Baby J is ok!

We had the hernia operation at Makati Med and the doctor we choose was Dr. Wilma Baltazar. Our anasthesiologist was a Dr. Merle Odi. They were very open about what the procedure entailed and the possible complication that could ensue.

The whole thing took an hour and a half. Baby J was crying when he came out which is a good sign that he wasn’t adversely affected by the anasthesia. He then slept for most of the afternoon. By the next day we went home and this week Baby J is as active as ever. It’s like nothing happened. I’m still of course giving him his antibiotics and changing the dressing on his stiches every day but he’s doing fine. Best of all, he turns four months old today!

I wish I could say my Makati Med experience was perfect but it was not. It took us almost two hours to get a room even though we had called the admissions office two hours ahead of admission time. Can you imagine a crying infant that I had to handle at the lobby of Makati Med for an hour and a half? One good thing that happened however is that I actually breastfed in public. I’ve never done that before but if your baby’s hungry and crying I honestly don’t care if I flash anyone in the MMC lobby.

They sincerely need to improve the admissions process. When the girl said to wait for them to clean the room she neglected to mention it could take 1 to 2 hours! I had to repeatedly ask her what was taking so long.

Perhaps it was because the hospital is undergoing renovation? The entrance is new already and quite nice looking but the room we stayed in was quite old.

Sigh, sorry to say that I will never opt for Makati Med ever again. There are other more efficient hospitals out there. Other than the admissions process I will however concede that the nurses and the doctors were very accomodating and caring.

Rising up to the challenge

After checking my last blog post turns out I only covered up to the day I gave birth. It may be 12 weeks after I gave birth but I think recalling my experience will be good as I can go back to what I have written to remember it.

The day after I gave birth I had already instructed the nurses that I would like to room in baby J. So they wheeled him in and I sent a text blast to friends that I was not receiving visitors since I wanted to cut down on possible germs that they could bring in with them. I was able to breastfeed and my family visited me again but didn’t stay that long. Hubby was very supportive always bringing me water to make sure I didn’t get dehydrated.

Night came that second day and it was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever been through considering that I used to sleep for 8 to 10 hours. Since I roomed in baby J, I was awake almost the entire night because he wouldn’t stop crying. I would breastfeed but I knew that I didn’t have any milk yet and it was colustrum he was getting. I had this feeling that his hunger wasn’t getting satisfied. Hubby was also having a difficult time because we had no idea how to comfort baby J. Morning came and I swear that L was close to tears already and he just kept trying to catch sleep whenever he could.

The day when we were going to check out of the hospital, my MIL brought the yaya she was referring to us. R was the cousin of one of my MIL’s maids and had prior experience taking care of a baby. She was quite useful in helping us carry the stuff. That was also the day she went home with us as we stayed with my family.

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I lost 10 pounds when I gave birth. I lost another 1o pounds after 1 week of breastfeeding. To date I lost another 3 pounds but I believe that’s because it was the Christmas season and I have been eating quite a lot. Anyway, I had a difficult time initially breastfeeding because I felt like J was permanently attached to my chest. It was like he was always hungry. The first 2 days I had to fend off my mom since she kept thinking that I had no milk and my baby needed formula to eat. Knowing that it takes around 3 to 4 days before your milk comes in was the only thing that helped me keep breastfeeding. Finally on the third day my milk came in and my breasts swelled up painfully. However I was glad I knew that I had milk and was feeding my baby.

I kept texting my friend Jane who has a blog on breastfeeding. I thank my lucky stars that she was so supportive in giving me advice on how to breastfeed, put baby J to sleep and basically get through those initial few weeks. I also kept referring to the book “What to expect in the first year” since I used the previous book “What to expect when you’re expecting” like a bible during my pregnancy.

I stayed in my room most of the time and even had my meals brought up. Sometimes I’d be breastfeeding and hubby would spoonfeed me. I didn’t even go down the stairs for a week since my body felt so alien. I also still had lochia and it was quite heavy the first few days.

I am however glad that hubby and I rose up to the challenge. I’m glad that until now I am still breastfeeding even though I wanted to stop so many times because I felt like a cow. What helped was that I would read all I could about breastfeeding and other people’s breastfeeding experiences so that I didn’t feel alone. In fact some of their thoughts would resonate with me like how I once dreaded breastfeeding to anticipating it as a bonding experience only my baby and I could share. How you take breastfeeding one day at a time. How it is simply so beneficial for my baby to get breastmilk for as long as possible. I’m glad I made the effort through itchy rashes due to a food allergy and a slight fever. My baby is worth it.

Feeling meaty :(

Carne

I’m 32 weeks pregnant or more or less 8 months! It’s been getting so much harder to sleep since I feel like something is pressing against my chest and making my breathing more difficult. My feet and ankles are swollen like anything and my toes look like awful little sausages.My feet can’t fit into closed toe shoes without feeling super sore at the end of the day. I live in my sandals.

I was supposed to have an OB appointment on Friday but when we got there the clinic was closed. Being dutiful people we waited till the receptionist arrived but she gave us bad news that the doctor wasn’t feeling so well and we had to reschedule our appointment. However she did allow me to check my weight and of course that heavy feeling was justified since I’m now 140 pounds! I know I’m supposed to start gaining a pound a week but I still have around 8 weeks to go! That means I’ll end up close to 150 pounds near term! Wah!

I have so many questions pa naman to ask my OB. I want to get recommendations na on a pediatrician. I need to find someone who is supportive of  breastfeeding. I also wanted a recommendation between Medical City and Cardinal Santos hospital. L and I both have relatives who work in Cardinal so we think that gives us a plus if we stay there. We’ve already seen a sample bill of someone giving (natural) birth there and are prepared.

However we recently toured the birthing suite of Medical City and I must admit I am impressed. Getting to Medical City is difficult but once we got there the place is very nice looking. People used to tell me na sobrang maasikaso ang mga tao sa Medical City and when I got there I really felt it. They are so customer oriented there and so accomodating. It did not take us that long to get permission to tour the birthing suite and someone even accompanied us the whole time from admissions desk to DR area back to the ground floor. There’s also a place called the Strip where a bunch of restaurants and Mercury Drug are. The hospital complex itself has its own Starbucks and people tell me there is free wi-fi. Sigh, guess I’ll have to wait until Monday to get the info I need.

Future Soccer player?

Baby J has also been super active lately. He’s swimming around lazily and gives me a kick every once in a while for good measure. Sometimes I’m having meetings and I wince. The people I’m meeting with end up with a puzzled look on their face because I look like I reacted to what they were saying. I had to clarify and say that Baby J was kicking me in a sensitive spot. They just ended up laughing.

Last Childbirth class

Last but not the least is the fact that we had our last childbirth class today. It was so cute first thing in the morning to see guys trying to change diapers on plastic baby dolls. We also saw how to swaddle babies and Rome played a short film on breastfeeding. The sad thing is that breasts have become so associated with sex when in reality they are there to provide nutrition for our babies. Now I know what some people mean when they said that parang sobrang weird to see the baby’s mouth mimicking a sucking motion whenever he’s hungry. Imagine, you have to breastfeed every 1 1/2 to 3 hours for the first 6 weeks. That’s practically 8 times a day including the night. Sigh, I however swore to myself that I will do what I must to provide the best nutrition I can for my baby.