Mikey, Squishy, and I attended our first parenting workshop over the weekend! We attended The Parenting Emporium’s Preparing for Delivery Day/New Born Care workshop. Dr. Joanna Rey-Matias from St. Luke’s Medical Center (QC) facilitated the Preparing for Delivery Day workshop and Ms. Abigail Yabot, co-founder of La Leche League of the Philippines and certified Lactation Counselor, facilitated the New Born Care workshop.
I’ve wanted to attend classes for a long time, but we’ve been pretty busy throughout the pregnancy that we only had free weekends recently. We’re so thankful that the topics are exactly what we need to prepare for Squishy.
I have Mom friends who would say that you can’t really prepare for parenting—you just learn how to do it as you go along. Obviously, no classroom training can replace the practice you get when you’re actually taking care of your baby, but having been an educator for over half a decade now, the structure of a class/workshop is comforting.
We really enjoyed the workshop! Apart from learning new things from the lectures, our favorite thing about the workshop was that it was a safe space to ask all our silly questions. The facilitators were very accommodating and they gave us ample time to ask and clarify.
Personally, I loved learning about all our anesthesia options. Dr. Rey-Matias took us through a whole spectrum of options—from natural/normal delivery to C-Sections. She even demoed how they would insert an epidural. I was able to ask questions about the thing I dreaded the most—tearing/episiotomies. And she gave us a really good tip—buy a salbabida/inflatable lifesaver to sit on for the first week or so if you give birth vaginally.
Dr. Rey-Matias also answered all of our questions about the labor process—when it’s best to go to the hospital (close contractions, bloody show + close contractions, or water breaking) and how long the whole process normally takes. She explained that it’s okay if we go to the hospital but end up being sent home—better safe than sorry!
Mikey, on the other hand, learned that babies have a bit of umbilical cord left in their bellybuttons from Ms. Yabot’s lecture (I always knew this because it’s something that my mom collected and put in our unfinished baby books). I got to ask how long it would take for it to fall off. She said never to pull it off and that it would slowly detach in a span of 1-2 weeks. On our way to dinner, Mikey told me that it freaked him out and that he was scared of cleaning it. 😅 Oh well, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
Ms. Yabot also covered a bunch of other topics, bathing, sleeping, breastfeeding, baby wearing, and diaper options. I couldn’t believe how much information we were getting in one afternoon!
And the booties on top of the really packed diaper cake? Freebies! 😍 We left with bags of freebies from reputable, pre-screened brands! The owners of the Parenting Emporium explained that they take extra care to only carry and promote brands that they’ve tested and believe in.
Here’s what we went home with:
We were so satisfied with our first workshop experience with the Parenting Emporium that we’ve registered to attend another one this Saturday—the All About Breastfeeding workshop. Non-TPE members can register at Manila Workshops. The registration fee for a couple is Php 1,000.00 (only Php 600.00 if you’re attending by yourself) and this includes handouts and snacks.
If it’s your first time to go to the Parenting Emporium, try to be there 30 minutes early so that you can do a bit of window shopping! We were there an hour early and we drooled over the boxes of Ecomom sterilizers and statement onsies. ❤
Squishy Days 