Freedom From Fitness First, Finally

Wow 5 F's. This is all about how I wasted money on Fitness First. I won't start by blaming the gay sales agent who aggressively pestered me at the Fitness First booth in Megamall 2 months before they officially opened their new branch. He (or should I say she?!) was very convincing. (I think loud gay people have strong convincing power. But that's besides the point.) It was mainly MY fault. I was naive for a few minutes.

I was 4 months preggo at that time. Being a first-timer, I was clueless whether to engage in physical exercise when pregnant, and up to what extent is generally allowed. I voiced this concern out when the GSA (gay sales agent) was begging me to sign up. GSA said it would be better for me and for my baby. Several minutes into the conversation, I signed the sheet and they swiped my card. I'm not sure why I listened. He's not in any way a doctor, and was just obviously after his sales commission.

I started "working out" on the first week they opened, all because, I was curious about the whole gym thing (my first time!) and they've begun charging to my credit card anyway. I was 6 months preggo by then, so the bump on my tummy was obvious. After the whole evaluation process, Fitness First people recommended that I hire my personal trainor, at P9,000 for 11 sessions, because of my "special" condition. Again, I was too naive to disregard that suggestion, so I signed the sheet and they swipe my card. For the second time.

Shortly after, Fitness First management required me to submit a form, signed by my doctor, allowing me such workout. Little did I know, my doctor would refuse to give her permission, because she only advised me to do some light walking, not the heavy, gym-type workout. And I consider myself "healthier" than average (i.e. easy pregnancy, no morning sickness whatsoever...) - so I conclude that any other "ordinary" pregnant woman is not actually recommended to be a gym rat. Screw the GSA for telling me otherwise just so he could increase his sales. But double boo to me who was too impulsive at that time.

Fast forward to the present. The contract has expired and I'm finally free! In sum, I only used 2 out of the 11 special / personalized sessions (I stopped right away when doc refused to sign the form.) and continued paying P2,470 per month for a passport membership without really using any of its services (minimum subscription is 12 months, which I have stupidly agreed upon by affixing my signature so I had no choice).

I still feel like banging my head to the wall. I could have bought nicer things with the money, donated to charity, treat a friend to a good meal, or just put it to savings. If only I were content with the top of the line cross-trainer machine Father-in-law gave Husband (which he can always share with me for free), or with the breath of fresh air I could get by just walking around the private subdivision (which is not just good for toning the muscles, it's also good for the lungs, and for the wallet!). If only I were practical enough to do research first before signing up. If only I were obedient to dear Husband (he didn't want me to subscribe, not because of health issues, but because he doesn't support the auto-debit feature, long story.) If only, if only...!

Now that I'm free... NEVER AGAIN. I've learned my lesson. For the preggy out there, don't be too excited to lose your figure to pregnancy, or to regain your original figure after pregnancy. Don't waste your money to these selfish capitalistic gym chains. Walking around is free! Do it at the mall to be entertained (by the sights and sounds around) and to be comfortable (thanks to airconditioning). Once the baby is out of the uterus, try to breastfeed to get your pre-pregnancy body back. It's good for you, good for the baby, and it's free! Babies grow up very fast, and you would want to be by their side as much as you can, going to the gym just goes to the last of your priorities, so just don't. :)

Choosing Baby's Gender

I wonder why there seems to be a shortage of girls in Baby's age group. All of her classmates in Kindermusik are boys! (Some yayas even daydream of my yaya's job, because Baby seems so easy to babysit - all prim and proper in front of the teacher while the boys go running all over, tossing the little furnitures, tumbling hyperactively, and throwing tantrums all around the place.)

If there was even a little part of me that wished to have a baby boy, that's only to please my Husband and his family. You see, he is the only boy in the brood of 4. He is the only one expected to continue the family name. And I don't want to be the one responsible for breaking this chain. But personally, I like having a baby girl. :)

Girls feel more comfy to hug and kiss in public. Girls are easier to discipline. Girls have more patience. Most girls do better in school. It's fun dressing up a girl. I would feel more comfortable bonding with a girl. It's more likely for a daughter (rather than a son) to take care of you when you get old. The list goes on. The only downside I can think of is - girls don't get to keep their surnames (unless of course they do not marry).

And since I already have a girl, and money does not fall from trees, I would love to have a boy for my next baby. (I know it's too early to talk about this because we aren't even planning. It's just a boring Sunday that's all!) Google shows several ways on how to conceive a boy:

-artificial insemination
-chinese charts
-biorhythms
-The Shettles Method
-The Whelan Method
-other dietary supplements and medications

There are even urban legends or old wives' tales which I find funny:
-eat more red meat, salty snacks, and drink more cola
-let your the man climax first
-BUT the woman's orgasm is more useful
-make love on odd numbered days of the month
-have sex at night, preferably when there’s a quarter moon in the sky
-more boys are conceived during the “honeymoon” phase of a relationship
-have the man drink coffee before sex, since this causes the sperm with Y chromosomes to become more active
-let the man wear boxers, because tight underwear lowers sperm count
-leave man's socks on!
-if the hairline at the base of your last child's neck is straight across, your next baby will be a boy
-man should be more dominant in a couple

In reality, we can only prefer, but we can't really choose. We can only try, plan, hope, and pray, but it would always be a 50-50 chance. The only thing that matters is giving birth to a healthy child!

The Ketchup Poo

On our last visit to Baby's pedia, I asked to be referred to a pediatric allergologist. Baby had clear mucus trickling down her nose for more than a week. It did not disappear in 3 days so it's not viral, but it also didn't turn yellow or green so it's not bacterial either. She's been letting out coughs, with clear lungs, and had skin rashes appearing, disappearing, and reappearing on her right cheek. So we figured, it must be an allergy.


The allergy doctor, Dra. E.A.C. gave a bad first impression. She made herself seem intimidating by "snapping" at us because we didn't fill in some fields (Occupation and Mobile Number) in her new patient's info sheet. She made up by being nicer towards the end (maybe because she realized we live in the same subdivision), even offered special treatment like having her secretary call us when it's our turn so we won't have to wait in line in the next visits. I doubt there's gonna be any.


Yes, she taught us (inluding the yaya) how to cleanse and moisturize Baby's skin, and it was absolutely effective. (But more on the ketchup poo later.) I love Baby super very much, but I have to admit her face looked like fish scales to some extent because she had very dry cheeks. Now she has very soft skin, just like the ones you see in the TVCs. I'm gonna tell you the secret, because I will feel much better maximizing the 900-peso consultation fee.


After bathing, pat dry baby's skin with towel. (Pat dry only, no rubbing.) Leave some layer of moisture on baby's skin. (Do not dry thoroughly.) Apply Physiogel cream to "seal" this layer. Physiogel cream is available at drugstores at around P500 per 75-ml tube. It's hypo-allergenic, perfect for baby's sensitive skin, even on the face. It contains no colourants, perfume, or preservatives. It's cream, which is preferred by the doc over lotions. It doesn't come cheap, but it does the wonders.


Now onto the ketchup poo story. Aside from the washing and moisturing lecture, Dra. E.A.C. also prescribed 2 drugs - Iterax and Singulair - and wanted to see how Baby would react to the medicines / anti-allergy / antihistamine. She even gave us free samples! (Told you she was nicer to us towards the end.) At first I thought it was ok, but seeing Baby's ketchup poo made me wonder, WTF is she trying to make my precious little baby into her little guinea pig or lab rat??? Even if she paid me millions I wouldn't have agreed!


Iterax is safe (also confirmed by Baby's pedia). But after one dose of Singulair, there was a little reddish part on Baby's poo. And the doc prescribed Singulair for 14 days. 14 days! I didn't know it was Singulair, so we had another Singulair on Day2. Lo and behold, 100% of Baby's poo was reddish!!! I had the shock of my life!!! I began to imagine what's happening inside my baby's tiny digestive system. Sure she had watermelon juice the day before. But she also had the same juice last month without resulting to any weird color in her stools! Of course we took the stool to the hospital lab at that very instant.


While Husband was at the Medical City for the fecalysis, I was in front of the computer trying to find some answers. I read whatever I could find on Iterax, Singulair, irritable bowel syndrome, and yes, even the Swine flu! Turns out, the Singulair granules is known to have some gastrointestinal disturbances as one of its side effects! (This is also confirmed by Baby's pedia, upon discussing this drug with another doctor.) So what the hell Dra. E.A.C.???


Finally the result came out. Color is reddish brown. Mucus present. Blood invisible to the eye (whew!), but visible on the microscope (WTF?). And there were some comments on the RBC/WBC. The pedia asked to stop the intake of Singulair. The next stools on the following days were not as alarming. There would be some reddish spots, but it was not the same ketchup poo. The fecalysis was repeated after 3 days to make sure that effects of Singulair were completely flushed out of her system. And the result was the best lab report I've seen ever. Everything was back to normal!


We were scheduled for a follow-up with Dra. E.A.C. on June 15. I'd be crazy if I say we're still going.

No Wait, No Waste

I'm not saying it's good to be impulsive. All I'm saying is, if you want to make the most out of your hard-earned money, do not procrastinate either. I've had my fair share of regrets because of "saving now" and then "paying later".

1. G.E. personal ref - I've wanted to put one in our bedroom eversince Baby was born. It would bring a lot of convenience for nighttime feedings when the breastmilk is stored just a few steps away. But I would always be in thrifty mode and convince myself that the big ref in the kitchen is big enough and it's not practical to buy another one just for the Baby's milk. 3 months into momhood, I gave up and asked Husband to get me one. I'm so happy with the convenience I think I wasted 3 months.

2. Medela 80z storage bottles - I use Medela double electric breastpump. It comes with 5oz bottles. I've been using those bottles even until they couldn't keep up with my breastmilk supply anymore. When I went to Singapore, I had no choice but to hold pumping upto 9 hours. (3 hours at the airport + 1 hour boarding + 3 hours flight + 1 hour baggage claim and immigration + 1 hour ride to the hotel = 9 hours) At that time I would produce 20oz of milk in one go. So I had to pump in batches because I had small bottles. After expressing milk for so long and making do with the bottles, I finally got new 8oz bottles at Rustan's! I never had to pump in batches ever again. I felt I wasted 8 months.

3. G.E. chest freezer - When I first started running out of freezer space due to abundance of breastmilk, I had to throw away lots of older ones and find takers for the other extra ones so I wouldn't feel I'm losing my body's stored calcium for the benefit of garbage bags. When my sister-in-law gave birth after 7 months, I was a little relieved that I can share some of my extra milk to her baby (in other words, take some of her freezer space, while her milk supply was still very low in the beginning. I have also invaded my mother-in-law's freezer and yet I still have nowhere else to store the newly expressed milk. Finally I decided to ask Husband to get a chest freezer specifically for storing Baby's milk. After taking back everything from the space I've "rented", without counting the ones I've thrown away (there were around 200+ bags), the chest freezer is almost full. I did not only waste 9 months, more importantly, I wasted frozen breastmilk, breastmilk storage bags, electricity, and my calcium, for nothing.

Baby has stopped increasing her milk intake because she has started on solids, so I think I can already stop lactating now and still be able to feed her until she turns 1 year old. My only problem is, I'm a coward. I'm scared, not of the living, nor the dead, but of ideas. The idea that I might get fat after breastfeeding. The idea that my boobs would hurt for plus/minus 3 weeks while trying to stop lactation. The idea that my petite body would not look proportional having boobs that are bigger than my butt in those 3 long weeks. The idea that I might have to resort to medication if lactation does not stop on its own. The idea that I might change my mind in the future and decide I want to feed Baby breastmilk until she turns 2... In exchange of what? Nothing but more meaningful social life for me, because I would no longer be restricted by any pumping or feeding schedule. Is it worth it?

4. Bumbo seat - In trying to save some space in our house, I moved the Fisher Price rainforest highchair to my in-laws' house, and got a green Bumbo seat as booster to our dining chair. I even tried putting Baby into it before buying the item at Baby & Co. (P2,999) Unfortunately, right the very next day, when Baby used the Bumbo, her big fat thighs got stuck through the hole, and so we never used it again. I was planning to passing it on to my sister-in-law, but her 2-month-old baby is only 1 pound lighter than mine. And the Bumbo seat is only for babies who can already sit (i.e. 6 months and up). I'm not sure if I can sell it on eBay, because we used the box as chicken house for our pet chicks. If I have purchased the Bumbo seat sooner, I wouldn't have wasted the money.

5. Safety First walker - when Baby turned 6 months, I got so excited I immediately went shopping to choose her walker. I was naive and misinformed by no less than the sales people at Baby & Co. I charged the top-of-the-line walker to my poor Husband, only to be informed by Baby's pedia that walkers can actually delay the baby in learning to walk (ironically!). Babies would tend to push their upper bodies to move, instead of using the corresponding muscles in their hips and legs. I'm not sure the exact age when babies are expected to start walking, but Baby's a little delayed in that she can sit and kneel at this age, but not crawl. I trust the doctor so it's goodbye walker for me.