My baby shopping list - update

This is my baby shopping list. I figured I should put it online so it'll be easier for me to keep track of what I have or don't have. Easier to have it all at one glance instead of searching through my emails for it :D

Small/Cheap - Easy to get

Bath tub for baby

Baby powder
Baby shampoo
Disposable diapers - sis said she was giving me her leftovers

Cooling pad (for soreness after feeding baby) - online or babies r us

Toiletries for baby (nail clippers, etc) - walmart?

Medium - need to think a bit

Waterproof mattress cover for crib - done
Bedding for crib - done
Baby changing mat - done

Floor mat (for crawling around, etc) - going to use changing mat as the floor mat as well
Warm mist humidifier - still deciding

Expensive - need to think a lot?

Stroller - first one is the skeleton frame one?
Car seat - done

Crib - done, bought new
Crib mattress - done

Thanksgiving shopping mania

Today's Black Friday, which in the US means the start of crazy shopping sales for Christmas. A lot of retail stores, both online and physical, will have crazy discounts to kick off the shopping season. The best deals are usually found in the physical stores, but you'd need to be there at about 5am to line up and get the best deals around.

As you might be aware, I still have a lot of stuff to buy for the baby. Diaper covers, diaper liners, etc.. as well as maternity clothes for me. I'm still wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes but those are getting tight. It's a good thing that most of my clothes are baggy but I don't think those will last me any longer.

Anyway, I was looking around online to see if there are any good deals on baby items and such. There was only one website that had discount and I decided to go ahead and buy some diaper liners and wool diaper covers. I figured that I might as well make use of the discount since it was applicable to your entire order, rather than individual items.

After I made my first purchase, I decided to surf around the website further. They were also selling some maternity bras, which I needed. I was thinking of going to the mall the following day to buy it along with some other maternity pants and tops. I googled the brand of the maternity bra and apparently it's a pretty good brand, very comfortable and such. So I added 3 bras and a pack of breast pads to my shopping cart. Also decided to get some cloth diaper covers as well since no one else was giving me discounts for them. Luckily I did my diaper cover research earlier so I knew that these were pretty good based on customer reviews. I bought them in newborn, small and medium sizes, since it might come in handy when the baby grows. And I placed my second order.

Now since it's my first baby, I have no idea if I was buying enough stuff. So I decided to call the store to see if 1) they can consolidate my orders and 2) answer any questions I have regarding cloth diapering. The store is run by 3 women who are also moms and are in the maternal healthcare field. One of the owners answered and she immediately knew which order I was referring to. So when I asked about cloth diapering, she passed me to the other store partner, who specialises in cloth diapering. She took a look at my order and I told her about what else I have on hand. She recommended that I buy two additional cloth diapers in newborn and small sizes to cover any shortfalls. Plus I also asked about a baby carrier that they had online but was shown as sold out. Luckily I asked because they had the baby carrier in stock and I can apply the discount to it. These items rarely go on sale or have discounts.

So now I was going to make a 3rd order for the day. I ordered the remaining diaper covers that I needed, the baby carrier that I wanted, and an extra bra just in case. Then I remembered that my friend mentioned something about needing a breast pump and so I called the store again to see if they could help me with my question. The person who answered the phone was the one who took my call earlier and she just happened to be a lactation consultant. So I chatted with her for a while, got my recommendation, added a manual breast pump (cheapest in store) and made my 3rd purchase for the day.

My gosh, I couldn't believe that I made 3 separate purchases in the same day. The total damage was pretty close to $500. If it wasn't for the discount, I would have spent more than $600 buying all these stuff. I must have seemed like a shopaholic to the store owners. However, all these stuff were needed so I had no choice. Now I'm staying away from the website since I don't really want to see more stuff and end up buying it. At least I have the essentials now. Just need to get the rest of the stuff on my baby shopping list.

OB Appointment Update

Friday was my monthly OB appointment. So I've gained about 6 pounds since my last visit, which is good. However, I need to gain about 15 more pounds by the end of the pregnancy. That averages out to about 5 pounds per month. I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to gain that much weight. I guess I can eat more but I also want to make sure I eat well, and not just simply eating. I thought that perhaps my doctor might be a bit cautious about weight gain for me given her concern of gestational diabetes. My mom pooh-pooh-ed the doctor's weight gain recommendation because she said that these guidelines are more for Caucasians, which are bigger sized than us Asians. So I'll try to gain weight accordingly, enough but not too much. Perhaps I should ask my KL friends on how much weight their doctor recommended them to gain.

Also found out that I need to do more bloodwork. One of them is a state-required HIV test, which takes place during the 3rd trimester. But OB also want me to do another 3 hours glucose test at my 30 weeks. I was quite disappointed since I had hoped that my previous test was the last one. So I'm going to get poked again. Hubby wasn't happy either since he knows that I don't like being poked. But have no choice since doctor said so. 30 weeks would put it at around the time my mom and sis are here for their trip. So have to schedule it accordingly.

Other than that, baby is progressing nicely. Heartbeat sounded strong when she checked it with her mini-ultrasound stick thingy. My appointments will now be about 3 weeks apart, and then progressing to 2 weeks and 1 week apart as I get closer to my due date. The weight is starting to get to me with my back aches and stuff. I skipped yoga today since 1) hubby had to work, and 2) right wrist and elbow a bit achy (probably from doing too much arm stuff on Thursday). So I'm taking a break today.

More needle pokings

So last Saturday was my 3 hours glucose test. OB recommended that I go, just in case since she did have the gestational diabetes concern due to my earlier blood test. I wasn't as apprehensive about the blood test this time, as compared to the first time. Probably because I knew what was going to happen, but I still don't like it.

Anyway, my appointment was set for 7.20am and I woke up at about 6.50am or so. I slept rather lightly in the night, probably due to the expectation of being woken up early for the blood test. Hubby got up earlier since he needed to make breakfast for himself. Hubby woke me up and I got ready to go pretty quickly since there's not much that I can do, i.e. no breakfast for me.

Got to the clinic and there was apparently a line. The waiting room was sort of full too. I signed in and told the receptionist that I was pregnant and there for a 3 hours glucose test. He had me wait there and processed my paperwork before some of the people ahead of me. Pregnant woman who's been fasting for one night means priority as compared to others. You don't really want her to faint in the waiting area, right?

Anyway, waited for about 10 mins or so before my name was called. Went in with hubby and told the technician that I was really afraid of needles. That usually helps since some technician can be gentle and understanding such that it won't hurt too badly when they finally poke you. So she poked me and gave me the glucose drink. I don't particularly like the drink since it's sweet and taste rather horrible to me. But have to finish it since it's part of the test.

As I was waiting, more people came in and there were quite a few pregnant women too. I think they were all doing one form of glucose tests or another. Hubby and I sat in a somewhat cordoned-off waiting area since we got a laptop to watch a movie while waiting. The movie for that day was Wall-E. It was actually pretty good and made time pass by faster. The second poking wasn't so bad since I had another technician with a very gentle touch.

So time passed uneventfully. There were a few kids around too, so it was a bit noisy especially one girl who came in with her mom sat in the same area as us. She was very restless, and quite ill-behaved (to our eyes). She kept interrupting her mom as she was talking to another woman there, and making a mess out of a newspaper that someone had left behind. The mother was pregnant and there for the glucose test as well, though probably not as long as ours. Luckily Wall-E had finished and we were watching Merlin. She was eavesdropping on the laptop earlier and if we have a cartoon on, she would be glued behind my shoulder and make a fuss when we have to leave.

Luckily I only had one more sample to give and was on the way out. I don't think I could deal with the girl there since she seemed rather disrespectful towards the adults there. I think the mother was trying but the child was just not listening. I was thinking that if this kid was Asian, she probably would have been disciplined strictly by then. But she's not my child and I definitely will not let my child misbehave that way. However we shall see how things go.

So the last sample was given and off we went. Needed to eat since I was hungry. Went to a diner nearby and had a bison burger. It was pretty good and I finished the entire burger. That's quite a feat considering that I usually cannot finish what's on my plate. Hubby had some seafood wrap, which he finished too. Then we went back home for me to nap since I have yoga in the afternoon.

Yoga was ok though I cannot do some of the poses now due to my expanding waistline and increasing weight. Cannot put too much stress on my joints since they are looser and weaker now. But at least I'm doing something :D Will be starting my pre-natal yoga soon since it will 1) help with some of my problem areas and 2) use up my yoga pass before the expiry date. The classes are on Wednesday evenings so will need to sacrifice my Wednesday evening shows..hahahaha..

Back to blood test: Got the results yesterday and the nurse said I passed with flying colours. I won't know if I need to take it again but this will be my last test for now. I can probably ask my OB more questions when I see her this Friday for my monthly check-up. But in the meantime, one less thing to worry about. And also means that I can relax my diet just a little bit...hehehehee.. Don't worry, I'm not going to go all wild eating sweet stuff (can't take too much of it). But I can at least enjoy a bit more food :)

What to report..mmmm

Baby's progressing fine with his kicks getting more frequent, vigorous and stronger. If I put my water bottle against my tummy when he kicks, the bottle will move. I try to put hubby's hands on my tummy when baby kicks. Give him a feel of what I'm going through. Hubby's saying that he has my energy...if that's the case, we're really in for it.

Back's starting to ache a bit more. Have to be careful when I turn on my side while on the bed. Getting heavier means easier to pull muscle in the belly. I think I pulled some muscle on my right side and had the chiropractor look at it. He gave me some exercises to do to re-train the muscle back to its correct position but need hubby to help. Still going to yoga though somewhat getting lazy now. But cannot get lazy..must exercise. However, might need to start looking into pre-natal yoga classes. I'll still do my regular yoga (if I can) but I want to see what the pre-natal will offer me that will help during the labour and delivery.

Appetite's much better now. Can eat more, though in smaller quantities. I probably eat about every 2 hours or so, but I don't eat all that much. The growing baby is compressing my stomach, so less food can go in. But at least I'm eating, which is good news.

Starting to get sleepier again, however don't feel like taking afternoon naps yet. I think it has something to do with me waking up at night just to change sides. Like I said earlier, have to be extra careful when turning since I might pull a muscle.

My OB has me going to a 3 hours glucose test again. Hopefully I'll pass it again. It's such a pain, getting poked by needles 4 times in a span of 3 hours. Sucks. I'm crossing my fingers that this will be the last of any bloodwork I have to do for the pregnancy.

Shopping-wise, still haven't bought everything yet. At least we've narrowed down what we need and where to get it. Now it's just when to get it. The budget for last month was totally busted so now we're trying to spread out our purchases over the next few months. It's pretty close to holiday seasons, so perhaps there'll be some sales around for us to look into. But have to keep an eye out for it.

Lastly, my mom and youngest sis is confirmed coming in December, so I'm really looking forward to it. Can't wait to have a taste of mom's cooking :D Plus all the nice goodies I'm asking my sis to get for me from KL. Not asking for much, just biscuits from Jacob's and St. Michaels and some Kit-Kat. Will be taking them around NYC and the surrounding areas before they head off to Vermont. One highlight is going to catch Jay Chou's concert at Mohegan Sun, a Connecticut casino. I'm going with my sis to the 2am show..hahaha..crazy, huh? In my 3rd trimester and I'm going to a concert. But before you freak out, I did ask my OB and she said that there's no harm in going. So looking forward to it. My very first concert :D