Quiet Book

For Sharize's 1st birthday present, I made a quiet book for her. 

It is totally hand made by me! I sew it and kind of design it based on what i think she like! 

So based on that I decided to do a underwater theme where by there are mermaids, fishes, and the sea and so on. 

I got most of the stuff from DIASO! Cheap & good! 

Anyway here is the end product. 

Some places which i got some templates! 

http://quietbookblog.blogspot.com/p/template-directory.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlBydPfCFRI

https://cutesycrafts.com/2010/12/evans-quiet-book.html

Hope this help you to make your own quiet book for your kiddos too! 

Welcoming Baby S

On the 18th January 2017, we checked into Thomson Medical Center (TMC) to welcome our first child Baby S. Being someone who dislike drama and needs to be in control of things, I choose to under go the knife for an elective c-section. It is purely a personal decision which i know will gather a lot of opinion and hate towards, but my belief is always to each our own and all mummies no matter what they choose to do wants nothing but the best for their child and so we are in no position to judge.

Anyway, we checked into TMC at 6 plus in the morning. After registration, I was immediately admitted to my ward where i can chill and wait for the C-section at 9a.m.

The morning before setting off from home! 

Chilling in my ward. 

As I choose to stay in the Premium Single Ward, which Stanley can stay with me overnight for all 3 nights. The room was really nice, kind of like staycation in a hotel. We were anxious to meet the little one and as time past and 9a.m. draws close we get more and more excited. 

8a.m. was told to change and wait for the nurse to come in and prep me. 

8.30a.m. the nurse arrive to prep me for the op! 

After which I was wheeled into the Operating Room and more waiting take place. Wait wait wait for the doctors to arrive! 8.45a.m., both my doctors arrive; my obgyn (Dr Claudine Tan) and the epidural doc (Dr Yvonne Lim). 

8.50a.m. Stanley was ready outside for his time to step into the OR. 

Once in the OR, Dr Yvonne prep to get me all numb from waist down, I guess she is really good as it did not feel painful and what i heard from everyone, I was given laughing gas first, but they were all talking to me and I was chatting while they are busy with preparing for the operation. 

Once I was all ready they begin a little before getting Stanley in. Once Stanley is in, it all goes very fast and at 9.03a.m. our little baby was out! 

Our first family photo! 

Weighting 2.86kg and 51cm in length

this little baby is out to see us all! 

After this, it starts my stay in TMC. The stay was good really great in fact. I was very well taken care of my the nurses and doctor. 

All clean up and spending time with me! 

eyes open! 

We agree to only have vistors after 2p.m. and so visitors started pouring in! 

She was room in with me in the day, you can request for it but if you think you want to rest you can leave her in the nursery. 

But i prefer to have her as I wanna be able to care for her independently at home even if I have a Confinement Nanny. 

So much love from everyone! 

The food at TMC was great! Love the soup programme the most! And the Green papaya fish soup was sooooo yum that I got an extra serving home on the last day! 

Every meal comes with a veg, a meat a soup and fruits or desserts. 

I choose the confinement meal as I wanna be good! 

Ok besides breakfast! 

She is soooo cute!

Milk Coma! 

Breakfast is great!! 

Overall the stay was a good one with many nice experience and lots of love from everyone, I was able to walk from day 2 and I bathe from day 2 onwards too! Hee Hee. Stay Tune for more Baby S. 

Learning to be Mummy & Daddy

In one of my reflection of becoming pregnant, I listed that one of our greatest fear as parents is thinking that we know it all. Thus, in order to ensure that we we remain life-long learners, we decided to enroll ourselves to Dr Wong Boh Boi class with Thomson Parent-craft Center. With our Thomson Medical First Born Incentive (FBI) Card, we got special incentive to be in class! So if you know that you are going to be giving birth with TMC do sign up for the FBI / SBI Card!

When we were attending the class it was held at AMK Hub Level 4 Explorer Kids, which was very good for us as both our parents stays at Ang Mo Kio and I work at Bishan while Stanley works at Sembawang. So AMK Hub was an easy choice for us.

The lesson outline is as such;

Lesson 1: Physical & Mental Preparation @ AMK HUB 

• Pre & Post Natal Exercise
• Nutrition Before & After Delivery
• Myths & Traditions
• Coping with Pregnancy Discomfort
• Back Care & Postures
• Baby's Brain Development
• Instructional Video
• Q & A

Lesson 2: Pain Relief & Labour @ AMK HUB

• Pre & Post Natal Exercise
• Physiological Approach to Breathing Technique
• Changes during Pregnancy
• Signs & Symptoms of Labour
• Pain Relief Options
• Coping with Labour
• Mechanisms of Normal Childbirth
• Husband's Role
• Instructional Video
• Q & A

Lesson 3: Feeding @ SCGS

• Breastfeeding
• Feeding Methods
• Sterilisation of Feeding Equipment
• Instructional Video
• Q & A

Lesson 4: Practical Hands-on Baby Care @ AMK HUB 

• General Care
• Skin Care
• Diaper Care
• Bathing
• Coping with Crying and Fretting Baby
• Coping with Sleepy or Wakeful Baby
• Coping with Colic
• Instructional Video
• Q & A

Doctors' Talk Topics* (Complimentary) @ SCGS

• Common Problems associated with a Newborn
• Process of Labour
• Living with the In-Laws
• Transformation from Couplehood to Parenthood
• How to Raise a Brighter Child
• Pre & Post Natal Care y Thomson Chinese Medicine
• Oral Care for Expectant Mother/Baby
• Skin Care for Expectant Mother/Baby

*Note: Only 1 or 2 of the doctors' topics will be addressed during this session.

Us @ Lesson 4, the practical lesson where we practice with a fake baby

For us, Lesson 1 and 2 was helpful is helping me learn the ways to relief aches and pains and also for Stanley to give me the much needed body massage! Being preggie is tough! The part on preparing for labour was not very helpful as I have already decided on a C-Section before even being preggie; did not like the drama and waiting of labour so the decision (I know this will bring about many hate and opinion but seriously, this is my personally choice, great for those to goes totally natural! Either way, I believe all mummies are great the way the are!). 

As for Lesson 3, breastfeeding, I find the lesson helpful and it really prepare you on what to expect. Breastfeeding is NOT easy! This is our 2 breastfeeding lesson, the first was with Supermom Seminar on 13 August 2016 also by Thomson Medical Center. 

At Supermom Seminar! 

Lesson 4 is practice practice practice, it give you the theory preparation on how to care for the new born and also what to expect with them. Caring for a new born may be stressful for new mum or experience mum as well. So i believe it is necessary to learn and to know! 

At the end of the day, many may say that the lesson is useless as you are not practicing with a real baby, but to me it is useful as it give you the knowledge you need to apply when the real baby comes, rather than having no knowledge and then panic when the baby arrive! So yup we did find the lesson useful and good! 

So for new mummy and daddy it will be good if you can attend the class as well! Cheers to parenthood and also to the new journey ahead! 

Preparing for Baby S!

Determined to give my best for Baby S and our soon-to-be little family, Stanley and I go into preparation and organisation mode. I guess this is has been what we are both good at and also how we dealt with both our wedding and home renovation and thus, this is how we best know how.

The preparation process was made easier with many tools and apps which can be easily found online. Therefore, would like to share them here and hopefully mummies or mummies-to-be will find them useful as well!

1. The ultimate pregnancy to-do list by Babycenter

This website and list created by Babycenter gives you a list of items to do during each trimester. It helps pace you through the pregnancy; so that you would not panic at the start and actually just take your time and enjoy the process of being pregnant.

2. Ovia Pregnancy App by Ovuline

This is actually an app which you can download to your phone, it follows and tracks your pregnancy allowing you to know the various symptoms, do's and don'ts and more. It also answers many frequently asked questions at various point of the pregnancy. So I do find this really good! It even have weekly video of one of their staff pregnancy which you follow through, is kinda like having a friend who is also pregnant with you.

In fact, Ovia even have a range of app which begins from trying to conceive to after the child is born. How great right? 

3. 2017 SG Mummys Group on Facebook

We all have Facebook, but not many of us have friends who are pregnant at about the same time as us. So having a support system beyond home is important as we may need to rant sometime. Else it is also good to have a group of people who we can check what is normal what is not with in times of emergency; with your Obgyn is closed over the weekends or public holidays.

I was very lucky to have friends who are pregnant together around the same period as me, in fact the school with I am teaching in have 4 of us who are all preggie around the same period of time; edd from November 2016 to January 2017. Despite that, I still find the Facebook Group very helpful as we see all the different mummys problems and how we all are able to stand together and support each other. Great community spirit!

4. Baby Checklist

Manage to gather a baby checklist of the items to buy with the help of fellow mummys from the mummys group and I excel my list. I also used the list to record the items I brought and note the items which I need to get. You know, pregnancy brain so the need to record everything.

I am sharing my list here for all to download and view! Do feel free to edit the list to your personally liking as this is just what i have prepare for my little Baby S.

5. Supermom Seminar by Supermom 

When you become parents, everything goes back to zero, as it is a new unknown ground for all of us. With that being said, it is a lot of learning and reading and understanding, kind of like going back to school all over again. 

After knowing that we are expecting baby S, we sign ourselves up for a seminar with Supermom in their August 2016 fair @ Suntec. Attending such seminar prepares you for parenthood; the theory portion and also give you the network to fellow first time parents and also experience parents. 

It also give you an idea of the things you need, their prices and the product that are available out there. 

There are also other baby fair out there like Baby Market and Baby Land, but what is special about Supermom Fairs is that it always comes with seminar which parents can attend! So definitely a must go for first time parents! 

6. Thomson Parent Craft by Thomson Baby 

Being a Thomson Medical Mummy, with the First Born Incentives Card, Thomson Parent Craft Center is directly link to the card and therefore one which we will visit, but even if you are not giving birth at Thomson, you can attend the class by Thomson Parent Craft Center. And I will share more about their antenatal class after we are done with them! 

So do stay tune to our blog! 

Will end this post with this and we hope that this sharing help fellow first time parents! The journey to parenthood is never easy but always rewarding! 

Fighting all!