Ever since the approval of my credit card application 4 years ago, I have been doing a lot of shopping in the net. I purchased books online, along with e-books, tutorial and reviewer CDs, as well as shoes, jewelry and other women’s apparel.

Well, little Nicholas is turning 2 months on the 15th of February and I think I should be getting him a stroller now so we can have our leisure walks (and maybe even window shopping!) every now and then. I was planning on going to the mall and find a good stroller for him but I got a little lazy. Also, I was thinking about several things like, “what style would fit him” or “what precautions must be considered at his age”, among other things. Thus, I decided to do some onwin shopping (my own word for online window shopping, hehehe!) just to get a picture of what I should be buying.

I never thought online shopping would be this fun and educational when I found ShopWiki in the net. I was amazed with all the information they have on almost everything that everybody wants to purchase online (Well, with 223,963,832 products from every store, you’ll have plenty of choices alright!). The site is actually not selling anything at all, it’s doing something more worthwhile and praiseworthy. The site makes any product available on the site and if that isn’t enough, they even have buying guides so as to help shoppers become intelligent online buyers.

And so I let the site make an intelligent buyer out of me by visiting their stroller buying guide before leaping on the product pages wherein a wide variety of strollers with image, price and basic information are available. You can even narrow down the displayed products by their price, brand and color filters. I really like the information they give about strollers too. I think I fell in love with many full-featured strollers that they offer. Why not? Aside from being convenient and adaptable, it’s more solid, more spacious, much safer, comes with a canopy and many other accessories that will make strolling with Baby Nico fun and expedient.

Oh wow! Time flies so fast when you’re having fun huh! The site is taking too much of my time! I assure you, it is indeed a great baby shopping site not only for strollers but also for all other baby products such as baby bags and carriers, car seats, nursing and feeding stuff, infant and toddler clothing, toys and many more! What are you waiting for? Do some intelligent shopping now!

Am I sweet or am I SWEET? Hihihi! But I really love my Mommy’s lap, I feel so comfortable and warm. And I’m near Mommy all the time so she can calm me down whenever bad dreams strike

Mommy likes me in her lap too, I can feel that. I know she have so much work to do but it isn’t my fault I can’t sleep in the bed during the day. For one, I wanna sleep with Mommy and I was told I can’t because she’s got work to do, deadlines to finish. But I can’t sleep without Mommy, so we met halfway. In this setup, she can work (one-handed hihihi!) and I can sleep.

Ohhh, sleep sweet sleep Mommy’s lap (and arm) is the best place in the world!

… and don’t come back another day!

Well, if Nico can already walk right now, he’ll be carrying a signboard with that message and walk around town to rally against hiccups!

Look at his face, isn’t it obvious how much he hates his hiccups? Why would he like it? It’s a somewhat mystery ailment without a purpose at all! Well, that’s aside from the fact that it’s really irritating.. arggh!

Experts say that hiccups are particularly common in infants less than a year old. They even claim babies started to hiccup in their Mom’s womb! Hmmm… now that explains why I can feel some “air” moving in my tummy!

Hiccups actually have nothing to do with breathing. They are but sudden contractions of the diaphragm due to irritation or stimulation of that same muscle, particularly when the baby gets excited, sucks milk rather fast or just after a feed.

I read that this condition will last for a few months at regular intervals. Oh no! Nico is having it almost 3 times a day (well, my baby likes his milk so much he sucks it really fast!) and it’s not a very pleasant moment. He doesn’t only give that angry face, he also gives an angry wail, very angry wail (yup, he shouts like a one year old!). He really hates these hiccups, I wonder if I can do something about it.

The sad news is that there isn’t a lot I (or any Mommy or doctor) can do to stop the hiccups in a newborn baby.  I certainly can’t apply the old wives-tale solutions for adults to my little baby! It’s actually funny to think about Nico getting a scare, hahaha! Sigh, the only thing I can do is to patiently wait for the hiccups to go away. Oh well, nursing Nico takes it away but there are times he’s not hungry when the hiccups come. I might as well just try to comfort or distract him while it persists.

One article said that at the end of the day, parents are the only one who get bothered by baby’s hiccups, and that the baby aren’t bothered at all (hmm, could Nico be wondering why everyone else doesn’t hiccup?). Yeah, the only thing I can do is give Nico a well deserved TLC.

Opppsss! Don’t mean to scare you there.. But this has got to be the most “no-sleep” and the most tiring night (and dawn! and morning!) of my Mommy life that I’m afraid I look much even worse than that scary Mom

I was actually up till 12:00 midnight since I have to finish an article that needs to be submitted this morning. I just finished nursing little Nico (11:00 PM) and he was sleeping (looking so cute) on the bed, when @ exactly 12:02 AM (as I was wrapping up the article) Nico’s angry wail seems to wake the whole neighborhood (the dogs even complained, huh!). I was able to nurse him after a struggle (yup, he puts up a  fight when he’s in the mood) and he was asleep after 25 minutes or so. I said to myself “Ah, rest at last!” I spent 5-10 minutes watching my little angel’s innocent face then I dozed off only to be awaken again around 1:05 AM. I thought “What’s going on?” as I scrambled from my bed and turned to where Nico is wailing and kicking and waking the whole neighborhood again. “What now?” I asked myself. I gently lifted up my angry baby and held him close to my chest. I didn’t know he was hungry again! I realized he was when he started nipping and sucking on my blouse. Oh my! Didn’t I just nursed him less than an hour ago?! So I willingly gave him what he wanted just to pacify him. And what do you know, he just wanted to make a pacifier out of me alright! After “fakely” sucking for 30 seconds or so, he fell asleep on my arms. I told myself “What a sweet baby, he just wants to be near me”. So as a treat to his sweetness, I swayed for 15 minutes just to make sure he was really asleep before I put him down to bed. But guess what? Yup, you got it right, he woke up, eyes wide open, when I put him down! He looks like he’s gonna wail loudly again so I hurriedly scooped him back to my arms (yeah, babies can be that intimidating). So I put him on my lap with his head on my arms and I rocked my body (sitting down on the bed, I dare not stand, I’m so sleepy I might drop him). He was asleep in an instant, my clever boy. I was afraid to close my eyes because Nico is in my arms so I fought sleep. After a few minutes, I gently stood up and decided to put him down so I can sleep. What do you know, he woke up! And now he’s genuinely hungry! I nursed him for about 30 minutes since he won’t let go that easily. Again I swayed him to the music because he was fussing around, kicking and throwing his little fists in the air. I was still carrying him in my arms when I happened to look at the clock. Gosh! I can’t believe it’s almost 4:00 AM!

Waaaahhhh! I wanna sleep! I successfully put Nico down on the bed and I thought I’l have my sleep at last when Nico made little sounds. Oh no! The hiccups! He hates his hiccups! So yes, he was awake again and I have to carry him again, when I noticed he soiled his diaper. Yup, he pooped this time. Arghhh! I quickly opened his diaper only to find out that he’s just getting started and will be needing my help to finish up because he seems to be having difficulty “pushing” it out. It was 5:00 AM when I finished nursing him (again, yup, he gets very hungry after pooping) and so I let him sleep in my arms until 6:00 AM, which is actually the time I have to turn my PC on and start working.

Sigh.. Is this just the beginning of many nights and dawns and mornings like this? I hope not! But what can a Mommy do? This is my life now, it’s difficult to adjust to this change, but then again, I love my little boy very much, that all I can say is … “Bring it on!”

Sigh…. My poor baby has got all of those

Because of the discomfort that these illnesses is giving him, he cries all the time, making me feel like an irresponsible mother, like I was not taking care of him enough to save him from harm. I don’t like hearing my little Nicholas cry, it’s breaking my heart into bits and pieces.

That is why, last Tuesday, even if I am reluctant to bring him to his pediatrician because it’s still raining (it’s been raining [and flooding] for a week now), I had no choice. I got him all covered up but I still felt stupid carrying the bay out in that kind of weather but I have no other alternative, the doctor certainly won’t do a home service and if she will, I bet I can’t afford it.

Dr. Go checked my baby for almost an eternity, while I waited, heart pounding for what she’ll have to say. I sighed a relief when she said the fever isn’t high at all, it was just his body’s normal reaction to his colds. She prescribed Alnix (Cetirizine Dihydrochloride) for allergic rhinitis, which Nico will be taking .25ml two times a day. She also prescribed Salinase (Sodium Chloride) Nasal Drops to moisturize Nico’s dry and stuffy nostrils because of his colds. When the doctor told me about Nico’s skin allergy, I felt stupid and irresponsible again. She asked me about my diet. Have I been eating eggs? I said YES. What about chicken. Again, a YES. Hotdog? Another YES from me. The doctor gave me a sad look then she smiled telling me to stop eating those because my baby is allergic to them. I almost slapped myself. Now I caused my baby’s allergy. He’s got all this yellow thick patches all over his brow and forehead and his cradle crap is in the “critical” level because of my foolishness. Sigh! The doctor then said no worries, the allergy will go away with Elica (Mometasoene Furoate), a liquid lotion for the relief of inflammatory manifestations of corticosteroid responsive dermatoses. I have to apply the liquid to the affected areas twice a day.

I left my little angel to the care of his Nanny at home then I went to the Pharmacy to fill up the prescription. I actually used my last money for the medicine since the 30ml of Elica alone costs 720 pesos, while 10ml of Alnix costs 140 pesos and 30ml of Salinase costs 60

pesos. Nevertheless, I told myself, I just have to find ways to find money for food this week

(before payroll), my baby’s medication is my foremost priority right now.

It’s really difficult to be a mother, this is just one of the many challenges that I know I’ll be facing in the future. I just hope I’ll cope up with everything, all for the sake of my little angel. I’ll do everything for him. I love my little Nicholas so much.

I hope these medicines will have the desired effect on him. Bring my cute baby back… God please help us…