Last Wednesday, we decided to visit our OB-Gyne in Marikina since I was already two weeks delayed and my pregnancy kit showed two strips of line. We were both excited for this since we were already trying to have a baby for more than a year now.

We actually tried several ways and "strategies" for our baby-making. Please bear with the term, haha.

Medications/Supplements:

(1) Since I was a PCOS "victim" - PolyCystic Ovaries Syndrome, I tried months long of treatment of metformin, clomid and duphaston (progesterone hormone).

(2) We also tried FertilAid supplements for me and my husband. My husband actually saw these supplements in the internet and they are quite popular. And since they were available in the eBay at reasonable prices, then we tried them. The shipment cost is quite minimal since it was delivered through Philippine Postal Company.

(3) Another supplement that we tried was the Agaricus Blazei Murill, which was recommended by my sister. She and her husband tried these natural supplements from agaricus mushroom for three months and they were able to have a very cute and bouncing baby girl (my niece Caitlain Clare).

(4) Other supplements that we tried was Rogin-E (with Ginseng) and Enduranz (Tongkat Ali). This might sound desperate for some but trying these alternative supplements are still worth a try.

Prayers:

(1) Devotion to St. Clare, every Sunday at the St. Clare church along Katipunan

(2) Devotion to Mother of Perpetual Help (Baclaran Church)

(3) Prayers to St. Clare (Obando Church)

(4) Prayers to Sto. Nino (Cebu)

(5) Healing hands of Fr. Fernando Suarez (He held several healing masses in the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City)

And after several months of toil and tons of prayers and panata, we were greeted with a good news last Wednesday. All of our labor and hardwork seemed to have paid with good dividends.

I hope our tips above would help a lot of moms wannabe's there. We believed that a combination of hard work (through medications and supplements) as well as prayers and faith have been the successful recipe to our quest.

My friend recommended a regimen to me years ago, of taking apple cider vinegar (2 teaspoon) with 2 teaspoon of honey and 8 ounces of water. She said that this is to be taken just before every meal in a day. This was very effective for her weight management and also said that this was healthy. I wasn't able to realize the full effects of this regimen since I didn't fully apply the regimen. But recently, while doing our weekly grocery, I came across the section where apple cider vinegar were stacked on the shelves of the supermarket. I just thought of doing some research about it and check on its benefits. Here are what I have found on the net so far:

(1) Detoxifies the liver. This is important since the liver has the main function of digesting fats and filters toxins in our body.
(2) Weight loss. It was claimed by some that ancient Egyptians use apple cider vinegar for weight loss.
(3) Reduces appetite.
(4) Controls blood pressure. Apple cider vinegar is said to be rich with potassium, an element known to make the blood thinner and control blood pressure at appropriate levels.
(5) Cholesterol control and glucose control. The fiber in apple cider vinegar is said to help in controlling the levels of cholesterol in our body and also control the glucose level in our blood.

I think with all the health benefits associated with apple cider vinegar, it is definitely worth it to try this regimen. But I think I should make sure this time that I stick to this regimen in order for me to realize its benefits.

Nowadays, no one is spared by the big C or the assassin like hypertension. Rich and poor alike are vulnerable to these fatal diseases. Although there are now a lot of supplements and 'organic' herbals in the market, still nothing beats the 'real natural', which could be derived off the market food that we buy. At the main forefront in preventing and battling the major diseases of big C and hypertension are foods that are rich in 'antioxidants'. But what are antioxidants exactly? Lets put it at simple definition with one that fights oxidation. And 'oxidation' reaction produce 'free radicals' that start chain reactions that damage cells. With both dreaded diseases, our cells are destroyed by 'free radicals' that mutate our cells and clogs our arteries. We could have that decision though to acquire that needed discipline to fight the oxidation reaction in our body through antioxidants.

Here is a list of the top food with most antioxidants content:

Rank	Food	Serving Size	Total Antioxidant Capacity per serving size
1	Small Red Bean	1/2 cup dried beans	13727
2	Wild blueberry	1 cup	13427
3	Red kidney bean	1/2 cup dried beans	13259
4	Pinto bean	1/2 cup	11864
5	Blueberry	1 cup cult- ivated berries	9019
6	Cranberry	1 cup whole berries	8983
7	Artichoke hearts	1 cup cooked	7904
8	Blackberry	1 cup	7701
9	Prune	1/2 cup	7291
10	Raspberry	1 cup	6058
11	Strawberry	1 cup	5938
12	Red Delicious apple	1	5900
13	Granny Smith	1	5381
14	Pecan	1 ounce	5095
15	Sweet cherry	1 cup	4873
16	Black plum	1	4844
17	Russet potato	1 cooked	4649
18	Black bean	1/2 cup dried beans	4181
19	Plum	1	4118
20	Gala apple	1	3903

Those I think that are widely available in stores for us to pick and be healthy are the following:
blueberry, cranberry (juice), prunes, strawberry, apple.

Philippines' Icon of Democracy breathe her last, early morning of August 1, 2009. Former President Corazon Aquino's only son, Senator Noynoy Aquino announced to the media outside of Makati Medical Center that their beloved mother passed away at 3:18 am. The widow of former Senator Ninoy Aquino, also an icon of democracy in the Philippines, was well-known for standing steadfast against the iron fist of the then strongman of the Philippines, former President Ferdinand Marcos. A self-proclaimed plain housewife, who took care of her children and tended well to the welfare of her popular husband, ran against the then powerful and dictator of the Republic of the Philippines. She led the people in a bloodless revolt, popularly known as the 'People Power' in Edsa in order to force out of power the violent regime that curtail the freedom and lives of many Filipinos. Her signature 'yellow' colored outfits and 'laban' sign has been very popular during her fight with the regime of the dictator. She with the people and the clerics fought the tanks and guns of the soldiers that back the dictator regime, not with guns and bullets but with flowers, prayers and rosaries. And indeed former President Corazon Aquino triumphed in the end. Her tenure as president though was not easy as she was constantly mired with coup attempts from the military who want to wrest power from her. They thought that the first woman president of the republic and of Asia was weak then. But she proved to them that she was resilient and she has with her the power of her prayers.

Perhaps, early morning of Saturday, August 1, Mrs Aquino breathed her last, without ever seeing her beloved Filipino people totally rising out of the chains of poverty, corruption and oppression from the powerful elite. We the next generation though are hopeful that the Filipino people after twenty five (25) years from having restored democracy, a gift from former President Cory Aquino and her husband Ninoy, could soon rise up and have their heads up as truly 'Filipinos worth dying for'.

In yet another magic, Harry Potter casts his way to a billion pesos through the Philippine Box Office. A billion Philippine pesos is roughly around 20 Million US Dollars. That is half the total winnings in a year of Manny Pacquiao (Well, he was reportedly to pocket 40 Million USD). Anyway, the latest sequel to the J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, 'The Half-Blood Prince' was reportedly to earn 157 Million Pesos in just 12 days of showing in Philippine theaters. This is very interesting because it is the first franchise among successful movie franchises such as 'Spiderman', 'Pirate of the Carribean', 'James Bond' (and perhaps we could add 'Mano Po' and 'Enteng Kabisote' and 'Tanging Ina' in the list) to be able to reach 1 Billion Philippine pesos in box office earnings. This is expected to even grow as there are still two movies lined-up for release in the Harry Potter franchise. They are going to split the last book of Harry Potter: the Deathly Hallows into two movies. Perhaps this is patterned in the style of 'the Matrix' and the 'Pirates of the Carribean'. Harry Potter fans in the Philippines will surely await these two movies and of course Harry Potter will surely be once again happy with the multi-billion franchise will once again thrive.

Meralco, the largest power company in the Philippines and previously controlled by the Lopez clan, has its stock price shot up to meteoric levels recently. Just 6 months ago, it has a flat price of around 60 pesos, now it has a current price of 272.50. This is 350% increase, if my math is correct. Simple investment example would be if you were able to purchase Php 100,000 worth of Meralco stocks last January 2009, then its current value right now would be Php 450,000. This is a quite amazing profit especially for a blue chip company like Meralco. The swings of blue chip companies are usually smaller because they are the more stable ones in the market. This is certainly because of the acquisition of shares from MVP and his PLDT group of 20% of Meralco from the Lopez family. Their plans of implementing smart grid and internet through power lines are catching the investor's interests.

On July 22 Wednesday, for five minutes countries across Asia will be able to see the Solar Eclipse. From the above illustration from NASA, the Solar Eclipse will traverse the path of countries in Asia, which could include the Philippines. The Solar Eclipse is expected to last for 5 minutes. In Japan, the country that has not experienced Solar Eclipse for the past 46 years, they would be greeting the phenomenon with fireworks. In my case, the last great Solar Eclipse that I remember seeing was when I was in pre-school (around 6 years old), the Solar Eclipse that time I think it lasted for several minutes and I witnessed it with a glasses with plastic film on it. It was a spectacular site to behold. I think it was around noontime that the Sun was suddenly covered with a black ball ( the moon I think ). I am not sure if the same site would be seen on July 22 in the Philippines, but I think there are parts of Asia such as in Japan and China that could possibly be seeing this kind of Solar Eclipse. Many astrologers are saying that this could be a 'Dooms' day sign which could brought for natural disasters or war in the world. And some are saying that this could be a very good time to meditate and pray because of the powerful spiritual waves could be emitted by this phenomenon. I think we should constantly pray for blessings and protection from harm from our Almighty God everytime and anywhere irregardless of natural phenomena occurring or not.