A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother according to Mark Twain.

Well, it’s my pleasure to be bothered.

                                                                               - Mama Sez

When a couple had been earnestly praying for a child and finally conceive, they will immediately exclaim “We are now blessed with a child!” But what if the pregnancy is unplanned, will you still look at the child as a blessing or cry out that you are cursed? I hope that your honest answer is the former.

Papa Sez and I are both control freaks and are used to planning every detail of our lives. We have planned when to have a baby and what gender will they be. Well that was with our first two children, a girl and a boy.

Our two younger kids came to our lives in a different scenario. We were caught unprepared but were pleasantly surprised, especially my husband who really wants a big family and fortunate to not feel the actual burden of pregnancy and the pain of child delivery.

The first time it happened (this was with our third child), I shed tears of happiness and excitement. “Maybe it’s just right to have another child because we have built our dream house and it is a bit big for a family of four.” That was how I rationalized it as I thank God for the gift. I had to give up my career (which I can start over when conditions permit) to prioritize caring for the blessing. Call it a sacrifice... giving up something good for something better as my mentor lovingly put it.

We were on high spirits with a business venture when our youngest child came. This time, I can’t pick any reason why God was allowing this to happen…I was clueless. Nevertheless, trusting that God has a better plan for my family, I accepted the blessing wholeheartedly. We gave up the business to give full attention to three blessings and another one.

Our third child will be turning 3 next week and our youngest is a year and a half. Looking at what we have been through and where we are now, some mysteries unfold before my eyes. God gave us an opportunity to get out of the rat race. Though we had always been on the lead, the rat race is still a rat race. It was a chance to reflect on the meaning of success and our purpose in life, and then to focus on the essentials. God empowered us to become better beings as we survive the challenges of parenthood. He then led us to a path which we would have never traversed if we were left undisrupted in our “planned life.” We know that a more beautiful life awaits us and we are all so excited to be there in God’s time.

Every child born into the world is a new thought of God,

an ever-fresh and radiant possibility.

-Kate Douglas Wiggin

God constantly make us feel the most precious gift of happiness every time we look at our adorable young ones and witness their every milestone to remind us that He is a better planner than any of us people on earth.

In planned or unplanned coming of a child, in pleasurable moments or trying times, believe that every child is a blessing.

Developmental milestones are physical or behavioral signs of development or maturation of infants and children. The milestones are different for each age range, and children develop a little differently from one another. However, there are physical, motor, sensory and cognitive markers parents and medical practitioners can use to recognize if a child’s development is within the normal range, advanced or delayed. Well, it sounds exciting to talk about child developmental milestones but for now, let us not go deep into the technical details but rather the emotional roller coaster that my husband and I got into with this facet of parenting.

Among our four children, the youngest has been causing us some worries with every milestone in her development. Don’t get me wrong, we keep a close watch of her growth and development and are happy for she is doing great. She is such a blessing!!! It just that there is this fear of "losing our baby" too soon. Before we know it, she'll be a toddler, then a preschooler and so on. The fact that she is our last makes us want to cling to that state for a little longer and savor it some more. To cut the drama short it is really our selfishness that's making us a little sad with her every milestone.

Our first child, a girl, was confidently walking at 9 months of age, our second and third, both boys did it when they were 10-month-old. Our youngest is now 10 months and just starting to balance with her two feet. Instead of worrying why she’s not walking yet, we feel okay with it... not just because we know that every child develops at a different pace but because we are taking pleasure in seeing her move around on fours.

I remember this Filipino riddle that goes:

“Nung maliit ay apat ang paa, nang lumaki ay dalawa, nang lumaon ay tatlo na”
(When small it's legs are four, as it grew it has two, and eventually three)

The answer is "human" who starts to move around using all his legs and arms, then walks with just his two feet, and in his final phase he would require a cane for support. Given a little more time our baby girl will level up from fours to twos...she’ll be up and about walking with her two feet. It feels like with just a blink of an eye we're "losing our baby" and then open it to see a toddler running around. But there’s no stopping her, we know. *sob*

Anyway, we want to say that we love you Nadine and we’ll be here to cheer you on your every step.

The current practice of handling newborns contributes to the high incidence of neonatal death and illnesses in the country. Doctors are introducing a new way of caring for newborns in the first few minutes of life, which could cut by almost half the number of newborn deaths estimated at 40,000 each year according to this report.

Important points in the new program of the Department of Health (DOH) and World Health Organization that should be imposed are as follows: 1) dry the newborn immediately after birth (instead of washing) to prevent hypothermia and the risks related to it, 2) initiate skin contact with the mother by placing the baby on the mother’s chest or abdomen to provide warmth, increase the duration of breastfeeding, and allow the “good bacteria” from the mother’s skin to infiltrate the newborn, and 3) delay the cord clamping by two to three minutes after birth (or wait until the umbilical cord has stopped pulsing) to increase the baby’s iron reserves, reduce the risk of iron-deficiency anemia and improve blood circulation. These are basically in line with the Essential Newborn Care (ENC) protocol.



When I read about this, I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I got disappointed for I know it was not strictly observed when I gave birth to my 4 children. On the other hand, I felt grateful that an effort is being directed towards its strict implementation. There are only three hospitals in the Philippines currently subscribing to the ENC protocol so far—Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, and Fabella Memorial Medical Center and Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

In all of my childbirth experiences, the umbilical cord was immediately cut before the baby is placed on my tummy or my breast. Then my baby was only allowed to ‘kiss’ my nipple because we were not given long enough time for the baby to latch on. They wash the baby and when they bring the baby to the room to be with me (room-in as we always specify), I usually notice red spots are on my baby’s face. They said that it is the result of the cotton rubbed on my baby’s face and will wear away in time. True enough the spots were gone in few days. But with the ENC protocol this should not happen to newborn babies in the future.

Most babies do not experience hypothermia even when washed immediately after birth, but a lot end up staying in the nursery for days just to be heated by lamps. Isn’t it because they were washed even before they get acclimatized in their new environment? I am just wondering. When this happens initiation of breastfeeding is delayed, making the situation worse for both mother and baby. Delaying the start of breastfeeding by one day could make the newborn 2.6 times more prone to infection as also mentioned in that report.

I am posting this to help spread the information about the ENC Protocol. To those who are about to give birth, discuss this with your Obstetrician-Gynecologist (OB). Know the hospital policy on this as suggested in my previous blog on childbirth preparation. If they are not yet implementing the ENC protocol and you want it for your child, ask if they will accommodate your request.

This is also a good chance for me to highlight the various practices beneficial to the health and well-being of the child with less emphasis on cleanliness: (1) passing through the birth canal to get in contact with microorganisms necessary to prime his/her immune system and (2) allowing the child to play and get dirty as explained in my previous blog on natural immunity builders, (3) skin contact with mother for the good bacteria to infiltrate newborn, (4) delaying washing of the new born to prevent hypothermia as washing removes the vernix or baby’s skin protection. Apparently, too much emphasis on cleanliness is also detrimental to your child.

Director Honorata Catibog, head of the DOH task force on the rapid reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality, describes the new program to implement the ENC protocol as “paradigm shift”. I call it going back to basics...our natural survival strategy.

photo courtesy of stockvault.net

This stage of your parenting journey would require you to prepare two bags: one for you and the other one for your baby. These bags should be prepared on the seventh month of your pregnancy. In case of unexpected delivery, at least the bags are ready. Whenever you feel that it’s time to go to the hospital, then you can just lift your bags without any hassle. Like the checklist of baby things I posted in the previous blog, I am sharing here the checklist of items you should consider bringing to the hospital with you. These are the items that my hospital bags contained.

Mom’s Bag

• Adult Diapers (2)
• Maternity Sanitary Pads (4)
• Regular Sanitary Pads (8)
• Pajamas/Night Gown with front opening for easy breastfeeding (2)
• Panties (4)
• Nursing Bra (1)
• Set of Clothes for going home (1)
• Something to tie your hair with, if you have a long hair
• Bath towel and face towel
• Toiletries
• Candies, crackers and bottled drinking water
• Extra pillow

Putting on adult diaper immediately after birth is preferable because bleeding is more profuse. The first one is usually provided by the hospital. Bleeding should lessen the following day so you can switch to using maternity sanitary pads instead. Maternity pad absorbs more fluids, but it is very thick and wide. When bleeding is less heavy and you are up and about to do frequent pad change, then switch to your regular sanitary pad. The crackers, candies and bottled drinking water are particularly useful when you arrive at the hospital while still on early labor but advised not to go back home. Candies and water will work well for dry mouth. But once you’re done with enema procedure, you cannot take anything anymore. Labor is expected to progress after this procedure because of stimulated uterine contractions.

Baby’s Bag

• Baby Vests (4)
• Mittens (2)
• Booties (2)
• Bonnets (2)
• Wash cloth/bibs (4)
• Receiving blankets (2)
• Waterproof sheet (1)
• Cloth diapers (12)
• Diaper clips (2)
• Disposable diapers (6)
• Petroleum jelly (1)
• Cotton balls (1)
• Bath towel (1)
• Baby liquid soap (1)
• Ethyl Alcohol, 70% (1)

If you intend to breastfeed your baby, don’t bring feeding bottles and formula milk for fear of your baby getting hungry if breast milk doesn’t come at once. Mother-baby friendly hospitals do not allow these items as well. Having feeding bottles and formula milk available won’t do you any good in terms of inducing milk let down. More info on breastfeeding will be provided in a later blog.