HELP NEEDED: Baby Rafael

Hi yummymummies, below is a letter from my friend Richie whos son needs our help. Feel free to forward this blog to friends in media, tv and press who may also help.

Indigobaby will be pledging a percentage of this month's sales to the family. I will also be putting a ticker in our order form if you want to donate an amount to them upon making your order.

Let's send lots of love and prayers and I know the Big Man up there is in charge and watching over Raphael:)

xoxo,

yummymummy Denise

Dear Denise,

It's me Richie.

Raphael Carlos was born 6 months premature on August 22, 2011. He is still in the hospital since birth. Still lot of procedure need to do to him.

We really need any kind of HELP.







Thanks!

Richard Bautista
09172095323
richardbautista26@yahoo.com

the teeth have arrived

benny has teeth!

first sign, three kings January 7, 2008. A little sharp thingee from the bottom jaw.





Then two days later, a BIG one on his upper jaw. Then suddenly...

this....




my little easter benny is really a bunny wabbit!

i catch my heart thumping a bit stronger now when he feeds, scared that he might feel the need to use his little fangs on me! so far, just a couple of ouchie moments that are remedied by gentle reprimanding and explaining, "Ben...that hurts me. Please don't do that again."

He's a smart one and knows not to bite the boob that feeds. ;)

The Sweet Life

been really busy as the bazaar is coming up in 3 days! its goin to start noon on friday, all the way til 9pm..then again sat and sun! wow...im sure M and i (and our babies!) will be super tired..but looking forward to fun and sales and good contacts! it's all happenin' for INDIGObaby!



guess what!!! my ex boss called me last thurs pm asking me if i could do a racket for them the next day, speaking engagement daw. so i was like, ok, what do i have to do..turns out i had to present a powerpoint that they made, and say that i was a SKIN EXPERT who has been doing herbal remedies for 5 years!! i wanted to take the job, but 1) could i do it? 2) what about benny????

was able to get elisa to agree to watch ben in alexandra, mama nuca's house, as the talk was in tektite, 5mins away! liz is great with kids, in fact, she was the one who taught me to hold a baby, before when i was preggy pa. and she's free coz she just graduated and is looking for a job.

another prob, i only had 5 oz of stored milk! the night and morning were spent expressing as much milk as i could get, total of 10oz.

i reviewed the powerpoint presentation that night and it was on herbal soaps, 8 varieties of fab ingredients and benefits. not so hard coz i was familiar with most of them..thanks to papa and naturally yours!! thats why R thought of me i guess:)

so the next day, we ventured to deposit ben at alexandra, get him and liz settled in, then me to meet the client and discuss the talk i was going to do in the next hour! small talk small talk, then i told her about indigo and our fab new organic line for mums and babies. turns out, she knew someone in the QTV show, The Sweet Life of Lucy Torres and Wilma Doesnt, the guy who casts guests on the show!! she immediately called her contact and recommended, no more like sold, us to them and said that they HAD to feature us!!! we gave the guy our multiply address and i called him after.

sunday, he calls me and asks if we were free to shoot monday!!!! omigosh!! yes! we were taped yesterday, benny me, monica and santi! as guests on the show! it'll be aired end of november still, but fab still coz we were able to plug the alabang bazaar we are joining in december:) lucy and wilma loved the kids, along w the entire crew and staff:)

as our segment was about to get taped, benny decided to get hungry and fussy, so i had to feed him under our Indigo Reversible Nursing bib..i was feeling a bit sad coz he'd miss his chance at being seen on national tv, and i said to myself, i'd raise his feet up nalang as say "hi, this is benny!"

so thy started taping us, intro intro..lucy said, "we have with us today, indigo baby's yummy mummies monica and denise with babies santi and benny....then (i am not joking!!!) benny, who was nursing and asleep under the bib, pops his head out from under the bib and looks around at everyone, as if he knew it was time for him to come out and show himself to the world!! with drowsy eyes and the i-just-got-up-but-am-still-cute face, ben was amazing! hahaha! it was soooo funny i swear!



we demonstrated the nappy clutch, the bib, and all the other items. it was great!! mons and i are so amazed at how it all came to be! parang the world is conspiring to help us out...so indigo gets big and we never have to leave our babies alone!! :)

p.s. oh, the talk went well by the way..turns out i knew more than what was expected of me! ;) good job dee!

in the danger zone

Benny, at almost 7 months, moves.

And he moves a lot.

Started with slithers backwards, turning over and getting stuck, rolling, humping, pouncing (with growling), climbing, pulling.

Needless to say, to leave him on the bed, or anywhere alone would be dangerous.

The other day, as he dozed off to dreamland (or so I thought), I got up and answered a phone call in the other room. I didn't dare disturb him coz naptime equals Dee time, for shower, food, and net (busy busy is good good!).

In less than two minutes, I entered back into the room to find Ben awake, on the corner of our queen-sized bed, on his knees and with his hands on the arm of the rocking chair by the bed...giddy and bouncing with a big grin on his face as if he were saying, "Mum!! There you are!!"

I ran (four steps from the door to the bed) and grabbed him in panic that another second away could mean another fall..more painful than the previous one!

Safe and in the bed, we played and fed until he napped again after. Phew! Fearless Benicio.



In other news....

it has been 12..yes twelve days since Benny has seen daddy-o.:( Because I am mad, holding back and not communicating. But B has also not tried to see us, or at least Ben. No call, no text, no asking if he could come visit (Sometimes I wish he were somewhere around spying on us at least.).

Can't comprehend how he could stay away this long. *sigh*

oh well..if he did come, i don't know how i'd act or what i'd say anyway. Just pondering.

poop in the toilet

weeeee!! Benny poo-ed in the toilet twice tonight!

i think our trial at elimination communication is working..well slowly, but better that than nothing.

i started trying the method roughly two months ago, and since Ben is a lampin (cloth diaper) baby (thank god to my grandmother for this input, we fought about cloth vs. plastic when i was pregnant and i am sooooooo glad i gave in!), it makes it a bit easier.

i got some tushy wushy diapers and have been using them at home and for short trips outside. so far so good. i also went on two weeks of running to the toilet, watching out for peeing cues and signs, waking up at night with the bed soaked coz i was too tired to wake up and change a cloth diaper, until i said, nevermind...one thing at a time.

then today, wearing his chino pino care of yummy mummy monica, benny grunted as he was going to poo..i rushed him to the toilet, removed him nappy, and sat him on the toilet, alone this time, not between my legs as i was wearing a camo skirt. he pushed and pushed and smile at me between dropping little mustard paste into the bowl, as if he was proud to do it! i was impressed and kept patting him on the back with pride :)

then again, later tonight, as i was in between lampins, benny started grunting while feeding on my lap (yes, i leave him naked and free sometimes and have made a very nasty mess, but it is just toooooo nice to see him naked!). he moved his fingers to him bum and we just looked at each other and i knew: he was going to poo. again, he did it in the toilet!





i'm impressed. maybe this elimination communication is working! pee is a bit tricky to catch, tiresome too, but starting with one thing is better than none at all:)

cheers to benlove and mum dee!

starting solids

october 8..benny celebrated his half-year mark..my my how time flies. really.

that meant introducing some solids to his diet. as an Open 24/7 No Reservations milk machine, the idea of food for benny was a little bit scary.

"oh no, what if he likes the food better than me?"

I was worried.

I saw how he looked at us with intent in his eyes when we'd eat on the dinner table. I watched how his head would turn to an almost right angle as he sat on my lap and looked up as my fork traveled from the plate to the mouth. He was ready.

So I did it. I introduced my sunshine boy to oatmeal three mornings ago...first with a little bit on my clean finger, then with his spoon. He took to it well. It was adorable how he opened his mouth and leaned towards the spoon.

Oatmeal dripped from his lips, but he enjoyed it. So did I. (Even if I had a sudden fear in my head about the day when he'd stop drinking my milk:<)

So I have officially started solids I guess. I used oatmeal from the local grocery, ground to a powder in the blender, and cooked in a little water. He eats very little so far, but we enjoy his feeding paraphernalia from Baby & Co (except I had to exchange the cute colorful ones because they were made in China!!)

Food glorious food.

The funnest part of it all is that Ben still adores my milk-giving breasts! Even if they have shrinked to size, adjusted to his need, he giggles and half whines with desire when I position myself next to him in the bed right before a feed. Like he really wants it. I love that.

A friend of mine had a daughter refuse her breast after five months of mix feeding. The infant enjoyed her new fake nipple. This friend of mine experienced depression. I am guessing it was the grieving from weening?

I know it will be hard for me...so milk, keep flowing and Benny, keep sucking!

fighting for feeding

i think i just made myself an enemy.

i watched the video on you tube about a mother breastfeeding her children until they were five and eight. quite inspirational for me since i pray for the milk to keep flowing til then. her husband was ok with it and very supportive in fact. her children loved her breasts and milk, saying they'd "choose breastmilk ove a thousand melons".


i have been feeding benny for almost six months now, and this was my initial goal when i gave birth, but now, i would like to do it until he's four or five. even longer if possible. there is a beautiful connection i feel when he feeds. something that is so pure and amazing. i never thought i would love it so much.

anyhow, while browsing through the videos close to the previous one, i found a rip-off satire done by some chain-smokin' white lady. silly really. i couldn't help but post a comment for the video.


a day later, she replied.

at least we agree that breastfeeding in natural and beatiful. but i kinda feel like i made myself an enemy..to fight for the right to feed without constraints, embarrassment, and prejudice!

here's to more fun feeding moments with benicio!

cheers to all you lactating ladies out there!

coming to terms

my little darling baby will be five months in a less than two weeks..how time flies.

a few days ago, i was again hit by the anxiety bug that made me stress about my life and how i feel like it is going nowhere. before, i was sinking in the pit alone..now, i have my son to worry about.

a friend pointed out that maybe i have not truly come to terms with the whole 'mommyhood' idea. yes, things have changed. priorities, everyday life, relationships, (my size!!), the way i feel about things. on a good day, i can experience these changes and take things in stride. on a bad day, (fridays mostly coz those are the days when i feel alone at home and resentful that my partner is out havin' a ball livin' the bachelor life!) things can really get to me...to the point that i want to fly away and start over.

i love my son..with all my heart. i want to give him the best..this of course means finding the best person for myself, who will love me and my son unconditionally, treat us right, take care of us and make the world a sunshiney place. whether or not that person has arrived is beyond me today. that is what stresses me out. the what if's sink in.

so i accept that the whole mum idea is still in transition within me. it doesn't mean that i love my son less..it doesn't make me a bad mum and does not deserve my guilt. simple fact is that i am going through changes that bring with them a bunch of wacky emotions to deal with..



here's to a happy and healthy life for me and my darling son benny. wherever the wind will bring us, there will always be sunshine:)

hair cut of the rich and famous!

inspired by katie holmes...



...i got a hair cut and ended looking like this




oh well, i tried.

loving the latching

this is just to express my gratitude and joy that my little benny is a great sucker..from day one, when we were both new at this, he readily came to me with eagerness and latched. some babies don't even do that. and it is sad i guess.
there is great fulfillment i get from breastfeeding my baby and after 4 months, i sometimes worry about what my life will be when benny grows up and weans himself away from me.. i think i may need some weening as well! anyhow, this wil be a long time from now since benny and i are loving the latching!



lately though, he has become very hyper and so fond of playing that he feeds less. less, compared to his feeding-almost-every-minute days, but still enough to keep him staying healthy and happy. i notice though that trying to feed him when he is not hungry is a bad bad move. we both just get frustrated thn give up. the consolation of it all, is that when this little boy is hungry he latches immediately and without hesitation. i love that.

a friend of mine whos baby is a 'light sucker' has to pump 24/7 to give her baby enough milk. we jokingly planned to make benny latch onto her one day to get the milk flowing and maybe entice the baby though show-and-tell. before, i thought this idea to be sick (sharing teet!! eeeew!). But now, if it were in desperation, i would consider sharing my milk or letting my baby receive from someone else if i couldn't give. it would maybe break my heart, but i'd do it for him.

luna was born yesterday, august 15, 2007 at 7.1 lbs.
luna, little luna..with her murmur in her heart. be strong little one, we're all praying for you.