Her hero, her king.

I know of a man, who wasn't quite the boyfriend material.

He doesn't know the art of gifting.

In fact, he doesn't understand the importance of birthday gifts and celebrations.

Drove the girl nuts.

Having a glib tongue and whispering sweet nothings are not his specialty.

"Why say them if you don't mean it?"

Made the girl sigh at the lack of verbal affection.

Cuddles and hugs are never in public because there isn't a need to display these affections in public.

The girl just looked on with envy. Sometimes.

Fast forward a few years, this man became another man in front of another girl.

He still did not believe in giving presents, but he gifted her time and presence.

He gifted her the love of reading.

He gives her new experiences, and the opportunity to widen her horizons.

He made her feel safe each time she embarks on a little adventure or exploration.

He was always there when she needed him.

And he wasn't stingy with hugs and kisses.

He is her hero. 

He is her king.

What this girl doesn't know is that for her, he would do anything to make sure he becomes a better man.

For her, he was willing to make changes and work on whatever was lacking.

Made his old girl cry secret tears of gratitude.

To this not-so-wonderful-boyfriend but extremely-wonderful-daddy, 

Happy Daddy's Day.

{Daddy Reads}

{Daddy Reads} makes a comeback after 16 months because J has decided that Daddy is the best storyteller in the entire household.
True story.

16 months ago, The Husband was rather awkward when telling a story, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. He sounded like a wizard talking. These days, he has improved by leaps and bounds that even I have to stop doing the dishes and listen to what he is saying. Somehow when he is reading the stories, J is mesmerized and just sits there, listening attentively. Some days, I peek over the door halfway through the dishes just to see if J is walking around as her daddy continues reading, like what she does with me sometimes.
Nope.
She sits in front of her daddy, points to the book, smiles so sweetly at him and looks like she's completely enjoying the session. She is.

The Husband surprises me.
He makes animal sounds when reading the books on animals, and is very animated when doing it.
He describes the scenes. "Oh look! There's a snow capped mountain behind the moose!"

And this book, J only wants him to read it to her.
I have no idea how to.

Image Source: Amazon.com

A Treasury of Princess Stories.
Shouldn't Mommy be the one reading this?
I later found out that The Husband doesn't really read the story (too wordy!) but they lift the flaps "with sound effects" and J loves it.

I must admit that I feel threatened because aren't I supposed to be the better storyteller?
But I am enjoying every bit of this daddy-daughter moments because it's just too cute.

When he reached 'Snow White', he said "Remember not to receive gifts from strangers."
Wow. Okay.
And one day I overheard him telling J, "The Princess and the frog. Do you know the name of the Princess? It's Tiana."
Did my husband just link a story to Disney?
And how did he know it's Tiana?
(Oh... From his colleague.)

In any case, I'm very heartened to see my boy put in so much effort for his little one.
Two years ago, I wouldn't have imagined him telling a story.

Okay,
I concede defeat.
You can be the official storyteller now hubby.

The Quotable Husband

Sometimes, husbands are as hilarious as kids are.

The difference between men and women

{Mushroom}

I bought this mushroom pen from Daiso some time back as an attempt to bring a little bit of 'woodland' into the home.

Today was a good day to bring it out since we are spring cleaning. The Husband saw it. "What's with the mushroom? You think you (are) Mario? *teehee*"

Mario?!

Seriously husband... Mushroom = Mario?

Of course, I had a really good laugh.

Didn't know the husband was the gaming sort.

My husband made me cry.

We fight. A lot.

When we were dating, I thought we fought more than most couples do.

When we got married, I thought we fought more than when we were dating. 

And now that we have a baby, we seem to fight even more.

We don't do gifts.

We don't do lovey-dovey in public.

We don't exactly do "romance" too.

And some days, we just feel like hammering each other on the head.

BUT...

On our so-called second (or was it third?) honeymoon, he surprised me with a cake on board the flight. I was broken then, stressed and depressed with work, health, and life. 

The surprise fixed it. 

It fixed me.

When he goes out of town for work, we are both teary-eyed as he leaves the house. When he returns, we act like teenagers who are crazy in love.

When we squabble, he gets me sweet treats after that. Cakes. Ice cream. Whatever that says "let's make up," without really saying it.

And that night I couldn't cook dinner because I slept very little the night before, he picked up dinner (which I know he hates because we are working hard to eat healthily) and came home with this:

The pig-in-the-basket I craved for each year during Midautumn Festival (and he always refuses to get any for me.)

That night, I cried.

It's silly to cry over a cheap piece of biscuit. But this biscuit says so much.

I don't need luxury bags, or branded sunglasses, or bouquet of flowers on special occasions.

I don't need those.

I need someone who knows when I need a pick-me-up, and knows exactly what to do. Any day of the year.

Even after all the squabbles. 

I'm glad I found that someone.

(Even though he annoys me, and I still do feel like hammering him on the head at times.)

How about I dig your nose?

Lil' J is a messy eater.
I'm pretty sure most babies are.

She chomps down her rice cereal clean during dinners but it's the complete opposite for lunches.
During lunch, the rice cereal gets onto...
the parenting station,
her arms,
my arms,
her legs,
sometimes mine too,
occasionally her forehead,
and...
right into her NOSE.

And she hates it when I clean her face.

No matter how hard I try to clean her, some bits of rice cereal choose to harden and hang out happily in her nostrils. I probably shouldn't, but I use my fingers to pull it away, sometimes.


So that day while the husband was cuddling Lil' J, he noticed that her nose was dirty.

"Ya, I know... She hates it when I try to remove it."

In true Singaporean style, he replied, "Of course lah. I dig your nose see you like or not."

And the house was filled with laughter.

The magic cot

I found this in my Draft folder the other day.
Moments I want to remember.
This post was originally written in June 2013.


The other day, we popped by Baby Kingdom and Baby Hypermart to check out the cots.
I wanted to be sure that when it comes to the furnishing, we are on the same page as well.

Well, we are.
We saw this cot in a colour we both like, only to realise that it has the same shade of brown as the bedroom floor.
Yikes!
The cot will blend right in.
In the wrong way.

We were both quiet for a moment, and he spoke.

Him: You know.. we should just get that cot. Then when baby asks us where we got the cot from, I'm going tell him/her.. "I don't know. Once we found out we were pregnant, it just sprouted out from the floor."


Me: (Suddenly embarrassingly myself by laughing and responding a little too loudly) Oh my gosh!! That was exactly what I was going to say!


Great minds think alike.

It's in the genes.

It's 6 in the evening.

Me: Is baby hungry already? I just fed her at 5... Why is she constantly eating?

Him: You're also constantly eating.

Ah. That explains it.

Thirty.

Never thought I'd hit the big 3-0 so soon.  I had grand plans of celebrating it with my family and friends - doily garland, a simple frosted cake with bunting and party hats. You know, a Pinterest-worthy mini party. It's a milestone birthday after all. 

Then Life decided to change things up a little bit.

So, instead of having that party I'd conjured in my head, my first 24 hours of being 30 was spent nursing and taking care of Lil' J. Without our mothers' help. All on my own for the first time.

There was no cake, no fancy dinner, and the hubby and I hardly spent any time together because I was nursing Lil' J all the time. (She's such a snacker!)

I shed momma tears because I got so   worried when Lil' J cried inconsolably, spit out milk, and sounded like she caught a chill.

My thirtieth birthday turned out to be very different from what I expected. 

Despite it being so 'eventful', it was better.

Because I've grown. With new momma responsibilities, I'm no longer that little girl I used to be.

* The husband turns 30 this year too. I gave him the best birthday present by making him stay in the delivery ward the night before his birthday.

Week 36 - Alert mode: ON

The husband and my family are on high alert mode now that I'm in week 36. I've been receiving messages from the hubby every other day, reminding me to pack my hospital bag. I'm still lacking the chargers and toiletries else the bag is considered more or less "packed".

It seems pretty common for mommies to pop in week 38 so we are preparing ourselves for that too. We brought forward the date of delivery for the cot to this weekend in case Baby really decides to arrive early.*

Belly:

The belly is growing bigger. (Well, of course! Since Baby is growing!) The rashes have said 'goodbye!' Though they did leave their marks. My belly is now two to three shades darker than the parts of my body that hasn't been 'rash-attacked'.

My belly button remains a sexy pair of luscious lips. I doubt it will become and outie.

Baby:

Baby has been doing more of 'rolling' lately due to the lack of space.

She seems to understand bedtime (or so I assume) because she is usually quiet when I'm asleep. And if she's active when it's my bedtime, she tends to move less vigorously after the bedtime story. 

Appetite:

I'm losing appetite once again. And feeling more nauseated as the days pass. It's back to the "I'm-eating-bread-for-dinner" days.

What's new:

I cannot fit into my ring anymore.

I started having occasional leg cramps in the middle of sleep.

The last few days I didn't drink enough water, my feet swelled a little. Water retention...

There's still a couple more things we need to get to feel more ready. I'm hoping to clear the list at this weekend's baby fair.

The gynae appointment is in two days and I can't wait to see Baby again! :)

*Mummy is pretty confident and excited about Baby arriving early - according to calculation of the olden days which she claims is very accurate. 15 - 19 Oct. That week she says.

The hubby was hoping Baby will share his birthday (18 Oct). That is until we found out that Dr Lee has a scheduled C-sec op that day.

Lil' Sis was hoping that her niece will arrive when she's in town. She happens to be from 17-19 Oct. 

Those dates?

They happen to be Week 38 as well.

Will it be this coincidental? 

We shall see. ;)

{Daddy Moments} Bird's Nest Soup

Other than tracking Baby's progress, I think I want to remember the moments and conversations we have as we embark on our journey to parenthood.

Especially since the hubby surprises me sometimes.
Just like 'Little Bits of Married Life', I want to be able to look back at these moments on days I find a drag, or on days when he annoys me, and remind myself to appreciate the man a little bit more.

********
We were having bird's nest soup last night.

Him: You didn't tell Baby where the bird's nest come from?

Me: ?? (Actually, no. I just tell Baby that we are having bird's nest soup, and I'll gulp the whole bowl within minutes.)

Him: The swallows built the nest, and it is harvested after the baby swallows are all grown up and
         have left the nest.
         (Then to me) If not, Baby might be sad thinking " :( I'm eating the baby swallow's home."

See?
He surprises me.

It's so surreal, it's happening.

Some days, I wake up in the morning, look at the husband soundly asleep beside me, and think to myself,

"Wow. I'm married. To this boy I've known since I was 17. Can't believe it."

That day I was clearing out photos in my iPhone, I came across the photos of the clothes we've gotten for Baby so far. And I think to myself,

"Whoa. I'm becoming a momma."

Such milestones in life.

Thank you for feeling my.. erm.. pain.

The husband had pretty bad leg cramps last night while watching TV.

And because I haven't exactly had leg cramps so far *touch wood* (I only had "almost-cramps" on a couple of occasions), I joked that he might be having those cramps on my behalf.

This morning as I go through my morning routine of checking the pregnancy apps, I got this:

It's funny how timely this came.

This makes me warm and fuzzy inside...

The hubby texted.

"So excited. 3rd trimester now. Baby will be born soon."

A day of temptation and we succumbed.

Aden + Anais.
I swooned at the pretty packaging when I first came across it in one of the baby stores in May.
That lovely brown box.
But $70 for 4 pieces of swaddle cloths was way out of my league.
I searched online hoping to find a better rate at the official website.
Still way out of my league.

Come the Taka Baby fair and these things were waving at me with their very attractive price tag - $39.00 for a pack of 4 muslin swaddles.
But my then-very-rational-brain told me that I could probably swaddle my baby in nappy cloths.
I ran my fingers through one of the sample, imagined stroking my face with the very soft fabric, sighed, and walked away.
Just like that.

But you know, that longing feeling of wanting the oh-so-soft swaddle cloth doesn't disappear so easily. The next few days, I consulted mummies on swaddle cloths and they all highly recommend Aden + Anais.
"$39.00 for four is a very good buy!", they say.
Of course, there were also a few who finds it unnecessary to waste money on "branded" swaddle cloths.

After a long mental struggle, and a short discussion with the hubby, I decided that I should just leave it to fate. I'll get it if I can pop by the fair again before it ends, or if I can decide on what I want (a couple of friends offered to pop by the fair and get it for me.)

Destiny.
Saturday morning, we woke up miraculously early.
We were both up by 6.30am.
It was a sign! Perhaps we should pop by the fair after all!
Alas, by the time we were done with the car wash, we had time to only pop by one place - Giant for the plastic chest of drawers, or the Taka Baby Fair. (we can't cope with crowds, remember? Saturday afternoons = crowds)
Then, we were given another sign. It started to rain.
Carrying a not-too-small carton box in the rain is a huge turn-off.
Taka Baby fair it is!

I wanted to be at the fair to take a closer look at the bamboo swaddle cloth. And check out if they are selling the sleep bags as well. It turned out that the sample I checked out in the earlier visit was the bamboo swaddle cloth. The hubby agreed that it is really very soft.

So, even though the muslin swaddles ($39.00/4pcs) are supposed to get softer with each wash, they didn't have the designs I wanted (Jungle Jam and Super Star Scout).

And the bamboo ones with pretty artsy designs looked like that could double up as my shawl in future. (Such feeble attempt to rationalise my purchase...)

I succumbed, and we came home with this:

And $55.90 less rich.
(We were so early that we managed to get the early bird goodie bag again with this purchase.)


Lodge.
The hubby has been eyeing cast iron pans since March (shortly after getting the WMF stainless steel pans) -.-'
The 12-inch Lodge cast iron skillet is selling at $20+ on Amazon and if we could get it with free shipping, it's a pretty good deal. Only, 12-inch cast iron skillets are not light at all.

We checked out Razorsharp some time back. The 10-inch Lodge skillet will cost us around $90. It'd probably be ok if we hadn't purchased the WMF pans earlier on.

So while we were in town on Saturday, we decided to check out Crate and Barrel at Ion Orchard.
The hubby was like a little kid in Candyland. All the things he loved.
So we wandered around, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the selection of kitchenware and couches, and pretending that we can afford everything for our pretend home.
Then I saw a burger press, pointed it out to the hubby, only to see his eyes gleaming at what was below the burger press ----  the 10-inch Lodge cast iron skillet.

For $59.95.

It wasn't on impulse. It was with much consideration.
He succumbed and we came home with this:

And yet another $60 less rich.
But oh-so-happy.


*That said, I didn't know I was so near MT Expo Singapore. I walked into Print thinking that was the one. I only remembered MT tapes, it didn't occur to me that an expo should be of a larger scale. Turned out the MT Expo was just beside Print. Impossible how I could have missed it. Especially since I'm such a fan of washi tapes and have been eyeing MT Casa tapes for as long as it launched. Gee.. those fuzzy pregnancy brains...

Preparing for Baby - Takashimaya Baby Fair 2013 (Jul)

THE Taka(shimaya) Baby Fair.

I've heard colleagues talking about it way before I got married.
And once I found out I was expecting, most advice from friends were
"Buy the big-ticket items at the Taka Baby fair. They've got pretty good deals. And freebies."
It's like the go-to fair.

The Takashimaya Baby Fair* (Jul) is currently ongoing (24 Jul - 11 Aug).
Being people who can't deal with crowds (I will feel sick, literally), we decided to hit the fair on the very first day, at 10am when it starts.

There was practically no crowd at 10 in the morning so it was a lot easier for us me to do our my shopping for baby essentials. I learnt my lesson from the Motherhood Exhibition and reminded myself that I will not fall for the freebies trap again. I prepared a list to things to buy and tried to stay focus. It's so much easier to do that without a crowd.
There were 4 "must-buys" on my list : cot bed, car seat, breast pumps, steriliser.
The big-ticket items.
I managed to see how the breast pumps work and find out more about the cot we were interested in getting while the hubby went on to search for car seats. This is the first time in 13 years we walked separately while shopping.

We came home with these.

 

 The cute daddy-to-be lugged 4 bags and still smiled so happily.

So we bought...

Baby cot bed: Bon bebe Vermont 4-in-1 (White), $419

There were 3 packages available. We took the cheapest one which included
- a 3" fibrelux (coconut husk) mattress
- 5 piece bedding set (full bumper, fitted sheet, 2 bolsters, 1 pillow)
and freebies like the
- Munchkin diaper change organiser
- Munchkin diaper change kit

The $469 package comes with a plushier bedding set (half bumper) and the above-mentioned freebies.
The $519 package comes with a 12 pc bedding set with removable covers, the above freebies and an additional freebie of a nightlight.
Packages for the cots in natural colour all cost $20 less.

We went ahead with the most basic bedding because I thought I might want to splurge a little on another set of bedding for Baby. Can't possibly have only one! :)

They had some purchase-with-purchase options. The baby mobile at $39 (usual $59) was really attractive. It took quite a bit of self-control to stop myself from buying that on impulse.
I haven't quite figured out the purpose of a baby mobile yet. After all, we grew up without one!


Breast pump: Ameda Lactaline Personal, $420

I managed to get the demo on the breast pumps at both the Philips Avent booth and the Ameda booth. I was still pretty sold on the Philips Avent Double Electric Pump ($550 bundle) because of the 'oh-so-soft' petal cushion. I decided on the Ameda because it is cheaper, and so much quieter.

 

This bundle comes with milk storage bags, breast pads and a cooler bag.
The $399 bundle comes with a manual attachment (for manual pumping) and 3 Gumdrop milk bottles (which I don't really fancy).
I later remembered that Isetan had an almost similar bundle to the one I bought for $399.


Steriliser: Philips Avent 3-in-1 steriliser bundle, $135

 

This comes with:
- the 3-in-1 steriliser
- one 4-oz Natural bottle
- one 9-oz Natural bottle
- bottle brush

They have another bundle that come with the Single electric pump going for $388. Really attractive bundle but I have been advised by many to get a double electric breast pump.
Again, I recall a seemingly better deal at Isetan's baby fair. I think that bundle ($199) consists of the above items, bottle warmer and a cute Moo Moo Kow diaper (in cow print!!).
But, then again, let's not splurge on items we do not really need. Especially when a friend offered to lend me her bottle warmer. (Bye, cute cow print...)


Laundry Detergent: Pigeon, $6.90
Wash cloth: Alex, $4.90

 That was the only laundry detergent we spotted and we were not picky about the wash cloths.


The other little things...
We were short of a couple of dollars to hit $600 for the freebie so we bought these as well, since we will need them anyway.

Nail clipper: Safety First, $6.32
Brush and comb: The First Years, $5.52
Nappy Changing mat (not in picture): Pigeon printed nappy changing mat, $18.50

and the impulse buy of the day: Pink cap and bootie set, $4.90

 

And we got more freebies!

With purchase of $350,
the Little Tikes 'Tap-a-Tune Xylophone' (pillows not included)

 

We didn't quite know how the fair works. The breast pump was our first purchase so we naturally went to pay for it first (so that we can collect out product). We later had that receipt that allowed us to collect this freebie.
I love xylophones so this was really one of the best thing we brought home yesterday.

And because we so happened to be the first 50 customers to spend $50, we received this goodie bag too!

The pink socks are a sweet surprise and the toilet bowl lock, who knew there's such a product?

With purchases of $600 (max 3 same-day receipt), this is the freebie

Our later purchases totalled up to $600.somecents and we got this adorable giraffe too.

Also with $30 spent, we could redeem a Mustela travel set  at the cashier on the 4th level (Baby section).
We had two separate receipts so, were given two sets.

Good for Baby to try out various products so that I know what suits her skin / what she likes.

I like getting freebies like this. It's like shopping for comestics and facial products in Korea. :)

And for the first time, we took part in lucky draws.
Both of us had never had luck in lucky draws so we hope Baby can bring us some luck. :)

 

This is the crowd at around 1 pm.
It's still not exactly crowded but I know I wont be able to handle this.
I'm glad we were done by 12.30pm.

We went home $1000+ less rich, arms full of bags, and legs that were about to give way.
But quoting the hubby,
"As long as Baby is happy, everything is worth it." :)





*Motherhood has opened my eyes to many fairs and sales.

I learnt that there are two Takashimaya Baby Fairs each year. One in March, the other in July. Because I had nothing better to do, I noticed that the Baby Fair in July usually starts on a Wednesday. At least it has been so for the past few years. I took special notice because fairs and sales at the Singapore Expo usually start on a Thursday.

Other than the go-to Taka Baby Fair, a dear friend also recommended that I should go to baby fairs organised by magazines and/or TV stations "because they are more worth going than other smaller fairs." There's the Motherhood Exhibition (usually in May) and the Parenthood Fair (usually in November).

** Car seat update: We figured it's probably not worth getting a brand new infant car seat (that probably lasts less than a year) especially if we don't go out so often. We contemplated getting a second-hand one but a dear friend offered to lend us hers.

Baby Nicknames

When I announced that we are having a girl, I texted my friends and parents saying that we are having a princess.
So during conversations, I referred to Baby as princess to some of my friends.
One of them asked "Are you sure you are going to call her 'princess'?"

A couple of days ago, the husband and I had this text conversation.

Me: "Should we call baby 'princess'? Or 'precious'?"
Him: "Just baby? I like to just call her baby. Simple."

I kind of liked that too.

This Week

This week, 
Mummy went for a short getaway,
Hubby had to be home late a couple of nights,
dear friends went for a short work/getaway trip.

I stayed at home trying to keep myself occupied while feeding Baby with these:

 

You saw that right.
It's pasta with baked beans and egg white.
And a bit of pork floss.
Bizarre combination but this is what I have in the pantry.
Just these.
Thank you, haze.

Surprisingly, Baby seemed to like the pasta. She moved a lot while I was eating that huge portion.
I hope she's not protesting.

Friday
The hubby finally had the night off, and was ready to read to Baby.
As he was reading 'Daddy Hugs', Baby moved quite a little.

So he asked, "Do you like the story, Baby? If you like the story, high-five Daddy." *twitch*
Oh, the smiles!
"Do you want Daddy to read you another book?" *twitch*

The hubby leapt off the couch and got another book from the table.
He did so much better at "Guess How Much I Love You in the Summer" this time round.
I'm impressed!

Saturday
(Disclaimer: This one is going to sound really angsty.)
We went for the 'Pregnancy Made Easy 2013' seminar at Raffles Convention Centre.
I wasn't expecting the scale of it. All the bellies.

We signed up for the talk ($20 because we are not intending to deliver in Thomson Medical Centre, so we are not the First Born Incentive (FBI) cardholders. These people go for free!) with two intentions.

1. Find out more about Cordlife. And perhaps, sign up for it.
2. Listen to the talks, particularly on nutrition (him) and troubleshooting breastfeeding problems (me).

We signed up for Cordlife after the event.

But to be very frank, we were rather disappointed by the turnout of events that day (especially since we paid $20 admission + $20 parking = $40 for it). I was upset about the tarts**, and the hubby found that it was a waste of money*. Can't help but agree.

1. *The content
It turned out that the content of the talks were rather generic. Really.
Whatever was covered could be easily found online and the enthusiastic husband has already done alot of research and reading so he knew them all. Even the three stages of confinement, which was new to me. Apparently he has already learnt it from some confinement recipe book he found in the bookstore.

The talk that I was most interested in on troubleshooting breastfeeding problems was rather disappointing too.
It didn't exactly cover the problems and ways to troubleshoot them.
It felt more like "how to latch on a baby", which we have read too.

It's probably more useful for mommas-to-be who are in the early stages of pregnancy.

2. The layout
It was so open. We had half expected it to be a closed door event.
Like, if you don't sign up for the event, you can forget about the consultation with Cordlife, and forget about signing up for it.

Later that evening after a short talk, we realise that this is one event we could totally gatecrash. (Read: No need to spend >$20 for it.)

3. The people and the whole organisation of events
The mini bazaar was supposed to start at 10am. We were there at 11am. They were barely set up.

You know pregnant ladies and their bladders.
There were closed to 200 couples so let's assume around 100 would need to empty the bladders during the break. 30 minutes doesn't sound quite enough, does it? Plus it's the time everyone rush forth for the refreshments (typically Singaporeans) and check out the booths.

**It was probably bad strategy on my part but the hubby waited for me to be done at the Ladies before we went to get our refreshments. He was holding my heavy bag.
We saw some doting husbands with their plates piled high with fruit tarts.

Let's do some simple Math shall we?
As with all buffets, the food is catered by the number of people.
So a generous gauge would be 3 fruit tarts per pax, or less.
So if you have 10 tarts on your plate, you are depriving some poor expectant mothers of the yummy dessert. (Meeeeee!!!)
Multiply that by a few doting husbands.
Subtract those tarts that were actually topped with pineapple (which a portion of pregnant ladies won't eat because of all the myths and stuff.. me included unfortunately)

The dessert was wiped out in less than 10 minutes.

I may or may not be whiny about it because I. really. wanted. to. eat. the. tarts.
Blame the hormones, but I was really upset about it. I thought fellow human beings should be more considerate than that.

Takeaway for the day:
1. Check out the organisers of the talk. I've been told that the talks organised by TV stations and magazines are really good.

2. Find out more about the venue prior to registration. If it's as open as this we went for, chances are you could totally crash the event (if you don't mind not getting a goodie bag).

3. If the husband has already secretly done tonnes of research and reading, he will be bored. Very bored.

4. There are still going to be people around who don't really care for others. So don't be upset if you don't get to eat the dessert. Even though that's what you have been craving for.
And even if you know you kind of have already paid for the food.
Go for better desserts after the event.

What made the day better?
Baby was so active throughout the entire day.
Moving all the time.

Sunday 
I slept through the whole afternoon.
Must be the long Saturday.
We made a breakthrough with vegetables.
I managed to stomach the vegetables Mummy cooked when we went over for dinner. :)

Mount Alvernia Maternity Tour

We went for the Mount Alvernia Maternity Tour the same day we had our obgyn appointment. The hospital is just a short drive from the clinic. And we had a bit of time to shop at Junction 8.

The maternity tour is scheduled at 2.30 pm on weekdays.
I was eager to leave Junction 8 by 1.45 pm because I was afraid that
- we will get lost somehow,
- we will not find a parking space, and
- whatever else that can go wrong will probably go wrong.
You know, Murphy's Law?

We arrived at Mount Alvernia a couple of minutes past 2pm.
It was exactly like what I read in the forums - the parking situation is really quite bad.
The carpark is undergoing upgrading works and it is really dusty.
We later found out that it will be done in the first quarter of 2014.
It wan't exactly ideal for Ms. Preggers to be walking through the dust so the very concerned hubby dropped me off at the main lobby. Because he is so sweet, he managed to find a lot in the dark, dusty, "under-construction" carpark pretty quickly.


First impression of Mount Alvernia
It felt very warm and welcoming! And I do appreciate that a lot.
I was guided to the Patient Liaison Centre by a cheerful staff. 

The tour begins...
Each of the couple received a goodie bag which consists of some brochures on the hospital, vouchers, a magazine and some samples.

A short briefing was done in the Centre. That was when I wished I had brought along a pen instead of the camera. I didn't get to take any photos in the end but I could certainly do with some notes.

We went through maternity packages available in Mount Alvernia (Nightgowns are not provided. Need to get me some pjs!) as well as a brief introduction of the Alvernia Ladies Card.

We were then guided to Block A, Level 3, an entire level dedicated to mommies and babies.
Daddies are able to bring the mommies to the delivery suites before proceeding with the admission.
We learnt that if the Daddies are driving, they can basically leave the car for valet parking, or if it's night and no valet parking is available, chuck the car and park it later. Mommies are the priority!

Delivery Suites
All the delivery suites were occupied on the day of the tour.
We had to go to the 'spare delivery suite' which has amenities like the television, arm chair, Wi-Fi (ah-ha!) etc. The only difference is that the spare suite does not come with an attached bathroom.

What I learnt: 
- The various pain relief options (music, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy at $800 per soak..)
- Inform the nurses if we would like immediate skin-to-skin contact with the baby.
- The baby will be passed to Mommy one hour after birth for breastfeeding.

I have to confess.
I freaked out a little when we entered the delivery suite and observation rooms.
It didn't help that the entire group walked past a mommy who had just given birth.

Suddenly everything felt so real.
In a couple of months, I will be the one there.

The Wards
We were shown the old wing, and the new.
I can't remember which is which but it didn't really make much of a difference to me.
I was pretty comfortable with both. Though I'll probably like the one without the balconies better.

We were lucky to be able to view most of the rooms.

- Double bedder
Not my first option because I'll want the hubby to be with me. And with double-bedders, baby won't be able room in.

- Single
Pretty good sized to me. I don't really like huge rooms. Baby is allowed to room it.
I'd love that though I'm still not very sure if I'd want that when the time comes. At least there's an option?

- Single Deluxe
Apparently the same size as the single. The only difference is that this has a DVD player a electric kettle

-Super Deluxe
I assume most people will like this. It's a lot more spacious and the sofa bed is longer. 
Better for the husbands staying over. The room feels a little too big though. For some reasons, I don't like huge rooms.

We didn't manage to view the four-bedders and the family suite (which I assume will be really huge)

All the rooms come with a clean, nice-sized bathroom with a standing shower.

Lactation Consultants will come by the wards to visit (working hours) should mommies need help in breastfeeding.

ParentCraft Centre
We ended the tour at the ParentCraft Centre.
This is where mommies and daddies can attend the one hour complimentary class on caring for the baby.
If my memory didn't fail me, classes are conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am - 11am. See why I need a pen now?

We were given a complimentary drink voucher at the end of the tour.
We ended up having tea at the cafe, with snacks. The food isn't fantastic but I guess we should keep the expectations realistic.


Overall, it was a rather good experience.
The staff we encountered are really friendly. I hope all of them are like that!
Though I'm not exactly impressed with the exterior of the hospitals (as well as the renovation works that's going on), it's the interior and ambience that matters. I must say I'm pretty comfortable at Mount Alvernia.

I think little princess should be delivered in Mount Alvernia after all. :)

Choosing a hospital

We haven't made many major decisions since the start of the pregnancy.
We didn't even research (I understand some people do) on the ob-gyn we will visit.

I did the pregnancy test at the hubby's family doctor (Dr. Sim) to verify our pregnancy and asked him for recommendations for an ob-gyn. I was on traditional Chinese medicine then and we wanted an ob-gyn who was okay with it.

Dr. Sim recommended us Dr. Vincent Lee, an old friend of his.
"He's a very nice guy!" he said.
And so we went for an appointment for a dating scan (and to make sure we are really expecting) and somehow, we just signed a package and has been visiting him ever since.

Dr. Lee is really fatherly.
I appreciate that he goes through each scan carefully and he is very detailed. We didn't really have to do the OSCAR test because he has checked through everything, except the blood test. (We did in the end, anyway. For assurance.) We didn't really have to go through the detailed scan at the hospital too because he went through everything with us.

I like that he's always excited each time he does the ultrasound scan (which is basically every visit).
"Oh! I think you have a girl! But we will confirm again later."
"Baby is very relaxed. Hahaha... I'll need baby to curl up a little. Baby... curl up..."
"Baby is very active! Good!"
"Haha.. Baby just did a tumble!"
"Those are baby's hands. So cute!!!"

He puts me at ease.

Anyway, this post is about choosing hospitals and I just wanted to say how quickly we I made the decision.
The hubby basically leaves the decision to me because he's not picky about the rooms, the ambience, the food, etc.. He doesn't get why people have to go on tours and look at the delivery suites and rooms. Which is strange, because I have read of husbands who picked out the wards based on their comfort (usually the bigger wards, with comfy sofabeds..)

So, Dr Lee only delivers in Mount Elizabeth, Mount Alvernia and Thomson Medical Centre.

I didn't have a good impression of TMC the last time I went for a visit.
I have no idea why but I don't have good vibes about it.
It doesn't feel... warm.
It's just like how I didn't choose M Hotel for my wedding because it felt too cold and business-like. Something like that. I wanted somewhere that felt like Marriott, where we had our wedding.
(Sorry, I digressed.)

I'm left with Mount Elizabeth and Mount Alvernia.

During the OSCAR scan, Dr. Lee noticed that my placenta is on the low-lying side. If that continues, I'll probably require a Caesarean.
That makes choosing the hospital a whole lot easier.

Mount Elizabeth looks good. But the price for Caesarean and a single ward is waaaaay beyond my budget. And I really don't need the candlelight dinner and the 15-minute massage. Though I must say those are really nice touches.

I was ready to pick TMC if the charges turn out to be cheaper than Mount Alvernia.
It is not! In fact, TMC will cost us a couple hundred dollars more if I were to go for Caesarean. Interesting...

Mount Alvernia it should be then.
But not before the maternity tour.
I still need to visit the hospital to get a feel of it, and check out the room sizes.

Edit: This is a long-forgotten scheduled post. I've gone for the Mount Alvernia Maternity Tour last Friday (14 June). More about it later!

{Reading to Baby} An ethusiastic Daddy-to-be

Hazy-stuck-at-home-Saturday, 4 pm

Time for Baby's afternoon story.

Me: Do you want to read Baby a story? Or should I read it?
Him(enthusiastically, almost pleading): I'll read! I haven't read to Baby for such a long time...

This man is taking the storytelling very, very seriously.

Storytelling didn't commence until bedtime because the hubby was so busy with the chores.
(Poor guy. After a day of collecting, distributing masks and air cleaners to family, grocery shopping, getting me food, sweeping, mopping, cleaning... I do have to give him some credit here. He's always pretty much mistaken. He's actually really very sweet!)

We have a specific bedtime story so the hubby had to read that.
As usual, he will usually read through the story on his own before 'officially' reading it to Baby.
It's funny how he tried to use different sounds for the characters as well and ended up sounding like how I did it.

"I sound like you."
"It's okay. You can make your own character voices."

He did.
That night, I couldn't stop giggling while he was reading the story.
This man puts in a lot of effort in making the story interesting.
Even though Big Nutbrown Hare did sound a lot like an old wizard that night.

"Sorry Baby, it's Daddy's first time reading this story. I will get better!"


Not-so-hazy-anymore-but-stay-indoors-Sunday

The hubby volunteered to read to Baby again.
Can you imagine how happy I am with the whole storytelling thing?
I like the hubby being so involved like this.

This time, he picked out a different book I borrowed from the library.

Source: Bookdepository.co.uk

When I read, I make sure I have my hands on my bump.
It's this strange rule that I have.
So when the hubby reads, he has to have his hand on my bump too.

Somewhere along the story, there was a little twitch.
Hubby must have felt the magic twitch too.
He was mighty pleased at the end of the story.
I am mighty pleased too.