DON’T PANIC!!! – Bulbie’s Guide to Packing Your Hospital Bags

*scoff*

I’m sure Bulbie’s Guide will get you there — I hereby declare that my unwritten post “DON’T PANIC — Bulbie’s Guide of What NOT To Pack Into Your Hospital Bags” would be filled with slightly more useful information =)

But hey, i’m a first time mom in my 3rd trimester – and i’m singaporean – so I guess I AM entitled to be just that tad bit more “auntie” about the whole thing

“DON’T PANIC” – is what I’ve been telling myself

So right now, at the corner of the room, I spy SIX bags (yes SIX) of stuff which apparently I need (or so I believe) to bring to the hospital

I’m pretty sure there are things which are redundant or packed in too large a multiple — BUT, like I said — first time mom over here <– *point point*

 

Here are some of Peas’ reaction as he observes my ever-growing “nesting” corner – where I lovingly deposit my hospital bagS:

“why is there another bag there?”

“is that the bottle STEAMER?!?! – do we seriously have to bring it along?? I thought you plan to breastfeed?!?!”

“do you seriously expect us to bring all those to the hospital?”

“oh my gosh – can’t we leave the Cordlife kit at the hospital and get it from them when we actually reach the hospital?”

“wait – how many sets of clothes did you pack for ME?”

“my BREST FRIEND is coming too?” – for those who know not what a “Brest Friend” is — no it’s not my BEST Friend, neither is it Peas’ best friend (eww that would be totally odd) — it’s a breastfeeding support pillow – check out their website

“oh wait – did you pack in the notebook with all the notes from the antenatal classes? we can revise while waiting at the labour ward”

Yes… Yes indeed — nesting is hard work — too many questions too little time

 

HOWEVER, I would still like to share what i’ve packed with all of you

For The Bub

– Mittens and Socks

– Onesies

– Going Home Outfit

– Swaddle

– Diaper Bag (many thanks Peppermint Patty for the tres chic french-themed diaper bag)

– Journal Book (I downloaded the Medela App which helps to track feeding times and other activities)

Sage's Homecoming Kit

Sage’s Homecoming Kit

For The Mom

– Books and Magazines (or any last minute revision you think you might need – not that I think it would really help – hey, you’ll have the next 21 years to get all the swaddling and parenting sorted out – so why mug now? In fact, I intend to spend time doodling on my “Grumpy Doodle Book” — thanks Miss Honelope for the Christmas present)

– PJs (most hospitals do not provide)

– Breastpump (you might be able to bank in some milk the first few days when baby is busy sleeping off his/her reserves)

– Breastfeeding items – nipple cream / “my brest friend” / storage bags

– Bottle Sterilizer (Steamer) – for the breastpump parts and bottles – usually hospitals can help you sterilize – but some hospitals use Sterilizing Tablets and cold water

– 1 set of clothes to go home in

– Nursing bras and pads

– Hair Band and Hair Ties

– Sanitary Pads

– Slippers, Socks and Shoes

– Toiletries: shampoo / soap / toothbrush / toothpaste / facial cleansers / moisturisers / contact lens solution etc

– Towels

– Underwear – they recommend disposable ones

– Jacket (I also packed in my sheep hot water-bottle)

– Cord Blood Kit (if you intend to bank it in with a private bank)

– Abdominal Binder

– Feme Pad: omg ladies – I will need to introduce this to all of you – guys, don’t bother clicking the link – it’s really just a special pad

Stuff To Keep Mom & Dad Comfy

Stuff To Keep Mom & Dad Comfy

Milking Support and Devices

Milking Support and Devices

 

For The Dad

– Camera / Video Camera

– Chargers: phone / computer / camera / ipad etc

– Money Money Moneyyyy

– Necessary Paperwork: Marriage Cert / IDs / Admission Letter / Insurance Card

– Patience, Good Intentions and perhaps some ointment in case Mommy bruises Daddy’s arms while cringing in pain

 

 

so there you go — Bulbie’s Guide to Packing Your Hospital BagS

13 days countdown to EDD

xoxo

B

Visit to Carpenter And Cook

I’m so glad that Saturday Brunch at Carpenter And Cook happened!

Peas, myself and Miss Wanderlust made our way to the vintage home store / cafe located along Lorong Kilat (near Upper Bukit Timah) and couldn’t believe our luck – a parking lot right in front of the cafe, and a table without having to wait too long!

We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum at the front door

Tweedle Dee / Tweedle Dum greets you at the door

Tweedle Dee / Tweedle Dum Greets You At The Door

When we entered into the cafe, it was a visual feast! Think walking into a shop and greeted by vintage teacups and whimsical-looking typewriters, and then a beautiful industrial cabinet with a princess phone and an old-school mixer atop it… very nice

Vintage Furniture for Sale

Vintage Furniture for Sale

And then…

Hello There! Muffins and Scones and Cakes and Tarts!!! Helloooooo There!!

Through the looking glass

Through The Looking Glass

bakery / cakery

Bakery / Cakery

In the end, after a good long 10-odd minutes of “ooOOhhhsss and aaahhHHhhsss”, and “oh oh oh”s…

We finally figured it wasn’t physically possible to finish eating everything on the menu, even though I arguably am “eating for two” — we DID, in a fleeting moment of confidence thought that maybe, just maybe, if the stars were aligned, we might have been able to finish sampling ALL the food…

But alas, it was not meant to be… So we narrowed down to a couple of sweets, a couple of savouries, and then a couple more sweets (for good measure of course!)

All Ready For Tea!

All Ready For Tea!

The Savouries were delish! We ordered the “Lazy Meal Muffin” and what I believe to be the “Smashing Savoury Brioche Bun”, served with a side salad – the muffin was soft and fluffy, while the brioche bun was delightfully light

Savouries

Savouries

Next up, Sweets —

We tasted the “Very Buttery Scone – slathered with clotted cream & homemade jam

Seriously?!?! Seriously?!?!

The clotted cream really made a BIG difference in the whole scone eating experience! It was so good that I took an extra slurp (or two) of the clotted cream itself — of course Peas caught me in the act and gave me the “Don’t-Think-You-Can-Get-Away-With-That-Just-Because-You-Are-Pregnant” look — Thank God Miss Wanderlust was there to reassure the Hubs that it’s ALWAYS perfectly fine to have an extra taste (or two) of clotted cream =)

We also tried the Apple Cobbler – part of the “‘Eat Me’ Cakes” series

As Peas pointed out – “the crispy caramelized top bit is super nice” and when I was like “Really?!? Can I try?” – He broke the news to me that he was already done with it…

So to comfort myself, and “because Sage, The Bump lovesss tarts” (i’m sure),

We ordered not one, but TWO “Queen of Hearts’ Tarts” — Lemon Cream and Passion Fruit Meringue

*heavenly music*

I mean, just look at the pictures — enough said!

The buttery tart pastry and the sweet and sour passion fruit cream, topped with meringue… genius!!

I really should have ordered some to take home…

Sweets

Sweets

All in all — Carpenter And Cook is definitely worth many many more visits! I hear they also do events like Dessert Table Catering and Event Styling!

This place officially has Bulbie’s stamp of approval!!

xoxo

Peace Out (It’s Monday)

Bulbie

 

More Labour-Ward Music

Following up from my previous post on Labour-Ward Music, I finally found some time to upload a whole bunch of music onto my iPad

I was a little sad at how much I’ve neglected music the last year or so – but was reallllyyyy glad I took some time to rediscover my music library =)

Broadly grouping them into a few categories,  here’s presumably my final list of Labour-Ward Music — good to last me 7.5 hours — so God-forbid I hear RA RA RASPUTIN a third time

Some of my favorites:

The Start of a Longggg Wait

– Pure Shores — All Saints

– Home — Phillip Phillips

– Brighter Than Sunshine — Aqualung

– You Belong To Me — Jason Wade

– Seabreeze — Tyrone Wells – I ubbbber love this song – for those who haven’t heard it before 

– Learning to Breathe — Switchfoot

– Lullaby — Shawn Mullins

– Daughters — John Mayer

– Tell Him — Lauryn Hill

– Keep Breathing — Ingrid Michaelson

– Gotta Have You — The Weepies

– Patience — Guns N’ Roses

– 1234 — Feist

– Waiting For A Girl Like You — Cobra Verde

– Sea of Love — Cat Power

– Dearest — Buddy Holly

 

Happy Thoughts… ouch … Positive Thoughts…

– New Soul — Yael Naim

– 1,000 Ships — Rachel Platten – I figured this might help with the breathing – check out the video 

– Call Me Maybe — Carly Rae Jepsen

– Ra Ra Rasputin — Boney M. – I LOVE this song on Wii Just Dance – check this out 

– Accidentally in Love — Counting Crows

– Joy To The World — Three Dog Night

– Young Folks — Peter Bjorn and John

– Don’t You Worry About A Thing — John Legend

– Breathe In — Frou Frou

– Good Enough — Dodgy

 

Final Pushhhhhhhh

– Dog Days Are Over — Florence + The Machine

– Eye of The Tiger — Survivor

– Steer — Missy Higgins – 

– A Little Less Conversation — Elvis *chuckle*

– I Will Survive — Cake

 

 

wish me luck and hopefully I loop the playlist a maximum of twice =)

xoxo

B

Beware of The Guava Face

Guava Face

Guava Face

Everyone, the above is a specimen pic of Butter’s “Guava Face”

 

Beware of this irresistibly cute look – she’s got only 1 thing on her mind…

Yes – the sad truth is that she wasn’t giving me the endearing look – I was eating guava, Butter’s new found love

(since we literally stopped feeding her any yeasty food, and also stopped all chicken / beef / mutton treats, leaving her diet to just fish-based dog food – and of course, some slices of guava)

To take her mind off the extremely boring and bland diet we have put her on, she is now less picky about what to watch on TV (usually she only watches “Dog Whisperer”) – but I noticed today that she’s watching even drama shows like “Bunheads” and replays of “Glee Project 2” on Starworld

i n t e r e s t i n g

 

 

Friday Roundup – 11 Jan 2013

Lerzy's been dreaming of the weekend all week

Lerzy’s been dreaming of the weekend all week

 

TGIF!!!!

It’s time for a Friday Roundup of what’s happened over the week

5th Jan – Happy Birthday to Me

10th Jan – my parents’ 31st wedding anniversary! congrats Mom and Dad! I’ve been taking copious notes and here are a few key takeaways for a successful marriage: Mom’s always right and Dad will always be in a good mood if he has the TV remote control and a glass of wine 😉

Butter Update

The lady is doing fine and dandy this week – looks like the meds really work – she’s all up and about this week – I was surprised she even bothered to get up to greet me at the door – much appreciated gesture Butter – thank you kindly

Weekend Plans

We’ll be seeing the Gynae tomorrow morning for another check up and hopefully Sage co-operates and we can have a nice almost natural (going with the epidural) birth =)

also, FELL IN LOVE with this bakery-cafe / vintage home shop called Carpenter and Cook along Upper Bukit Timah — shall try to sneak in a decaffinated cuppa tomorrow after the check up and will post photos! hopefully they give preggers a shorter waiting time… fingers crossed

 

That’s all for now

Happy weekend!

xoxo

Bulbie over and out!

 

The Show

You know you’re a mommy (to be) when “watching the show” takes on a TOTALLY new meaning

So it’s officially 37 weeks and 1 day, and as I was gracefully floundering in the swimming pool like a sea manatee today, it suddenly dawned on me that Sage could pop  A N Y T I M E  now

A N Y T I M E

So what would it be? contractions? waterbag? the show?

Excited and scared – tick tock tick tock!

On a less exciting /scarier note — my feet are so swollen i feel like the marshmallow (wo)man – help help

 

Hello There Bump!!

Hello Sage!

Hello Sage!

Who knew that black and white ultrasound pictures printed on light-sensitive, flimsy pieces of paper would bring SO MUCH joy to a parent-to-be?!

So far, we have been extremely lucky to get an ultrasound and a print-out every single visit to the Gynae =) (and so the hoarding begins)

Being first time parents (to be), these scans are so precious to us that we got a special envelope to contain the scans, and wouldn’t even leave it in the car as the “heat might get to it” –

oh boy — that’s just the beginning – I can foresee us hoarding more baby items and what-nots — “don’t throw that away – that’s the wrapper of Sage’s first bottle” – “keep that! keep that! that’s Sage’s first burp cloth” … …

oh boy

Well, while we are at the topic of ultrasound print-outs — seriously, these things fade (and a lot faster when exposed to sunlight and heat)

So some tips — which my Gynae told us

– don’t photocopy these (photocopying machines will expose the pictures to light)

– don’t laminate (laminate machines, are hot.)

– don’t use flash cameras (note flash cameras)

Safest bet is to just use your smart phone and take pictures of these scans without flash — tadahhhh! genius!

In any case, it’s amazing how in 40 weeks, the baby grows from a small flicker of a heart beat in your body into a 3+kg baby in your tummy =)

What’s also amazing (but not glamorous at all) is the fact that in the 40 weeks of pregnancy, your entire body basically “bulbifies” itself – I, for one, feel like a rolly-polly fridge – one upside of being rolly-polly is the buoyancy in the water – think graceful sea manatee 

But hey, there ARE certain perks of being a Pregger –

Late at night – thirsty – “Daddy I’m thhhhirrrssssttyyyy” *point at water flask 0.5 metres away from you*

At the supermarket – food craving – “Daddy – Sage wants chocolates” *point*

TV time – “Daddy – Sage wants to watch trashy TV show over History Channel” *point*

Not too bad huh?

Seeing Gynae this weekend – hoping to get another scan to hoard collect =)

Bulbie over and out

Turning 29 With An Extra OOOMMMPPPHHH

So over the weekend, I celebrated my 29th birthday with friends and family – over 4 meals… yes 4 meals – starting with dinner on Friday, lunch on Saturday, dinner on Saturday and finally, tea on Sunday!

Since everyone says that I should enjoy my last birthday before I become a Mother (apparently after which, birthdays don’t belong to you anymore – you might not even remember your own birthday anymore – kudos to Mumnesia), I enjoyed as much as my belly could expand!!

This time next year, Sage would probably “ppppppffffftttttt pppppfffffttttttt” into my “her” birthday cake

First up – Dinner @ My Little Spanish Place along Bukit Timah Road (near Coronation Plaza)

We ordered a whole bunch of tapas and 2 types of paellas – Arroz Negra (black ink) and Paella de la Casa (saffron and chorizo)

Would recommend reservations to be made – the place is small and quaint, and was packed on Friday night

My Little Spanish Place

My Little Spanish Place

On Saturday, Hubs and I made our way to Bistro Du Vin (part of the Les Amis Group) for lunch. Located at Shaw Centre (1 Scotts Road), the Bistro Lunch Menu is served daily and offers a variety of French food, at extremely reasonable prices!

A very interesting place to people watch as well – we sat next to a jet-setting couple and opposite 5 tourists who seemed like they were on a bro-mance trip…

Would highly recommend the “Slow-Cooked Pork Belly” — sssooooooo good =)

Bistro Du Vin

Bistro Du Vin

Then came dinner with my family at New Ubin Seafood @ Sin Ming

Changing it up from European food, we feasted on a whole bunch of zhi char and seafood!

The hokkien mee is to die for — a MUST order if you visit the place

And as it was my birthday, I let the “Inner Trigger-Happy Asian” (noun: person who enjoys taking photos of their food) in me loose!

Seafood Mania

Seafood Mania

Finally on Sunday, my team mates had a little Dog Tea / Birthday Party – most brought their dogs (we kept the Troublesome Two at home as Fatty is still on medication and to be fair, Lerzy had to stay at home as well)

Love Dogs!

Love Dogs!

So that wraps up my 29th Birthday Bonanza – Thanks everyone for making ageing so enjoyable!

xoxo

Bulbie version 2.9

Butter Visits The Vet

Butter was thoroughly intrigued

Butter was thoroughly intrigued

So Butter’s itchy scratchy skin problems are back again – no thanks to the oddball weather we have been getting these days (and of course her insatiable appetite for rubbish)

After 2 postponements, we FINALLY braved the rain and brought her to visit the Vet Dr Chin on Wednesday night

First laugh out loud moment was the weighing in — I proudly exclaimed “come on Butter! let’s see how much weight you’ve lost with you new low carb diet”

So we launched her onto the weighing scale and to my dismay, i heard the vet assistant announce to the world “oh 32 kgs”

my heart sunk a little…

awkward silence…

Butter gained like 1 kg?!?! (when she was suppose to LOSE 6 kgs to her target weight of 25 kgs)

then a glimmer of HOPE — the assistant added “no wait no wait 31.95 kgs”

… …

hey, I’d take 31.95 kgs over 32 kgs anyday!

 

Next up, the above image — Butter decided to deposit herself in front of the main door – despite blocking the traffic coming in and out

after a few minutes, I realised she was looking at the dog “outside” – sheesh!

she was very entertained to say the least – probably thinking to herself “who’s that good looking dog outside?”

 

So diagnosis was — as Dr Chin would say “Butter’s very yeasty”

but I guess that’s marginally better than having a bacterial infection

back to the 40 days of anti-fungal meds again – oh joy…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where Art Thou Ovaltine Biscuits?

ovaltine-biscuit-final

So the extended family has been on a hunt for these biscuits over the last few days…

My Sis in Law even called up supermarkets to try to track these lovelies down

But alas – it was just not meant to be – we have been told these have been discontinued (the horrrrorrrrrr!!)

Has anyone seen these?

Only silver lining for me is that I managed to buy a huge packet of Ovaltine Mix last week, and will attempt to bake my own Ovaltine Biscuits!

Found this from a quick search for Ovaltine Biscuit Recipe

Stay tuned for more pics and reviews!

xoxo

B (for Broken-hearted Biscuit Lover)