Follow up post: What should really be in your hospital bag (caesarean)?

This is a follow up post on what should really be in your hospital bag. Previously I’ve written about what I’ve brought along.. guess what? Plenty of things were left unused and we ended up lugging everything back. Note that I was too confident earlier that we were able to. That’s no easy feat considering you have a baby in tow and stitches of pain that makes you unable to stand, sit, bend well. The latter pretty much makes you feel like a mummy.. I’m talking about the Egyptian ones.

1. For all post caesarean delivery, you do not need to bring a lot of your own maternity pads. Heck, you probably cant even change your own pad and the nurses had to do it for you. Really, forget about all the shyness you have in you and just lay there while the works are done. The only time you need to use your own is from day two onwards when your doc gives the go ahead to remove catheter and when you’re discharging from the hospital.

2. A few sets of maternity nursing bra/undies – I survived with just one actually. In fact, if you’re in a pro-breastfeeding hospital like Gleneagles (GEH), they bring baby to you everytime when they’re hungry. They are on a routine of 3 hourly, so forget about your bra because before you felt like you’ve slept, you’ll be awake to nurse or take a blood pressure. As for undies, remember I said that you can’t really walk to change yourself? You’re on a catheter so its all day two onwards.

3. PJs, Bathrobes, Socks, Slippers – GEH maternity robe is very….maternally designed. I guess everyone was wearing the same but with different prints. No matter how hip hop one is, when you’re delivering here..you will transform into a mumsy totally.

Haha, see what I mean? Here’s me and my little one who’s a few days old. ME, a little filled up with water retention.

Forget about your own PJs. I wore my own slippers throughout even though they provided bathroom slippers.

4. Toiletries – They also provided all the toiletries. I didn’t managed to shower at all (pardon the stink!) but I was given a wipedown. So, you don’t need to bring the toiletries unless you prefer to use your own. GEH used La Source from Crabtree & Evelyn if you must know.

6. iPad, iPhone, charger and a fully charged camera – I would totally just ditch the iPad and my camera and just use iPhone camera instead. Nothing beats looking at my newborn.

7. SNACKS – We ended up not eating any of what I’ve brought along because GEH provides serving of food which includes Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, Dinner. They give you biscuits and milo if you get hungry. Albeit not super tasty but you won’t have much appetite anyways.

8. Maternity Bed Mats – GEH provides!

I hope this list gives you a clearer picture of what should go into your bag. I was so lost being a first time parent that I practically wanted to bring everything but I’m glad I’ve learned! 🙂

See you tomorrow Bean!

It’s quite amazing how the days go by just like that, into months, and before you know it..we’re having a baby.. tomorrow!

I’m not sure if I have any energy to blog about anything post-delivery or even hours before it so I guess I’m writing it before I enter into a panic attack. Haha! I’m also very happy to have found a fellow mum who happens to be delivering in the same hospital as I am tomorrow, all through the world of internet! What a coincidence isn’t it? If she’s going to be my direct next door ward neighbor I think I will really need to go buy TOTO 😀

Adapting a little from her blog, I thought I will just update a little info about Bean and myself before she pops:

Weight of Bean: est. 3KG since we last weigh. I’ve never believed that the size of your bump is in relation to how big your baby actually is. My bump looks really compact and we’ve never thought Bean’s got such hearty appetite! 

Gender: It’s a girl! And hubs says she looks just like me according to the 4D imaging. I was joking that imagine hubs in a wig and we concluded that looking like me is good. 

Total Weight Gained on Me: 13KG. You can’t really tell where it all went to. I’m also very glad to say that I didn’t spend much on maternity clothes as my usual outfits were the roomy types. 

Sleep: I know Bean is getting her sleep, LIKE A BOSS. I know I’m not. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I SLEEP?! She does her hiccup stint every night about 1am onwards. Then she kicks. The kicks are lesser now cause I think she’s fighting for space recent days but I can tell you how powerful that ribcage hadouken is.  I’ve also told her that she can save her kicks for the papa when she’s out. Sleep is a luxury for me these days especially so due to insomnia. These days, Braxton hicks contraction last through the entire night as well, accompanied by heartburns and sudden heat rashes, not forgetting weird itches on the limbs. And I know I didn’t sleep till 5.30am last night. 

Belly Button: Now’s an outie. It’s quite an awkward feeling.

Wedding Rings: Doesn’t fit! :I Yup, I just went to double confirmed it. @@

That’s about all. Let me know if you’d like to know more and I will try to answer them!

As I turn to look at my calendar (where I marked the D-day with the drawing of an cracked boiled egg), I still can’t believe I’m going to be a mum come tomorrow evening!

Packing for Bean.

I’m sure as first time parents like us you’ll want to bring every single thing you’ve bought for the little one. It’s the same for us. With every item we packed, it’s like ‘hey, let’s bring another one..let’s take this too..let’s bring more, we can choose later…more variety!’ And then the bag gets heavier. The husband always say that it doesn’t matter cause he’s the one carrying it. (Of course I can’t be the one carrying it, I’m already carrying a 3kg bundle of joy isn’t it!?) Though I’d like to think that way, this time round I’ll like to steer to the more practical side where possible. Let’s do this before I change my mind..haha!

Before we go on, I thought I’ll just spam you with my face. Yes, today we went to have our final baby checkup with Dr Choo at Gleneagles (town!) with no makeup and my semi permanent dark eye circles. Bean is at a good weight of 3kg even with my last few binges of ice cream. Guilty as charged!

So the last post was about what I have in my hospital bag, here’s what we’re going to have for Bean!

1. Bean’s homecoming outfit – I’m bringing a bodysuit and a all-in-one romper. Accompanied by scratch mitts, socks and a hat/beanie for the bodysuit. The reason why I’m bring two different ones because the bodysuit is slightly smaller in size. We won’t know how big Bean is going to be and we definitely would prefer her not to be swallowed by her clothes. She’s a girl you know! 😀

2. Swaddle – the receiving blanket that we are going to wrap this little one into a space ball. Initially we’ve only bought 3 pieces..and then there was another 3 more, and before you know it, we have about 10 – 12 pieces! The last batch came in together with some Noise CD that the hubs bought from Amazon. I didn’t even knew that this was coming. I’m bringing a slightly thicker one with a thinnerone, depending on the weather. Since we have also bought a woombie, I’m bringing one woombie because that makes the baby feel like she’s still nicely tuck in the womb! Ahhh, alot of warmth!

Photo courtesy of Woombie

Too cute!

3. Diapers – I’m not sure if the hospital provides? Or if they charges per pack from usage. Since I’m already bringing my own sanitary napkins, I’ll just bring along one pack for Bean. Well, we can always bring this back or store as backup in the car boot.. Meanwhile, this goes into the handcarry on my list.

4. Wetwipes – already in my bag!

5. Car Seat – if you own a car it’s a must have!

Bean’s bag is so compact compared to mine! Remember to packonly the essentials, if you realize that you’ve miss out anything, you can always send your husband home to grab it before both mother and baby discharge from the hospital!

What’s in my hospital bag?

I’ve been putting on hold packing my hospital bag for the longest time. Okay, probably exaggerated a little since I’ve just got the bag flown in from Amazon close to a month back, or about 3 weeks. Technically, it’s not my bag..it’s Bean’s diaper bag.. but she won’t know till she’s reading this right? 🙂 While I really wanted get into the whole packing mood, my body won’t listen to me. As it is with most third trimesters, you can get really tired in the day since you aren’t sleeping well most of the nights. For me, I am close to being zombiefied since I am having this awesome insomnia that lets me sleep about 5am every other night and waking at 7.30am succumbing to hunger pangs, took a nap after that only to wake at 11am. Even if I tried to nap throughout the day, I can’t. I am merely resting my body. For those who doesn’t have insomnia on their third trimester symptoms list, kudos to you! I can only say that every pregnant woman has different symptoms on their list.

So back to my hospital bag..

Picture courtesy of theshoppingmama.com

Okay, like I say I’m borrowing this bag from Bean, it’s meant to be a diaper bag but I’m using it as a hospital bag because it’s so roomy! Even though I didn’t think that I would have enough space with the junkyard of things I want to bring to the hospital! Talk about the size of sanitary napkins (pads)..@@

1. Important Documents – Hospital Admission Letter, not sure how it works if you’re not delivering in Singapore but since I was delivering at Gleneagles, I was given this HAL that I have to drop it into the admission counter once I am ready to birth. Of course, we’ve already completed the pre-admission and all that so it’s quite hassle free once it comes to the real action. All we have to do is to swipe the credit card when we admit. Ka-ching! Also not forgetting the IC and your birth plan if you have any.

2. A few sets of maternity nursing bra/undies – depends on how long you’re going to stay in. A few friends recommended disposable undies because it’s going to be heavy flow for a few days. Save the hassle of washing up etc. You know what I mean! If you’re not bringing disposables, forget about aesthetics and ditch those lacy pieces and bring soft, comfort undies. Comfort is key!

3. PJs, Bathrobes, Socks, Slippers – I’m not bringing any PJs cause I intend to just wear the hospital ones. Bathrobe maybe, just to go over the hospital gown in case it gets too cold at night. I’m also bringing one pair of socks to last me 3 days. Doesn’t want the feet to get too cold because I can get foot cramps easily.

4. Toiletries – I shouldn’t worry so much about this since I’m staying at Gleneagles. But I’m just bringing what I usually use because I prefer to use my own wherever I am. So this includes toothpaste, toothbrush, floss if you still have the energy to (but I doubt!), shampoo, bath, moisturizer, body powder etc. In my bag is also one crazy tub of 80 sheets wet wipes. I’m not sure if I’ll be given the opportunity to shower after a c-sec but I doubt either so the body powder and wet wipes will be my alternative solution! Included in my toiletries bag are some breast pads and lanolin oil (just in case basis)

5. My going home outfit – I’m still trying to find the perfect comfy dress to go home with. Don’t even think that you can wear your old jeans when you discharge because those pre-pregnancy add-ons doesn’t just lose it’s way while you deliver! With a caesar, I don’t think that pants are in my best interest.

6. iPad, iPhone, charger and a fully charged camera – ’nuff said. I’m also bringing my Polaroid cam! 🙂 Nothing beats Polaroid no matter how shag I look.

7. SNACKS – Well, I won’t be eating from 12 noon to 7pm, and definitely no food thereafter till the next morning. But I will bring some beloved chocolate and biscuits because that’s probably what I need, comfort food after all the action. Even if I can’t eat it, the husband can!

On a separate handcarry

Sanitary Napkins – I’m packing my own even though I think that the hospital is likely to provide. Of course, they charge you for that..most likely they charge you for the entire pack and you bring home the remainders. I’m not exactly bringing maternity sanitary napkins but I’m bringing those night usage maxi pads that are super meant for heavy flow days.

Maternity Bed Mats – these are for laying on the beds just in case yikes! the pads are not holding well enough. But I needed these because I didn’t want to dirty my brother’s ride when he fetches me back from the hospital. He will kill me I if that happens I guess! LOL. The ones I’ve got are disposable ones from Mothercare, there are cheaper alternatives but I happen to be at Mothercare when I see these so..

 

Did I missed out anything? I hope not, because I’m less than 5 days away!

That’s about all that’s in my bag. Going to update about Bean’s diaper bag in the next post! 🙂

In the blink of an eye.

So the grand date for bean is finally selected. I do not have months left to anticipate the arrival of the little one, it’s down to days. I’m excited and scared at the same time… As the husband puts it, my being is ‘one in a million’ cause I cry too easily and often over silly things. This time it’s not over silly things but perhaps I’m scaring myself a little too much @@

I have opted for caesarean over natural birth because I think I do not have the energy to push. I don’t care if people judge me as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I think that one should always choose what works best for both mother and baby. No one should put down the mother who has chosen this form of delivery because the post op is not going to be easy nor pain free either.

Bean is at 3kg last Friday. A fairly good newborn weight coming from a skinny mother. We have been beefing her up and I’m guessing 200g heavier to our last visit to the gynae before the grand date! The 4D scan of her shows that her cheeks are all puffed up and her head has switched from right to the left side, with her back arched and curved on the right side of my tummy. She’s always covering one side of her face with something. The last one she was resting near the uterus which really look like some funny cat looking dolls on the scan and this time round her hand is on one side of her face! Bento says that she’s looking like a mini version of me, I can’t really tell her features from mine with the scan but he insist she looks just like me. Maybe he’s feeling sore about it.. haha! But well, babies features change as they grow, so maybe she’s gonna look like him after that! We’ll definitely know who she resembles in another week’s time!

In a blink of an eye, months have passed and this little bean has grown into a 3kg newborn. I can only say it’s really amazing that one can have a life within. I do wish that by the time when we’ve decided to have a second one the technology would have evolved like Pacific Rim, and the husband can have a taste of how it’s like (cause he always ask me how it feels like when bean kicks me like IP man and I don’t have the right words to describe it) 😀

2 more weeks.

35 Weeks.

No Joke. I’m going to give birth in another month’s time. Yes, I’m still having the jitters. It’s hard not to isn’t it? No matter how much I welcome the little one, it’s still hard to brush away the fear within me. I’m not worried about not being a good mum etc, everyone learns along the way. I’m just purely scared of the birthing process. Don’t judge me cause I’m being so honest about how I really feel.

My wonder woman sleep tee, not aiding.

So these few days I was consolidating what we have spent over the last few months getting ready to welcome bean into our world. There are lists I’ve got from the internet, from close girlfriends but ultimately you get to decide if you truly needed those things. I would deem some of the items we bought a luxury for bean and myself but it’s what we wanted so we didn’t think we overspent on those items.

Here are the big ticket items we’ve spent:

1. Stroller – Peg Perego Book Plus Completo. We got this from Baby Hypermart and it was a totally new model that was shipped in just two weeks ago. We received the item in good condition and so far, we liked what we see. We chose green color as it was fresh looking and green is suppose to be good for the eyes. Black can get warm easily and red was too heavy on the eyes.

2. Baby Cot – Bimb0 Bell0 Cherrywood from Denmark. Okay the name sounds pretty atas (for something termed as bimbo) but it’s pretty much a normal looking cot which has wheels so we can push around to any room but honestly you don’t really want to push around much due to the overall size of it. A baby could probably grow and sleep in that till she’s 3-4 years old I think, provided she’s not camping between you and your love one. Good thing about it is it is convertible to a changing table if you have another cot, or a junior bed which I’ve mentioned already.

3. Breast Pump – Avent Single Electric Breast Pump. It was a tough choice between this and Medela freestyle. Medela has definitely been around longer, more certified and a lot of mothers swear by it (they say it pumps faster and apparently manages more goodness out of the pump cycle). I was swayed to buying that but I went along with Avent because of a pretty decent discount. Bought a single cause I didn’t want to feel like a cow.

4. Blender – Avent Combined Steamer and Blender. It’s probably a little early to get this machine since weaning is going to be another 5-6 months from now. Of course, I got the awesome discount and we’ve decided to just purchase it first. Googled and found good reviews of this machine and nothing beats 0% BPA! 

5 & 6 & 7. Avent Sterilizer, Avent Food Warmer and plenty of Avent anti-colic milk bottles. Sponsored by my dearest brother. Not that I’m an avid fan of Philips Avent but I’ll just go along with it! I must say that Avent is working pretty good with consumers with it’s branding, packaging and aesthetic design of its products.

8. Nursing Pillow – Boppy Nursing Pillow. Okay, nothing beats comfort while feeding. If all fails, bean could just lie and sleep on this. Could also use this for tummy time!

9. Diaper Bag – Jonathan Adler ♥ Skip Hop. I didn’t buy it for the brand to be honest. I bought it cause I couldn’t find nice looking diaper bags in all the stores I visited. I know I didn’t need a diaper bag per se and any bag could pose off as one but I managed to google and I liked the design of this so why not? It’s also probably something the husband doesn’t mind holding on his shoulders.

10. Maternity Nursing Intimates – You must be wondering why bras made its way to the list of big ticket items..it’s simply because 3 of it cost me close to $180. I didn’t want to abandon both comfort and style so …

I will review most of the items listed above (other than 10) when I’m finally on it. Stay tune!

Ahoy! Maternity Leave

 

I have been officially on Maternity Leave since Monday.

It is way ahead of time to take it so soon but I’m getting really tired at work and the husband has been asking me to go for it early, so there it is, a whopping one month plus ahead of delivery. In Singapore, the maternity leave is 16 weeks and you may actually choose to give 1 week out of your 16 weeks to your husband so that he can have extra one week on top of the given one week paternal leave entitled to him. I’ve applied for this Shared Parental Leave so that the husband can spend more time taking care of newborn bean while I get ample rest.

Just a few days into this leave and I have been getting really bored and restless. But if I have to go back to work I’ll feel shitty too thus I shall just sit around at home till my ass hurts. In fact, last night I woke at 3am and almost felt like crying cause my back, my left and right arm was too sore to go back to sleep. Tried putting some medicated oil and it didn’t work. Wanted to wake the husband to massage the back for a bit but resisted cause I was not the one who have to go back to work the next day.

I am also resisting the urge to lie down frequently on the bed today because I really want to have a good night sleep even with the constant trips to the restroom. But as it is with most third trimester mums-to-be, I think that’s a real challenge! Googled  about bed sores and some home remedies last night but they’ve only said stuff like switching sides often and it didn’t work for me. So if anyone came across my blog post and have some fantastic ideas that work, please kindly share!

With that many hours in a day to spare, it’s not like I bummed my days away either! I’ve been trying to digest that many books borrowed from the library. Of course, I will take these textbook examples as a guideline as every baby is different. Also, I’ve decided to just go soak in the pool with a trusty float when the weather is right. It is the best form of exercise I can have at this point and the best thing about it is – it makes me feel weightless. This new weight with bean is very new to me and it makes me tired really easily. For now, I shall go watch some drama and resist the urge to lie on the bed..

I’m lying to you..

If I say I’m all prep and ready to birth. Who is?!! I’m actually embracing my fear, a little too much in fact. On one of the nights last last week, I have suddenly confessed to the husband that I am worried and scared of childbirth. I have been hiding my fear with pretty toddler apparel purchases and the thought of bean directly in my arms that I have been skipping the gory glory parts of it – the process of delivery. It’s even crazier that the right countdown counter on my blog says I’m currently one month away from seeing my baby. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to see dear bean and hold her in my arms. But I’m a mouse when it comes to hospital and all that jazz. I believe I am categorized as a rather hysterical patient by the people who has been through that with me.

I’m currently weighing my options of going on GA (general anesthesia) or just half body with epidural. Previously I’ve wanted to go natural but the gynae advised us to go for caesarean if bean is hitting near 2.8kg and above because of my narrow hip. I guess I can only update as I go by since bean is weighing about 1.5 kg about 2 weeks back. She may have potentially puffed up her cheeks over this week with the amount of food I’m gorging on. The good thing about GA is I won’t feel a thing and the gynae can probably focus better minus the hysterical part of me. Bad thing would be I’m not sure if the husband can go in and cut the umbilical cord and I won’t be the first few to see bean cause I may still be asleep… For half body, I’m not sure if I can stand the tugging and movements of the gynae on my lower body and remain calm..bearing in mind the same movements as my horrendous first root canal treatment when I was way younger. Let me weigh out the pros and cons of each with my gynae and decide nearer to date. High time to muster up courage for a new mum to be!

Punching and Kicking.

I’m not complaining. Your kicks are mighty and forceful and keeps me awake almost everyday but I’m thankful that with these ‘indicators’, I know you’re having the time of your life…even at 32 weeks!

It’s rather hard to capture bean’s movement via video. Been trying every now and then but was unsuccessful. It seems that she knows when I’m filming her! This time round I played mind tricks on her (and myself) by pretending I’m not filming her. Funny as it sound but it’s true!