Classes and preparations

I've been sort of remiss in posting updates lately so I'll just lump them all together in one post.

Classes:
So we find out that there are all sorts of classes being offered nowadays that are especially geared towards expectant families.

Hubs and I are looking at getting into a childbirth/pregnancy/lamaze class, a child care & child safety class and probably a breastfeeding class too. Yep, all these have to be paid for, our health insurance will cover part of the childbirth class I think.

Cord blood & placenta banking:
Already looked into Cord-blood banking a few weeks ago and recently, I saw a brochure from another company that talks about placenta and cord-blood banking so this sent me back to square one. Fortunately, we still have some time to sort things out and decide which one is best for our family.

Chinese Herbal Supplements:
Mom prepared and brought some Chinese herbal supplements for me to take during my pregnancy and after I give birth.

There are actually 4 different types:

- one to take during pregnancy starting at the 5th month (weekly)

- one to take after I give birth (weekly)

- some pills for after I give birth (daily, for strength and added resistance)

- and some herbs again to take daily after I give birth

The picture above shows how a typical Chinese prescription looks like.

I was pleasantly surprised when I turned the package over and saw instructions printed in English! Wow :)

I asked Mom and apparently, use of these herbals aren't limited to Chinese families anymore. A lot of Filipinos buy them and you do have the option of getting some of the other more expensive ingredients. The chinese drug stores keep them packaged already as they sell a lot of these and they keep separate packets of the more expensive herbs and add them to your dosage packets if you prefer to get them and are willing to pay.

Clothes:

Clothes-wise, we haven't gotten anything for Swe-Cha yet. Mom and Dad brought some items from Manila - mostly clothes that are not readily available in the US. So we have the generic white shirts with ties on the sides, some mittens and bigkis, if we choose to use them. We also received some burpcloths and lampin (cloth diapers) which we probably won't use too much of anyway.

I can't wait to find out our baby's sex, I see all these cutesy clothes at baby stores and have a hard time resisting. The same goes for hubby too.