Mommy Battle Scars: Stretch Marks Secret

Motherhood will change you-- emotionally, spiritually... And physically!

All these come in the package of the bliss of motherhood! Along with your pink bundle of joy are sleepless nights, enemies that come in the form of rashes, bugs, dust, mosquitoes, booger, sudden loud noises, rain, a sneezing/coughing person who doesn't cover his nose and mouth, and just about anything that irritates your baby.

But remember... All these will pass. The reality is, for a few months, I am all my baby needs... I am her comfort, her nourishment, I bathe her, change her diapers, burp her... I am her everything. But give her a few more weeks, she will learn to play, smile at other people-- and feed from the bottle! So what about Mummah? 

The truth is, we only have one body. And she's been through so much the past 9 months. She was poked, stretched, pushed, wounded... She has carried and nurtured a little angel inside her... And now that that is done, she has taken a lot of beating.

The day we found out :)

4 weeks

6 weeks

6 week: heartbeat ultrasound

20 weeks

23 weeks

25 weeks

27weeks & 2 days

38 weeks

This is a review of Palmer's Cocoa Butter Products & Indigo Baby Stretch Mark Oil & Indigo Yummy Mummy Cocoa Butter that I have used since we found out that we were expecting at 4 weeks.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion+

Palmer's Tummy Butter+

Indigo Baby Stretch Mark Oil

These products are pure love! I started using them even before I started showing. My mom had stretchmarks; so I expected to have the same... But I thought to myself that it wouldn't hurt to try helping my skin stretch. Bad skin elasticity runs in our family on both sides... So I wasn't expecting much, I just religiously, diligently massaged the products on my tummy, buttocks and legs, expecting these parts to take the most stretching.

First I massage in the Palmer's Tummy Butter and then dispense 2 pumps of Palmer's Massage Lotion and mix it with 3 sprays of Indigo Stretchmark Oil... I liked how it glides and is easily absorbed by the skin. It smells really good too! Like chocolates and lavender combined. 

Indigo Yummy Mummy Cocoa Butter

Pro: really smelled so good you have to restrain yourself from eating it! 

When it melts, you'd feel how "concentrated" it is.

Con: the product comes in chunks of pure yummy cocoa butter, but I kind of had trouble "spreading" it on my skin. I found I had to melt it by rubbing it in between my hands before I could apply it on my skin more comfortably. 

I also didn't get the hang of "rubbing" in between my hands so the chunks almost always fell on the floor :( 

Anyway... When I did start showing, my OB would always compliment me about my tummy... She said it's the prettiest pregnant tummy she's seen. I also get those compliments everytime we went for an ultrasound. I was also giddy with glee and even more inspired to use my lotions and butters and oils!

I believe these products have helped me especially in the final trimester where I kind of felt really itchy, uncomfortable stretching around my belly. It soothes and kind of "dulls" the itchiness up to a point when I could just ignore the tingling feeling.

I definitely give these products 5 stars and would recommend it. 

By the way, despite the family history of bad skin elasticity, I am so happy to say I have zero stretch marks from my pregnancy. It was the second good news the OB said as soon as Liane was out at 9:23am on 4/20/13... She said, "Congratulations Mommy, you have no stretchmarks!" 

(The first of course was that I have a beautiful baby girl who has a crown of raven hair, milky white skin, apple cheeks, chinky eyes and curly red lips)

So after I gave birth for the Bubbahroo, I shifted from Palmer's ML for preggy + Palmer's TB + Indigo SMO to Palmer's Toning Lotion + Palmer's Bust Cream.

8-1-13 Before gym :)

LB/RB 10 min pump before gym!

I especially love it when I started working out because I felt my skin tighten:) 

Two thumbs up for Palmer's Products & Indigo Baby Stretch Mark Oil!

Note: you have to diligently massage in the products and let your skin absorb them.

I also noticed my existing stretchmarks from before my pregnancy on my buttocks lightened significantly :)

Kisses & Rashes: Rash Home Remedy

Babies are born perfect. 10 fingers, 10 toes, rosy cheeks, downy hair, clear, fine, flawless and really, and i mean really sensitive skin.

My Buhbbahroo started developing rashes on her face around 10 days. Everybody who saw her photo on facebook was advising us "not to kiss her on the face", or commenting... how obviously we were "kissing her on her face", which kind of annoyed me a little because we were not kissing her on her face at all! 

Everyday I sunbathe her at 6:30-7:30am... And noticed how aggravated her rashes become after sunbathing.

At 14days, her rashes spread all over her body! Which horrified me into panic!!! What was I doing wrong? 

I asked my pedia what to do... She advised me to use this anti-inflammatory steroid cream, which my instincts told me on red alert not to use; because her rashes were spread all over her body and it did not seem to bother her... she just really looked like she ate shrimp and had an allergic reaction! So  I asked her pedia what alternative I could use instead, she told me to switch her lotion to Cetaphil Restoraderm. And her rashes were still ON! It just wouldn't go away... And I was so desperate. 

I found that when Liane is in an airconditioned room, her rashes are flat and are sort of relieved. And then one day, there was a 6 hour brown out! I hated that so much because even though Liane was sleeping soundly, and stripped to only her diaper, her rashes were so angry! 

MimiROO a.k.a my Mom advised me to pat baking soda solution on her face. My Aunterie advised me to use Alkaline water and tried selling me this machine...

And it dawned on me... Tap water+baking soda is Alkaline! 

That afternoon, on her spongebath... I spongebathed her with the baking soda solution; the next morning, bathed her with it... And patted her face with cotton and solution. 3 days later, it was like a miracle! Her rashes on her face were drying up and her whole body cleared of it! The anti-inflammatory steriod cream costs 900+, Cetaphil Restoraderm around 1,300 per bottle... Baking soda? 

10 pesos per pack!!! That white stuff is pure magic. I swear by it! :)

Mothers know best... And Grandmothers are the best! :) They know everything, so it is always good to ask for their guidance.

And those rashes? They were heat rashes! That's why the were inflamed during her sunbaths and during brown out! Today, we kiss her from head to toe, and we have never looked back! :)

The Bottle Battle! - Bottle Review on Avent Classic, The First Years Breastflow & Avent Natural

After almost two months of pure direct breastfeeding, here comes the tricky part... Introducing the bottle!

Of course, my Bubbah didn't like the bottle. Naturally, she preferred the comfort of direct feeding in mommy's arms.

But sometimes, mommy has to have Me-time, too. I started going to the gym and attending aerobics classes 8 wks after I gave birth for Liane. Being new in Tagaytay, being a full-time stay at home mommy, not knowing too many people and not much about the places as well could sometimes make you feel alone. So it's really important to unwind and feel good about yourself! :)

So here's a review on Avent Classic vs. The First Years Breastflow vs. Avent Natural (Bubbahroo @ 6wks onwards)

We received an Avent Classic starter kit from Cordlife, so although I wanted to use Avent Natural all the way, the bottles and nipples I ordered then were 9oz and midflow for 3mo+. The bottles/teats were not available here in the Philippines yet. 

Anyway, with the Classic bottles-- she hated it. She would cry by the sight of it. Some mommies had problems with the bottle leaking and the hastle with the adapter ring, we didn't have that. Although the first few times, Yaya forgets about the ring!

She also wasn't relaxed with feeding from it. The nipple sometimes collapses when she pushes and tugs at it.

I made it a routine for her Yaya to give her the bottle in the morning while she sunbathes so I get a little more sleep before her 8am bath time... She'd give in and feed 1-1.5 oz after a little protesting and murmuring. 

On burping-- direct breastfed babies take longer to burp, around 20mins when she was a newborn up to around 5wks; sometimes they don't burp at all. So whenever she feeds from Avent Classic, she burps faster... She also has spit-ups.

For The First Years Breastflow; I just had to try it; I bought 1 5oz bottle; the next morning I fed her this, I was so excited! She took the bottle and she event smiled while I fed her! She was so relaxed I thought I would buy more of these-- she took around 2.5oz. A milestone! I think she really liked the soft teat.

And then she stopped feeding and suddenly became fussy, so I picked her up and she burped a really big one and had spit-up. After that she didn't ever take it. She'd cry when I or Yaya tried to feed her from it. 

Also this bottle has 2 nipples-- the outer and the inner ones. We didn't have problems with leakage either. 

Pro: wide neck, we didn't have problems pouring breastmilk from milkbag.

Con: too many parts! 

So on her 3rd month, her Auntie Rachel sent us a 3pk Avent Natural 4oz bottles! The next morning, Yaya fed her and she fed almost 3oz-- happily! There was no battle. She liked it! So I thought it was just like the previous bottle experience... And went to the gym that afternoon, worried the whole time she was hungry... I went home a couple of hours later to a sleeping, happy, well fed baby. She consumed 5 ounces from Avent Natural! I was so happy I danced! I retired her Classic and Breastflow bottles and stored them away... She is only feeding now purely from her Natural bottles.

Pro: wider neck, easy to pour from milk bags ; few parts--no more adapter ring; the nipple doesn't collapse no matter how much she pushes or tugs at it; softer nipple

I would recommend this for mommies who bottle-breastfeed! 

The Laughing MOM: Spreading Breastmilky Goodness!

On Breastfeeding--

The benefits of breastfeeding is no doubt, the best for the little one.

No need for water, no need for vitamins, no need to warm the bottle; it's actually also convenient for Mommy-- all you need is a boob and a baby!

But it's not as easy as it sounds; you have got to WANT to breastfeed.
1. It needs a lot of patience. Sometimes, the milk doesn't come right away and we worry our baby gets hungry. When a baby is born, her tummy capacity is literally pea-sized. So that's all she needs; that's why the colostrum (first milk; yellow colored) is enough.
2. Determination. It HURTS. Sore, chaffed, painful nipples for the next 3 weeks... and your baby feeds almost every 2 hours!
- Make sure your baby is latched on properly.
- I personally found The First Years Nursing Care Nipple Butter really effective in soothing and relieving nipple soreness. It's lanolin free so it's safe for baby to ingest.

- The Boppy Pillow really made breastfeeding so much more comfortable especially during night feeding. 

It goes around your waist, on your lap so you can support baby more comfortably during feeding on the cradle hold.

It also doubles as support for baby's back and for her chest during tummy time!

3. Establish your milk supply. 

First, eat healthy... and next My Ameda Ultra Double Electric breastpump, along with countless milk bags has been my faithful friend. 

4. Donating to milk banks or hospitals will help lots of babies and mommies too! Plus, you get to make new mommy and baby friends :)

5. And lastly, breastfeeding makes mommy lose the pregnancy weight  and recover faster. After 3 whole weeks of pure direct feeding, you will find that you and baby have found a routine. 

The little one is happier because breastmilk boosts the immune system and she gets to bond with more mommy time!

Mommy is happy because we all know a well baby makes a happy mommy. It's certainly not easy, but knowing our baby is healthy gives us peace of mind that we are on the right track!