Lia's promoted!

There wasn't a siblings gift exchange, we gave Lia a promotion gift instead!



Lia, being a preschooler will not buy the idea that her unborn mei-mei was able to pop out and buy her a gift, I didn't wanna say that mei-mei got me to buy her the gift as it'll make her think that the gift is purely from me to pacify her. Well, we all know that kids are very smart nowadays and they'll often know the reason behind for the things that you do. So, I voiced this out in the forum whilst chatting with fellow mommies and one of them, gave me this wonderful idea of giving a promotion gift instead!

I got excited, ransacked Lia's section of our wardrobe to get a suitable tee and promptly got James to bring me to Beach Road for the embroidery. We made up some excuses and left Lia over at my in-laws' house before heading off! I wanted everything to be kept a secret. The little Bambi, I bought it online from Gap ages ago planning it as a sibling gift exchange during Baby Two's time. I didn't get to use it and I've since tucked it away at the top of my wardrobe. Now's the chance, finally! ;p

Last but not least, I threw in a Kinder Joy chocolate egg for there had been this TV advert going on and on and Lia would smile to herself as she watches it. She'd told me to buy it for her, but I kept delaying it, once again, now's the chance! Hehe!

Lia's overnight bag, packed!

I couldn't sleep last night and got up to pack Lia's overnight bag. I had been sitting on it since I packed my own hospital bag and decided it's high time I should do so. I hid the bag in our store room for I thought Lia's having mixed feelings now. She cried when I first mentioned that she has to go to my in-laws' house when I deliver mei-mei, so it's rather tricky. We did brooch the subject again, and I mentioned that I'd go to the hospital alone in a cab, since Lia herself, she'd be in school and James, at work. I made myself pitiful and had the following conversation with Lia.

Lia: "No, you cannot go by yourself. Never mind, I will come back early from school..."
Me: "Why? You gonna bring me to the hospital?"
Lia: "Ya, I go with you, then ask papa come back and bring us..."
Me, beaming inside: "But papa got to work, it's okay, I'll carry my heavy bag and go by myself..."
Lia, signing: "No... must ask papa to send us..."

Well, things are looking bright now. :)

Hospital bag packed!

Yup, I used the new diaper bag as my hospital bag and it is now stuffed to the brim; very full, and to my delight, everything went in rather nicely. Let's see if it'd get messed up in the hands of James. He'd be the one lugging it of course!

Here's what went in:
1) My hospital pre-admission letter
2) Our identity cards
3) Our marriage certificate, photo-copied
4) Original receipts of antenatal package for claims
5) Hair band
6) Bandeau for wear with hospital kimono
7) A front opening night gown
8) An outfit for going home
9) 2 pairs socks
10) 10 disposable undies
11) Some nursing breast pads
12) Some sanitary pads
13) Lip balm
14) Hand sanitizer, eye glasses & contact lens
15) Toiletries & skincare
16) 2 face towels and a body towel
17) Small amount of cash - S$ 10
18) Baby Zann's set of clothes at discharge
19) Baby's wrapping blanket at discharge
20) Mittens and bootees at discharge
21) Baby handkerchief for milk spits along the way home
22) Baby sling
23) Nursing cover
24) 2 pieces diapers and a pack of wet wipes
25) Lia's promotion gift
26) A pack of chocolate digestive biscuits
27) Digital camera
28) Mobile phone charger
29) Ear plugs
30) Zip lock bags for soiled clothing and stuff
31) Extra cloth bag for gifts and stuff

Diapers stock-up!

For Lia's time, we were pretty inexperienced being first time parents and we didn't know what to expect when it comes to baby diapers. My sister-in-law recommended Pampers, for this is the brand hospitals are using and it has got to be good. Back then, I remembered myself buying a pack of Pampers, and a pack of Mamy Poko, both in newborn sizes, and that was it. Just two packs of diapers and I am deemed ready for war. I didn't know that a breastfed newborn would pass loose stools frequently, and I certainly didn't know that they need up to - was it eight pieces? of diapers a day. (My sister-in-law's babies were formula-fed) As a result, we spent a quite a lot of time (James had to go buy two packs every week because we were afraid to stock up in case baby gets an allergy or outgrew it!) and money during the confinement month on Pampers diapers for Lia.

This time round, we grew smarter. I started sourcing for good and economical baby diapers, and when I saw Gmarket's sale on Huggies Ultra, we jumped at the chance to stock up!

Well, we could always sell it off online should baby Zann outgrows any of the sizes. Anyway, Huggies Ultra seemed a good choice for it was "clinically proven to help prevent diaper rash", and I do use a diaper cream diligently on my babies' butt, so I guess there shouldn't be a problem. So in all, we had 9 cartons of diapers sitting in one corner of our living room, and that was like 1,632 pieces in all!

3 cartons of newborn size - a total of 24 packs,

4 cartons of size S - a total of 16 packs,

2 cartons of size M - a total of 8 packs.

Total diapers worth (as per Gmarket prices which unfortunately were higher than the market rate) = S$ 600.64

We paid: S$ 384.64

The savings: S$ 216.00 (35% less)

Baby Zann used up a carton (8 packs of 24's) of newborn size in the confinement month, finished another carton when she reached her second month and she outgrew it. I easily off-loaded the remaining carton of newborn diapers, online.

A further breakdown on the cost...

24 packs of newborn size (24's/pack)
S$8.90 - S$4.50 discount = S$ 4.40 (18 cents per piece)

16 packs of S size (44's/pack)
S$15.24 - S$4.50 discount = S$ 10.74 (24 cents per piece)

8 packs of M size (40's + 4's/pack)
S$17.90 - S$4.50 = S$ 13.40 (30 cents per piece)

IKEA Trofast cabinet & changing table

For Lia's time, we didn't have a changing table. I've always thought that it was dangerous, and that Lia would roll off and fall to the floor. During my confinement over at my in-laws' house, I changed Lia in her cot. It wasn't good at all as I had to bend over and I suffered from backaches. Not to mention the accidents we've got, Lia's cot sheets got stained with pee and poo several times. Talk about changing cot sheets in the wee hours of the morning, not fun at all.

I also didn't like the idea of standing when I'm changing her, so I changed her on our bed when we moved back home. In that way, I could sit down and take my own sweet time while I worked my way meticulously over her. But as the time passed, I grew sick of the hassle of laying out, and then putting away those stuff - changing pad, baby creams, powder, cotton buds/pads, etc, after I'm done. And those 'accidents' that still occurred occasionally; I would wanna spend my precious time bonding with my two kids instead of doing those chores!

We went out (I went a couple of times by myself) to IKEA and looked, and pondered, and touched. I was eyeing the Hensvik range; but it was a slightly more pricey and looking at the quality and all, James preferred the Trofast.

We finally bought this for Baby Zann last week.



Total cost: S$ 323
Breakdown: Trofast frame: S$ 150, changing table top: S$ 39, changing pad: S$ 10, set of 4 drawers: S$ 59, cabinet door: S$ 25, shevles, 4 nos.: S$ 40.

I'd brought out the hand-me-down baby clothes to wash, and James popped home at lunch time to fix up the set yesterday. (I had no where else to store those clothes) The changing table was protruding quite a bit, and if we were to have a drawer in the first slot, it is really difficult to get stuff out from it, thus, we decided to leave it open, and will slot a shelf into it. The shelves were out of stock when we bought the cabinet, and that explains the unsightly opening you see now.

Big sister wants to pose and take a photo too.



Let's look inside the cabinet, it's sparse for now and those diapers, are a mere fraction of what we had stocked up. You shall see in my next post. ;p

First batch of washing - nappies!

From the pile of hand-me-downs, we sure had a lot of cloth nappies.

Ironically, for those babies born from the past few years or so - Lia's nieces and nephews, none of them actually have had cloth nappies at their bum. My mother-in-law (along with domestic helpers) was quite the main caregiver at that time and she used disposable diapers. Cloth nappies were being used for swaddling instead; which was great; considering Singapore's weather, you don't wanna overheat a baby but yet, we got to give him some security somehow. We've used nappies as a (flat) pillow for Lia's time. Nah, newborns don't need a real pillow yet but we had it in the cot to lay her head on, to catch milk spits every now and then. I am gonna do the same for Baby Zann, except that this time round, I am gonna slot waterproof sheets in between the nappy, to avoid staining the cot sheets!

Piling up

In one corner of the living room; stuffs for our new baby...

A new diaper bag

Link

And so, we now have a proper diaper bag! Well, we didn't have one during Lia's time because I never liked the idea of them. They were pricey and so, I bought big tote bags instead. I slowly got fed up because James, is terrible when it comes to packing MY bag. I am fussy, and I need my stuff to be placed in the correct manner. I have had to juggle two kids in the near future, and I think I need all the energy I have and I'm not gonna waste it snapping at James. I've thought it over, James will help with the packing this time round. The bag has got compartments, so I guess things will stay in place and be organised. This diaper bag is unisex and James pretty much liked the camo design. He could use it for work too, as he'd said it himself. What actually enticed me is its discount; slashed a 50% from S$169, we got the bag at S$84.50.