Motherhood 101: Going BPA-Free

I love my husband... I do! But sometimes it takes all of my willpower not to dance around singing out "I told you so!!!"

Latest issue: BPA-free anything.

BPA, or Bisphenol-A first entered my vocabulary a few months ago during a conversation with one of my officemates who asked me if I was getting BPA-free bottles for my baby. She told me she had to order online to get these bottles abroad because at the time, they were hard to find in our part of the world. I did a little research on BPA and found out the harmful effects that some experts are attributing to BPA exposure on babies.

So what is BPA?

"Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic known as polycarbonate, which is used in many consumer products, including reusable water bottles and baby bottles. "
(source: http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/challenge-defi/bisphenol-a_fs-fr_e.html)

Though some studies have shown that BPA has little effect on adults and children, exposure of babies up to 18 months shows increase risk of cancer and diabetes later in life, early onset of puberty, negative effects on the reproductive system, etc. Canada is working on banning baby bottles that contain BPA while several big establishments in the US (like Walmart and Toys 'R Us) will be removing them from their shelves by the end of the year, I think.

Given this information, I was still not totally convinced due to the price tag of BPA-free bottles. Until I saw these:

Playtex Ventaire Crystal Clear

Sometimes, you just have to see something you really, really like to convince you! They looked so pretty and classy! Trust me, the picture does not do these bottles justice. These really are pretty but they were a bit pricey (mall price for these here are almost double the price listed online) so my husband was dead set against it. He told me that the BPA issue is just a marketing campaign being used by manufacturers to charge high prices for their products. He told me that we were raised using the same bottles they are now banning and we turned out fine (I didn't want to raise the point that most of the people I know have complications during pregnancy). I decided to settle for these instead:

Playtex VentAire

These come at a lower price tag but with the same great user ratings, and still he said no. The "are-you-telling-me-she's-not-worth-it?" card doesn't seem to sway him this time. I planned to buy these anyway when he's not with me and let him deal with it when he sees it at home. Good thing my friend, El, said she's going to give me a set as a gift (thanks El!). I plan to buy a few other BPA-free bottles (from another brand maybe) to supplement this starter set.

Since then, I made an effort to buy baby items that are BPA-free, with my husband rolling his eyes, pouting and giving me dirty looks everytime he sees me at the check-out counter. I have learned to ignore him when I go shopping.

Last Friday was different. Friday night saw me at the babies section of the department store yet again, looking for a few items we still needed (and a few others we don't but I still wanted anyway). My husband wandered off for a while looking at other stuff and when we met up at the check-out counter, I saw that he was reading a brochure. When we got home, I saw that the brochure was from Babisil, discussing the effects of BPA. He showed it to me and asked "Hey, what if we buy this?"

Babisil Silbottle

So that was the shelf he was looking at. I just stared at him for a while, resisting my "I-told-you-so" urges.

"Did you check how much those are?", I asked because I know they cost around the same, or more, than Playtex VentAire Crystal Clear.

"Yup."

"And?"

"I like them, the look nice... and they're anti-colic, see?" (oh, so now he knows what anti-colic means... another concept I've been trying to explain to him for months!)

Sometimes, you really do just have to see something you like.

Project Nursery - Part 3

I swore to myself that I will turn one of my spare rooms into a nursery before the end of September (see Project Nursery - Part 1). And I even posted my design inspiration (see Project Nursery - Part 2). However, I got distracted... and lazy... and then discouraged when my husband vetoed the ceiling light that I wanted (telling me it looks like a "palanggana" i.e. cheap plastic wash basin... hmph!) and refused to paint the ceiling to look like a sky X( There goes my theme... I promised myself I'd get the room repainted but it definitely won't be before the end of September. Baby's stuff are alread in there and I don't want anything smelling of paint this close to D-Day.

Here's what I managed to accomplish so far:

Window area

Closet area

I also replaced the black metal bed with an extended single brass bed (my old bed from my mom's house, you can see the posts in the window area photo), but I will post photos of that after I finish the entire room and put the finishing touches.

For the window area, I put in a sheer swag curtain in pastel pink, yellow and green, and used wall stickers to create my night sky theme (yeah, yeah, there are 2 moons with one sun mingling with stars... not exactly astronomically accurate but that's what the pack came with!). I don't have the energy to do stenciling as I initially planned :( I'm going to add a couple of frames on both sides of the windows like this:


The pink frame that will go on the left is the 12-months photo frame where you put photos of your baby each month, while the green frame that will go on the left side is a family tree photo frame where you put photos of both grandmas and grandpas and mommy and daddy and baby. I just haven't gotten around to telling my husband to drill the holes so I can hang them. Maybe next week.

The closet area, I'm not yet so happy with. I also used wall stickers to create a garden theme but I am not yet sure about the positioning. My husband said I should put them at that level so you can see them when you're lying on the bed... I want to place them a bit lower... Hmmm... good things those stickers are removable. Anyway, I also created a sunny sky theme for the wall above the closet.

This is it for now. I plan to buy the set of drawers I want this week. Then I still need to get the table cover (which will match the garden theme on the closet) made. And I need to buy sheets for the bed that will match the overall theme (good luck to me!). I should be done in 2 weeks.

I miss...

... my beautiful feet.
Every time I look at them now, they're all puffy.

... my shoes.
I don't fit into any of my shoes anymore. I've been stuck to the 1-3 pairs that will fit my puffy feet for a few months now. I was looking for a pair of shoes this morning and I looked at my shoe organizer and realized I miss wearing my shoes and appreciating how nice my feet used to look in them. I hope they still fit me after all this. If not... well, perfect excuse to start buying new ones >:)

... my wedding ring.
I've gotten so used to it. But I only stopped wearing if for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, I'll be back to wearing it again soon.

... being able to walk gracefully.
Walking nowadays, aside from being a pain, consists of lifting your entire right side... then your left... and hope that you are moving forward in the process.

... a peaceful and uninterrupted night's sleep.

... being able to sleep on your back without anything hurting.

... being able to sleep without anything hurting... period.

... my clothes.
Maternity jeans suck. Maternity clothes suck.

... my artificially straight hair.
It's back to being all thick and wavy and difficult to keep neat.

... stepping into a weighing scale without wanting to cry.

... Diet Coke, beer, coffee.