Pinay Mama

During my days, I don’t take even a single sip of alcoholic drinks. Though it was very late when I found out that I am pregnant with Elijah. Taking a risk won’t do anything, it will just lengthen my pain. As what I had said in my previous post, I may surely satisfy myself in my vices but it won’t contribute any good to me and my son’s health.

Drinking alcoholic drinks during pregnancy can cause serious mental and physical defects in you and your unborn child.

Your baby my have small body size and health circumference,  nearsightedness, flattened cheekbones, smaller eye openings, deformed ribs, hip dislocations, heart and kidney defects, learning disabilities, genital malformations, facial abnormalities and many more.

It is never right to drink alcoholic drinks during pregnancy. Don’t take a risk for your baby’s future.

During my pregnancy days, I always read articles about things that I should be careful with. Also I take vitamins and drink milk in order for me and my baby to be healthy.

Smoking cigarettes can be very dangerous to your health even if you are not pregnant.

It doubles a pregnant woman’s risk of having health problems. It also causes complications like fetal growth restriction, premature delivery, altered brainstem development of the fetus and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

I, as a mom, is here to give my son a wonderful life. I don’t want him to suffer from what I have done. Smoking will surely satisfy me but it won’t contribute any good to me and my son’s health.

During my pregnancy days, I never crave for anything that it will come to a point that I will whine about it. Or let me just say that I never crave for anything.

My friends always ask me if I crave for longanissa, a Filipino native sausage, during my pregnancy. If you look at the pictures below, maybe you’ll say yes, but my answer is a big NO. I never wanted the taste of it even before. Look at his arms,

I don’t know where he gets it. But one thing is for sure, He is normal. He is a healthy bouncing baby boy of mine. Hihi!

Premature babies are those who are born less than 37 weeks gestational age. While there are those extremely premature who are born between 24 and 28 weeks. There are factors to determine why some pregnancy leads to premature labor.

• A previous premature delivery
• Infection in the uterus
• Vaginal infection
• Excessive amniotic fluid
• Carrying twins or multiples
• Previous surgery on the cervix

Us women should know every single detail of ourselves whether it’s physically or not. Consciousness about yourself will stay you away from any danger.

Premature babies should be taken extra care because they are not well-equipped to deal with our outside world. They still need time to develop and mature fully. They may have to spend weeks or months in a neonatal intensive care unit to support a number of medical issues, including breathing problems and maintaining body heat. Premature babies are vulnerable to infection than normal babies. They are usually iron deficient that’s why doctors  prescribe iron drops for preemies to take for at least 4 months.

It is always wise to consult a pediatrician if you think something is wrong with your child.

Before the doctor allow us to go home, she recommended me to go to the nursery room and have my little boy’s newborn screening. At first, I really don’t know about it but my mom told me that it is the process of  screening newborn babies for  potentially dangerous conditions that may lead to mental retardation. It must be performed when the infant is between 48 and 72 hours of age.

Here are some of the common considerations in determining whether to screen for disorders according to Wikipedia:

• A disease that can be missed clinically at birth
• A high enough frequency in the population
• A delay in diagnosis will induce irreversible damages to the baby
• A simple and reasonably reliable test exists
• A treatment or intervention that makes a difference if the disease is detected early

The procedure is done by pricking the newborn baby’s heel to collect blood sample, enough to fill the filter paper with few circles of blood.

I thought Elijah was the heaviest because all babies born the same day as he weighed less than three kilos until the world was stunned 3 weeks after Elijah was born by this Indonesia’s heaviest newborn.

Baby boy Muhammad Akbar Risuddin who tips the scales at 19.2 pounds (8.7 kgs) was delivered through caesarean section at a medical facility in North Sumatra province.

The baby was named after the local district chief and “Akbar” means big. His mother, 41 years old was diabetic.

Bacillus Calmette Guerin or also known as BCG vaccine is given right after the baby is born. It is a single shot of injection in upper left arm, used against tuberculosis. After the vaccination, a red spot will emerge within three to six weeks. This vaccine is made from a live weakened bacterium related to tuberculosis bacteria.

Hepatitis B is a three-dose series of injection recommended for infants after birth up to eighteen years of age. It is given in the thigh muscle. It is developed in 1982 to prevent the Hepatitis B virus infection.

Elijah had his BCG and Hepa B vaccine right after he was born. I am not aware of it because I was sleeping, they just told me when I woke up. His second shot of Hepa B vaccine was October 14, 2009, third third was December 9, 2009.

During my pregnancy days, I was given three shot of Tetanus Toxoid. I didn’t pay for it because it was done at ATAB, a public health center. It will cost you P150 for a single shot of Tetanus Toxoid in private clinics and hospitals.

The first shot was given to me on my 7th month being pregnant, June 9, 2009. The second was on July 9, 2009. The third dose was when Elijah is four months already, January 26, 2010.

It is an injection into the upper arm muscle or thigh given only by health care professionals. It is given to prevent Tetanus (lockjaw), a life threatening bacterial disease, to you and your baby.

Mahajabeen Shaik, 23, delivered Rumaisa Rahman and her twin Hiba Rahman through ceasarean section on September 9, 2004 at Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago. Rumaisa is the new record holder as the world’s smallest baby weighing 8.6 ounces (244g), they were placed on ventilators for weeks and started to drink milk from bottles after about ten weeks.

Rumaisa is fifteen weeks premature and discharged after 5 months in the hospital.

Confused? Menstrual delay? Experiencing morning sickness? Maybe you are one of the lucky expectant mommies! Here are the TOP TEN early signs of pregnancy.

1. Menstrual Delay

A decreased menstrual flow or missed period is one of the things that you will notice if you’re pregnant.

2. Backache

Experiencing stiffness on your back and restlessness can be a sign of pregnancy. It is because of the softening of secondary ligaments caused by an escalation in the hormone progesterone.

3. Breast Sensitivity

Tender breasts are signs of pregnancy which begins after contraction. It refers to the sensitivity and soreness of your breast during pregnancy. Increase in hormones causes blood to rush to your breasts, making them sensitive to the touch.

4. Nausea

Vomiting and nausea can occur any time of the day but most of the pregnant women says morning is the worst. It occurs several days after you missed your menstrual period. It tends to subside around the end of the first trimester.

5. Fatigue

Episodes of fatigue, stress and low energy level are common during the first trimester. Your body is producing higher levels of progesterone which can make you feel sleepy.

6. Light Spotting

Is also called as implantation bleeding. It is usually pink or brownish discharge. Implantation bleeding is clearly common with pregnancy.

7. Frequent Urination

It is because during pregnancy the amount of blood and other fluids in your body increases. It is caused by the changes in hormone levels produced by implantation of the embryo.

8. Elevated Body Temperature

An elevated body temperature for eighteen days in a row is a sure sign of pregnancy.

9. Constipation

As a side effect of the increase in Progesterone, our body will slow the digestion of food, causing the intestinal muscles to rest.

10. Cramping

The uterus can contract often and regularly becoming ready for the expansion to come.

Always ask your doctors about what you feel. Eat what is right for you and your upcoming angel.