Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Preparing for baby 101

Less than 17 weeks to go and I still have 101 things to do and buy!

Over the last 23 weeks, I basically just ate and slept as much as I could, visited gynae, booked my confinement lady and met up with my insurance agent. After clocking a few short years of parenting experience, we are less anxious and much more focused. Since we either have the hand down pieces from Emma or know what to buy, there are much lesser research and shortlisting involved.

However, I still find it crucial to have a list to help me prepare for our new baby! So, here's one working list (with * being optional items and those in blue as my own pending items) to remind and spur myself (and Hubby) on! I hope it will be helpful to those preparing for their baby too.


1. Fixing gynecologist


Confirming pregnancy with a gynae visit is probably the first thing a couple do. We went back to our trusty doctor so there is no need to browse through the long forum threads to decide which hospital, gyane and package. 

2. Confinement lady*


We will be engaging the same confinement lady whom had helped us. If you have your parents or in-laws or maid to help with the confinement, you can actually just DIY your own confinement, However, I found it really helpful to tide us through the 1st month. Beside taking care of Emma (baby), she cooked and did some housework. Note to self - prepare sleeping stuff for confinement lady.

3. Insurance*


I'm more of a "better safe than sorry" person so it's really important for me to get an insurance for baby and myself. There are many different type of policies. Once again, I signed up for the same type of insurance but still waiting for some paperwork to be done. If you need any advice, I can refer my agent!

4. Cord blood banking*


We banked Emma's cord blood privately and are considering if we should do it the 2nd round. After reading more about public cord blood banking, I think it might be more meaningful to bank publicly this round. Read more on Singapore Cord Blood Bank.
 

5. Antenatal course* and self-study


With many available resources around, we skipped antenatal course as a first-time parent to be. While I believe it would be very useful to attend one, I think it is something we can do without by doing our own reading on baby care and delivery. And for this time round, I think we would just be googling on the spot if we forget anything. I'm also praying hard that I can deliver naturally this time too!

6. Post-natal massage


I had a 5 days post-natal massage at home after birth. Though I didn't lose alot of weight immediately, I believe massage will help to rid the wind and water retention after birth. The masseur that I had was fine but I'm thinking of trying out other. I better start searching for post-natal masseur!

7. Photoshoot and other momentos*


We DIY-ed our maternity and baby photoshoot for the first time. However, I'm seriously considering going for a professional maternity photoshoot (after 30 weeks) to capture the baby bump this time. As for the baby photoshoot, we should be doing it by ourselves again!

There are also hand/foot printing, calligraphy pen and umbilical cord stamp which are very meaningful for keepsake. We did a calligraphy pen for Emma! Guess we should do another one for mei mei too!

 8. Shopping


You can't imagine the amount of items a new born would need. It can be very overwhelming for first-time parents, as it was to me. Emma was blessed with many hand downs/gifts and helped save us some money. Baby will share the same blessing since we kept all Emma's clothes and stuff! I'm having a hard time deciding when to start buying since our house won't be ready until April/May.

9. Washing and cleaning


I hope to start washing all the clothes and linens a month before! Since we are going to use back our old pram and car seat, we will be sending it for deep cleaning too!

10. Set up nursery


Setting up a nursery is surely many mummies' dream. Hopefully, we will be in time to set up a nice nursery for baby at our new home. If not, a bunting banner as a room decoration always work for me!

11. Clean up the house


Clean up the house before baby arrives as there will be no time for the confinement lady to do any thorough cleaning.

12. Stock up household supplies*


It would be useful to stock up on household supplies like toilet cleaner, tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls, toothpaste, toiletries, liquid detergent and sponge. But if all things fail, there is always online marketing!

13. Pack delivery bag


Pack your delivery bag in advance! My waterbag burst at 37 weeks (3 weeks in advance) and glad we had our bag all packed up well on time.


 Admin stuff

1. Appointment card
2. Gynae letter,
3. ATM card & cash,
4. NRIC for both husband and wife
5. Cord blood banking kit - pass to gynae before delivery
6. Original marriage certificate of parents, with English translation (if applicable) for birth registration





For Mother 

1. Go home clothes
2. Nursing bra
3. Disposable breast pads
4. Disposable cotton panties
5. Sanitary/Maternity pad
5. Sock
6. Slipper/Shoes

7. Toiletries (face wash, body wash, toothpaste, hair clip, rubber band, comb)
8. Make up
9. Towel
10. Handphone charger
11. Spare plastic bags
For Husband

1. Husband clothes and stuff if he's staying over
2. Camera (don't forget to charge and bring SD card!)
3. Car seat



For Baby

1. Baby clothes
2. Baby receiving blanket/towel
3. Socks
4. Mittens
5. Hat
6. Newborn size disposable diapers

* Some of the hospital provides the above, but ours didn't provide any other than the diapers.






14. Open baby bonus account


Submission of the online form for your child to join the Baby Bonus Scheme can be done as early as 2 months before their estimated delivery date. Lesser admin to rush after delivery!

15. Prepare for birth registration and opening of CDA account


Births should be registered within 14 days from the date of birth, including Sundays and public holidays at Birth Registrations Centre (Most hospitals have one). So, make sure the Hubby gets the following document ready for the registration. More here.

1. Notification of Live Birth issued by the hospital
2. Identity Cards of both parents
3. Original marriage certificate of parents, with English translation (if applicable)

16. Baby Name


Pray that we get some wisdom and inspiration to get baby a name with -lyn?, and similar Chinese name!

17. Prepare elder sibling, if any


Getting Emma prepared for a younger sibling might need another long post. So far, I'm going to get them exchange toys and let Emma & Hubby bring in the baby from the nursery instead of her coming in to see baby in my arms.

18. Couple time/Me-time


Life's going to be very different with a new member so some couple or me- time before the pop will definitely be sweet and encouraging!

19. Childcare options


Infant care centre, maid, nanny, family members, different work arrangement or stay home?

If you are looking for infant care centres, the process (research, shortlist, visit and waitlist) can be pretty time consuming. Some schools allow waitlist before baby's birth but Emma's school only allow waitlist after baby is born. We were thankful to get a place in time then. Now, I think we just need to have a chat with the school about placing mei mei there!

20. Baby's 1st month


You can start planning for the baby's 1st month if you managed to clear the list early! For me, I actually did a simple one for Emma's 1st month so everything was ordered and prepared during the 4 weeks of confinement.

*****

That's all I could think of now! Please share with me if you have any other important to-dos! Thank you!! I'll be back to update if any more items pop up! :)

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