Counting down to the arrival of Baby No. 2

The mommy is now in the final stages of preparation for her little girl's arrival! She will be early with a planned c-section at 38 weeks as compared to her brother who was induced at full term of 40 weeks. We decided to opt for c-section as my first was delivered via emergency c-section due to slow progression and he was big at 3.68kg. The gynae mentioned a small chance of the wound rupturing from having a normal delivery and we thought we'll avoid the risk of it, the waiting and possibly still having an emergency c-sec. Will be nice to have my husband beside me too =)

There's still a ton of things to be done although we have gotten most of the biggy preps out of the way such as getting a maid and confinement lady. An air purfier was an additional item we had to get with the impending haze and went for a really basic model for low maintenance and ease of use. My mother-in-law is already boiling the ginger and vinegar, 姜醋 from the 2 vats of vinegar bought from Yue Hwa at Chinatown.

There will be more washing and cleaning over the next 2 weekends and spending more time with the family is top priority. Hope to clock more rest and zzzs too! Work matters are in order and most of the projects I was involved in are nicely wrapped up.

No.	Stuff to Do!
1	Find a Confinement Lady!
2	Look for a Maid Agency!
3	Assemble Baby Cot
4	Cordlife arrangements
5	Clean Air-con, buy air-purifier
6	Buy list of stuff in "To Buy" sheet
7	Wash all baby items (clothes, bedlinen,toys) and sterilise bottles
8	Clean out wardrobe/drawers/plastic storage tubs for extra storage
9	Book Javanese Massage (To start 3 wks after c-section)
10	Prepare angbaos for Confinement Lady
11	Pack/Re-pack bag for Hospital Delivery
12	Pick Name for Baby No. 2
13	Manyue Arrangements
14	Wash and pack baby bath area
15	Birth Registration, CDA Account Opening

My poor boy

My poor boy vomited on his first day of child care...must be so stressed out and traumatised. I am equally traumatised by his experience as well and kinda blamed myself for not prepping him enough. As if its not enough stress already, my mother-in-law decided to take it upon herself to wean him off his thumb-sucking on the very same day by applying the medicated oil "Bai Hua You" on his thumb and favourite teddy bear. Scarred i would say!!! I pleaded with her not to do it now as he is already very 可怜 (in cantonese) and cried the whole day liao. She said ok - guess what?!!! The very next day she used white pepper!!!! I think i nearly cried out in despair and because of this the poor boy couldn't settle in for his only nap of the day. The result is a super clingy toddler that cries the moment i step out. Think I would dig my claws into my mommy too! This preggie needs no further aggravation but how can i stop her? My husband shrugs his shoulder and asks me to tell his mom lo (wished I was the type to swear or give my mil the superduper black face). *Sigh* psyching myself today that she would use chilli?!

22nd Months Old today and first day of Child Care at Carpe Diem

My boy Trevor turns 22 months today! Just so happened that we started him at the childcare today. We enrolled him at the Carpe Diem Starlets 2 at Blk 120 Teck Whye Lane as 2 of my husband's nieces had studied there before and its a stone's throw from my mother-in-law's place. We realised that most of the teachers we saw when we went down to enrol him had changed, and were greeted by unfamiliar faces when we went this morning. It was nice that they had a little pigeon hole for his bag and shoes with his name labelled on it =p We took half a day leave this morning thinking that we would hang around for a while but i guess the most quick and effective way of letting him get used to the new "school life" is to leave him in the hands of the teachers. One of the teachers, Ms Poh carried him away and shoo-ed us home while she pacified the crying boy...

We left a wailing boy behind feeling heartbroken (my eyes watered!), making a mental note in our minds to shower him with even more hugs and kisses after we come home from work tonight. Hopefully he settles in soon and loves school! Geez, think parents may need more mental preparation than the kids. Well, the other kids there look so cute and were unaffected by his crying.

For the 1st week we will probably leave him for the half day session which ends at 12pm so that he can slowly get adjusted to the new environment and routine. Fortunately (phew phew phew) the teacher convinced my mother-in-law of this who was very insistent on leaving him for the whole day starting from Day 1. For this child care centre, the fees after subsidy are the same for half-day and full-day session.

Trevor, being fussy about what he wears as usual, dislikes his school uniform which is a short sleeve shirt and pants and kept tugging at his collar saying ouch all the time. We tried to distract him on the way to the child care centre by asking him to look out for stray cats =)
Things we have to pack for child care:-

1. Milk bottle and milk powder
2. Water bottle (labelled with his name)
3. A set of clothes (exercise attire purchased from the shool) for changing after their shower after lunch for full day session
4. Diapers x 4 (he's not potty trained yet)
5. Bathing towel x 1 (to be changed everyday)
6. Mattress cover x 1 (for their afternoon naps, to be brought home each Friday for washing)
7. Shoes
8. His favourite bear

Here's some guidelines for first-timers as published by MCYS.

First Maid

We got an Indonesian maid 2 months ago and her first day here was full of drama...She arrived at our home around noon on a Sunday and I decided to let her settle down, unpack her belongings and orientate her around the house. Wanted to cook something simple for dinner that she can eat as well (no pork) and settled for chicken stew with rice. Please please do not take for granted that your maid will know how to use things like a vegetable peeler and can opener OR that she will ask you if in doubt ever!! She took initiative to open a can of mushrooms sitting on the kitchen table before I even told her to and cut her hand badly, she had shaved off part of skin on her thumb and it bled non-stop. When i left her to wash my hands after putting on a plaster for her, she slumped forward, hit the kitchen sink and fainted on my kitchen floor!!

Thank goodness my husband was around and I sat down on the kitchen floor with her pressing down hard on her bleeding thumb to try and stop the blood flow. We let her come to slowly as I knew she probably fainted from the sight of too much blood and low blood pressure. My boy peeked into the kitchen from time to time to "check" on the Auntie who just arrived. When she could walk aided, my husband drove her to a 24 hour GP where they bandaged her thumb and advised to go to a hospital A&E for a jab. It took about 3 hours before they came back and she still look traumatised.

For the next few days we did not dare to ask her to do any household chores =) kekeke had initially wanted to put on a stern and strict face to set the tone but just couldn't bear to do it. In the end, we showered so much concern and kept checking in on her to make sure her thumb was recovering well. I also let her call home that week using a $8 Chat Chat card (available at 7-Eleven) a colleague recommended. She's been diligent so far with no major boos boos *fingers crossed*. To reward her,  I have gotten her 2 Chat Chat cards, 1 Gado Gado card and a Hi $15 prepaid SIM card (to deduct from her salary) from Singtel...Hope I won't regret this...and that she will use it with discretion.

Has it been that long?

Has it been that long since my last blog post?! Mommyhood sure is busy! Baby number one is now coming to 22 months and baby number two is on her way =). Baby number two came as a pleasant surprise as my husband and I were still discussing if we should use the frozen embryos we still have stored at KKH. I discovered this pregnancy much later than must first one though (@ 2 weeks from the blood test) as my Division was undergoing a sudden restructuring and much was attributed to stress.

Preparations are now more or less complete for my baby girl's arrival in March. There's much less shopping to be done this time round as we can still use all/many of the baby items. Wanted to list down some of the really useful and practical items purchased (in case I forget when my bestie's turn comes!):-

For the preggy

1. Bra extenders (at least 2)
2. Low waisted 99-100% cotton undies
3. Comfortable elastic shorts and tees for sleeping in (pick XL for non-maternity wear), bought Ts (Girls - XXL) from Old Navy during the annual Black Friday sales below USD 5 each
4. Sorella's seamless bras (good for fitting in breastpads for breast feeding too), in different cup sizes
5. Maternity bottoms - 1 pair of denim shorts, 1 pair of black shorts, 1 pair of long work pants (extendable in black/brown), 1 denim skirt, Jeans (optional, got mine from H&M during a sale)
6. Maternity dresses especially for the later stages of pregnancy - Work and casual (can purchase them online as well from Old Navy, Motherhood, JCPenny during sales and free shipping periods, could wear sizes S and M)
7. Inner slips and camis - as dresses become shorter and necklines get lower
8. Cropped tops paired with comfy long singlets
9. Stretch mark cream - Bio Oil worked nicely in the 1st pregnancy but for the 2nd it caused an itch and so did many other creams
10. Comfy flat shoes with non-slip soles

I decided to stick to my gynae, Dr Sadhana from KKH from my first pregnancy but she now focuses only on IVF conception and births. She recommended another senior female colleague of hers, Dr June Tan. She's really nice and gentle but it takes way too long a wait to see her each time. Each gynae visit takes half a day (3-4 hours) and the actual consultation barely 5-10 mins?! She must be very experienced because she has so so many patients and often out for delivery. Fortunately each time i get an MC for the day and my husband and I will take the opportunity to have some couple time. Our favourite pre-check-up activity is brunch @ Tim Ho Wan (Plaza Sing) and the must have dishes are the Four Heavenly Kings of which we can have 2 helpings of the soft and fluffy 马来糕!
 
I did not have a cervical cerclage done this time round but instead had more frequent gynae visits to monitor and measure the cervix length. Did have a scare when the cervix length shortened to 1.5 - 1.6cm from the usual > 2cm and that very weekend felt contraction like symptoms!! Baby was only 1.3kg and much too early to arrive at 30 weeks. Had 2 weeks of bed rest and felt much better J Now I am back at work but getting clumsier and walking much slower - awaiting the arrival of my princess!