Happy 3rd month Vien!

So Far, So Good

Time flies so fast! It was just a few months ago that I was so scared at the thought of taking care a newborn, much so my own baby. So many fears. I couldn’t see myself as an organized dependable mother, not just yet. I am a very disoriented messy stubborn woman. Easily frustrated and easily
impatient. A lot of people could attest to that hehe.

Now Vien is 3 months old. So cute and so chubby (hmm sounding like a nanay na nga hehe). He never had a fever thank God! Despite the fact that his yaya and almost everyone in the house got sick, including me (I had a bad cough for weeks), my Little Rascal remains healthy and active. He already got 3 shots of vaccines and got no fever.

I really thank God that I am able to nurse my son and express milk in the office, Thanks to my breast pump, my son feeds only my milk. I pump every 3 hours, 2 oz each breast. I store my milk in a
double zip lock bags and put it in the cafeteria’s refrigerator. I spend 5 to 10 minutes of pumping, 3 times in my 8-hour work. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance. Tyagaan lang talaga.

The only time I get to nurse him on weekdays is at night and in the morning before I go to work. During weekends, I alternate pumping and nursing him. I don’t want to miss our bonding time.

I am missing him everyday while I’m at work. At night, though quite tired already, I still find time to play with him. Kaya nga I feel a little sad when he’s already asleep when I get home from work. So I try to have quality time with him in the morning when he is in his play mode.

Motherhood is a new thing to me. Still learning and making mistakes from time to time. There are moments when I don’t know what to do. That’s when I become upset and a little irksome. Then I transformed into a nagging losyang nanay. I am happy mostly every day, but
frustrations and some insecurities fuss me up sometimes. Oh well!

This is my life now. All these and Vien.

Life etc

Debt is one thing I hate. It stresses me out. I feel like I am chained in
the neck every time I think of it. A friend told me that debt is something
that seeps into most people’s lives without them knowing it. I am living
with quite a huge debt now, and I want to get out of the pit and never ever
return. My family’s financial status right now is a bit shaky and this has
forced me into thinking a lot lately. I want to live simply and spend less.

It’s time. My spending on clothes has to stop. My list of toiletries and beauty products (ie,
pampaganda, pampakinis, pampabata hehe) needs to be shortened. I don’t need
to purchase magazines for there is limited internet access at work where I
can steal (hush hush) an hour or so to visit my favorite sites. My spending
on takeout/delivery food has to limit significantly. Dining out with friends should happen once a month.

Now that I am a parent, my friends just have to visit me at home. I’m
sure they would understand. I could prepare food for them (or they can bring
something for me and for Vien hehe). I would just have to explain to my
friends (without going into detail) that our budget is smaller and our
lifestyle changing. It is better to focus on quality time together and not
on spending money lavishly. That’s one thing I learned with having Vien. My
priorities are changing. My attitude is shifting. These changes are actually
overwhelming. It takes a humble self and an open mind to accept these
things. I’ve been pondering, learning about, and slowly advancing toward an
intimate but simple life.

I need to actually plan what I’m going to do on a daily basis. I have to
learn and study the appropriate budgeting scheme for my family. No more
self-centered living. Time to grow up in a new and better way.

Good Mornings

I spoke to a first-time mom the other week, just a random conversation that happens in OB clinics. She told me that his son (now on his 10th month) started to have an adult sleeping pattern at 2 months. Vien had slept through the night only once (it happened a week ago), a two-month gift I suppose. We slept at 9 o’clock and I figured he would wake me up in the next 3 hours or less to feed. Except he never woke up until 5 am! Yes, an 8-hour sleep with no milk! I even wanted to wake him up thinking he might be feeling hungry, but Aris stopped me. My baby was looking so peaceful and really needed that long sleep. He has actually done it. Boy was I surprised! My baby is a big boy now. I could definitely get used to it.

And so I thought. All my hopes went down down down when the next day, it didn’t happen. And up to this day, I am still wishing for that glorious 8-hour sleep. I missed it so bad. I am telling you, sleeping does a body good.

More of Vien

I just can’t get over my baby Vien. Knowing the fact that I am leaving him with his yaya from Monday to Saturday, 8 hours a day, as I continue my work is making me so sad. I want to see Vien grow each day and witness all the moments that a first-time mom should experience. I want to stay with him every minute and just forget all the other priorities that I previously thought were very important. What is most important now is my baby boy. But I have to work. Times are hard these days. My only prayer now is that Aris and I, as Vien’s parents, will be able to give Vien the best that he truly deserves.

Anyway, no more kadramahan. I wanted to share some of Vien’s different cute and funny faces and few “bugnot” moments Enjoy y’all!