HemoWife - a Column by Allyx Formalejo

My 10-month-old baby, Cittie, is becoming a daddy’s girl. She looks for her daddy when she wants to play. She clings to him when she wants to be carried. She gets uneasy whenever he leaves the room. Jared, my husband, can’t even stand up to go to the bathroom, lest…

My husband, Jared, and I are at a point in our lives where our careers have taken on greater significance. It seems like just yesterday when we were college students eager to graduate and experience life, curious about the mysteries that the future might hold. We were figuring out our…

The importance of keeping a consistent schedule cannot be understated. A solid daily routine can help you save time, be more effective, and reach goals faster. As a new mom and wife to a person with hemophilia, scheduling does not come easily. Most of the time, my schedule is…

Many in my millennial generation dread adulting. The idea of surviving in the real world without the comfort of a family safety net is daunting. Young adults who are barely scraping by can feel alone and isolated. I was thrust into the world of adulting fairly early. In our mid-20s,…

I have never been one to subscribe to traditional gender stereotypes. Thankfully, we now live in a world that is more accepting of people who live differently than society’s outdated views of assigned gender. Still, some of these old stereotypes persist. I grew up with a…

My daughter, Cittie, is now 8 months old. She has obvious likes and dislikes and is starting to develop habits and character traits. I can sense that she’s about to become a full-fledged toddler. Cittie hasn’t learned to express herself verbally. My husband and I still rely on behavioral clues…

Last week, my husband had another random bleed in an extremely unfortunate location: his iliopsoas muscle group. It started as a lump on his hip, which he didn’t initially think much of because bruises with swelling are common among people with hemophilia. He didn’t realize it was another bleeding…

I lost some money today during an online transaction. It was 3,150 Philippine pesos (around $60). The amount was a client’s payment for a product she had bought from our online jewelry store. That store is our bread and butter. Currently, we are struggling due to the celestial prices of…

The smell of rubber. The clanging of metal plates against one another. The sight of sweaty bodies heaving, struggling. Towels slung over shoulders. Muscles popping out of the chiseled physiques of a couple who walk through the place like a king and queen (fittingly, as they are its owners). Jared…

I am a work-from-home mom, which means that I have two full-time positions as a “mom” and a “worker.” I am also a full-time carer to my husband with hemophilia. Thankfully, that position affords me several “leave credits” as my husband is not always injured. (Hopefully, the investment we’ve made…