A Cuppa

I like to have my cuppa herbal brew each morning. Not with my breastfast, but generally about 15minutes or so after, as I'm reading the papers, nursing the baby or just getting my things ready for that day. No sugar, just fresh clean & green taste.

I like to make the drink fresh each time instead of a big pot. And I find these fillable teabags that you can buy from most supermarkets very convenient for use with loose dry herbs. I like a thicker brew, so would put 2 teaspoons of the loose herbs in one bag, fill it with hot water from the airpot and leave it to steep for around 10 to 15 minutes.

As for the loose herbs, I like to empty them into an airtight container, as it's easier to scoop the tea leaves from such a container as opposed to the pack that it comes in,

I store my "pot" of herbs in the freezer. Your pack of loose herbal tea leaves come with a pack of food-grade dessicant. Use this together when storing your herbs.


This dessicant pack can be *revived* by just heating in the microwave to dry, and reusing.

2 months on

Weight 5.8kg, Height 60cm, HDC 40cm

And me at 2mths postpartum?

I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight and I can wear my pre-pregnancy clothes. But .... body sure doesn't seem pre-preg in shape at all !

Oh well.... the bane of age, and of having gone through a battlezone called pregnancy. Certainly not Elasti-Girl !

Pre/Post-Natal Massage

With an aging achy body that found this last pregnancy too taxing, I found prenatal massage to be such a respite. Time-out for full-body massages were rare, and I only managed these a few times, and loved going to Aramsa for my Prenatal massage. The ambience was great, the service & the therapist were excellent. But what I indulged in mostly were prenatal foot massages. These, I managed to fit in almost every week, sneaking in the time when my elder ones were in classes. It was superb for a relaxing half-hour nap too, which was so needed, since woe ..... I'd only managed to sleep like 2 or 3 nights each week this whole pregnancy(!).

Soon after birth, I had a few days of home postnatal massage, which I looked forward to each morning, after a night of getting up for night feeds and having my joints aching. Using a belly binder (from pharmacies) helped lots in supporting my lower back and weaker abs while I moved around caring for the newborn and the older children.

I also tried a service that was newly introduced to me. Too bad that I hadn't known of this earlier! It's a TCM Postnatal Home service from Idylls TCM Professional (Tel: 67410369/96727422 Ms Chua for booking). It includes TCM consultation, postnatal confinement cooking, and TCM postnatal massage. I tried this TCM massage in my 3rd week after birth. It was really really good, working on pressure points and was very effective for my aching body. The pricing was really reasonable too!

Confinement Food

Having a full household, and being an experienced mother, we didn't need a confinement nanny this time around. I explored the options for confinement catering. There's really not all that many choices. I narrowed my choices down to Natal Essentials & NewBaby.

I toyed with the idea of ordering a week's food from each, but well, NewBaby's menu is just not what I'm used to. So it was Natal Essentials for 14days.

Natal Essentials - some hits & some misses. On the whole, acceptable. Food usually on time at 11am for lunch and 4 - 5pm for dinner. Food enough for 2 persons.

Here's one of my favourites: Red Wine Chicken


That day's lunch.


We had our own Red Dates Tea boiled for drinking the whole day, and some evenings I'd have my Quick Tonic. I am so dreaming of the Chicken "XO" Essence Tonic that my confinement nanny did for me last time. Maybe I'll try it one of these days now that the confinement catering has ended.

Here's some interesting Confinement Food Sites I found:
Yummy Confinement Foods
Chinese Confinement Foods
Chicken Rice Wine Recipe

Baby's Needs

After a 9 year gap between the babies, we sure don't have baby stuff/equipment from Baby JR's elder siblings. With experience on our side, we preferred to stay lean on baby stuff, and started off with just these minimum:

1. 5 newborn rompers
(our babies are usually not very large, so it made sense to get some newborn size)

2. Sleepsuits, 3 pieces

3. Different coloured socks, 5pairs
4. Different coloured mittens, 5pairs

5. Newborn Diapers, 1 pack
(and super-grateful to the gifts of dipes! very useful)

6. Swaddling blanket, 1 piece (rarely need)

7. Changing Mats
(2pieces - 1 smaller one for Baby bag, 1 large one for home use)

8. Nappy Rash Cream
9. Towels - thanks to a friend!
10. Sleep Positioner - thanks to a friend too!
11. Baby Slings/Pouch - I reserved my favourite.

The rest of the items, like baby bathtub, cord spirit/swabs, are in the hospital package.

And the one major "equipment" we have is a gift of an infant carseat. Most useful! Not just in the car, but at home during the daytime. When baby does sleep, we carry him to where we can keep an eye on him wherever we are in the house, and rock him when need be. And of course, it's a MUST to have in the car!

This is our Mobile Baby Changing "Station".

Everything goes into a neat little foldable "box", which is part of Ikea's drawer organiser set (which we already had lots of in the house). Reminds me of this Diaper Caddy I saw on Land's End.




The changing mat is foldable and rather large. Great for home use. Found this in a mother/baby store locally.

And no... we don't have any toys for the baby! The baby doesn't need any of that right now! Just needs his Mommy Milky, to be cuddled, played and talked with!

Hmm... and actually, I think I'd really rather have a new CD player like the one they had at the Hospital, or even it's smaller version !

Our New Addition

Baby Boy born 3.55kg, 50cm, at 41 weeks pregnancy.
Birth Order: #4.


Nursing the Newborn soon after Birth, wearing our new Abby Transitional Dress, which would be In-Store soon. The baby nursed like a pro !


With our 3 boys (yeah, our eldest girl is missing in this photo):

Packing for Hospital

My EDD is 30th July. Have started packing for the hospital. What went into my bag.

. Calming Chamomile Spray: I love this spray for refreshing myself, even in normal times.
. Perineal Wash

. Disposable Cloth-like Panties: 1 pack is more than enough for a 2-day stay!

. Ultra-Thin Extra-Long Overnight Sanitary Napkins: much more comfy than the thick hospital ones.

. 3 nursing-friendly bras : I brought mostly the camisole bras for ease of use and comfort, plus 1 nice bra for leaving the hospital in

. 2 Ally Transitional Dresses: Comfortable and Great for Breastfeeding
. 1 pair of maternity jeans & nursing top: for wearing when Going Homel.

. Personal Grooming / Care Items (the hospital will usually have toothbrush/toothpaste/shampoo/bodywash/washcloth/towel).

. Music CDs (there are cd players in some hospitals)
. OB/GYN Antenatal Care Card (for admission)
. Wallet with NRIC
. Digital Camera
. Marriage Certificate (so hubby can apply to use Medisave - also useful if you register baby's birth at hospital).

. Going Home Outfit for Baby (Romper, Cap, mittens/booties, Snugwrap blanket).

This time I really didn't pack all that much. Just about enough.

Double-duty

Need Preggie Clothes? Well, think about how our breastfeeding clothes may work for you and for the few months after you birth! I've found great success doing so, and some of you have seen it for youself!

Initially, I got by with styles like Mandy Solds, Mandy Stripes, Lavinia Graphic, Lavinia Plain, and Rachel, until my 5th month of pregnancy. I also found Belle Paisley to be rather flattering.

And on to the beyond 5 to 6 mths stage, my wardrobe I kept grabbing styles lke Selina & Cindy as part of my everyday wear with jeans. These were comfy and gave a sleek look. Selina was my absolute fave this pregnancy, must say! Had them in several colours! And wore them until my 9th month!

Some of the other styles that worked for me until my 8th or 9th month are:
Calla V-Neck
Liana Short-Sleeve
Claire Polo
Deana Long-Sleeve
Cindy Long-Sleeve
And the good thing is, could continue wearing them after I birthed!

Check them out! Our Transitional Wear range.
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/BNA.html

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And here I am wearing Selina & Claire in my 8th month.


Exhausted - no one said I had to CLIMB the mountain!!!


Check out and create your own Double-Duty Clothes! Discover what suits you best.
Our Transitional Wear range.
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/BNA.html

Pop Goes the Belly Button

Belly button pops out in pregnancy? You'd find it difficult to wear all those figure-hugging styles then. I've found using Nipple Stickers to be quite effective. Try it yourself! ;-)

There are several different styles available in stores - clothlike-cover, satin-cover. Chose the style you prefer.

Maternity Options

Asides from wearing double-duty nursing clothes, I also had some favourite maternity tops. Well, obviously I needed pants and jeans and shorts too! It's convenient that we have a maternity store in-house at E-Biz Moms!

Here's what I grabbed:
Pants/Jeans/Shorts
Swim Tankini - 1 set

And a couple of the tops that I liked:

I had this in 2 colours.


The Rose hue was pretty:


And this dress was really flattering! I wore this for several concerts and events with boots - about the safest footwear when I was 7 to 8mths preggie with a HUGE belly!


I also found the tops in the Bellychic range useful for dressing up!
http://www.bellysima.com/

6 weeks on

6 weeks preggers...crazy me scaling THE Great Wall

Real Tired after that!!!!

Just Preggers

Just pregnant.

Performing for the last 2 times with the Orchestra before I "retired" to 9 months of morning sickness.




Rainy, rainy day, and poor acoustics outdoors:

No, I'm not giving prizes for guessing which is me, but I'm in the violins and quite visible in both videos actually.