28 Oct 2012

Another BP Scare (and a Request for Prayers)

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I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension when my second baby was born. It was actually the reason why I had her via CS instead of the VBAC that I was planning to attempt.

A week after I got discharged from the hospital, I was again readmitted because my blood pressure was in the 170s/120s mark. It was supposed to be just a routine check up but the doctor decided to readmit me because my BP was so high.

I was so thankful that my mom is here for a three-month vacation! She took care of Georyl at home because only the infant, Geshery, was allowed to stay with us at the hospital during the night. But still, it breaks my heart that my eldest daughter was at home, sleeping at 2AM and probably waiting for us to come home while the three of us were at the hospital. (These are also the times when I wish that we live nearer to our relatives and friends, sigh!)

Anyway, four days ago I had another blood pressure scare. I was checking my BP (I’ve been regularly monitoring it since I got discharged) and it was in the 140s/100s mark. Everytime I tried rechecking it (and I don’t know if it was the anxiety that caused it), it just kept elevating that the last reading was 175/121.

Mothers (or parents in general) could probably relate when I say that the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw my high BP reading is “what will happen to my children?” I’m not sure whether Geshery will be allowed to stay with me if I get admitted at the hospital now that she’s more than a month old and for sure, Georyl’s gonna stay home again (and I don’t expect her to understand why she has to be at home with her grandma while her family goes away for a long period of time). Of course, there’s George who’s gonna be tired and stressed again, dividing his time between hospital and home – looking after our family while I am bedridden at the hospital.

Needless to say, even when I wasn’t feeling well I never asked my hubby to bring me to the hospital. I know it was a stupid and dumb thing to do! But I was determined to stay at home.

I just took my medications, ate a lot of fresh garlic, drank lots of water and home-made ginger tea hoping for my BP to go down. And I’m glad it did.

On the next day, my BP was in the 140s mark again but I just continued my routine. Since knowing that a high BP will probably land me in the hospital, the thought of getting a blood pressure check already makes me anxious, nervous and quite stressed. Guess what, I ditched monitoring my BP altogether. I also added deep breathing exercises (ala-yoga) to my daily routine to calm my nerves.

I still haven’t checked my BP for two days already but so far, I’m feeling better. I just try to eat healthier foods and avoid foods high in sodium. I have a feeling that what I ate four days ago triggered my elevated BP. It was chicken longganisa for brunch and KFC bucket meal in the afternoon. Sodium! Sodium! Sodium!

I really pray that I will overcome this gestational hypertension so that it won’t become chronic hypertension. Will you please help me pray?

Filed Under: Health Tagged: ,
26 Oct 2012

Loving The Voice!

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Have you been watching the show “The Voice”?

My husband and I do watch this vocal competition that’s shown at NBC. We’ve been fans of the show since we watched the first episode of the season 2 which was aired right after the Superbowl. Right now, the contestants just finished the battle rounds – and my! what a clash of talents it had been. All of them are talented and I understand why the coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguillera and Ceelo Green had a hard time choosing which of members of their respective teams will move on to the next rounds.

The Voice Coaches: Adam, Christina, Blake and Ceelo

The Voice Coaches: Adam, Christina, Blake and Ceelo [image from NBC.com]

The show is becoming popular and stronger and I won’t be surprised if other countries will have their own versions of the show in the near future. My cousin who lives in Toronto is already preparing it just in case they will be having a similar show in Canada. I’ve heard that she already found a Toronto singing coach after diligently searching for singing coaches in Toronto. For sure, my friends in other countries are looking forward to that too.

Anyway, for all The Voice fans out there, do you know that there’s this plan to replace Christina and Ceelo in the next season of The Voice? I’ve read at E Online that they will replaced by Shakira and Usher next spring. Right now, I’m not sure about how I feel about this plan because I already enjoy watching the four coaches banter.

We’ll see.

Filed Under: Fun Time Tagged: ,
21 Oct 2012

An Alternative Way To Shop

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I totally forgot how hard it was to go out and go shopping with an infant – and I had no idea how stressful it could be to bring both an infant and a toddler when doing some errands until we did some grocery shopping earlier this week! The experience was so exhausting that both my husband and I decided to refrain from doing those “family trips” until Geshery is a bit older.

This is the reason why I turned to shopping online again. As the gift-giving season comes nearer, I really need to shop now so that I won’t be overwhelmed with those holiday shopping come December.

But just because I’m shopping for gifts doesn’t mean that I am in a shopping spree. It’s more of a deal-hunting, actually.

When I saw a post on my Facebook feeds about an auction penny site called the DealDash, I checked it out immediately. I was curious about this site that claims to be a fair and honest, risk free alternative to penny auctions.

I found out that it is free to register an account at DealDash. Just like other penny auction sites though, you need to buy a bid pack and use it to bid for some items. What makes DealDash risk free though is the fact that if you don’t win the auction, you can get all the bids you lost while bidding back to your account for free by simply purchasing the same product you were bidding on at full price from DealDash within 7 days of the auction ending.

Anyway, have you heard of DealDash before? I’m thinking of joining this site – will you join Deal Dash with me?

Filed Under: Fun Time
18 Oct 2012

Real Estate Agent

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Thanks for the guest post by Jo Levy

Being a real estate agent means you’ve got to know more than just houses. Of course, a big part of the job is knowing about square footage and hot water heaters and whether or not wood siding rots but at the end of the day it’s the whole package you’re selling people.

I had to learn the hard way that when someone asks you about the school district or the ElectricCompaniesTexas in the area when they’re looking at a home to buy and you don’t know the answer, you’ll look like you’re not very good at your job. My agency has been really good about staying on us to get continued education and they’re always setting up seminars and stuff to teach us about anything going on in town – new parks, new tax setups, things like that. It’s up to me, though, to know who can provide cable to any given street and whether or not it’s necessary to get an inspection on a foreclosure.

Nowadays since it’s so easy to just get online and look at the homes available in your area people don’t need real estate agents like they once did. If you’re paying for my services you’re paying for my expertise as much as you are my listing tools and I take that responsibility to my clients seriously. I wouldn’t want to go to my doctor, ask him about a new drug and have him tell me he’s never heard of it, you know?

I think it’s crazy people try to buy a house without the guidance of a Realtor but I guess I understand. In this market anywhere you can save a buck it makes sense to at least consider it.

Things are picking up for me, though, and that’s good because these last couple of years have been a killer in this down economy! I’ll be glad when people are buying again once and for all.

Filed Under: Featured