last week a friend of mine celebrated his despedida in Jollibee Greenmeadows. it was funny because jollibee did make his appearance, and the party host did have games and prizes. there were only 2 little kids at the party so guess who were playing ‘caterpillar’? 
i swear, ang gulo-gulo talaga. pero nakakatawa. it’s really what you get when you mix the forever-young jollibee and the young-at-heart urc people.
wasn’t much of a boxing fan, but i think ever since pacquiao glamourized the sport at least here in the philippines, i’ve been able to watch his matches (thanks to my dad and 2 brothers; even my mom watches avidly). so, it’s not at all hard to be very proud of the one man who brings down the cime rate in a single day, and who makes both rich and poor equals in front of the television. ironic no? that this man’s the only one who does it.
anyway. congratulations to us for hoisting the flag up once more in a foreign land. naawa naman ako kay barrera. if you go, you really should go out with a bang. it was supposed to be his pre-retirement victory. but one thing that really set pacquiao apart from him is humility. we all saw how the guy landed a rather frustrated punch at manny after the referee calls it. if he knew that he was going to lose to manny in his final game, after promising that he will beat him, he should’ve just kept to a good clean fight. i actually lost some respect for the eight-time boxing champ.
but then again he hasn’t got filipino respect, so let’s just give it to him. hail manny pacquiao.
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in other news, gusto ko lang sabihin na ang kulit-kulit ni mia. she’s so likot, when she sees me on my laptop she just can’t help but join in. but i don’t mind
and yup, we sleep on the floor now, just to make sure she doesn’t have any more night-time accidents. mia likes being done up. hehe. when i put on her sunglasses, a headband, or a bonnet, she doesn’t even mind.
cute no?
Mia can be quite a handful already sometimes. Growing baby eh. I’m really happy she’s had so many little milestones, when I was really worried that she could be so much delayed in development. Mia is starting to throw things around when she’s on her high chair or walker.
Well most of the time she’s just so adorable. And having a little girl to dress up is really fun
But sometimes, the look on her face scares me. Parang mommy niya pag nagalit, siryoso. Kanino kaya nagmana to?? Hehe
“Mag-usap nga tayo dito.”
How can babies be so all-knowing!?? Sometimes I feel like she knows everything about me. hehe
the best things in this world include mountain-high ice creams (199php only for stuff-all-you-can ice cream sundae at shakey’s katipunan) with corn flakes and chocolate syrup (and mini chocolate kisses, rainbow sprinkles, mini m&m©’s rice crispies, mini marshmallows, and strawberry syrup) and shared with the people you love. it’s ice cream just the way you want it. me and my brothers really enjoyed topping this ice cream. they ate most of it, by the way
and on the other hand, together with the distorted imagination of your friends, transforming the Transformers© image into less than the hard metal saviors-of-the-universe that they are.
it’s a bit blurry but i’m sure Jeff isn’t so excited that his action figures are getting this kind of publicity. hehe
this is what happens when friends gather for dinner and they have nothing to do but gossip about each others’ love lives and lack thereof.
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i can’t wait for our Bohol getaway.
my day today is not complete. because i left early this morning while mia was still asleep. i just couldn’t wake her up because she slept really late last night (around 10pm and her bedtime is usually at 830pm). she was probably waiting for me to come home. sweet no? =)
and because mia is such an angel, she never fails to smile at me everytime she wakes up in the morning. it’s like she never wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. and hers is the sweetest smile ever.
so this morning, i didn’t get my usual smile. there’s really not a day i don’t miss her. sometimes i feel guilty about having to go to work because i have to leave her 12 hours a day. i wish i can just stay at home and take care of her. pero kawawa naman kami pag ganun! hehe.
and of course, mia has the cutest sniffle too. she just learned making this face a few weeks ago and it was so adorable. she got colds and a slight fever back then that’s probably why she was doing it =) kawawang bata, she also lost her apetite for a couple of days at pumayat talaga siya. she also had a few side effects of her measles vaccine last month.
but thank God, she’ back to her normal eating habits and she’s getting fatter na ulit!
and by eating habits, i meant food =)
and because she got better already, we took her out last sunday to the mall where she got discovered!
… by a sony camera =)
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i can’t wait to get home today!
this was taken a while back at max brenner on anne’s birthday (last girl on the right). the best chocolate fondues! we have to try cafe xocolat next time.
many many thanks to anne and jed, my beloved cousins, for helping me out with my first product shoot. make sure to check these out at www.notanaddict.multiply.com
we were no professionals but we still had lots of fun
cebu was great, although it could have been better had we stayed longer than 2 days. haha. work related naman eh, so excusable. next time, hindi na ako papayag ng kulang sa pictures, ala bakasyonista!
casa verde. it’s da best place in town for big baby back ribs. P128 lang yan. hanep, sa outback siguro P500++ na yan. it’s really good too.
plant touring kinda like in gradeschool. joel, cel, and me.
people, this is how your payless is made. haha, for lack of better photo ops, this is all i’m showing you. corny no? di bale, i think i’m trooping back there in a month or two yey.
went to mr. a’s but no pictures there either. anyway.
selling these for P300 (200ml). this is usually priced 400-500 bucks in supermarkets. summer na!
pagudpud here i come!
the most rewarding experience in the world is when you get a short glimpse of the little one’s smile, that is just too rare for the camera. since the day she decided to make her smile public, i have yet to take a decent picture of her in all gummy-grin glory. finally, i think she heard my pleas to at least smile for mommy (and the waiting phone camera in hand):
so i would wait and stare at her while she sleeps just to see her smile, and that would just make my day.
a friend of mine called her “princess mia”, one of the best compliments ever. awww. our doctor said she’ll be transfered from the incubator to a bassinet when she reaches 3.7lbs. that means she’ll by placed by the window already! and you all can see her up close soon.
Me and Mia were just the recipients of unconditional giving and such unselfishness. I have skipped over the concept of surrogate “milk mothers” while researching for my newfound profession as a mom until now that I actually had a need for it. as much as I wanted to nurse my baby, my physiology won over my will to lactate and is gradually diminishing my supply. Well, I thought, that will be only for now since our doctor said Mia will be ready to breast feed again by tomorrow or Friday, and babies are said to be the best stimulators for breast milk.
Unbeknownst to my panicking self, God has already provided someone to answer my prayers, and so many others like myself as well. I decided to go immediately to the address given to me and met my prayer’s answer, who told me how it all began. Her name is Rosanna Angeles, a mother of two whose mission is to help mothers in need. It started when she herself was problematic over the feeding of her baby boy who couldn’t breast feed because he was too small (a preemie much like my Mia). Friends and family (who had also given birth) had willingly given their share so that the little boy could be nourished. Her milk supply, so to speak, became more than enough for her own baby, that when a preterm baby needed exactly what she had, she gave it away. Then an unexpected media publicity via a good friend even brought her more milk, as well as the attention of those needing it.
Ms Angeles’ baby boy is 5 years old now, and a cute and healthy one at that (yes I got to meet the little guy; his mom was very proud of her miracle). And until now, people from all over would still bring her breast milk to be given to those in need of it. This was all free of charge, no ties attached, unpaid for service. Some people would give donations for her other charitable activity, a leukemia foundation for kids, out of the bottom of their hearts. And of course, she also ensures the health safety of all their donations by making sure that the mothers donating are completely healthy.
Some weeks ago a mother who thought she had more than enough for her own decided to share her blessings. Some weeks later a baby needed to feed. Being caught in the middle of it is certainly a good ministry to have, and that surely revolutionizes the definition of giving.
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My dad and I had a weirdly funny conversation in the car today:
Dad: Ano ba nickname niya? (referring to Mia)
Me: Mia po.
Dad: Dapat iba nalang. Alam ko na… Iska.
Me: Ha??
Dad: Diba Miska Andrea and pangalan niya? Iska. Miska.
Me: What?? (Siryoso ba to?)
Dad: Eh Mia malayo yun. Iska, ayos yun! Uso nga yon ngayon, yung mga lumang pangalan. Mga pangalan ng mga anak ng artista ganun ang pangalan. Iska. (quite pleased with himself)
Me: Ha?? (seriously doubting the wisdom of my dad)
Dad: Tama, Iska. Yun ang itatawag ko sa kanya.
Me: (Oh no…)
a sleepless week, a couple grand (sniff), and an additional 1.28lbs later, i am resting a little easier. the nasty eyebags are less threatening now, thank goodness. God has answered our prayers and mia weighs heavier and seems to like gaining weight since the 3-day no-milk diet her doctor imposed on her.
i was also surprised to see her today because her features have changed a lot. hard to imagine one can produce such a beautiful baby but then it’s also hard to imagine that one can be acquainted with such medical words as metabolic apnea, gastrointestinal reflux, continuous positive airway pressure, and bradycardia that just, in truth, scared the living daylights out of me. still He is gracious; mia handled that temporary snag strongly and is making good recovery so far.
mia weighed 3lbs yesterday and added .4lbs more today. she needs .6lbs more to make the prerequisite weight for making it out of the hospital, a disease-free chart, and her doctor’s clearance so she can come home with me. hay. please help me pray that i get my christmas present home even earlier. nothing else will make me happier.
last saturday afternoon mia was discovered to have an infection and suffered from apnea. when the doctor called me that night i was coming back to see her, i didn’t know what to do. paranoia got the best of me and i just cried in front of the nursery when i saw all the tubes coming out of her (they had to put her on oxygen). i just had to blame myself for what happened and i guess being a mom kind of merits that much blame.
but anyway she’s doing better this morning. they’ve removed her oxygen and after 2 sleepless nights i can actually rest. i’m also thankful that her eyes are uncovered already, since she doesn’t need phototherapy anymore. her doctor also said she’ll be back to her normal milk consumption in about 2 days. when this baby comes out, there’ll be no diet until she’s old enough to process the weighing scale and its implications. hehe.
2 days later, I am happy to report that Mia has made a small feat. she is now feeding milk orally. (yey!) i’m visiting her later to bring her milk, something which i plan to do everyday no matter what. the nurses at the hospital seem to be considering me as a bother and it has really irritated me a bit.
and you thought nurses at the nursery station would be as endearing as the babies in them. i thought they’d be more “considerate” with the mommies that have babies in incubators but i guess i just watch too much tv. well they better get used to seeing me around for the next couple of days. (or less, i hope!)
when i saw her. the feeling was incomparable to anything i have felt my whole life. it was a transition to another world where only she mattered.
This is mia Mishka Andrea. She’s still small at 42cm and 2.14lbs but i’m hoping that she’ll grow bigger soon. It was rather soon that she decided to surprise us all last November 20, but I’m happy nonetheless. She’s an early Christmas gift.
and i cried. because she’s so tiny and i wanted to hold her but i couldnt. i wanted to tell her everything will be ok, and i hoped she could understand. i wanted her to come home with me, but she couldnt.
I went to see her today and she hasn’t changed a bit. I know, it’s only been a couple of days. You can’t really blame anyone who went through hours of labor and “un-anesthetized” delivery for worrying so much. I guess having gone through all that stuff has given me a whole different perspective on motherhood. I used to just take it for granted. *sniff* I miss her already.
I can’t even look at her pictures and her video without crying and feeling so helpless. I can’t even do anything to help her get better. I can just pray that she starts feeding soon and that she recognizes my touch or my voice when I visit her everyday. *hay*
please pray for mia, so she can come home soon.
my first picture
-andreana, hopefully it’s a girl
