Pipay Fell from the Bed

I was so busy with my work and with my MS thesis that I wasn't able to blog lately. But since I need a break and what happened yesterday (March 25, 2014 Wednesday) was frightening, here I am blogging.

I usually don't leave Pipay alone on the bed. When it is just the two of us, I do things when she's asleep. Such as having my lunch, taking a bath, and washing the dishes. When I have to pee, I surround her with pillows on the bed if she is awake or put her in her high chair. Because I don't want her to fall from the bed.

Yesterday, I was playing with her on the bed when my phone signaled a new email. I went to my laptop to read it. When I was in front of my laptop, I looked at Pipay. She was in the middle of the bed, and my judgement is, she won't reach the edge before I finish reading the email. But I was wrong.

I was reading and was shocked by the sound her body made as she hit the tiled floor. I even heard her bumping into the clothe boxes near the bed. I looked. And there she was, lying on the floor. Silent for a moment.

I went to her side, panicking, picked her up. She cried. It was heartbreaking. She cried and cried as I try to console her. I called my mother, who was washing Pipay's clothes. We checked her while she was crying.

She eventually stopped. I breastfed her for a while. Then I tried to make her laugh. She didn't. But at least she seemed okay already.

I was so sorry, that it happened on my watch. I'm sorry baby. I just hope that she really is Ok. I did read some articles online and observed her if I need to bring her to a hospital.

She ok now, I think. She plays. She laughs. She's back to being malikot. So I guess she's ok. Well, maybe that was just one of those moment mothers (or fathers) regrets and gets frightened about. One of those frightening, but not alarming situations that melts our hearts and makes us more watchful and caring.

I love you Pipay.

Pipay @ 5.5 Months

Pipay is now 24 weeks or 5 months and 3 weeks. We visited her Pedia last Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. She weighs 9.15kg and her height is 68cm. The Pedia told her she's obese. I think that's ok for infants. Especially since she is breastfeeding, exclusively (oh! I don't want her to start with solids yet!)

Since her Pedia don't compute percentiles, I looked online for a calculator. I found a nice one, with graphs here. According to them, calculation is done using WHO data.

Pipay is at 93.3 percentile in height. She is a little bigger than the height of most the children her age.

For weight, she is at 99.6 percentile, which means she is heavier that most children her age.

I think, since it is based on WHO, which is world wide, Pipay is really tall for a Filipina baby. :)

I am glad, she is happy, healthy, pretty and super active. She can roll over now. :)

Roll Over

I wish I can pinpoint the exact moment of this very important milestone, however, I can only share some of her firsts.

Last Feb 6, 2014, when Phil and I was about to sleep (at around 1:30 in the morning), Pipay woke up and rolled over 2 times! Nawala ang antok namin just to see that. A few days back was her official first roll over, but we can't remember the date, plus we though she was able to do that because of the uneven surface.

Then Feb 7, Friday, we visited her Pedia. The Pedia asked if Pipay can roll over already. I told her, Pipay did it less than 5 times. Then she said, Pipay is delayed if she can't roll over yet.

The weekend after, as if she is proving the doctor wrong, Pipay rolled over more than 10 times. :)

Here is a video of her rolling over. :)

Biting

I don't really know when it started, I just noticed that instead of thumb (whole fist actually) sucking she was biting her fingers, that was past 3 months old.

Then, err the pain, she started biting my nipple. Thank goodness she doesn't have teeth yet! Ohh and sometimes, she'll bite while pulling away. That hurts a lot. I just tell her not to bite mommy. Haay, Kaso, nanggigigil talaga sya e.

Today, she is 5.5 months, and I think she is starting to teeth, and for sure the biting would be painful. However, I am determined to breastfeed her until, at least, 2 years. Lez go baby!

Pipay @ 4.5 Weeks

We went to her Pedia last January 6, 2013 for her vaccine. Her height and weight was taken, and I am so happy that she is taller than last time and she gained more than a kilo. She now weighs 8.45k and she is 66cm tall. She is a healthy, active and a super cute baby. Our Pedia and her assistant even commented that she is big (and that maybe because of her genes and breastfeeding). When we calculated her percentile, she is at 97% in weight and 91% in height.

I am proud to say that my baby is exclusively breastfed and that I plan to breastfeed her until she wean on her own. Soft, solid foods will be introduced when she is 6 months. For now, I'll enjoy our breastfeeding moment. I know I'll miss these moments, when she is on my breast, feeding, smiling and making me feel more important and loved.

Aja to us, breastfeeding mothers!

Baby Pictorial

This is a late blog. The pictorial was last October 15, 2013. Our photographer was VJ Matias of  Virtuoso (He was our prenup photographer too). He is not really the photographer of their group, he is the videographer. And their forte is wedding. But since he is our friend and he really love to try to have a photo shoot with babies (he is a soon to be a dad), we all agreed to have the pictorial.

Phil and I looked for possible concepts and I did the props. We even bought a basket and a new pashmina. It was a great session. It was not rainy (we did indoor since Pipay was less than 2 months) so the lighting from the big glass window at the department of computer science faculty lounge (It was holiday and do not have any better venue) was perfect. VJ was great. He loves kids so he was all cute, kind and patient to Pipay. 

All in all, we had 5 scenes. And the whole photo shoot took us about 3 or 4 hours. The hardest part was making Pipay smile, and when we need her sleeping, she was wide awake. But  The results are all awesome.

Here are some of the awesome pictures of Pipay. :)

Poop Talk

I didn't expect that baby poop could tell a lot. That the frequency, texture and color of my baby's stool is every important. I didn't expect that I would smell, look very very closely, count and even touch her poops.

The first thing a mother should know is that the stool of a breastfed baby and the stool of a formula-fed baby are different. They differ in appearance/texture, and in the number of times in a day. I breastfeed my little girl, so I can only speak/write for breastfed babies. However, I am a new mother and just starting on my journey, so my experience is too little, however, I read a lot because I want to be sure on what I do.

I found a nice gallery of baby poops here, I always check that to compare my baby's poop.

Baby poops are explosive. You could actually hear when she poops. It was like a mini bomb explosion. And actually, if she is not wearing diapers (I seldom use commercial diaper, I either use lampin or cloth diapers with liner), pieces would scatter.

The smell is not as bad as adult's. It is like milk gone bad. A little sweet but more sour smelling milk.

I noticed that there are times that my baby seems like she is having a hard time pooping, it was as if she is exerting force to push something out and sometimes she'll cry. I thought at first that she is constipated. However, when she finally poops, the texture is soft and watery and therefore not constipated. So, I don't know why she can't just push it out or maybe that pushing doesn't mean she wants to poop (a lot more to learn!)

I also noticed that sometimes there are yellowish liquid (poop-like but too little) that comes out when she fart. According to what I read, it is not considered as a stool (so don't include it on your counting) and it happens because her stool is watery and comes out easily.

I learn in a forum (a mother said this is according to her Pedia) you can induce pooping by stimulating your baby's anus with a wet soft cloth or cotton. I haven't tried that though.

Oh and I also learned from reliable internet websites (like Baby Center & Mayo Clinic), blogs from breastfeeding mothers and forums that a breastfed baby can poop as much as every after feeding or could be none for a month (that's the longest I read in a forum for Pinay Breastfeeding Nanay). So I know that I should not worry that much. But I also already know that mothers worry about almost everything even when we know there is nothing to worry about. But still, if you are not sure and you are so worried, go visit your pedia.

Here are some of the pictures of my baby's stool and they are NORMAL for breastfed babies.

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