How to Relieve Children’s Discomforts of Clogged Nose Caused by a Runny Nose

My son was so restless last night.  Usually, he sleeps at around 9 o’clock but last night he’s irritable, he had a runny nose that every time he tried to lay down to sleep he found it difficult to breathe.  Actually, if he just knows how to blow his nose, he won’t have problem breathing.  Many times we taught him how to blow his nose so he will be relieved but he just can’t get it, he’s doing the other way around. 

We have no available nasal spray so my husband carried him in an upright position making him rest his head on my husband’s shoulder.  Somehow he was relieved and fell asleep.  My husband put him on bed with his head and back supported by pillows making him sleep in a slightly sitting position.

Clogged nose is the common problem my children encountered since they were small and for parents it’s a big problem because it makes children irritable and restless at night giving us less sleep and worst they want to be carried all night.   

Today, there are nasal sprays and decongestants available in the market to help relieve clogged nose for children but I don’t use them unless prescribed by pediatrician.

 Aside from these prescribed medicine, we have practiced the following natural method to relieve our children the discomfort of having a clogged nose caused by a simple cold:

-          Make the child sleep  in a slightly sitting position (just what we did last night)

-          Get rid of the stuff that clogs the nose, for bigger children this will be easy because they already know how to blow their nose.   For infants, a small suction equipment is available in the market.  I have bought one once but have not used it because I was afraid I might damage my child’s nose so instead of using it, my husband sucked our child’s nose.  It’s gross and I don’t have the guts to do it, but it’s effective.  I remember my mother doing it also on my brother before. Hmmm, my stomach's turning upside down by the mere thought of it.

-          Wrapping the child’s head with a cloth or towel leaving only the face exposed.  I don’t know what’s the reason behind this but it’s effective.  I got this idea from my mother.  She used to wrap our head before whenever we have difficulty breathing because of clogged nose caused by cold.

-          Rub the soles with a vaporub and put the socks on.  I read this information from the internet and it works not only for clogged nose but also for cough.

-          Soak a cotton ball in eucalyptus oil and put it near the child’s bed but not so close to the child because eucalyptus has a strong aroma and irritating to the eyes.  This was advised by my children’s pediatrician and we tried it when our children were still below 1 year old and this also worked.     

These remedies are based on our personal experience and may be used for reference only.  It is always best to consult your doctor.

It's A Food Trip Sunday

Today is a Sunday and it's a family day.  After attending the 8:00 o'clock mass, the children begged for us to go to the mall.  Okay, since it's been weeks after our last visit to the mall, my husband and I gave in to their wishes.

We went to Bonifacio High Street located at Taguig global city.  We haven't brought the children there yet and even I just went there once with friends.  The place is beautiful, it's a park and business center rolled into one.  A kilometer of beautiful landscape at the center with retail stores and restaurants/coffee shops on both sides.

Since it was still early, the retail stores are still closed but the coffee shops are already open and my husband and children just can't resist the lure of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.  We already had our breakfast at home so the doughnuts were just for dessert ... okay, well it's just a way of justifying our need for the doughnuts.  Anyway, looking at the pictures, you can't tell that the children have already eaten their breakfast.  It is as if it's their first meal after a long hours of starvation.

 After the doughnut treat, it's time to walk around, play and take some pictures.  There's just a lot of space for children to run around without disturbing the shopaholics.

Time was really fast and once again, it's time for lunch.  The children were hungry again, as usual, so we decided to try Red Kimono, a Japanese Restaurant located just a walking distance from Bonifacio High Street.  It's a first time for the children to eat in a Japanese Restaurant and thanks to Sukiyaki and Tempura, the children enjoyed their meal.

My little boy doesn't need any assistance as long as he have his noodles without the vegetables.

 For me and my husband, the food trip did not stop there.  We were invited to a dinner party so after taking the children home and taking a little rest, we went to Tong Yang, a shabu-shabu restaurant where the party was held.  It's a buffet type restaurant.

There were a lot of food choices, there are already cooked foods and of course there are ones which we can cook on our table (the very idea of a shabu-shabu).  My husband did all the choosing of foods to be cooked for our shabu-shabu and he picked only fish, mushrooms and a lot of green vegetables.  There are still a lot of ingredients for shabu-shabu to choose from but we have to control ourselves, we even skipped the rice and noodles so we won't get our digestive system into trouble.

There were two types of stocks served for the shabu-shabu, the dark one was spicy.

There's also a grill pot where we grilled some fish and thin slices of pork.

Our food intake was really stretched to the maximum level today and I feel like dieting for the whole week ...  maybe, just fruits?  Okay, I'll just decide about that tomorrow.

A Badge for my Blog

It's a weekend and with our internet connection up again, it's time to surf the blogosphere.

The first blog I visited was that of Mommy Tots and I'm thankful that I found her post about how to create a blog badge.  I have created a badge but I just don't know how to incorporate the badge to my blog.  That's where Mommy Tots' post helped me.  Her instruction is clear and simple, it's so easy to follow.  Many thanks to you Mommy Tots.

Here's the badge I made for my blog.  I made this badge using Microsoft Powerpoint then saved to pdf, then jpg.  I resized and compressed file using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

I hope you can exchange badge with me.

Have a nice weekend everyone and God bless.

Problem With PLDT Telephone and Internet Line

Our telephone and internet connection at home was out of service since Sunday, November 21.  My husband contacted our service provider – PLDT, and the customer service in-charge said that he already sent a repair ticket to their technical group, in other words, checking and repair of our line is now in their list.

Tuesday came and it was already 24 hours since my husband reported the problem.  I tried to contact our number so I can talk with the kids but still all I can hear is a busy tone.   I texted my husband and requested him to make a follow up call to PLDT.  Once again the customer service in-charge told him that the repair ticket was on queue.

Today, it’s Wednesday and still we have no connection.  My husband called their hotline this morning and still the response is the same.  I’m a little impatient so I also contacted their customer service and guess what’s their response… of course same as what they told my husband with some apologies on the side.  So there’s nothing more we can do but to wait until they finished fixing the problem.  Until when? … I really have no idea.

For now, I just use our internet at the office during break time so I can write this post but aside from that, there’s nothing else I can do.  No entrecard, no adgitize, I can’t even reply to comments on my blog.  Haaaay, life.  There are a lot of restrictions in our internet system here that a lot of websites are blocked, but it’s understandable, internet here should be for official use only and it’s just fortunate that blogger was not blocked.

I hope PLDT technical group can find the problem soon so they can repair it and hopefully bring our telephone and internet connection at home back to normal again … the sooner, the better.    

Early Morning Monday Blues

It’s Monday once again and after the two days off from office, here I am again, sitting in front of my computer trying to concentrate on my work.

Just like any other Mondays, it’s really hard to get up and be ready for work … I don’t know, I just feel that the two days off is not enough for all the things needed to be done at home.  But that’s the life of an 8 to 5 employee, whether I like it or not, it’s Monday and I have to report for work. 

Commuting from home to office was also a struggle.  Reaching Alabang 15 minutes before 8:00 o’clock, I decided to take a tricycle going to our office instead of the usual jeepney ride … based on my experience, it’s hard to reach the office on time riding a jeepney with just this 15 minutes remaining before the ring bells at the office.  My fare was 6 times more than taking the jeepney but it doesn’t matter, I want to start the week right and arriving on time at the office is one way of making it right.

I really tried to start the week right but it seemed that the circumstances are against me this time.  Most of the intersections were at the stop mode and I did not make it on time … I was late for 1 minute and 2 seconds.  Grrrrrrrrr.   

After taking a long deep breath, I was calm.  Even though I did not hit my target this morning, I’m thankful that I have reached the office safely.  I may sound sour-graping but it doesn’t matter, it’s better than thinking and feeling sorry about it for so long.  My week did not start perfectly as what I have planned but it doesn’t end there, there are still a lot of things coming and that’s what I’m looking forward to.

Overtime Work – Just what I love in the Past

Our project is at its peak from this month up to March next year.   A lot of construction drawings are needed to be submitted.  We've got a crazy schedule ahead of us. It’s good that we have a lot of young engineers here who are willing to work overtime so we can submit on time.

I remember when I was their age, I really love rendering overtime work.  Whenever my supervisor informs us that we need to work additional hours, it sounds like music to my ears.   Additional hours mean additional pay and who don’t want additional pay?  Of course, not me. 

I was only starting to earn a living then with my younger sibling depending on me so I really love overtime work because financially, it was a big help.  Aside from the monetary reward of working overtime, I also enjoy working with my officemates who became my friends and one of them became my husband (sometimes having an inspiration at the office boosts up your energy level).   It seems that I have all the energy needed to do all those works.  I remember working for 12 to 15 hours a day, on holidays and weekends.

I think being young, single and having the drive to earn more was the primary factors why I loved working overtime then.  These went on for years and eventually I got tired of it.  It’s the physical factor that early gave in and of course I have now my family to attend to.

Nowadays, I still work overtime but only in cases when it is deemed necessary.   I have different priorities now and if there are any other options aside from working overtime, I would be glad to take that option.  

Manny Pacquiao Did it Again

Yes, Manny Pacquiao did it again and this time it's his 8th world boxing championship belt.  Wow, he's really a great boxer, someone we can be proud of as Filipinos.

Personally, I'm not really a fan of boxing,  I don't know, I just don't enjoy looking at people punching each other even if it is just a game, I'm not just into these kinds of sports.

Well, even if I'm not a fan of boxing, I'm proud of Manny Pacquiao and I admire him a lot.  He's an inspiration to many.  His discipline, determination and most of all his being grateful to God is really something which gave him the edge over his opponents ... qualities which we need if we want to be successful in anything we do.



 

The Importance of Breast Self-Examination

Last 2003, I had undergone a minor surgery to remove a lump from my right breast and right underarm.  The extracted specimen were biopsied and it turned out to be benign.  From then on, I regularly do a breast self-examination.  I have learned that breast cancer if detected earlier has a very high percentage of patient survival and doing the breast self-examination is the easiest way in detecting a breast cancer in it's early stage.

Last September, a week after my period, as usual, I did my breast self-examination routine and I have detected a small lump in my left breast, as small as a black bean.  For several weeks, I just continued monitoring the lump hoping that it would disappear but another month passed and the lump was still there ... not changing in  size though ... but the fact that it is still there, I decided to seek professional help.

I visited a gynecologist and she examined my breast.  She told me that the lump is too small and she's happy that I'm doing a breast self-examination, at least more women are now aware of the importance of the said self-examination.  She doesn't recommend the removal of the lump because it's too small, instead she recommended breast ultrasound. 

This afternoon, I had my breast ultrasound.  It was my first time to undergo breast ultrasound although I had other ultrasound (tummy and trans-vaginal) before.  As expected, it was just a short, painless but messy procedure.  Messy because of the gel spread on my breasts.  The result was released 5 minutes after.

Tomorrow I will bring the result to my gynecologist and I'll see what she have to say.  I know things will just be fine ... I can feel it.

Celebrating Our Mother's Birthday

My mother joined our creator twenty-three years ago but that doesn’t mean that we stopped remembering her especially on her birthday.  Last Saturday was her birthday and as way of remembering her special day, my brother and I (there are only two of us) decided to meet at the mall together with our family to have lunch together.  

A simple lunch at Gilligan's Market Market

It’s kind of a get-together for us especially for the kids who really had fun playing with each other.  I have two kids, a girl and a boy and my brother also has two kids, both boys … they are still working for the third one because they really wanted to have a baby girl … hope they can get it right this time …LOL   

My brother and I with our respective partner

The children having a good time

After our lunch and a little rest we brought the kids to the children’s playground and let them play to their heart’s content while we “the grown-ups” were having a little chit chat while watching them play.  We really had a good time and I know our mother and also our father (he died earlier than my mother) would be very happy and proud of us.

Children's playground at Market Market

Thirty on 30 "Changes in My Life" Blog Contest

I was blog hopping when I stumbled upon this blog contest sponsored by blankpixels of Just Another Pixel.Net.  I'm not really into contests ... well, not yet because of time constraints but actually I really love to join contests and giveaways online and I want to sponsor my own contest in the future. I think contests and giveaways make blogs more interactive and fun.

I have already read some contests and giveaways sponsored by fellow bloggers but I haven't tried joining any one of them.  I think I have missed a lot of opportunities there to earn additional income and meet new friends online so this time I have to do something ... so here I am, writing my post to officially join blankpixels' blog contest, the first blog contest I ever joined.  I hope I will have that so-called "beginner's luck".

If you are also interested in joining this contest, just click here for the mechanics.  Good luck to all of us.

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 ● Everything Nice! ● News Break Online  ● Fat Girl No More ● Written by Mys ●
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 ● Just About Anything ● Blogger Manila ● Dress Up Your Blogs ●
 ● Certified Foodies ● Pinay Online Money Maker ● Pinay Reviewer ●

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