MUMMYPOH

Page 1 of my Hospital Bill

Personally I chose OCBC Mighty Savers as my baby's CDA is already under OCBC. So that will give me a minimum of 0.45% interest p.a. However, below is my take without consideration of CDA!

For initial deposit below $1000
OCBC Might savers or Maybank Youngstarz will be two considerable choices due to the high interest they offer with deposit lesser than $1000.

For initial deposit between $1000 to $2000
I will definitely choose CIMB Junior Savings because of it's highest interest rate(0.8%) for deposit amount above $1000.

For initial deposit above $2000
I will definitely choose Maybank Youngstarz because of it's free Personal Accident Insurance coverage, including HFMD! Currently, a PA insurance for a kid can range from $200 to $300 p.a based on the coverage amount.  Thus, that contributes to our "savings" as well!

I'm on my week 39 now! Currently busy preparing for my postpartum and confinement preparation. Like all first time Kiasu Singaporean mummies, ever since I found out about lilmisspoh, I've been acting like a sponge trying to absorb all the information regarding childbirth, childcare, postpartum recovery, etc. But why do I still feel like Dory swimming in the sea of the unknown. There are simply too many information out there until I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed now. #firstworldproblem

For my post on newborn preparation, please click here!

So below are the lists of items I've "armed" myself before baby Charlotte pops out in 2 weeks' time! I've categorised them into 2 lists ; Postpartum Recovery Preparation & Confinement Preparation. Disclaimer: The items below are kind of Western-Chinese fusion. Some of the traditional rules I've forgone as comfort and hygiene are my top priorities during confinement period, especially when you just went through an extraordinary life and death experience (YES, delivery is indeed life-and-death ok).

Postpartum Recovery Preparation
1) DIY Padsicles
Cost: Free! Provided you already have the ready ingredients listed below.

Ingredients required:

• Aloe Vera
• Witch Hazel
• Lavender Essential Oil

As I'm opting for natural delivery, my "meimei" is going to be sore for quite awhile. These padsicles are meant to relieve the soreness and provide some comforts to my wounds if I have stitches after natural delivery. Got this awesome idea from Youtube mummy gurus haha. How creative isn't it?! I prepared 10 padsicles and pop these lovelies in my freezer about 1 week before EDD.

As currently I'm still staying with my hubby's family before our BTO arrival, it can be pretty awkward to put pads in the fridge. So to avoid any unnecessary awkwardness, suggest you wrap and label them properly. I wouldn't want my papa or mama-in-law opening it up and receive a weird surprise!

2) Earth Mama Angel Baby, New Mama Bottom Spray
Cost: Bought mine from iHerb for SGD$16.48. Can also be easily found in various e-commerce platform (pupsikstudio, qoo10) and mortar shops (Tom & Stephanie, Kiddy Palace, Mothercare).

This is meant to be sprayed on our sore "meimei" after toilet business for quick relief. What I like about this is that even if there are still leftovers after your postpartum recovery, you can still use it as a facial toner! This means no wastages!=)

3) Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cold Pressed)
Cost: SGD$25 from Qoo10.

As I plan to breastfeed, I want the nipple cream I applied on my nehneh to stay as organic as possible. Moreover, there are so many other uses for coconut oil! Can use for baby's cradle cap, diaper cream, lip balm, cooking, hair treatment etc.

4) Donut
Cost: SGD$14 from Thomson Medical Centre pharmacy
Not to satisfy my taste bud but again, this is for my sore "meimei" after natural delivery. I simply can't imagine sitting on any hard surfaces after natural delivery so an inflatable donut is going to be a great life saver!


5) Big Overnight Pads
Be prepared to bleed for around 1 month girl.

6) Disposable Cotton Underwear
Trust me, you will be glad to have one less chore to do during postpartum period. I bought 30 days worth of cotton disposable underwear from Taobao for around SGD$12plus I think. Cheap and comfy. *Thumbs up*

7) Breast Pads
For leaking boobies. Just make sure you got at least a dozen in handy. Didn't thought of preparing them initially but my mummy friend said it's a must if you don't want to wake up soaking in your own milk and staining your PJs and bed with milk. 0_0


Confinement Preparation
Based on Chinese's context, the number 1 most important thing in confinement is to avoid getting any "wind" into our body system so we will not suffer from the excruciating body aches when we get old. Reason why postpartum women get "wind" easily into our body is due to our "open pores" after delivery. I know this sounds like some Chinese old wives' tale but as the old saying goes, "better be safe than sorry" haha. Shall experience it myself first and give an honest update here on how I feel physically after delivery!

1) Long Sleeve Tops / Pants (Nursing Friendly) - Around 3 to 4 sets
I'm going to be an obedient girl and has prepared to cover myself up entirely during the 1 month confinement. I got my confinement PJs from Taobao for less than SGD$20 per set. 100% cotton and they are really soft and comfortable!

2) Home Footwear
- Shower Slippers - Less than SGD$5 from Taobao
- Lounge Shoes - FOC from TMC. Super soft and comfy!
- Socks - Bought from Taiwan. I will be wearing socks every night during confinement period.

3) Lemongrass Showergel (Made in Taiwan)
I've planned to have early morning shower every 2 to 3 days during confinement as I don't think I can skip showering entirely for 1 month! Somemore our aircon will only be installed on the 3rd week of my confinement. #FML I've been using this showergel since I enter 3rd trimester pregnancy. The shower gel has a very strong lemongrass smell. Hubz always comment I smell like a walking insect repellant after stepping out of the shower, which is kind of a good thing I guess due to the recent Zika Outbreak in Singapore? I like how the gel gives me this hot sensation on my skin, especially around my neck and joints!

I also used it to wash my hair too. However, it does dry up my hair though so I always spam conditioner and apply leave-in hair serum. Other good things I also like about the gel is it foams up really well, hassle-free and affordable! Got a 700ML bottle from mamaonline store for a SGD$16.80. They carry 2000ML big bottle as well!

4) Pure Ginger Cream (Body Cream)
I super heart this ginger cream! It works amazingly well for my aching back and leg muscles during pregnancy as I'm working all the way til delivery to maximize my ML. >.< #superpreggie

As ginger is known to "expel cold" in Chinese medicine, I will be using this cream to apply on my joints area to remove the excess "wind" in my body during postpartum period. Got it from mamaonline store as well for SGD$11.80.


5) Food related stuff for Confinement
- Ingredients to make daily confinement drink

• Red Dates (红枣)
• Dried Longan (桂圆)
• Dried Pilose Asiabell Roots (Dang Shen 黨參)
• Black Dates (黑枣)

- So Hup Pills (苏合丸) - Bought it from Eu Yan Seng. Bought one box (6 sachets) for daily usage straight after delivery to get rid of "wind".


- Bak Foong Pills (白凤丸) - Bought it from EYS too. To be consumed only after lochia and normal bleeding stops. This helps to recuperate and regulate menses after delivery.


- Benedictine D.O.M. Liqueur - 2 bottles. Both my mom and MIL said they will drink 1 spoonful of it every night in the past after delivery omg. I doubt I can finish even 1 bottle as I HATE ALCOHOL. Somemore I will be BF-ing.

- Wolfberries (枸杞)

- Red Rice Wine - Homemade by my aunt.

- Chinese Angelica (Dang Gui 當歸), 杜仲, 四物, 八珍, 十全. Chinese herbs for confinement nourishing soups. Can be easily bought from any Chinese Herbal Shops

- Ginger

- Mee Sua

- Milo/Plain Crackers

- Black Vinegar - to cook the mandatory confinement food; Pig trotters with sweet vinegar and ginger(猪脚醋). The brand I used is the famous bull dog sweet vinegar.


- Sesame Oil - for cooking. The brand I used is Chee Seng 100% Pure White Sesame Oil.

6) Lotsa Facial Masks / Eye Masks / Entertainments - books, drama series, etc 
I kind of treat the postpartum period like the best time to pamper yourself with DIY beauty treatments and use up all that facial masks in my fridge (cos I'm just too lazy to apply them during normal days lol). Since I know I will be losing sleeps after lilmisspoh pops out, I think my face will look like crap then. Hopefully these masks can minimise the damages on my skin haha.

And that's all my MIL had prepared for me together with my aunt, who will be my CL. I really feel extremely blessed to have loved ones who are available to help out Alvis and I for the arrival of lilmisspoh. >.< Can't wait to see her in 1 week's time!

Meanwhile, happy sharing mummies!~

I'm here to share on my thoughts after attending the 5 Days Antenatal Course conducted by the famous TMC lactation consultant Mrs Wong Boh Boi. ^.^ She's also the author of the popular "Celebrating Life" series for new parents.

The "Celebrating Life" series by Mrs Wong Boh Boi. You can get the book series for free upon signing up for the FBI/SBI Scheme with TMC.

Basic Course Details

Course Name :	Thomson ParentCraft Centre Childbirth Education Course
Course Venue :	AMK Hub - eXplorerkid / SCGS @ Dunearn Rd
Course Price (Year 2016) :	$284.05 (after 5% discount from TMC FBI/SBI Membership + 7% GST)
No. of sessions :	5 (Last session is a complimentary talk conducted by other doctors)
Course Duration :	2-3 hours per session each week over a period of 1 month
Course Booking :	https://apps.thomsonmedical.com/

For more information on the course outline, you may check out the details in the link below ^.^ http://www.thomsonmedical.com/childbirth-education-course-2/

Interesting pointersImanagedtorememberinmypreggiebrain takeaway from the lessons (which is like 10% of the lesson content?!>.<)

1. Physical and Mental Preparation

• Practical lesson on correct posture when standing, sitting and sleeping to avoid injury and minimise discomfort. 
• Correct posture to get up from sleeping position. 
• How hubby can help me to stand up when I'm sitting on the floor. 
• Do not ever rub tummy in a circular motion. Because this action will create a whirlpool in the womb and disrupt your baby. Instead, you should rub in a upward motion when massaging or applying lotion on your tummy. It must be upward motion against gravity to minimise stretch marks! Talk properly with baby. Etc: "Good morning baby. How are you feeling today?" Avoid "baby talk" like those gaga-googoo-nehneh as this will only hinder the language development of your baby. 
• To know if baby is in good/bad mood, touch the top of your tummy. Hard = Bad mood, Soft = Good mood. If baby is in bad mood, try not to play with her yet as you may irritate her further haha. Practical hands-on of various massage techniques hubby can apply to make me feel better. 
• Play music to baby - 3 times a day for 15 minutes to soothen baby 
• From 36 weeks onward, baby is sensitive to light already. Can shine torchlight on tummy to see baby's respond.
  

  Hands-on session!

  Hubz and his bumpz lol. All the hubbies need to wear this during lesson to have a feel of what we mummies are going through during pregnancy!

   

2. Pain Relief and Labour
This lesson seriously feels like a biology lesson as Mrs Wong talked about the structure of our wombs, cervix, pelvix muscles etc. Frankly speaking, I was already seeing stars 30 minutes into the lesson. Luckily all these information can be found in Mrs Wong's authored book; Guide to Childbirth under the "Celebrating Life!" series.

•  Practical lesson on the various breathing techniques during different stages of labour. (the heehee-hoohoo-haha)
•  Types of pain relief options during labour and the possible side effects. I only know epidural injection prior to this lesson. Didn't know there are other options like laughing gas, intramuscular injection, etc. Good to know these information when you're creating your birth plan. 
•  Different methods of natural delivery. This is pretty irrelevant to me actually. More incline towards FYI. But I didn't know there can be so many different ways to do natural delivery. You can do it in a water bath, in a squatting position, standing position or while hanging yourself in the air?? 0_0 *Mind blowing* Just let me lie down peacefully please.

It was also the first time Hubz and I watched a video on vaginal delivery. I know this kind of videos are readily available everywhere now. But we have been trying to avoid watching it so as not to scare ourselves. I didn't even watch the birthing video of Andie Chen and Kate Pang even though my friends keep sharing it to me on FB. =.= Mrs Wong also never give warning before playing the video one eh. She just play it then halfway through we begin to realise what is the video content about. Hubz is pretty traumatised haha. He's not really a fan of these kind of thing. He can't really take gory and horror movies as well lol. Kind of regretful that I didn't manage to take a video of his reaction as memories haha.


3. Feeding
For this lesson, you can tell I got take down notes diligently hehe.

• Types of feeding techniques (breastfeeding, cup feeding, bottle feeding, syringe feeding, etc) 
• Place chilled cabbage leave to cure sore breast. 
• How to spot for baby's hunger cues before she starts crying. 
• Bottle Feeding 
• Make sure milk is at 37°c temperature. Same as breastmilk temperature! 
• Do not shake milk bottle to mix formula as this will create air bubbles and cause gassy stomach for baby. 
• Mrs Wong discourages the use of glass milk bottles as there are reports of baby accidentally drinking the broken glass fragments and it causes deep cuts in the baby's digestion system. SO SCARY! 
• Mrs Wong also discourages the use of Dr Brown milk bottles due to its multiple small parts that can trap bacteria. Luckily I didn't choose this brand! 
•  Sterilisation of feeding equipment 
• Use warm water to wash milk bottle to remove milk residue more efficiently. 
• Do not put soap directly on the bottle brush. 
• Always air-dry sponge and discard after 1 week of usage 
• Do not push brush into teats to wash. Just rub teats in soapy water to avoid scratching teats. 
• For steam sterilisation, need to steam at least 10minutes. 

Mrs Wong also shared a lot of information on breastfeed as she's a strong advocate of breastfeeding. Most of the theory information like storage guideline, feeding posture, etc can be found in one of her authored book "Guide to breastfeeding". However, I feel that attending the lesson is still beneficial as she shared videos and perform live demonstration on the various feeding methods, which you can't really grasp just by reading from books.


4. Practical Hand-ons Baby Care
This session is most interesting one out of the entire course! From the name itself, you should know why haha. Each couple is given a set of blankets and baby cleaning material which we can bring home after the lesson.

• For new born, make sure diaper is not tight - at least can put 2 fingers inside. 
• Do not let baby wear mittens after 6 weeks as it may cause restriction to her motor development. To clean nose mucus, Mrs Wong suggests tweezing a cotton pad and wiggle it into baby's nose. She discourages using the sucking technique as it actually damages the protective layer inside the nose. For this point, I don't know what I will do eventually because I see a lot of good reviews of Nosefrida which uses the sucking method. And I tried googling the disadvantages of the sucking method online but can't really find much evidence on this claim...hai I will just see how when my baby come out. lol Baby girl may experience period for 1 day from birth to the tenth days. OMG I have no idea!! 
• Baby bath 
• Do not put anti slip mat inside bath tub - risk of bacteria growth 
• Use cotton ball to wipe baby's eyes clean away the crust as baby's tear duct is not functioning properly yet 
• When washing baby's hair, wet the hair > use wash cloth and wipe the head in circular motion > dry the hair quickly with towel. 
• When combing baby's hair, comb from front to back. 
• If baby is tight fisting during bathing, use thumb to circle the back of baby's hand to make her feel more relax. 
• Diaper Changing (for girls since mine is girlgirl haha) 
• Do not use toilet paper to wipe the genital area. 
•  When cleaning the genital area of a baby girl, 
• 1 wipe - genital ( part the libia then wipe from front to back) If there's mucus discharge, pour baby oil on wipe before wiping 
• 1 wipe - groin 
• 1 wipe - backside 
• 1 wipe - anus 
• Do not put talcum powder on baby as the powder can be breathed in by baby and block her bronchi. SO SCARY! 
• Baby clothing 
• Remove clothing label if it irritates baby. 
•  Do not get clothes with embroidery designs as it may irritates baby's skin 
• Wear mitten inside out because there are cases where the loose thread caught the small finger of the baby and severed it. 0_0 
• Do not let baby wear bibs or hats to sleep to avoid SIDS - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Our practical kit during lesson #4

Our teacher Mrs Wong! Her Chinese name is very cute, call Boh Boi, which pronounce like "boyboy". She said her parents actually gave birth to 9 daughters and she was the youngest. I guess her parents secretly hope she's a boy thus that name haha.

My thoughts:
Overall hubz and I were glad that we attended the course even though it's pretty tiring, especially for working parents as the 5 days courses we opt for were conducted during the weekdays, scheduled from 7pm to 9pm. But the classes usually ends around 10pm as there were simply too much knowledge Mrs Wong wishes to cover with us I guess 0_0. So we were like part time students attending night classes after work haha. But the lessons were pretty interesting though the first two lessons kind of feel like attending biology class back in school when Mrs Wong talked about reproductive system and human parts.

Suggest kiasu couple (like me ^.^) prepare their notebook and phone to take photos/videos which Mrs Wong allow hee. The lessons are abit too much for my preggie brain at the moment >.< But still, it's good for general knowledge lo. I gained some basic knowledge like not all women can go for natural delivery due to their pelvis structure and where's the correct position of our placenta, etc. It's through this course then I realised there can so many complications when it comes to pregnancy. No wonder there's a Chinese saying “生孩子就像在鬼门关里走一趟”. Meaning giving birth to a woman is like a walk near death, which I think is pretty true especially in the olden days when technology is not as advanced compared to the modern days..妈妈好伟大阿！ T_T

I will recommend first time parents to go for some form of antenatal class. Not only to gain the correct knowledge about the entire process of child birth to child care but I believe it's a good way to bond with your partner and get him on board with you in this exciting journey. ^.^ I feel that through this course, my hubz is able to better empathise what I'm going through and learn some useful techniques to make me feel better instead of just listening to my whines. >.<

Me and the love of my life <3 td="">

Thats all for my sharing! Hopefully it gives you new mummies out there some insights who are keen to attend the antenatal class. Ciao~!