my musings: May 2013

momma reviews

I wanted to write something connected to my experiences as a new Mom so I decided to post a review on the products/equipment that we've been using for the past 2 months. :) I'm going to try to be as objective and as detailed as possible so here it goes...

NUTRAMIGEN

If you're having breastfeeding problems like me then you're either mix feeding, like me, (breast milk + formula milk) or you're formula feeding all the way. The problem with formula milk is that most babies react to it negatively. They become gassy, cranky and if you're unlucky very very colicky.

In our case, we tried using NAN HA ONE during Tuka's 1st week. However, our Pediatrician said that Tuka's tummy was hyperactive and that means he's having tummy aches but we thought we should give it time because there's a chance he'll adjust. Sadly, he didn't. After a while, he started to have a rash in his neck area and when he's drinking NAN he becomes cranky. Then we tried NAN AL 110. Tuka was less cranky but the tummy pain is still there, the gas, the rashes lessened but still present and lastly his poop turned green.

So, we turned to our last option: NUTRAMIGEN and yup 3rd time's a charm. ^_^ So for me, this formula milk gets a 9 out of 10 for the following reasons:

Tuka's poop turned yellow again which means he has no digestive problems at all.
No more tummy pain.
Tuka is not cranky anymore unless it's late in the afternoon (4-5PM) which is his "I'm-cranky-and-I-will-make-you-and-Tatay-suffer" time.
He sleeps soundly all throughout the night and wakes up, only to feed.
Most importantly, it is the best formula milk in the market (Iloilo market, dunno if there are other formula milk available in other countries). It's the closest thing to breast milk in a can and its nutritional content is way higher compared to ISOMIL, NAN, SIMILAC and other special formula milk. We checked and NUTRAMIGEN's nutritional value is almost 50% or more higher compared to other formula milk.

The downside, it's a bit pricey. Okay, that was an understatement. IT IS FUCKING EXPENSIVE! One teeny tiny can will cost you Php 905.00 if bought from Grace Pharmacy and Php 940.00 if bought from Rose Pharmacy. That's double the price of NAN and other formula milk. I tried to redo my budget a while back when we started using NUTRAMIGEN and, based on my calculations I have to allot around Php 10-12,000/month for milk alone. That's 10-12 teeny tiny cans of milk. T_T Also, it can only be bought from pharmacies and not all pharmacies in Iloilo sell them. Also, sometimes the pharmacies don't have stocks of NUTRAMIGEN so when you can, buy in bulk. One can is not going to last anyway, it's freakin small and a growing baby can use it up in 3-5 days. It comes in 1 size only. So you can't buy a bigger or smaller can. Lastly, it tastes and smells AWFUL. So expect your baby to hate it at first and expect your baby to have bad breath. Hehehehe.. :)

Because recycling is good and wala na kami pambakal sud-an so baligya recyclables.

BORN FREE FEEDING BOTTLES

We have 3 types of bottles. First one is AVENT NATURALLY, second one is FARLIN and the third one is BORNFREE. All three are wide-neck bottles. I have tried all three and so far Tuka is more comfortable feeding from his BORNFREE bottles.

For me, I'll give BORNFREE bottles a 9 out of 10 due to the following reasons:

All BORNFREE bottles are BPA and PVC free. Some sort of chemicals that can be found in plastic containers and can leak into your baby's milk. Both chemicals are considered carcinogens, at least that's what I'm told. So, BORNFREE bottles actually don't use plastic. Apparently, the company made a fake "plastic" for their bottles.
It is bloody sturdy. I have dropped Tuka's bottles so many times I've lost count. Hahaha!! ^_^ But so far, no scratches, no cracks, no nothing. It'll probably last for years. We'll probably use it for our 2nd baby (if we decide to have another one; wink wink).
It has an anti-colic valve. That way, your baby won't swallow air while feeding. You can actually see the little bubbles come out while your baby is drinking his/her milk. Seeing the bubbles sort of relieves you. At least that's one problem out of the way, right?

The downside:

It's a bit pricey but not that much. I'm not sure which is more expensive, AVENT or BORNFREE. When we bought our bottles, they were still not available in Iloilo. We bought ours from Walmart so we were able to save a bit of bread. But when we went to SM City a couple of months ago, I saw BORNFREE products at the babies' department. The saleslady said it was launched last November of 2012. One bottle - Php 650.00.
Cleaning them is a PAIN. Each bottle has 7 parts: the bottle, the nipple, the cap, the lid for the bottle, the anti-colic valve: 1 plastic and the other 1 silicone; and the bottle cover where the nipple is attached. It is freakin time consuming.
Not convenient when you're in a rush. As you know, when babies are hungry they cry. When you don't feed them right away, they cry harder. When you still make them wait a little longer, they wail like there's no tomorrow. So, I have to be prepared a few minutes in advance when feeding Tuka. Preparing his milk and assembling the bottle takes time so if you don't want to wake the whole neighborhood in the middle of the night, prepare ahead of your baby's feeding time.
Also, not convenient when you're traveling. Since assembling the feeding bottle takes time and takes a bit more effort than your regular bottle, it is very inconvenient to use when travelling. When we went on our recent summer vacation, it took a lot of talent for H to prepare a bottle while riding a moving bus. Hahaha!! ^_^

There, only 2 reviews for now. I'll add more when I have the time and energy. Drop me some love at the comment box. xx

summer 2013 pictures

NOGAS ISLAND

Here we are in the pump boat going to Nogas Island.

Tatay Willy helping out the pump boat people. Mass work, mass work din pag may time.

Mama & Swak - posing at the back.

Posing at the calachuchi pathway with Auntie Ilay.

Maybe someday Tuka, H and I can walk through this path again. That time, naga walk na for real si Tuka. ^_^

Doing the tourist thing. Bleh Manang Ayek.

GM sporting his snorkel gear.

Mr. Andoy rocking the tourist thing.

Pugak and her 1000 megawatt smile. ^_______^

Swak at the Lighthouse.

Nogas beach front. Pose anay antis swim & snorkel.

ANINI-Y BEACH

Mr. Andoy and Tatay Willy. Relaxing samtang ga-shot2x.

The snorkies.

Lantaw sang lumot dalum tubig.

Lapyo gid si Tuka. Tulog anay sa room.

SIRAAN HOT SPRING

Soak, soak din pag may time.

Ocean view.

LEAVING ANTIQUE

Roughing it out with Tuka.

Ilay posing with the kahoy.

Posing with the kahoy as well, GM version. Bangud wala kahoy sa Villa, ja lang ra sa Antique.

Sunod sa uso, pose man sa kahoy.
Tatay Willy with a hangover, pose man sa kahoy.

Tuka talking about the kahoy. Because kahoys are awesome.

Ilay and Pugak playing tag with the cow. The cow won.

Mr. Andoy with the coconut juice.

Huling hirit antis matapos ang summer.
Last nga pose antis mag board sa bus.

Baboosh Summer 2013.
xx

summer 2013 review

So, summer is about to end and my family decided to do our annual summer getaway. Sadly, Manang Ayek was not able to join us due to her OJT in Manila and our summer outing was a bit late because of the election. Also, our budget was very limited due to new expenses in our ever growing family. I now have Tuka to think about, Ayek was in Manila for her OJT, Josh will be starting college soon, Pugak will start her kindergarten classes as well and of course we have GM and Ila whose school expenses seem to grow bigger & bigger each year. At the same time, this outing was planned in a rush so our time was limited as well. All of us were not able to ask permission to leave work in advance so we were only able haggle a few days for vacation then back to the city to work.

We decided to go somewhere near and cheap so we went to Siraan Hot Springs in Antique first. Bus fare from Molo Terminal to Siraan is Php95.00/person only. Travel time - around 2 hours. Once there, you'll have to pay Php20.00/person for the entrance fee unless you're a local then you'll pay Php15.00 only.

We booked an air-conditioned room, good for 6 people, Php1500.00 but we had to pay an additional Php150.00/person for every additional member of our group. The room had 4 beds, 2 beds - good for 2 people, the other 2 beds - good for 1 person only.

Good side: the beds were clean. They provided fresh sheets when we arrive and they also cleaned the room before we came in. They also provided a complimentary roll of toilet paper and a mini safeguard soap. The room was wide despite it having only 4 beds so there's a lot of space for others to sleep "roughing it out" style. The water from the bathroom was clear and did not smell bad. The flow of water was also good, so people, like me for example, who use a gazzilion buckets of water every bath time, would be happy.

Bad side: the bathroom stinks every time you flush the toilet. The ventilation system was not working properly so naturally our room smelled bad as well. The air-conditioner, all though turned up in full was not able to cool down the room enough. They should consider either cleaning the air-conditioner or buying a new one. Also, the water did not work at first so we were forced to get our water on our own from a nearby faucet. It did not help that the receptionist in charge at that time was a bit bitchy. When informed that the water was still not working, a few hours after checking in, she responded:

"Hulat-hulat lang ma'am. Gina hulat pa namun nga mapuno ang pool. Indi man na to mag saka ang tubig kung indi mapuno ang pool."

I mean, come on. Your pool is big and deep, it would probably take all night to fill up that pool. What the hell are we suppose to do until then? That receptionist should take 'how-to-be-a-decent-receptionist' classes. (sigh) Also, the place was not kept clean by the personnel. There were stray dogs pooping around, garbage here and there, even chickens pooping around as well.

Awesome side: the hot spring. There were 5 pools available. The hot spring water flows nonstop. You have an awesome view of the ocean while soaking in hot water. You can close your eyes and listen to the waves while the hot water does its magic to your sore "momma muscles". You can soak and soak and soak and soak and soak and never feel cold unlike the beach. At night, you can star gaze, again while soaking in hot water. Soak, soak, soak. Hehehehe.. ^_^

Then of course we went to Nogas Island by pump boat. Php500.00, good for 10 people only, including children above 5 years old. You can only stay in the island from 6AM-6PM. Picnic cottages at the island cost Php300.00 and snorkel gear costs Php100.00/set You can borrow the life jackets from the pump boat people and when you arrive at the island, there's a mini-tiyangge owned by a local fisherman. You can buy chips, water, sodas etc.

The reef was awesome. Less colorful than Boracay since it is dying already but still awesome. There were still a lot of fish and some fishes there, I did not see in Bora or Guam. The reef area was wide so it looked like a real forest only underwater. So, even though the snorkel equipment was a bit expensive (yes, Php100/set is pricey!), it was worth it. ^_^

Antique in general - I like the people. They were nice. The local fisherman who owned the tiyangge looked after our stuff when we went around the island to sight see. He even insisted that we don't pay for the water that we took. When we went home, we left all our food to the fisherman as thanks. We left them grilled fishes, grilled pork, bihon, rice & chicken adobo. I hope they remember us the next time we visit. Also, while waiting for the bus to Iloilo, we made a deal with the fishermen around the area to climb some coconuts so we can drink coconut juice while waiting. They were more than happy to oblige. They gave us 10 coconuts. :) That is how tibaks roll while on vacation. We seem to hit it off with the masses really well, we make friends along the way. Nakz! :)

Sadly, there were "evil spirits" at the hot springs resort. One evil spirit escorted us home. Well not really home, he got off in Miami, in Camp Monteclaro. Hahaha!! ^_^ This is the 2nd family vacation where in there were evil spirits around. Hopefully, it's just a coincidence. If not, he probably reported in Monteclaro about our newest member. Tuka probably has his own picture in our family tree record there. Ngek! ^_^

So, there you have it. Our Antique getaway. ^_^

Everything Tuka

Okay, so I just finished work and Tuka is still asleep so I have a little bit of free time and I have decided to post some of the picture of Tuka that I have collected for the past few days. I hope I can finish before Tuka wakes up. (cross fingers)