In Memory of Nanay

One of the saddest period of my life was when Nanay Belen died, our maternal grandmother. There wasn't a day for two years after she died that I never thought of her. Until now I miss her everytime I would eat kare-kare, she makes the best kare-kare and she cooks not well but excellently. Whenever there would be family gatherings her dishes would always be complimented, and guests would often bring home food, and still there would be enough leftover for us to eat for two days. We would often wonder, bakit hindi nauubos yung pagkain? And Nanay would say that dinasalan daw nya. After she died, our nanay Vicky took over the cooking with the help of my aunts, and oftentimes we would run out of dishes to serve. Guess she wasn't able to ask her mother the secret. Aside from her wonderful cooking, Nanay Belen was always on her feet, roving places. She would bring us, my sisters and I, to familiar places and sometimes places we haven't been to. She would tell us we would go to a relative of hers who live somewhere in Bagbag, or sometimes go to Tondo where we used to live, or in Bulacan where her older sister resides. Places near and far, by jeep, bus and even train. My first train ride was not on the LRT but the very old dilapidated train bound for Bicol. We didn't go to Bicol though. We rode that train to go to San Pedro Laguna to visit my father's brother for an affair I cannot remember anymore. The train ride was bumpy and the scenery started with shanties and ended up with greenery.
When we were little we experienced nanay belen's infamous spanking. We heard of that story from my nanay vicky. Nanay Vicky would tell us stories of how she suffered from Nanay Belen's heavy hand. She would end up badly bruised because apparently somebody would tell Nanay Belen that they saw her with my Tatay. Nanay Belen doesn't want Nanay Vicky to have a boyfriend that time I guess. The most painful experience I had with her was when she hit me with a walis tambo in the butt. I cried non stop. I can't remember the reason why she did that but I made sure it won't happen again. It was a learning experience that until now I did not regret because it molded me to be somebody who fear my elder and follow rules.
Nanay Belen died on the month of July. As she would often tell us it would rain on her burial because her earwax is always wet. We would laugh on that fact and tell her that it's just an old saying. But on the day of her burial, it did not just rain but there's a storm and everyone who walked to her grave site were soaking wet. I smiled at the coincidence while tears were pouring from my eyes. She was right indeed.
People would always say that we should show our family how much we love them because we don't know what would happen next. About a month before she died, I didn't know what took over me, but I hugged her while we were seating on the sofa. I would not normally do that. I placed my head on her chest and hugged her. I can still remember how she smelled. Of spices and aromatics, because she just cooked for my parents' wedding anniversary. The last celebration she would share her cooking expertise and the delicious food I still crave for until now.

It's only been three weeks!@*#!

I nurse my baby as much as I can for the two months that I am on maternity leave. Breastfeeding brings a lot of benefits to the baby as well as to the mother. It has been established that breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast cancer. That is why I tried very hard to breatsfeed since the disease is already in the family (my grandmother died of breast cancer). Medical studies have shown that breast cancer or any cancer for that matter skips a generation. I certainly don't want to suffer from it. Breastfeeding also help you get back to your pre-pregnancy weight. That is so true! I didn't have a hard time getting back to my pre-pregnancy body. But as much as I would want to give 100% breastmilk to my baby I just can't. There are times that my milk is not enough for my baby so I use fomula substitute, Enfalac A+. And my baby sure does gulp milk very fast! She feeds an average of 8 times a day, 3 ounces per feed. Formula accounts for only about 30%. Three weeks ago I bought a big can (950g) of Enfalac A+ in Mercury Drug. It was priced at P803.25. We went to Shopwise to buy groceries and to my surprise the milk was cheaper there! It was only around P795. But many people have said that it's more cheaper in SM. Ok, next time, now I know. The other day we went to SM to buy milk since my baby's milk is depleting already. My god, It's P835! And the promo refiller told us that the price have been going up every 3 days or so. Imagine, that's P40 increase in 3 weeks! I will soon go back to work and I worry about my breastmilk. If I don't nurse my baby often or if I don't express/pump milk it will just stop. And my work usually last for 10-12 hours. We don't have a private space at work that I could use to express milk. I guess I will just have to create a routine, like wake up very early to pump milk and store it in the fridge. Sacrifices are needed in tough times such as these.



... a worthwhile read for would-be moms...



http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/breastfeeding/f/bfbenefits.htm

I Didn't Know This Until Now

Our electric bill for March was around P3800, quite alarming since normally we average only around P2800. Then I remembered I am at home because of my maternity leave and I am one of the reasons why our consumption increased. I watch TV, use the computer and electric fan. We have an ACU but I don't want my baby to get used to it so I don't turn it on. I also use an electric steriliser and bottle warmer. We live with my parents so I felt a bit awkward. I just vowed to myself that I would give money for the electric bill once I get my maternity benefit. I usually watch National Geographic when there are no good shows to watch in the food network. On April 22, Earth Day, they featured something about electric consumption and there they mentioned that 75% of a household's total electric consumption comes from appliances that are on standby. Meaning, appliances that are not turned on but not unplugged either. Since then I make a conscious effort to really pull the plug when an item is not in use. I believe that each one should make a contribution to help our ailing planet, a small act like that could help in a big way.