We went to Justin’s pediatrician this morning because of a viral skin rash. This was the second time this week that we paid his doctor a visit. We first dropped by his doctor’s clinic last Wednesday because Justin had fever and colds the previous night. Dr. O. said Justin was suffering from upper respiratory tract infection. We brought home a small bag of bottled medicines we bought from Mercury Drug Store, consisting of an antibiotic, an analgesic/antipyretic, a nasal decongestant and an expectorant.

While waiting for his turn to be examined, Justin walked and ran at the hospital’s hallways. When he got tired, he stayed put where his Daddy was seated. That’s when he spotted a boy his age toying with a PlayStation. Justin walked towards the boy, stood beside him and watched as the boy played.

“How old is he?” I asked the boy’s mother.

“Three.”

“Justin, say hi to kuya (older brother),” I told Justin.

“Play Justin.” Justin mumbled wanting very much to borrow the boy’s PlayStation.

The boy did not answer. That’s when I noticed that there was something different about him. For a three-year-old, how come he’s still not talking? He was also salivating, which told me he had no control over his drool at his age.

It turned out the boy’s mom contracted Rubella (German measles) when she was pregnant. And the boy became a mental retardate because of that. That was rather a sad story, but one that could have been prevented had the mom had a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Then I remembered how it was when I was pregnant with Justin. I was too paranoid of what I eat, what I smell and what I get exposed to. Because I was too afraid of having gestational diabetes, for example, I limited my sweets and carbohydrates intake, although I didn’t really know if those are the things that really cause the disease. I think this explained why I only gained 21 pounds from my prepregnancy weight of 115 lbs to my weight of 136 lbs on the day I was to give birth.

I also avoided paints, fumes and even toilet cleaners. In fact, I switched to using vinegar to clean my bathroom back then. I never missed my vitamins and prenatal checkups. I did everything my OB Gyne told me. I asked a lot of questions every time I visit my doctor to make sure I wasn't doing anything that will jeopardize the life inside of me. All for the sake of my baby.

What I’m telling here is we, as mothers, have an obligation to take care of the baby inside our womb by also taking care of ourselves. We should take all the necessary precautions to ensure that our baby is safe and healthy. And when we’ve done our part, we say a prayer to the One Up There for a safe delivery and for a healthy and normal baby.

I think we’ll be having bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow. That’s because we ran out of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) today, and the supplier said they had already ran out of stock of our brand (M-Gas) since last week, and there’s no way to predict when supplies will be coming in.

I haven’t kept abreast of local and international news lately, but I needed to check if this problem will last long.

According to GMA News.TV, “The supply of cooking gas remains tight for small retailers even as the Energy Department’s inspection has so far cleared some suppliers from allegations of hoarding.”

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) President Arnel U. Ty said in a phone interview that the supply situation is expected to ease on Saturday with the influx of LPG imports.

It was earlier reported that there was no LPG shortage, and the problem was actually with the distribution of the supplies.

I hope our LPG supplier is not one of those guilty of hoarding, or else!

Have you noticed my blog’s new look? I now have a blog button up for grabs, which I was able to upload last Friday (check my sidebar). Last night, my header also had an overhaul. Thanks to my former officemate and friend, Ricardo (Ricky) Lat Jr., a computer analyst/programmer who’s now working in Dubai, UAE.

This is Ricky’s first attempt on blog designing and we processed the whole thing through Yahoo! Messenger Instant Message. It took around four hours of revising to finally get the look that I want. I was such a demanding client, and to think, this was pro bono work.

Pensive Thoughts was Ricky’s first blog project, so I was actually a guinea pig here, but I didn’t mind. He promised to refine it (the header or the button? I hope both) when he has more time on his hands. All the better since I have a lot of ideas in mind and I don’t know where to begin. For the time being, what I have for now will do.

Thanks, Ricky. You’re really heaven-sent!

I finally experienced what it's like to have pouting lips. It’s not the seductive type, though, a.k.a. Angelina Jolie lips, but the swollen/inflamed/enlarged one. The fact is I was bitten by a bug, not the laziness bug (although I think I’m showing symptoms of this; blame it on the long Christmas vacation), but a real insect, a very pesky one, when I was most vulnerable, that is, when I was asleep.

I was working on one of my essays yesterday when dreamland beckoned. I could hardly keep my eyes open and I couldn’t think straight. So I gave in. Since I work in the bedroom, it wasn’t hard getting into bed. I plopped onto it facedown and decided to take a 15-minute nap.

When I opened my eyes, I was back to work and didn’t feel anything unusual. It was only when I was having dinner when my tongue instinctively touched my upper lip that I felt something new, something strange and something out of the ordinary. I went straight to the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror and lo and behold! An instant makeover!

I couldn’t say I was pleased, though. The nettlesome bug who smacked my upper lip might have smelled something fishy, err…beefy, as I had just finished my simple lunch of rice and sautéed corned beef when I dozed off. Or could it be that it caught a wisp of the strawberry lip moisturizer I applied early on?

The moral of the story is: Wipe your mouth (lips) after eating or better yet, keep your mouth closed while napping.