Drooling for teether

At 4 months my little one (LO) started drooling, thumb sucking, and putting whatever she grabs directly to her mouth. I guess her gums started to prepare for teething that's why she lost her appetite as well. So I bought her first teether when she was 4 months and 3 weeks. I bought this colorful freezer-safe, gel-filled teether from Bright Starts. When I first introduced it to her, she doesn't like it. It’s like it's too big for her. She had a hard time holding the keys so she became uninterested with it later on. With my frustrations to help her with her teething, I bought another teether. This time it's a silicon teether from Bebeta. It’s smaller and light weight. My LO immediately loved it. She giggles with excitement every time she plays with it; but I have to stop her from using it because she almost got choked. Since the silicon is soft, despite the size, the whole teether gets to her mouth. Thank God that I am filming her during that time and got the teether out of her mouth immediately. From then, I started to reintroduce Bright Starts' teether to her and she's happy with it now. The colors and different textures stimulate her curiosity.

Here's some screen shots from the video of baby kurt while playing with bebeta silicone teether:

Reintroduced Bright Starts teether:

Happy teething!

The Battle of the Nappies

Afraid of diaper rash? Of course I am! that's why choosing the right diaper is very important. When I gave birth, among the gifts that my Little One (LO) received are diapers, so I was able to try two different brands and here's my experience.

Huggies - the newborn size seems too small for newborn (or maybe my LO was too big for a newborn LMAO!) What I love about this is the material used for the "magic tape," it is soft so my baby's skin wont get hurt. I also like the minimal prints on the nappy, talking about elegance. I also like how its wetness indicator works perfectly, the light yellow stars really turned blue once your LO needs a nappy change. On the bad side, you have to change nappy right after one wetness because it easily get soaked so I don't use it at night time.

EQ Dry - I am so far happy with this brand because it can lock in wetness long enough so I don't have to worry about getting diaper rash or disturbing my LO's sleep at night. On the negative side, I noticed some inconsistencies in the material used in their nappies. I am currently using medium size by the way (the green one). When I bought the one in 18pcs-pack and 84pcs-pack the color of the nappy is brighter than those on 36pcs-pack. well that's fine, it's purely aesthetic anyway. However, I also noticed that they used different material on the "magic tape." The one in 18 & 84pcs pack is softer than those in 36pcs-pack.

Checkout the difference in color

Difference in Magic Tape material

36pcs-pack & 84pcs-pack packaging

So far my LO uses EQ Dry since it's fulfilling its purpose of locking in wetness. I am just really hoping that they'll use the same materials for all their nappies especially on the magic tape.

It's Baby Bath Time!

Since I am a working mom, bath time during weekends is our "mommy & baby" bonding time. I believe that my Little One (LO) is enjoying it too and I love how she loves water while I lather baby bath soap on her. I know that baby's skin is so sensitive that's why I am very conscious about her skin's reaction to the products we're using. While almost all baby bath soap out in the market claims to be mild, it still pays to be observant to avoid serious skin problems later on. So far, I was able to try three different products and here's a some sort of product review:

Enfant Baby Soap - I just realized that it has strong fragrance the first time I used it. It made my LO's skin dry so I decided to stop using it immediately.

Johnson's Head-to-toe baby wash - It moisturized my LO's skin. I love the silky feeling everytime I touch my LO's skin, but few hours after bathing it leaves my baby's skin sticky.

Lactacyd Baby Bath - My LO had a cradle cap and this product helped a lot in getting rid of it. It doesn't dry my LO's skin and protected it from rashes.

 Happy bath time!

Look who got a mom card!

Baby Company Mom Card

Yay! I’m official a mom cardholder! This is a loyalty card from Baby Company and I’m so excited with a lot of perks. Imagine earning points while shopping plus the discounts every time I shop for my baby.

Bags are ready!

I am on my 37^th week and on official maternity leave! My hospital bag is ready for the hospital trip and we’re just waiting for Baby Kurt’s GO signal. Tita Linus even lend her car for easy transportation on the “Big day.” Every night, hubby and I’ve been talking to baby Kurt and telling her how excited we are to see her and that she can come out anytime if she wants to! Wanna know what’s on my bag?

For Me:

• Medicines and NSD Supplies prescribed by the hospital. At the Veterans Medical Memorial Center, they requires patient to buy their own medicines and other NSD supplies because their supplies are exclusive for Veterans and soldiers.
• Toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, tissue, alcohol.
• Hand and Bath Towel
• Bathrobe
• Maternity Pads
• Underwear
• Extra Clothes 
•  My favorite Massage Oil in case I need a massage to relieve pain.
• Birth Certificate Template. Thanks to my friend, Kris Joy, for sharing the idea of preparing a mock birth certificate. This will be so helpful for sure. No need for nurses/attendant to interview me while I’m in pain and less committing errors on the spelling of my baby’s name and other information needed (fingers crossed)
• My Philhealth Record provided by my employer
• Admission Order Slip from my OB

For Kurt:

• 2 pcs Onesies
• 2 pcs Hooded blanket
• 2 pcs Binders
• 2 pairs of Mittens
• 2 pcs Beanie (bonnet)
• 2 pairs of Booties
• Baby oil
• Baby Soap
• Diapers (newborn)

Whew! Everything’s ready. Give your GO Signal Baby Kurt, mum's ready :)

Oh it's a girl!

Beanie finally showed up on her 3^rd ultrasound. Lola Luz, Lola Carmen and Daddy were all present and excited during the ultrasound. We had it at Prime Health at SM Marilao. (shhh I think they have the cheapest package when it comes to 3D Ultrasound.) Look at these cutie pictures below:

Beanie simply smiling

Yawning..hmmm got tired or got bored? LOL

Awwww thumb sucking...such a good girl!

Lovely, isn’t it! Now, Beanie’s official name will be Kirsten Kezzia and we’ll just simply call her Kurt. I personally picked the name Kirsten which means “follower of Christ,” it’s actually a Dutch, English, French, German and Scandinavian form of “Christine.” Then, we added Kezzia (hubby and I actually argued about which spelling to adapt - Keziah or Kezzia, ok hubby won!) I named her after the second of the three daughter of Job (from the Bible Book of Job) after his suffering. Her nickname is a bit tricky, her nick was supposed to be KIRK (KIR from KIRsten and K from Kezzia) however, my cousins’ son was named Kirk, so to avoid confusions we decided to call her Kurt instead of KIRK.  Surprisingly, when I checked the meaning of Kurt, it’s a variant of “Conrad” which is my father’s name who died when I was almost three months pregnant.

 

Beanie’s first kick with Daddy

Update! Update!

As early as 4 months, I was able to feel every time Beanie kicks, punch, squirms in my tummy, but it’s different with my husband Jayr. He always got jealous every time I told him that Beanie is moving like a karate kid. Until finally, Beanie let daddy feel it just this afternoon. Oh well, Jayr was like waited a month for this precious moment. He's now getting more excited to see Beanie.

The Baby Checklist!

Hello there! It’s been a while since the last time I wrote an entry to this journey-journal. I am back to work now and been busy all day long at the office. While working, my little Beanie has been trying to steal my attention by frequent moving and kicking in my tummy. Oh yeah, Beanie won, of course. That lovely feeling actually fuels my energy at work.

Aside from working, Beanie and I has been very busy doing a checklist. I’m on my 23^rd  week now, so part of my preparation is to start buying baby stuff one by one to avoid stress on my 9^th month. And of course I don’t wanna get surprised with the huge expenses in buying baby stuff.  So, I made a checklist and plan to buy little by little at least every other payday.

Things to buy for Beanie	Quantity	Status
1         Bodysuits (onesies shortsleeves)	3	Ok
2.       Bodysuits (longsleeves/pants)	3
3.       Receiving Blankets	12	6
4.       Hooded towels/blanket	3
5.       Mittens	6	2
6.       Booties	6	2
7.       Side tie Long sleeves tops	10	3
8.       Washable diapers with inserts	6
9.       pajamas	6	3
10.   shorts	6	3
11.   Side Tie Short sleeves tops	6	3
12.   Side Tie sleeveless tops	6
13.   caps	2	2
14.   Bib	5
15.   Disposable diapers (new born) for 1st week	2 big packs
16.   Feeding bottles (9 oz)	12	4
17.   Feeding bottles (5 oz)	5	3
18.   Feeding bottles (2-3oz)	3
19.   Bottle brush	1
20.   Sterilizer	1
21.   Breast pump	1
22.   Infant bathtub	1
23.   Bath mat	1
24.   Crib with mattress and net	1
25.   Stroller	1
26.   baby pillows	6
27.   baby bag	1
28.   baby front/back carrier	1

For now, I bought four 9-oz. BPA-free feeding bottles, two pairs of booties, two pairs of mittens, two bonnets, three side-tie long sleeve tops, 3 pairs of Jammies, and 3 pair of shorts. Baby garments are from Lipton Baby Garment and Accessories, Little Wishes, and Garfield while Baby Looney Tunes for the feeding bottles. So, what are the things that I considered in buying?

1.     Materials used. Since the skin of baby’s is delicate, I preferred cotton for my baby’s garments. My mom actually advised me to use only white colors so that we can easily check out stains while baby is wearing ‘em or if there are small insects crawling on the clothes of my baby.  I also choose buying Bisphenol A (BPA) free feeding bottles. Though this may be more expensive than ordinary feeding bottles being sold in the market, I preferred using them to avoid exposing my baby to BPA that can be harmful.

 

2.     Budget. I only spent around P1850 for the items I recently bought. It would be cheaper if I’ll go to Divisoria of course, but since I don’t have time to go there, plus I hate all the hassles of commuting and being on a very crowded place, I checkout baby items that is being sold per pack so I can get them in a cheaper price.

Well, I guess, this is a good start of my preparation. Where’s my little Beanie’s next stop? Hmmm Landmark! Check out what good buys we can get from there. J