grow them all. Second, there are a lot of pretty shoes that are nice to look at but are painful for those precious little feet, leaving horrible red biting marks.

Don't you wish there are shoes that will grow with your child's feet? Well, wish no more. MomEx stumbled upon a local retailer, BabyPosh.ph, which carries the brand Inch Blue shoes.

The brochure, which comes with the packaging, states that these soft-leather handmade footwear are designed for total comfort and gives essential growing space for your baby's feet since leather (especially soft-leather) does stretch and conform well with any type of foot. It has elasticated ankles which ensures that the shoes will stay on, making it hard to kick off. It also boasts of durable, non-skid suede soles for tiled and wooden floors, perfect for indoor use.

Too bad I wasn't aware of these when Elise was still learning to walk. They would have been the perfect trainer shoes, whether they're learning to walk, crawling or just sitting around, these stompers won't force feet into any position. What more, the dyes that they used are environmentally friendly and non-toxic, ideal for the little ones who are still sucking their toes.

According to this site, foosies.com, baby feet exert a lot of energy, especially when standing and balancing. This causes the feet to get hot. Baby feet can sweat twice the amount of adult feet (up to half a pint of moisture can be produced each day). That's probably why my little girl's feet smell so bad after an hour or so of walking around. So shoes made of natural, breathable materials are crucial and Inch Blue are all these and more.

Inch Blue shoes are ideal for kids in all mobility stages. Interested? Head off to BabyPosh.ph to view more designs and for more details on how to get a pair.

More baby foot facts found here - http://www.foosies.com/footfacts.asp

My own mom may not be around when I gave birth to Elise but I was lucky to be surrounded by people who gave me plenty of tips. Here are some that I found most useful when the little girl was around 1-6 months old.

1. Trickle drops of vitamins under the baby's tongue. It lessens the chance of gagging since it'll combine with her saliva to make it less goopy. (source: Elise's Pedia)
2. Give her vitamins before she takes a bath in the morning so you can wash off all stickiness afterwards. (source: Pau's Mom)
3. Mittens - Aside from keeping her precious face scratch free, it doubles up as self-wipes for drool, too. Just make sure you change it as often as every after 4 hours to avoid baby's hands from smelling icky.
4. Use moistened cotton to clean baby's face. Don't use soap or a washcloth because it'll dry her sensitive skin or may cause rashes.

5. Do infant massage before you put soap during bathtime. Infants thrive on touch and the contact helps you bond with your baby more. (source: Elise's Pedia)
6. If she refuses to drink water, mix one part of Karo Light Syrup to 5 parts of water. Honey is also okay but the preparation of our local honey may not be sterile for baby. (source: Elise's Pedia)
7. If your baby's gag reflex is strong (like Elise's), you need not swab her mouth often to avoid mouth sores. Just make sure she drinks enough water to clean the white coating on her tongue. (source: Aiza's Pedia)
8. You need not warm baby's milk before feeding, room temperature is enough (Philippine room temperature, that is). This will prove useful when you travel a lot. (source: Elise's Pedia)
9. Sing to her often, it helps soothe baby when she's throwing a fit. (source: Aiza's Mom)

Hope this helps. What's your favorite tip of all?

I've always envied WHAMs or SAHMs since I'm still figuring out how to be one. But I'm more envious of moms who can make scrapbook albums out of their children's/family's photos.

Why? First, scrapbooking and photo collages takes tons of time to do. You will have to figure out the look you want, find elements and pieces for your chosen theme then put them all together so that it'll look somewhat artistic. Second, you'll need more time to take those photos, collate/organize them or even process/edit them. But if you need less-hassle ways of preserving and/or presenting your photos, here are some highly recommended sites which does the job in lesser time and hopefully lesser effort.

Scrapblog.com

This site isn't on top of my list for nothing. Its easy to use, they've got tons ready-to-use themes which you can edit, edit, edit to your heart's content. Delete or add elements in a click of a button and upload photos, the drag-and-drop way. You can download hi-res versions for printing or leave them online for the world to see.

The Good: unlimited photos and page hosting

The Bad: Requires fast internet connection (at least 384kbps), sometimes hangs, sometimes slow, takes a lot of processing speed because its flash-based

Shutterfly.com

This old photo-album site has a new feature, photo collages. Create collages from your uploaded photos and voila, you're good to go! Themes are more simple with scrapbook-like backgrounds. You can also create nifty gifts by pasting your photos on different items like puzzles and playing cards or have your creations printed in a book. Is that sweet or what?

The Good: unlimited photo hosting, printing and shipping anywhere, promo of free 15 prints just shoulder $5 shipping until October 2007

The Bad: Can't download your creations unless you get a screenshot of it, oh-so limited backgrounds

MyAlbumMaker.com

This is similar to Scrapblog but with simpler templates for that no-fuss, layouts. It has less options than Scrapblog but more than Shutterfly. You can also save a low-res version on your computer by printing it out using the "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer".

The Good: Easiest to use of the three

The Bad: Saves only low-res version of photo

More help...

With the arrival of high megapixel cams (and their humongous files), uploading to websites and photo sharing is fast becoming a chore. Here's an app (developed by Microsoft) which you can download for FREE (ding!ding!ding!) and makes image-resizing a breeze. All you have to do is select/highlight the photos you want to resize from the file explorer, right click then select "Resize Pictures" from the menu. Click on the new size you want and viola! Smaller pictures without compromising quality.

Download the uber-useful app here or view more cool apps here.

Does anybody remember a certain commercial where the popular saying goes: "Kung ano ang ginagawa ng matatanda, ito ang gagayahin ng mga bata"? ("Children will imitate what adults are doing.") We may not make a big deal out of it, but as our kids grow older, they become more aware of their surroundings, and the people around it. Conscious or not, they look up to us. We (grown-ups) become their role models long before they have an understanding of what is right or wrong. And with the dawning of issues like the toy recalls, global warming, formalin in food and swine flu, I believe its high time for us to teach our kids the importance of social responsibility.

Social What?

According to my good friend, Mr. Wiki:

Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society...Social responsibility is voluntary; it is about going above and beyond what is called for by the law(legal responsibility). It involves an idea that it is better to be proactive toward a problem rather than reactive to a problem.

Deep, no?

My Mom, My Example

When I was younger, my mom would make us feel guilty whenever we would throw litter out of the car window or leave trash inside the movie house. She would go on and on about how disrespectful we were of the owners of the lot where our litter lands or how inconsiderate we are of the next users, etc., etc. So instead tossing around those little candy wrappers, she would ask it from us, and instead, dump it inside her bag. As soon as we get home or find a trash can along the way, she would then properly throw it there.

She also made sure we attended a school with grounded social activities. There, we had monthly outreaches which started in the 6th grade well until high school. I would fondly remember her always tagging us along in projects sponsored by an NGO she's involved with. Little does she know that all these time, she was already planting a seed of consciousness in us. At first I was apprehensive since it would mean less time with my friends or less time reading my pocketbooks (nerd!). But when I started enjoying the activities, I would find myself looking forward to another of their events and even convincing my friends to help out too!

How Soon Do We Teach Them?

My friend told me a story about her 3 year old daughter, reminding her to turn off the switch when they were about to leave the room with the lights still on. It made her cringe in guilt, but at the same time beam in pride that her little one was able to learn so quickly (and early).

Quoting from a site I came across:

"Creating opportunities for young children to learn about the environment can be as simple as taking a walk in the woods, visiting a local farm or planting a garden. Any of these activities can stimulate your child’s natural curiosity while providing many teachable moments to talk about the delicate balance of nature and our responsibility to preserve it."

O diba, its like hitting two birds with once stone? Outings like going to parks and zoos instead of the usual mall trip is ideal to expose your child to nature. It'll also give them an opportunity to teach them about their place in the ecosystem.

What About Us?

We might not have the luxury of time but simple things like throwing trash properly, unplugging unused electrical appliances and saving water can already do a lot for our environment. Or even take on one of the biggest challenges for moms like us is to reduce (or even eliminate, gasp!) the use of disposable diapers.  Not only does it help, it will actually help us save some precious money, too!

I have been a user (of disposable diapers, that is) since my 15 month old was born and now I'm in the trial and error process of using washables, to help in saving the environment. (Thanks to erins_mom for the inspiration)

The Deal on Social Responsibility

As they grow older, our children will have their own conviction on things but we, the adults, need to remind ourselves that our own principles will certainly rub off on them. We must start planting that little seed of consciousness on them so that we won't be rearing up another executive who was so engrossed with profit that he forgot about the amount of lead in their manufactured toys may mean sickness or even death for a child in another part of the world.

I know my kid is still only a year old, but I'll make sure to give her the amount of exposure and awareness (or hopefully even more) that my mom zealously taught us.

So why wait for the world to change when we can change the world, one little act of random kindness at a time? Make the world's welfare our own business, preserve a bit of paradise for our children and save some moolah in the process. We can all start by saying: "I'm responsible!"

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Here are some sites you might want to visit:

1. 100 Ways to save the environment
2. 50 Ways to save the environment
3. Global Warming survival guide
4. 99 Easy Ways

Reference: Raising Children with Social Responsiblity, Wikipedia-Social Responsiblity

Dental cavities or caries is one the most common of all childhood diseases. The biggest reason being is that it isn't treated for what it really is - a disease. A lot of parents invest a lot of money and effort on their children's medical welfare but fail to do the same on their dental health.

A recent report shows that about 40% of U.S. children have cavities in their baby teeth before they turn 6. This was frequently caused by prolonged exposure of teeth to milk, usually when the baby is left to feed with the bottle before sleeping. It's a fact that cavities almost always get transferred from baby teeth to permanent teeth. What more, parents can transfer cavity causing bacteria when they kiss their baby, or use the same utensils as the baby! Que horror! (I didn't know that too, until now)

Now, to keep milk teeth and gums healthy, regular visits to the dentist as early as the first year is advised, and so is daily brushing. Unfortunately, not all kids are too keen on having their tiny mouths poked and prodded on. Good thing Jen stumbled upon this spiffy product online.

Spiffies is a tooth wipe invented by Dr. Wagner, an American pediatrician. The neat thing about the product is that it contains xylitol, a natural sweetener, which helps fight off cavities and kids love the taste too. This sweetener contains xylose, is a five-carbon sugar that is not easily digested by cavity-causing bacteria, and actually inhibits their growth and proliferation! Cool!

Spiffies are individually packaged and disposable, recommended for baby's first teeth to kids up to five years of age. No need for messy toothpastes and toothbrushes. What more, you can clean your child's teeth when travelling and even when they are asleep. It comes in its original non-flavored variant and 3 yummy flavors namely mango, apple and my daughter's favorite, grape.

The downside to it is that it doesn't protect the parents finger from the painful biting, something I personally experienced. She also likes it when it's nice and cool, straight off the ref. But Elise still prefers her xylogel toothpaste to the sweeter wipes (yes, I tasted them too). I'm lucky the daughter doesn't give me a hard time when it's time to brush her teeth, that's why I just use the wipes when she falls asleep with her bottle. (something I should wean her from, soon)

References: Medicine.net, Spiffies.com, WHO|Oral Health

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Good news! You may now try out the product yourself. MomEx members will be given free sample of Spiffies, if they would just send a 10" self-addressed and stamped envelope at:
Request for Spiffies
Moms R Talking Business Inc.
40 Emilia Village
Silang, Cavite 4118

The husband and I were ecstatic when we found out we were pregnant with our only child (for now) Elise. The first three months were a breeze. I was blessed that I didn't experience the usual morning sickness, weird cravings or dizzy spells. And what mood swings? I was giddy and happy all the time.

Early Signs

It wasn't until the end of my third month when everybody were noticing how swollen my feet always were. I brushed it aside thinking that it's just the salty food that I stubbornly ate despite the doctor's warnings. It was also during these times when I started feeling week and tired, but again, abandoned the idea that something was wrong.

On the 5th month, my OB was alarmed when she noticed the increase in my blood pressure and put me on medication immediately. She gave strict orders to check my BP every morning and to call her up immediately if it still rises. She told me I have gestational hypertension or pregnancy induced hypertension.

Houston, We Have a Problem

After that, everything was fine until a month had passed. The swelling worsened. I couldn't see my ankles and the skin on my feet hurt so much from the stretching, they looked like an elephant's feet. I ballooned and gained 30 lbs in less than 2 months. I was sleepy and fatigued all the time and my blood pressure rose to 140/100 even after medication. My OB increased the intake to twice a day.

A week has passed and it became thrice a day, then the next week to four times a day. But still, the stubborn BP just won't budge. I was then ordered to stop working. Besides, my productivity at work was already affected, I just find myself dozing off most of the time. So it was strictly bed rest (and house arrest) for me while other preggers were advised to exercise more or go to the mall to walk.

On the 34th week my BP rose to an alarming 150/110. My doctor ordered me to see her immediately for checkup. So I went and little did I know that I wasn't going home that night.

Mayday! Mayday!

Two days later, I was still in the hospital and was on strict bed rest. Before midnight, 6 weeks before my due date, my BP rose to 180/120, I was vomiting and the world was spinning around me like crazy. Before I knew it, I was wheeled into the delivery room for an emergency CS. By this time, my condition advanced to severe pre-eclampsia.

Elise came out only 3.2 lbs heavy and 15 inches long, the size of a 32 week-old fetus. My high BP caused my blood vessels to constrict therefore reducing the passage of blood which carried much-needed nutrients to my baby. She didn't have the sucking reflex and a few days later, got infected with sepsis (a kind of blood infection) because her immune system wasn't well developed yet. She had to stay in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for 30 days before we can take her home. I was in the hospital for 6 days, my cardiologist and OB only gave us the go signal to pack up when my BP lowered to 120/80.

Needless to say, ours was a very scary and life-threatening delivery. And we were traumatized beyond our wildest imagination.

Enlighten Me, Please

Pre-eclampsia is diagnosed when a pregnant woman develops high blood pressure (two separate readings taken at least 6 hours apart of 140/90 or more) and 300 mg of protein in a 24-hour urine sample (proteinuria). This rapidly progressive condition occurs in 5-8% of pregnancies, usually in the second or third trimester, and after the 32nd week.

Some women will experience pre-eclampsia as early as 20 weeks, though this is rare. Swelling, sudden weight gain, headaches and changes in vision are important symptoms; however, some women with rapidly advancing disease report few symptoms. Preeclampsia can range from mild to severe, and it can progress slowly or rapidly. The only way to get better is to deliver the baby (*gasp!*).

If you're diagnosed with preeclampsia earlier in your pregnancy, you and your doctor face the delicate task of prolonging your pregnancy to allow your baby more time to mature, without putting you or your baby at risk of serious complications. Researchers have learned a lot about pre-eclampsia in the last decade, but many aspects of the condition remain a mystery. Although maternal mortality is low with a recorded 2.3% in the US, it may lead to serious complications including respiratory distress syndrome, low birth weight, eclampsia, placental abruption and HELLP — which stands for hemolysis (the destruction of red blood cells), elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count —a syndrome which can rapidly become life-threatening for both mother and baby.

Knowing is Half the Battle

But not to fret, there are ways to detect high-risk pregnancies in its early stages. I was just too stubborn too take note of all the signs. The fatigue, the sudden weight gain (more than 2 lbs/week), the early signs of edema (should only start by the end of the 6th month) and the high blood pressure. And it was only after I gave birth when my mom told me she too was diagnosed when she was pregnant with my youngest brother.

It is common for first time pregnancies, pregnancies with 2 or more fetuses, obese women and women aged below 35 years old. You are also at high risk when you have the following conditions before pregnancy: chronic hypertension, have certain blood clotting disorders, diabetes, lupus, kidney diseases and other auto immune sicknesses. It will be tons of help if you do a bit of research, read up on the references I've posted and try find out if you have close relatives who were pre-eclamptic.

More than the Usual

Taking care of yourself and being extra observant during pregnancy will go a long way. Aside from the monthly prenatal checkups, daily monitoring of blood pressure and fetal kick counts should be done. Eat right, check out the sodium content of all the food you eat. High sodium intake can increase the risk of hypertension during pregnancy although it is still not proven to prevent it. So say bye, bye to canned and processed food, bagoong, fish and soy sauce, fried food, cheese (yes, cheese!!), ketchup, chips and soda for the meantime. And better snack on vegetables and fruits.

If you were ordered bed rest, please do so. Yes, worrying and waiting may be hard for busy-bodies (like me). But remember, it will buy you more time for your baby to grow, especially when you develop this condition in the early stages. Take up a hobby like knitting, reading or scrap booking, activities that are not strenuous.

Most women diagnosed with gestational hypertension get their normal BP back 6 weeks after giving birth. I was unlucky, my heart suffered a bit of damage and I'm now diagnosed with chronic hypertension. Nevertheless, I'm just glad that after all these, so far, there are no visible signs of prematurity on Elise. By God's grace, we have a bubbly and cheerful toddler and we continue to pray that she'll continue to grow to a beautiful, healthy and happy individual.

References: Wikipedia, Preeclampsia.org, Baby Center, Mayo Clinic

Most parents face the problem of selecting toys we want to get for our kids. Of all the hordes of playthings found in stores, which one should you choose? Now, we don't want our hard-earned money spent on something that won't contribute to our children's development, right? And cuteness should be one of the least factors in toy-choosing. So if you want to be practical, aside from the helpful age bracket labels found in most toys, here are a few guidelines I've collated from different reliable sources including my mom, my pedia, relatives/friends online forums and baby sites.

The first step we need to do before deciding which toy to purchase is to check out which part of the developmental stage your child belongs. Basically there are 4 stages: Baby (birth-12 months), Toddler (13-24 months), Pre-schooler (2-4 years) and Big Kid (5-8 years). Each of these stages may be further subdivided according to months and milestones to be categorical.

Second, we need to determine which of the generic milestones you want for your child to be developed. Like for babies or infants 0-3 months, skills such as seeing black and white or visually tracking moving objects should come to mind. Toys like musical mobiles with loud primary colors are the best toys to foster that skill. From there, you may now determine which toys would likely be useful to your kid.

Here's a generic milestone guide for Babies and Toddlers:

---0-6 months---
Milestones: lifts head, sees strong colors like black red and white, turns head to loud noises and voices

Recommended Toys: unbreakable mirrors, musical mobiles with bold primary colors, play mats and play gyms with bold primary colors, soft musical and/or noisy toys with bold primary colors, crinkly and squeaky rattles with bold primary colors... ;)

---7-12 months---
Milestones: bangs objects together, drags objects to herself, searches for hidden objects, picks up things with pincer grasp (using thumb and forefinger), puts objects in container (or empties them out), crawling, teething
Recommended Toys: blocks, toys with containers (fishbowl toys), stack-up toys, sorters with big shapes, play gym, picture books, toy maraccas/drums/piano/tambourine, toy hammers, plastic pail and shovel, noisy teethers or teethers that light up

---12-24 months---
Milestones: walking, talking in syllables, crawling, puts objects in container (or empties them out), teething
Recommended Toys: push and pull toys, stack up toys, big building blocks, toy phones, shape sorters, toys with magnets, puzzles, talking toys, noisy teethers or teethers that light up, picture books/pop-up books

You may also apply the same milestone/age analysis for planning games and activities for your little one. Hope you guys find this helpful. Just remember, no amount of toys can equal a parent's time for play. Parents are still the best toy for any child.