I was thinking of blogging about something because I wanted to take a break from the long-ass essay that I have been writing. I thought I could pull off what my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson, can do. He writes something different if he's feeling burned out. He takes a break from …

I would have turned this into a parenting blog—where I may never have to run out of things to write and, therefore, make a living out of it—but it will only reveal the sh*t mom that I am. You would probably read nothing but parenting fails. I would be shamed for being the kind of mother w…

Much has happened the past weeks. I don't even know where to begin. But I guess, I'll start with the news that we now have two feral toddlers to keep an eye on.  Our little girl, Isabel, turned one this month. And I know I have already said that we won't be traveling until she…

I don't remember the last time I wrote something serious.  And I think this post will be serious. And long. And unrelatable. And boring.  And... anyway.  Let me start this with our daily scuffle:

When you become a mom, you take on not just one, not two, not even three, but multiple roles.  As a mom of a teen, toddler, and a baby, I can be a referee, teacher, nurse, storyteller, an entertainer, event planner, a coach, caretaker, driver, repairman. And if I have the whole day, this …

It may not seem like it but, truthfully, I am terrible when it comes to parenting. A lot of moms probably feel the same way, too. It's just that people don't really talk about it. The truth is, parenting is something most mothers struggle to enjoy. It is a hard and thankless job.

"Kamukha ng tatay noh?"  Those were the doctor's exact words when I gave birth to our daughter two days ago.  I rolled my eyes in disbelief. That was the most difficult pregnancy and the most painful (albeit the fastest and shortest)  labor experience  I ever had. Tapos magi…

Women my age don't get knocked up easily. Or so I thought. It takes a lot longer to get pregnant again. Or so I was told. So we made love unprotected. And surprise, surprise! It only took less than two months to miss a period. While the news was one of the best we received, it honestl…

It was twelve years ago when I pushed a giant papaya out of my lady parts. And fifteen months ago, I did the same thing. I wish I could say that having a baby at 24 isn't all that different from doing it at 35. But nope. I sneezed my first born out. The second one, however, felt like …

Scenario at the vaccination site:  Kuya assistant: "Diri ang mga buntis." And he guided every pregnant woman out of the queue but me.

I have been solo-parenting for almost a week now.  And that's because our cat, Appa, bit Jan on his left leg. While Jan thinks the biting was an accident, I think otherwise. That cat has been plotting to kill me since day one but was miserably unsuccessful so it decided to take it on…

Every day I wake up feeling like those Instagram moms who seem to have figured out motherhood only to become borderline psychotic when faced with Rhett's homework. Of all the evil that's happening in the world, Math is probably the worst. I have been stumped multiple times by elem…

All this time I thought I am prepared for this. But I must have pushed that button resetting all the things I already learned about newborn care.  I find myself Googling about things I was certain I knew before. Cord stump care, what a normal poop should look like, how much can a newborn …

Tiny beautiful human. We nicknamed him Paopao because he looks like a siopao.

I know you've been reading (especially from me) a lot of these off-putting things about pregnancy. Well, every horrible thing you hear every mother is going through is all true and would even be an understatement. What you don't hear more often are the beautiful things that happe…

In news as inconceivable as me finally eating and loving cheese , my OB has put me on a low-carb, less-sugar diet because I have gained 10 pounds within a month and it doesn't show. And for someone who has never been on a diet, IT IS SO DIFFICULT. We're scheduled for our last feta…

I bled yesterday. It wasn't periodic nor regular. It only happened once. It wasn't heavy, not even enough to soak a pad. But it was enough to freak the hell out of us. Jan drove me to the emergency room immediately and while on our way, I was frantically all over the internet in…

It has been 7 days since the last time I stepped out of our gate. I don't know what it's like to be outside anymore. This quarantine has gotten me hungrier and lazier by the hour. Definitely not the pregnancy journey I had in mind. Two months ago, I established a regular walking…

Hormones during first trimester pregnancy can be an absolute bitch. Not in my case though. And Jan must have been thankful for that or else he would have to endure a full-blown incomprehensible pregnant wife demands for the whole 9 months (the hormones are going to come back with vengeanc…

Warning: Too much information. Skip if you're easily offended or grossed out.