2024, The Year I Will Never Forget

This post will be different, I’ve never written anything personal in public. This website is all about WordPress and stuff, but I just feel that I have to share it. It’s all about health, hospitals, personal finances, and future plans.

Our first child was born

This year is a roller coaster and it’s started with my first child’s birth. We were living on a different island of Cebu, away from my wife’s relatives. I was the only one who assisted her. When she was in labor the doctor said she had to have a C-Section.

My thoughts at that time mixed in my head. “Is she gonna be ok?”, “What about baby, is it safe?”, and “Do we have enough money to afford it?”. The red lights went on and nurses started to rush into the Operation Room. Immediately I opened my phone and messaged her relatives, then launched my PayPal and Payoneer apps to withdraw more money.

Luckily, after about 40 minutes the nurse opened the door and informed me that everything went fine and soon they’ll show me the baby. My wife was still still unconscious recovering after the operation. We’re still grateful to this day for her doctor Dr. Ma. Asuncion D. Tremedal who did an exceptional job that day.

baby_Alexi_born

First months and relocation

There were sleepless nights, problems with milk supply, and then mastitis. The first few months were difficult but we managed to survive šŸ™‚

Since the rent and food prices in Cebu were getting higher and our income was shrinking we decided to move back to Negros island closer to my wife’s relatives.

5th month and UTI

Everything was great until about 5 months of age. One day our baby suddenly developed a fever, but we didn’t worry too much, because babies can get a fever sometimes right? We tried to give him some paracetamol, but after a few minutes, the fever came back.

After 3 days, doctor check-ups, and some tests he was admitted to hospital with UTI. It was torture to watch and hear him crying, we didn’t sleep the first two nights. Luckily, after almost a week we were discharged. Another hospital bill and an empty bank account. Believe it or not, healthcare in the Philippines is expensive.

5 months old baby hospitalized with UTI.

Financial update and our income

First, a little bit of history. Since 2014 we’ve been working with my wife on Web templates and then WordPress themes. We contributed all our time to these projects. I started to submit PSD templates on ThemeForest (Envato) in 2013 and my wife joined and started to design in 2014.

We were happy with the results, she became better as a designer and I learned some HTML, CSS, JS, and later PHP, WordPress, and React. Our income was steady back then. In 2016-2017 Envato launched a new platform Elements which completely ruined our business, but we didn’t give up and continued to build new products.

The last few years on Envato were a disaster, instead of talking I’ll just show you this graph.

Envato ThemeForest income

This year our income from Envato has dropped by almost 50%. As an alternative, we sell our products directly from our website. Unfortunately, it is still not enough to generate the same sales as in previous years from ThemeForest.

If before we could produce more quality templates working together, now I design and code everything myself. Additionally, I help my wife with the baby and sometimes can’t design or code at all, I’m still answering support as fast as I can though.

My hernia operation

2 months after our baby’s UTI accident after exercising on the pull-up bar I found a weird bulging in the groin area. I was observing it for a few days if it got better but it didn’t. There was an uncomfortable sensation with some mild pain. After the doctor’s check-up, I decided to operate it since it can get much worse if left untreated.

I’m not going to publish the cost of it, but I’ll just say that it is 2 times cheaper than my wife’s C-Section operation and 3 times more expensive than UTI treatment.

Today is the 4th day after my surgery and I’m still recovering. It’s still painful to sit, stand up, or walk but it gets better day by day. I’m trying to write this post on my laptop while lying in bed. And again, I can’t properly work because of it.

What’s next and future hopes

Thanks to our financial habits we didn’t have to borrow any money, but instead used our savings. That’s all the hard work of the previous years, and this year is negative for us. We don’t buy unnecessary stuff, don’t travel or go on vacations, we don’t even own a car, and spend only on what’s important for our baby right now.

This year’s events wiped out our last 2 years of savings, but I’m grateful that all of us are healthy.

Alexi Tummy time

I’ve been working on a new WordPress plugin Envision Blocks since March and was preparing to release it before August 15th but have to delay the release due to my surgery. It’s an Elementor widgets and addons plugin with starter sites. It comes with a Header, Footer, and Product builder, all with dark mode. As of this writing, it includes 48 Elementor widgets.

Due to my surgery recovery, the free version of the Envision Blocks plugin and EnvisionX theme will be available a little bit later on wordpress.org. The paid version has already been released and can be purchased here. Any theme or plugin purchased on this website is a huge help for us. If you liked this post please share it or leave a comment.

I’m not sure what else to say here, but this year has been really stressful and tough. Maybe there is some kind of lesson here, despite all the challenges we still stay strong and don’t lose hope. Thanks for reading šŸ™‚

1 Comment
  • Freddy

    Hey Alex,

    That’s an emotional story, and I’m glad you’re all okay šŸ™‚ I went through a similar situation during COVID-19 (which took nearly all of my clients), so I can relate. Not to mention. I was a first-time father at the time, too.

    The operating principle I learned is to keep God first and your head above the water. As they say, Better days are ahead.

    I wish you a quick recovery and all the best. Cheers to a bright future!

    Thanks for sharing. I know it’s hard to write about private stuff online.

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