Infertility Philippines

I chanced upon this website: Infertility Philippines. The owner of the blog, Deborah, bravely shares her story of trying to conceive.

It's nice to know there are other women who remain positive despite struggling with infertility. Most of the time I feel alone in my quest of having a baby. My husband is not here and I don't have friends who have the same predicament as I do. Finding Deborah's blog makes me want to cheer up and say to myself, "I am not alone."

Yoga at Gold's Gym

I started attending a hatha yoga class at Gold's Gym. A group buying site, Metrodeal, had a promo last month. For only P1000, I can get 10 classes from Gold's Gym. That's P100 per class! I can attend their Zumba (new exercise which they are promoting), belly dance, Spinning, yoga classes etc. The Metrodeal voucher should be used within two months upon first attendance in a class. Since I plan on doing yoga again, I grabbed this promo. The ongoing rates of yoga classes range from P500-800, depending on the location. Kinda steep so this promo is definitely a saver!

Gold's Gym have hatha yoga classes on Wednesday and Friday nights and Sunday mornings. I marked my calendar so I can attend all 10 classes within 2 months.

A new activity in my schedule always excites me. I plan on going to the gym thirty minutes before the class so I can familiarize myself with the surroundings, the facilities and my "classmates". As I walk to the gym, my heart is aflutter, my steps are light, looking forward to my first yoga class of the year. The last yoga class I attended was in 2009.

As I was walking to the Information desk, the staff immediately know that I have the Metrodeal voucher. Seems most of their students are voucher holders. He told me that signing up will be done after the class. I gave him the Metrodeal voucher and asked about the changing room. He said there is a changing room, comfort room and locker room located beside the food station.

Okay this is it!

I went to the Women's Locker Room. I passed by the class studio where a Zumba class was ongoing. The Locker Room It has rows of lockers, 3 shower stalls and several toilet cubicles. There were several women inside. Some were chatting, just got off the showers and some were changing to/from their gym clothes. I slowly walked around the Locker Room, checking out what facilities I can use. Try as hard as I can not to look a first-timer, I guess I still looked the part.

I changed to my yoga clothes in one of the shower stalls. I looked for a locker to use and noticed that some lockers have padlocks and some don't. Confession: This is the first time I will use a gym locker. I realize I need to have my own padlock for my locker. Bummer. I quickly went out the gym to buy a padlock. I don't want to be late for my first class!

Luckily, the Zumba class went overtime, giving me time to put my things inside the locker, lock it with my newly bought padlock and catch my breath.

As the Zumba students went out the room, we yoga students placed our yoga mats in different areas of the room. Noticeably, the middle area in front has no student. Like me, they're not keen on being near the teacher. Mirrors surround the room, making us see each other. I noticed that in a yoga class, beginners always take the spots at the back of the room or shala while "experts" take the front. I wish I could be more confident in my asanas so I can be in front also. :)

The class is a multi-level class led by Pio Baquiran. Meaning, poses range from beginner to advanced levels. We started with poses I learned from my Ashtanga Vinyasa class in '09 which was good. We had about 4 or 5 rounds of this before doing other asanas such as the Eagle Pose, Pigeon, Warrior, Cobra, Cat, etc. I have a book about Yoga which I have since 2008 when I enrolled in Ananda Marga in Quezon City. Seems to me all the asanas in that book, we did in my first class in the gym. Whew!

Everytime we lie on the mat, I think that we are now winding down and going to the Corpse pose, a name suited for this pose since you have to lie down on your back, your limbs relaxed, your eyes closed. But no! Seems the teacher has more asanas to do.

As we are nearing the end of the class and actually doing the Corpse pose, I feel some students leaving the studio. I open my right eye a bit and see students leaving, I'm not imagining it. This is new to me. The yoga classes I attended before make it a point that all students finish the class. This is to give the mind and body the time to relax, normalize breathing and be present.

We are in the Corpse pose for maybe 10 minutes, teacher Pio telling us to relax, mentioning each body part, making us to be calm and relax. I admit I cannot relax, I keep thinking that I'm the only one left at the studio since all my classmates have left already. Good thing this did not happen. There are still students left till the end of the class.

Teacher Pio ended by thanking the class.

I go to the Information desk so I can sign up. The lady gave me a form to fill out which is attached to the Metrodeal voucher I gave earlier. She gave me a small slip of paper which would be my "class card" of sorts. I should bring this slip whenever I will take a class.

Herbal Tea Update

After two weeks of drinking Sister Regina's herbal tea, I am proud to say that I can finish a cup in one session. No more half cups for me! The taste is still not palatable but I can swallow it without having the urge to puke. I think this is a psychological thing. Whenever I drink the tea, I tell myself that this is good for me, this will help me reach my goal of conception, this tastes like chocolate drink (uhm, no).

I'm happy that I can now see the bottom of the tea container. This means I have a few cups left. I wonder if Sister Regina will tell me to continue with the herbal tea. If she does, I think I'll pass. :) I'm more inclined to just continuing acupuncture only.

Straight Naturelle

I grabbed a promo of Ensogo for a classic hair rebond and milk treaatment at Straight Naturelle. The salon has three branches -- Cash 'N Carry in Makati, SM San Pablo and Puregold San Pablo. I searched the net for reviews about this salon before buying the promo.

I reserved two slots for me and my sister at Straight Naturelle. Since hair rebonding takes 5-6 hours, I booked for the salon's opening time. It's good to be the first customer at a salon.

My sister an I arrived at the salon and saw their tarp in front. They have a promo for hair rebonding, P300 above the price I paid for the Ensogo promo. :) The staff were just opening the salon, arranging magazines, opening the lights, wiping the front desk, etc. I told a lady at the salon about my reservation, gave the Ensogo vouchers and wrote our names in the list.

Here are the things done during our hair rebonding session at Straight Naturelle:

1. Hair strand test. The Lady interviewed me about the history of may hair -- last treatment, color (if any), etc.

2. Shampoo. The shampoo area is clean. The shampoo chair is comfortable and I wanted to stay there as the shampoo girl washed my hair.

3. Hair rebonding solution. The lady clipped my hair into sections and she applied the hair rebonding solution to each section. After 30 minutes or so, she asked the shampoo girl to rinse my hair.

4. Hair rinse. All the solution should be removed from the hair with water. Water continuously ran through my hair as Shampoo girl removed the rebonding solution.

5. Blow dry. The Lady blow dried my hair. My hair looked like it was just blow dried, not rebonded. And then there was a brownout, for about 20 minutes.

6. Hair iron. The Lady and another male staff started to iron my hair. They painstakingly ironed my hair is small sections. Hair ironing lasted for two hours.

7. Milk treatment. A white cream was slathered to my hair. It smelled nice. The treatment lasted for 15 minutes.

8. Shampoo. My hair was rinsed. The shampoo girl left me with my head on the sink. I wondered where she went, if she was getting a towel or something. I lay there waiting as I watched a man having a pedicure. After 15 minutes (I think), shampoo girl returned and resumed shampooing my hair.

9. Cold blow dry. My hair was blow dried using cold air. In my previous hair rebonding treatment at a different salon, they used an actual blower. You place your head near the opening of the blower while the salon staff runs her fingers through your hair to dry. It was so uncomfortable, you might get vertigo. Good thing Salon Naturelle has a hair blower with cold setting.

10. Hair trim. The Lady snipped some stray hairs and trimmed the ends of my now beautiful straight locks.

Having my hair rebonded at Straight Naturelle was a good experience. The salon is not filled with customers, the staff are polite, they don't urge you to buy their products nor force you to have hair treatments, and the ambience is relaxing. Also, they don't say that your hair is "DRY" therefore needing a hair treatment. What they say is that your hair is "SENSITIZED" and you should always have treatments to maintain its health and shine.

Now, I'm lovin' my straight and manageable hair!

Sister Regina's Herbal Tea

The next step in my fertility workup with Sister Regina is drinking her herbal tea.

Direction for my condition: 8 teaspoons in one cup of hot water. Drink an hour after breakfast and dinner.

Reading women's forum about this herbal tea gives me apprehensions of drinking it. Some women say they are tea drinkers but they cannot stomach drinking this tea. They just opted to discontinue drinking the tea but continue with acupuncture. Oh my! I'm not a tea drinker how can I swallow this drink?

I read the list of ingredients at the side of the container to know what the h*ll I'm drinking. The label says:

Each 12gm contains the following dry herbs:
Poria - 3g
Cortex Moutan - 3g
Rhizoma Alismatis - 3g
Radix Rehmanniae preparata - 8g
Fructus Corni - 4g
Rhizoma Dioscoreae - 4g
Radix Aconiti Lateralis preparata - 1g
Cortex Cinnamomi - 1g
the above herbs yield an amount of dry exytract - 7g
Corn Starch - 5g

After dinner, I waited an hour, preparing myself in this herbal tea drinking challenge. I will start with half a cup and slowly add the tea volume until my stomach can "stomach" this herbal tea. I think it will be a waste if I start with a full cup only to throw some tea away.

The tea powder is fine and brown. Looks like chocolate drink powder...or dry soil. I put 4 teaspoons of the tea to half a cup of hot water. The cup immediately turned brown, the smell is faint. I imagine of stirring flood water. I have to think about other things aside soil and flood to associate with the tea. When the powder is dissolved, I waited a few minutes to cool this concoction.

The time came for me to finally face the music. Holding my nose, I quickly drank this herbal tea that will hopefully help me conceive. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. I keep in mind what my Inay told me when she was pregnant. She said that she drank whatever my Nanay (grandmother) told her to help her in her pregnancy and delivery. How horrible the taste is, it doesn't matter if it will be good for you. So I swallowed and drank till the last drop. The taste is nothing like I've tasted before. The only thing that I remember is that it has a somewhat cinnamon aftertaste.

I can do this!

8th Acupuncture + Herbal Tea

Going to my acupuncturist, Sister Regina, is one of the things that I look forward to. I feel that I'm doing my body and qi (say: chi) some good by having acupuncture. Every session seems a step forward to reaching my ultimate goal of conception and having a healthy pregnancy. It's like running. Every step on the track is important to reach the finish line.

Also, this is the day when I will start taking the herbal medicine Sister Regina talked about during my previous session.

I came thirty minutes before my appointment and only one cubicle is left for me. Looks like a busy day today. I read Frances Mayes' "Under the Tuscan Sun" as I wait for Sister Regina.

The two cubicles before mine belongs to a couple. From the looks of it, they're undergoing a fertility workup too. I heard the man said to Sister Regina that he is trying to loose inches from his waist. It helps when the couple's are healthy to conceive. Having a trim waist line is a sign.

Sister Regina came to my cubicle and she looked at the book I was reading. :) I told her that my May cycle is delayed by about 7 days or so (I had a 40-day cycle, the longest for this year). We did the usual ceremony before the acupuncture. She asked about my period, my bowel movement, PMS, cramps, breast tenderness, etc. Her voice is soft I sometimes cannot hear her well. I'm afraid I might give the wrong answer.

After inserting the needles, Sister Regina left te cubicle to attend to her other patients. And I totally forgot about the herbal medicines!

As I lay there, the moxa burning on my tummy, I hear another patient. I think he has a clogged nose. He's wheezing. I cannot calm my mind, being distracted by the wheezing sound. Oh well.

After thirty minutes, an assistant came to my cubicle and removed the needles. I asked her about the herbal medicines. She told me that it will be given at the front station. She advised me to just bear drinking the herbal tea as it has a not-so-good taste (and maybe smell as well). I've read women forum and they say that Sister Regina's tea is hard to drink. They're tea drinkers but they cannot stomach the herbal tea. Oh my!

In the front station, I asked another assistant about the herbal medicine. She gave me a yellow container with the label in Chinese (P1,400) and a small white plastic teaspoon. I have to dissolve 8 scoops of the tea to one cup of hot water. Drink the tea an hour after breakfast and dinner. Before leaving, I scheduled for another session a week after next.

I'll keep you posted as I brave my way to drinking Sister Regina's herbal tea.

SSS ID Photo Capture

I went to SSS (Main) on my scheduled appointment for the ID and digital signature capture. Bringing the pre-approved E-6 form, official receipt and 2 IDs, I was excited to finally finish the process of getting a new ID in my end.

Turns out, I needed to fill out the "new" E-6 form. I didn't bring a black pen! All my preparations for this day went moot just because of forgetting to bring a pen. Sigh.

An SSS employee checked my new form and got my old ID. She told me to go to the other side of the building where the picture capture is being done.
In the picture capture area, there are several cubicles. Inside are SSS employees. Each of their table has a laptop, scanner and a digital signature capturing device. For the picture taking, there's the Canon DLSR (I think). Sosyal!

Women with long hair are requested to tie their mane and remove earrings. Sorry to those who had prepped their hairs, it's useless during the ID picture capture.

It took me less than 30 minutes to have my photo taken. Maybe because my schedule was in the morning. Nevertheless, I went out the SSS building happy. When I get my new SSS ID, I will then use it to apply for a passport.

...

A few days after, a friend told me that his officemate applied for an SSS ID last year and hasn't received it to this day. OMG!

Home Solar Kit

I want to have solar panels in my future home. Though very pricey, you can save money in electricity bills in the long run and helping save the environment as well.

An official from the Climate Change Commission says having solar panels installed in his home gave their household enough electricity after Typhoon Ondoy wreaked havoc in the Philippines. His neighbors lit candles at night but his family lived comfortably using the saved electricity from the solar panels. To read more about his inspiring story, click here.

The cheapest solar kit I've found available in Manila is ADTEL's home solar kit. It costs P20,000 and can

"...operate an electric fan (40W), a 21-inch TV (70w), a DVD player (30W) and a computer (60W), in addition to charging mobile phones and portable music players."

Should I now start saving for my dream solar kit/panels?