Thursday, June 26, 2008

Again, again... Katrisse's pics

So sorry... Bea forgot to make her album a public one. For those who were not able to see the pics, here's the link again :)

Visiting KatKat in the Hospital

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Katrisse's Hospital Pics

I was not able to take pictures of Katrisse in the hospital. Good thing Bea brought her camera when they visited... Please see the pics from her multiply...

Visiting KatKat in the Hospital

Side story: On their way to Asian Hospital, the car broke down. Good thing they were in a gas station with a Jollibee outlet so that they were able to rest, even take an afternoon snack. Adrian and Uncle Ferdi's driver had to fetch them there to go to Alabang... Good thing they didn't get stuck on the road!


Wednesday, June 11, 2008

My Rant about the Huggies Christmas Promo

(If you're from Kimberly Clark if you know of someone, please forward this their Customer Care, especially if they value customer feedback)

Just before Christmas just last year, Huggies came out with a Fun Time for Mommy and Baby Christmas promo where one can earn and save points if you buy certain Huggies diaper packs in exchange for some Chicco toys. Since both girls were still wearing diapers and I did have the preference for Huggies Comfort Dry for their sensitive butts, I thought that saving up points would be easy. Plus if I had saved 50 points, I can get a Chicco slide at 50% off. It would be the perfect Christmas gift for the girls.

I actually started saving points late so when they extended the promo to January, I just continued to save the points and called the hotline to redeem my toy. And here is where my rant begins.

I called the hotline (or should I say not-so-hotline as it was so hard to call!!!) in mid-January 2008 and gave them my personal details, what toy I'd like to claim and that it'll be picked up in Chicco, Filinvest. I even thought of maybe Megamall as it was nearer the office but the final decision was Filinvest as it might be a bulky item and the nearer I was to home to drag it, the better.

I was told that because of the demand of toys, the slide had ran out of stock and that I had to wait til March. Gosh. Christmas promo in March? It didn't matter anymore since it wasn't to be a Christmas gift. Of course I was disappointed but I suppose the law of supply and demand was in place -- too much demand, they didn't expect the numbers, hence the scarcity. No worries, I told myself. I'll wait for their call in March.

March came and passed, it was already Holy Week, I have not received any call. Again, I called them and they apologized and promised that I will have my slide. I was already complaining to the hotline operator, almost demanding to talk to an officer of Kimberly Clark. I was told that they are of a different company and that they were only hired to do the marketing and the promotion of this project. Of course I already gave them a piece of my mind and mentioned that they had better do something soonest as I didn't not spend thousand of Pesos on a possible promo that will not deliver.

End of May I received a phone call from Huggies that my slide has arrived (hurray!) and may be picked up from Chicco Filinvest by the next weekend which was about May 30 or 31. I had asked Adrian to pick it up from Filinvest the Tuesday after and guess what -- it wasn't there yet! Haaaay... Sobra na akong nainis talaga.

I called Huggies again and I was informed that there still was problems with their delivery and that I should be able to expect the slide by June 6. So I said, so in case that I go to Filinvest on June 7, I should be able to get it? "yes, Ma'am. I promise". Anyway, since I have been waiting since March, what's waiting for another week, right? Haaay...

Because of Katrisse's accident, this slide was the last of my concerns until I received this nice phone call from Huggies on June 11 -- that I could get my slide in Chicco, MARKET MARKET, FORT BONI. OMG. I don't even remotely remember that I had even mentioned Market Market as an option among the many, many months that I have been talking to them. I remember the conversation went something like this:

Huggies: Ma'am this is Huggies and we'd like to know that you can get your slide in Market Market
MrsKookie: What? Market Market? Di ba dapat sa Filinvest?
Huggies: Ah, Filinvest ba?
MrsKookie: (exasperated) Yes. You told me that I could have already picked up my slide last June 6. Now you're telling me, June 11, that it's not yet there? So if I had gone yesterday I would have been disappointed, again, because it's not there?
Huggies: We're really sorry (blah blah as I could not anymore take the excuses) Kailan nyo ho ba balak kunin, ipapadala na lang namin from Market Market to Filinvest agad
MrsKookie: Eh di ba dapat June 7 pa nga kukunin? So, just make sure that it is in Filinvest ASAP so that when I decide to pick it up tonight, tomorrow or even next month, when I feel like getting it, nasa Filinvest yung slide. Ok?
Huggies: Yes ma'am.

Taray ba? I swear my patience was wearing very thin. To top in all, I get a phone call June 14 (so that makes it three days after the June 11 call), saying that finally, my slide is in Filinvest already. That day. Had I tried (again) to pick it up the day before, it wouldn't be there. I told the representative to tell Kimberly Clark that I have STOPPED buying Huggies for both my children who are not yet toilet trained and have shifted to Drypers and EQ Dry because of this experience. And in case that I really really need XXL, I will seriously consider Mamy Poko, even if it's expensive, just not to buy Huggies. And I am posting this to hopefully bring it out into the world wide web that such promos can really affect the purchasing habits of buyers. My case though, was the opposite of what most companies want to happen.

My message to Kimberly Clark - please make sure that whoever you decide to handle such promos deliver the goods to their customers because it's not easy to part with hard earned money to buy your pricier diapers in the hope to get a nice toy for our children. Most parents are willing to spend more, sacrifice their spending to give more to their kids and this is what this promo did to some of us. We bought Huggies, which is a tad more expensive, possibly spent some of our Christmas bonus to buy in bulk just to earn the points in time for the promo deadline. Then you tell us that we cannot get our toy because of supply and delivery problems. Plus it's your company brand and name that's at stake.

I'll probably get the slide at Filinvest soon before my children get to be too old for it. I just hope that they didn't give it away.





Sunday, June 8, 2008

Second Chances

I have been ignoring this blog for quite some time. I started this as a second attempt at blogging and breastfeeding. I was only able to sustain breastfeeding for six months (but that's a feat for me considering I only breastfed Elissa less than four months, mixed feeding pa) and it seems that I was about to botch my chance at this blog again.

It's not that I do not have anything to say (friends know me as someone who always had something to say all the time) but maybe I just needed the time to actually log-on, compose, possibly post pictures and write. Ok, I became lazy. But that's not really the point. I suppose everyone deserves a second chance and my inspiration for this sudden post is my daughter Katrisse, who also had a second chance in life.

Last Tuesday, Adrian and the kids were supposed to go swimming at the Country Club when they decided to pass by the house that's being constructed. It was actually just a routine thing as there are times when we bring the kids to the site to see the progress of the house. Poppop was carrying Katrisse when he lost his footing and slid down the stairs. We don't know if Katrisse hit her head during the fall or only at the last moment but she suffered a concussion because of the accident. Good thing that Poppop is OK (it is sometimes scary for older people to have accidents, especially falls) but Katrisse was unconsious for a while and had to be brought to the emergency room.

I was on my way back to Ortigas from Pampanga when I got the call from Adrian. All I could comprehend was that Katrisse and Poppop had an accident and that they were bringing Katrisse to the emergency room of Asian Hospital and that I had to go there right away. I had hoped that it was not serious as I could hear Katrisse crying in the background. I thought that if the baby was crying, then it shouln't be too bad, right? But then the suggestion to have a CT Scan seemed that the situation was critical and that we had to know for certain if she'll be alright.

That was probably the fastest Pampanga to Alabang trip that I had because I was already walking to the emergency room about 2.5 hours from Adrian's first call. Katrisse could not do the CT scan as she was awake and could not sleep. We didn't want to sedate her just yet. Oh but I tried to touch her head - it was depressed and soft on one side, a bruise on the other. She looked so tired and puffy, maybe from the crying. At this point, I was still very calm.

She had to have an IV and it took three doctors and five (my gosh FIVE!) attempts just to stick a needle in her vein. I tried to detach myself when looking at each attempt as she could not stop crying nor spanking at the person (or persons) holding her down. If I didn't detach myself, I could have probably shouted at these doctors for adding stress to my baby but I understood that they were just trying to do their job and that it was really really hard to get a good vein from her.

Finally the CT scan was performed and a few minutes later, the pedia called me for the results.

It wasn't easy for any mother to hear "slight fracture", "skull depression", "hemorrhage" in a matter of seconds. My calm frame just had to make the tears fall as the accident dawned on me at that time. It was only then I realized that she fell at the construction site, which can be very deadly (all the while I thought it happened at home) and from the story of the yaya, she fell unconscious for a few minutes, was limp and unresponsive, until the car ride to Asian. From then on, I held Katrisse in my arms until we were wheeled to our room.

Since she had to be observed for at least 48 hours we did not leave the hospital that night. Yaya and Adrian went home to get our things. It was a time for me to pray the rosary and to do a text brigade to family and friends to make me strong, after all, one cannot doubt the power of prayer.

The pedia-neuro came in a few minutes later and assured me that the fracture will heal and that the bleeding should be absorbed back by the body in due time. She did some tests and Katrisse was responding quite well. We stayed for three nights, with Katrisse being out of the IV after the second night. She was very responsive, already playing with her aunts when they came to visit on Wednesday and we were glad that Friday was spent at home.

However, we had a slight scare on Saturday as we felt that she had a seizure. That day was spent going around hospitals for a second opinion and an EEG test to determine her condition. This was probably the longest three-day weekend as we only got the result of the test today - normal EEG! She's OK :) (Thank you, Lord!)

Of course, we now have to be extra careful and while she's recuperating, we're not letting her watch any TV as to not excite the brain too much. She's "grounded" in her playpen that are full of pillows to avoid any hits on her head. I already bought a lot of the rubber mats so in case that she can already play on the floor, it should cushion any falls. We all seem a bit overreacting but better to do the extra effort than to go through the anxiety again.

I believe that Katrisse has her second chance now as I know that it could have been much worse.

And as for this blog, this deserves a second chance too. Although this will not merit a miracle ;)