Clipixing My Online Life

I spend many hours a day browsing hundreds of stuff online. The internet is big a part of my daily activity. I usually browse things that involve topics about babies and children, online shopping, buying and selling, current news, freelance online jobs, interesting videos and photos, blogging, and of course the very popular social media website that everyone in my close relations are into—Facebook. Because I do these things almost everyday, I sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of information I look up and gets very frustrated when I forget to save in my browser's bookmark the things that I like to see or read again. When this happens, I have to redo my search which unfortunately takes a lot of my extra time. If only there's a way to fix my problem, my life online would be more relaxing.

Well luckily, I found a great solution to my dilemma. Installing clipix  in my browser's bookmark! This is a new tool that I just discovered and didn't hesitate to try it. After all, it's free! Being introduced to a new online application, the execution to realize the purpose of this tool is very easy. All I had to do is drag the "Clip" bookmark to my browser's bookmark bar and it's all set to start the work that it's meant for. Now that I have it in my browser, it's so much easier for me to add various pages that I like in my clipboards . Besides, I am able to put them in a specific category that I personally made. That way, I do not cram everything in one place and gets confuse which is which.  Not only it is quicker for me to save links, my online stuff are also organized. Moreover, clipix has another cool feature that I really like. It's called Syncboards. It's a system that allows me share my online stuff (that I want to share) with family and friends and they can do the same with me as well. It's a collective sharing of interests within the groups that I want to participate in.

I have just started clipixing my online activities and it's fun. I no longer worry saving a lot of things that I like because this time, it's so much easier for me to do it, in an organized way. I am starting to make clips of the things I am interested the most: family related subjects, online shopping, favorite websites, health information, interesting news, and music. I should be adding more in days to come. How about you? What would you clip if you use clipix?

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Allergic Reaction in Children

The following information is taken from the discharge instruction that Cardon Children's Medical Center gave us the day we took our daughter to the emergency after she had a severe allergic reaction on the food that she ate. I am posting this vital information in the hope that it will help parents whose children (baby, toddler, and older) have allergy problems.

Allergic Reaction, Other (General) [Child]

Some children's immune systems are very sensitive. Exposure to one or more allergens (substances that cause allergies) stimulates the body to release chemicals, including histamine. Histamine causes swelling and itching. The reaction may affect the entire body. This is called a general allergic reaction.

Common allergy symptoms include a runny nose, watery eyes, or an itchy eyes, nose, or roof of mouth. Repeated sneezing or coughing, a stuffy nose, and ear fullness or popping may also occur. In addition to the above symptoms, the skin may break out in hives or in red purple spots. More severe symptoms include nausea and vomiting, swelling of the face and mouth, and trouble breathing. Severe allergies can cause shock. Symptoms of shock include cold, clammy bluish skin, and a fast, but weak heartbeat.

A general allergic reaction can be triggered by many different allergens. Common allergens include the environment (such as pollen, mold, mildew, and dust), certain products (such as those made from natural rubber latex), and even some plants or animals. Symptoms usually respond quickly to antihistamines, steroids, and sometimes pain medication. Severe reactions may require a stay in the hospital.

Home Care

Medications:

The doctor may prescribe medications to relieve swelling, itching, and possibly pain. If your child had a severe reaction, the doctor may prescribe an epinephrine kit (EpiPen). Epinephrine will stop the progression of an allergic reaction. Ensure that you understand when and how to use this medication.

General Care:

- Try to identify and avoid the problem allergen. Future reactions may be worse. If your child is found to have a serious allergy, have your child wear a Medic Alert bracelet or dog tag that identifies allergy.

- Keep a record of symptoms, when they occurred, and any problem allergens. This will help your doctor determine future care for your child.

- Instruct all care providers and school officials about your child's allergic reaction and how to use any prescribed medication.

- Try to prevent your child from scratching any affected areas.

- Avoid air pollution, tobacco, and wood smoke, and cold temperatures. They can make allergy symptoms worse.

GET PROMPT MEDICAL ATTENTION if any of the following occur:

• Trouble breathing or swallowing, wheezing, hives, face or lip swelling, drooling, vomiting, or explosive diarrhea. CALL 911.
• Fever greater than 100.4°F (38°C)
• Continuing or recurring symptoms

Trip to the ER: Severe Allergic Reaction

We took Evie to the Cardon's Children Medical Center ER last Sunday. This is her third time in the hospital's emergency room. She was having difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, croaky voice, and slightly swollen lip. The culprit? Gold fish crackers. Well, that was our suspicion. She was playing with other kids at church and according to her Dada, he saw a girl holding a bowl of gold fish crackers. Minutes later, he noticed Evie coughing, eyes watery. We immediately gave her a teaspoon of Benadryl (antihistamine), washed her face and hands. She also asked me to wash her mouth. After I was informed by her Dada that he noticed a girl holding a bowl of gold fish crackers, I asked her if she ate some. And the answer was YES. Her voice was not normal. I can tell that she had eaten something she's not supposed to. Most probably her throat was tightening that's why her voice was hoarse. She kept coughing and experiencing labored breathing. We thought she will be fine after taking a dose of antihistamine, but her wheezing didn't stop. She never had this severe of allergic reaction before. So we decided to take her to the ER, again. The good thing was, the hospital was not too far from our church.

A Dose of Epinephrine and Oral Medication/Inhalation

After checking her vital signs, the hospital staff immediately gave her oral medication (chewable pills and breathing treatment) and epinephrine injection or better known as EpiPen. I've heard of EpiPen before. One of the kids in our Sunday school class before takes this medication in his bag all the time because he gets severe allergic reaction when he eats something that his body cannot tolerate. It's for emergency use—for life-threatening situations.

It's very scary to think that Evie's life was in danger that moment. We do not know how much gold fish crackers she ate—one, two, a handful? We remember how when her voice started to sound croaky when she gulped a drop of cow's milk when she was very young. That's how a very small amount of dairy product affected her fragile body.

She wasn't happy at all with the injection and her entire 3 hours of stay in the emergency room. The pink dinosaur mask and cartoon TV shows did not make her feel any better at all. She'd cry everytime a hospital staff enters the room. She might have thought of them as people who's going to hurt her. Later she fell asleep in my arms. Dr. Rodney Ohmart, her attending doctor checked her again after an hour or so and was happy that after giving her the treatment she needed, she was 100% better.

Severe Allergic Reaction Prescriptions

The doctor prescribe our daughter three kinds of medical prescriptions: EpiPen-Jr injection, ProAir HFA (albuterol inhalation) and Prednisolone. The first two prescriptions are for emergency purposes and the last one she has to take for three days after her trip to the ER. It is quite relieving that we have these emergency tools to give her JUST IN CASE (God forbids) the same thing occurs in the future. With what just happened and how she doesn't know and understand what kind of food she should not eat, it is very frightening to not have these life-saving instruments in hand. And of course, a bottle of antihistamine SHOULD ALWAYS be within our reach when it's needed. IT'S A MUST.

The hospital gave us very important handouts about allergic reaction and related topics. I'll definitely post it here in my blog for parents who are in the same boat as ours. I believe it's a great information that will help us know the things we need to do when our child suffers such kind of life-threatening physical reaction.

Protect Your Family's Identity

With the rapid changes and modernization of our technology nowadays, identity theft protection is a must for every family. Anyone's personal information can be a victim to identity thieves lurking around the internet and all mobile devices that we carry around with us daily. We are getting too comfortable saving our vital biographical information in mobile gadgets because it's convenient and we can access them anytime and anywhere we need it. We thought that the anti-virus software we installed in our devices is enough to protect us from these threats. But the truth is, cyber criminals are smarter than us to gain access to our online personal data if we do not administer the wise move to keep their hands off our personal stuff.

The good news is, if there are hackers working their way in to steal our personal information, there are also brilliant entities which busied themselves to create advanced programs to help us fight identity theft crime. IdentityHawk for example is a company that prides themselves of using the latest anti-fraud technology to help family and individuals falling into the hands of online data hackers. This type of company gives us the feeling of security and peace of mind when it comes to safeguarding our personal info round the clock, 24 hours a day. Availing services like this definitely involves a little bit of money out from our pockets. But if we think about it, the benefit is far more than the value of damage when our data is stolen because of how we vulnerably expose our personal information everywhere.

Filipino Breakfast Craving

I was hungry so early in the morning today but couldn't think of what exactly I was craving for. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich was the first thing I could think of, but we're out of bread. So I had to look for another option. Immediately my appetite was telling me to eat rice. It's been so long since I had rice in the morning. Rice is one of the typical food served in Filipino breakfast. I usually eat rice with scrambled egg and dried fish. Good thing is, we have what I needed! For Filipinos, rice, egg, and dried fish (dipped in vinegar) are a perfect breakfast combination. Plus coffee of course! We actually eat with with instant noodles too (which I don't have at home).

I had a very filling breakfast. I indulged what my craving was asking. Not so good with my husband though. The smell of fried dried fish in the house was circling around the house. Well, that's included in the package for marrying a Filipina and he's very understanding of it too. Lucky me! :)

The Wonder of Bengay in My Pregnancy Body Aches and Pains

Bengay never fails to amaze me when it comes to relieving my body aches and sores. Being pregnant, I am more prone to achy and sore muscles. Yesterday while cleaning our carpet, I had to do some bending to manually treat the icky stuff with vinegar and water. When I do this chore, the primary part of my body that's directly and easily gets affected is my lower back hip. It becomes so achy that after I lay down for a few minutes, I have a hard time getting up. Great thing we have Bengay at home. The one we have is actually almost a three year old cream. My husband bought it before our first daughter was born. But until now it works wonders. A few minutes after applying it on the affected area, the achy feeling goes away! I consider it my pregnancy miracle cream. I am thankful that they were able to formulate and produce this product because it really helps me with my longing for relief when body aches and pains strike me.

For pregnant women out there who's experiencing the same problem I have, I definitely recommend this product. It's awesome. Hope it works for you too. I am not sure if you will like the slight tingling sensation of the cream once it's applied on your body, but personally, I never have a problem with it. I am used to such kind of rubs. Yet, you can always try it and see if it effectively works on you like how it works on me.

Husband Traveling

The article written by Alonso Kramer

My husband has recently started having to travel for his job. It has been a tough adjustment for our family. With two kids and me working full time, it really helps to have both of us here to help get everyone up, dressed, fed, and out the door before we are supposed to leave at 7:30. When he has to travel overnight that leaves me being a single parent to feed the kids, get them to bed, and then do the whole morning routine by myself. It is no surprise that the first couple of times he was out of town we were fifteen minutes late to daycare and work. But nowadays we are just blessed that he has a job and a good one at that. It was really sweet the other night when he called me from his hotel. He said that he had showered after a long day of work and laid down to watch directv nashville. The movie that we went and saw on our first date was on TV and he was thinking of me! He called me just to tell me that and it about melted my heart!

From Sippy to Cup

It's more than a week now that we let Evie used a regular cup when she drinks her milk instead of a sippy cup. The first day and until now was never a problem. She never refuse to drink her milk using a regular cup. There are days though that she'd say "no" because the milk is cold specially when she just woke up. But after a few minutes, she'd grab and drink it. She was used to drink milk straight from the microwave. However, we are now training her to get used to drinking milk straight from the fridge.

Evie has been using a regular cup when she drinks water or juice. I believe that's the reason why it was so easy to introduce her milk in a big girl's cup. The first few days, spilling was a problem. Well, what can you expect with something without lid and with a half-full liquid? She likes to hold her cup with just one hand, and the cup that she's using is a little bit big for her small grip. I later realized that she needs something that she can hold on tight, enough to keep the milk from spilling. I found a sippy cup with handle on both sides. I took off the lid and let her used it. It's so much better than the ones without handles on the sides. I still expect spilling. Not because she doesn't have a control of it, but because sometimes she walks while she drinks. I have to remind her to be careful with her milk. One time she walked so slow while sipping her milk just to make sure it won't drip on the floor.

She'd will still use sippy cup, but only when we go out. It's the most practical thing to use while outside the comfort of our home. I know for sure that this will not make her crave for milk in a sippy cup later because she's already a "big girl—" she thinks she is...sometimes. :)

"I'm Super Sorry, Mom"

Yesterday, my daughter uttered one of the most touching things that a mother would love to hear. Actually, touching and at the same time, funny. "I'm super sorry, Mom." It's the word "super" that changed the whole meaning of her words. As far as I know, she only knows "super" from "super chicken." It's her Dada who taught her about "super chicken" with matching chicken sound. That's why I was so surprised when she used the word when she asked for sorry.

The Scenario

She was sitting on my lap watching her Little Einsteins show, while my hands were busy typing the laptop keyboard. Suddenly, I felt something warm on my left leg. She peed and it leaked through my pants. We are currently potty-training her. Instead of using her regular Pampers pull-ups, she's using a Gerber training underpants. The outer side is made of plastic, but the inside is plain cloth. So, she'd usually leak when she pees, and that's what happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I got wet too. When she saw the disappointment in my face, she looked so concern and told me "I'm super sorry, Mom" twice. I couldn't help but chuckle. My heart was touched. It's funny how she uses the word of which I don't think she knows the meaning of. But the way she used it was right (grammatically). I just don't have any idea why she used such word—what made her? I wish I know.

Well, since yesterday, everytime she does something that doesn't make me happy, she tells me the same thing. "I'm super sorry." Makes me wonder why. It's amazing when our little learners start to know new words and use them to communicate with us. One day they'll just surprise us in a beautiful way. Sometimes in a funny or touching way.

Walgreens Prescription Savings Club

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am a big fan of Walgreens. I usually purchase my prenatal needs such as vitamins and skin care products (for the stretching belly) on their website. I also order my daughter and husband's vitamins and stuff they need that I see at Walgreens.com. They have almost everything I need in their online store. Their prices are very reasonable (a lot of times I get a buy 1 get 1 free offer). It's the most convenient way for me, I get lots of savings, and they ship free when I order $25 or more. They also deliver my orders so fast which I really like.

Well, if you are a fan of Walgreens or someone who's looking for a good pharmacy to cater your regular prescription needs, here's a new way to save more bucks in your prescription drugs. Walgreens currently offers a special discount on annual membership for its Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. For the amount of $35 a year, your immediate family members are included in the coverage—can be your spouse, your dependents ages 22 or under, and guess who else? Your pet! Yup, even your pet is covered in the savings plan. This is really a great deal for Moms like me whose family is getting bigger. If you register as an individual, you only pay $20 for the whole year round.

Some of the benefits you will reap from becoming a Walgreens Prescription Savings club member include:

• savings on thousands of brand-name and all generic medications
• amazing discounts on flu shots, nebulizers, pet medications, and diabetic needs
• great bonuses for buying Walgreens brand products and photofinishing services.

For old members of the savings club, you can always renew your membership and continue to enjoy the awesome deals in your prescriptions.

As a fan of Walgreens, I continue to support the pharmacy by liking Walgreens on Facebook. If you want to keep updated of their latest deals and savings programs, you can like them as well and follow Walgreens on Twitter @Walgreens.

June 6, 2012 is the Day

I got a call from my OB's office yesterday morning and told me that they already have a schedule of my C-section—6th of June. Hospital has been booked on the said date.

So, that is the scheduled day for us to see our precious little one and hold her in person! It's presumed that June 6 is going to be her birthday. That if she doesn't come earlier than June 6. At least now, we have a date to look forward to. But everything still depends on the Maker. He's the only one who knows when.

OB's Third Appoinment

It was my third time to go back to my OB's office last Wednesday. We were inside the building for more than 2 hours. Glad we took Evie to her grandparents, or else she'd get so bored and become whiny.

I had my Level 2 ultrasound. Everything looked so great. Baby was moving a lot inside the tummy, giving the technician a hard time. There was a time when she wanted to get a picture of her hand open, but the baby kept her fist closed. That took a while. Also, the baby let the technician sweat when it came to confirming the gender. She won't open her legs at all. I got a lot of poking on my tummy (which I didn't really mind). Well, the second ultrasound confirmed that she's a GIRL! Glad to get the confirmation. That way, I can finally keep some of Evie's clothes for her little sister.

I was so happy to know that this time, I do not have placenta previa which I had in my first pregnancy. Having the placenta previa, I was prohibited to carry a certain weight and sexual activity was halted for a few months. Glad to know that this time, I can still pick up and carry my 30+ lbs energetic girl and my husband and me will continue to enjoy each other in our intimate moments.

After my ultrasound, I got to meet my OB, Dr. Shelly Messer after 2 and a half years. She was the one who conducted my C-section with Evie. She's a nice doctor. But I still don't feel the warmth I am looking for in a doctor. There's no personal connection. I honestly feel more connected with their nurse practitioner, Michelle Carnes. She is very warm and I can see she cares for me more of as a person and not just a patient. It's also weird because I met a doctor before in their office for the first time and immediately, I felt the care she had for me as her patient. I believe that doctor was Dr. DeAnna Bullaro-Anderer. She left Oasis few months before I gave birth. Well, what can I say. People have different personalities.

Dr. Messer told us that they usually schedule the C-section a week before the estimated due date (EDD). Since my EDD is June 12, she said that most probably they will schedule my operation on June 5. But this has to be coordinated with Banner Gateway Hospital (of which I was just told that they already scheduled the date on the 6th of June with the hospital).

All in all, our little girl inside is doing great (thanks to God who takes care of her inside). Nothing more gives me peace of mind than to know that the precious life I am carrying inside is perfectly well.