2 weeks to go

... before our scheduled C-section.

OB has been giving me so much stress, looks like the practice has gone crazy. I'll elaborate more about this later (or maybe not anymore).

Still have not packed our hospital bag, don't know why I keep pushing this off as we've only got 2 weeks to go.

That dry shampoo (aerosol spray type) I ordered over the web finally arrived, will try that out within the next few days. Hopefully, it works and won't give me dandruff or won't leave flakes. I'd really like to observe ge-lai as much as I can.

Shopping weekend

Did a lot of shopping for Swe-cha over the weekend and so far, it looks like we have enough to get us through the first two weeks, at least. Here is a list of what we have so far, do let me know if we're still missing anything.

Clothes

- side tie undershirts

- PJs (pants)

- onesies

- sleep and plays

- snowsuit

- caps

- booties (mom will bring more w/ her)

- mittens

- bigkis (not sure if we're using this or not) but we do have them already

- receiving blankets (for swaddling)

- sleepsacks

Bath

- towels, hooded towels

- Johnson's head-to-toe body wash

- Johnson's head-to-toe body lotion

- soft washcloth

- bath tub

Sleep

- crib (have not bought the crib that we want yet, but we do have a bassinet)

- fitted crib sheets

- pack n play w/ bassinet

- fitted bassinet sheets for the pack n play

- baby monitor

Travel & Transportation

- car seat

- Kiddopotamus cover for the car seat since Swe-cha will be born during the winter

- car seat quilt / cover still needs to be washed

- stroller frame for the car seat

- car seat protector (mat)

- diaper bag

Feeding

- Medela Pump in Style Advanced

- baby bottles

- baby bottle drying rack

- bottle and nipple brush

- still need to buy breastmilk storage containers or bags (Do I need them immediately?)

- Avent IQ Steam Sterilizer (still need to order from Amazon)

- bibs

- burping cloths

- nursing cover-up

- Boppy pillow

Grooming / first-aid

- soft brush and combs

- nail clippers and tweezers

- emery boards (still need to look for them)

- nasal aspirator

- cotton balls

- q-tips

- Infant's Tylenol

- antibiotic cream

- A&D cream (for preventing diaper rashes)

- petroleum jelly

- flexible tip digital rectal thermometer

- to get: ear thermometer, but this is not critical in the first few months

Nappies

- diapers (newborn and the next size)

- diaper champ for disposal

- wet wipes (not a lot yet, but we don't plan on using any in the first few weeks)

- wet wipe warmer & replacement pillows

- need to buy Viva paper towels for wiping baby in the first few weeks

We've got one month to go, can't wait to hold him in our arms.

Diaper Stockpile

I have to admit that I might have gotten a little bit carried away with the diapers. You see, they were on sale and I couldn't resist - what else can I say ?

I could also claim ignorance as an excuse because we had bought the two boxes of size 1-2 diapers first (up to 15 lbs), thinking that newborns take a while to get past 15 lbs. It wasn't until we were getting the Pampers newborn size and saw that it was for babies up to 10 lbs that I started getting second thoughts about the 2nd box of size 1-2 diapers.

After all, each box had 216 diapers and should last us a month. At least. Right ?

Uh, right ?

In any case, we can always return and or exchange the box for a bigger size later on.

Decluttering

We spent the weekend clearing up and making room for the baby. Hubby did the all the grunt work and I took on a supervisory role *smile*.

We took boxes out, going through papers that were haphazardly "filed" (my quickie filing method) in plastic bags and shoved into the cabinets. Not-so-important documents were scanned and then shredded.

Huge plastic containers that were labeled "misc" were opened and revealed tons and tons of clothes. After that first round of cleaning that I did the last time which yielded 3 huge bags of shirts, 1 big bag of pants and several pairs of shoes, I didn't think that I had any more but I was wrong. But then again, I hadn't gotten rid of a single piece of clothing or footwear since 2002, there's bound to be a lot.

And oh, we did clear up 2/3 of a chest of plastic drawers and 2/3 of a dresser.

Eventually, when we've set aside bags of trash and clothes I'd like to keep have been put back neatly into containers and we've gotten the piles of clothes to be donated down to this point, I decided to call it quits and asked to watch TV instead.

I'll (meaning hubby and me) tackle this over the next weekend.

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.