One day my sister asked me how much we spend on baby's necessities. So I listed down the items and realised it really costs quite a bit just to keep baby alive and clean.
Monthly Basic Needs
1. Milk powder: 2 tins of 1.8kg @$81 each = $162
2. Disposable diapers: 6 pc x 30 days @$0.30 each = $54
3. Baby cereal: 1 pkt @$7.30
4. Wet wipes: 2 pkt @$2 each = $4
Total = $227.30
Quarterly needs
1. Baby laundry detergent: 1 pkt @$5.90
2. Baby bottle cleanser: 1 pkt @$9.90
Total = $15.80
If I'm still breastfeeding, then I could have saved $162 monthly.
If I use cloth diapers in the day and disposables at night, maybe I can save at least $30.
If I can make baby accept porridge, then I can save on cereal.
If I make the effort to wash baby's butt at each diaper change, I can save 1 pkt of wet wipes.
If I use normal laundry detergent, I can save on expensive baby detergent.
If I use normal dish cleanser, I can save on expensive baby bottle cleanser.
Well, obviously the "Ifs" are not possible for me.
See my previous post and you know why I'd rather not save the $162.
I don't want to wash soiled cloth diapers daily. Waste water, waste detergent, waste my time. I don't want to get cheaper disposable diapers as I don't wish to risk baby getting nappy rash. Neither do I want to clean up the mess if diaper leaks.
Baby hates porridge no matter how I cook it. Sweet, savory, soft, hard, watery, drier version - All rejected. As long as it's porridge, it's rejected by our fussy girl.
I don't want to carry an increasing minimum load of 8.5kg to the wash basin 6 times a day and mess the toilet and myself.
I don't want to risk baby's eczema flare up due to harsh normal detergent.
I don't want baby's system to take in too much chemicals from normal cleanser now.
Guess I've to find other ways to cut down on baby expenses!
Thursday, October 04, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Woes of a cow
Much has
been said about the benefits of breastfeeding but almost nothing about the
difficulties of it. Lactation consultants, books and websites all state there’s
no such thing as “No Milk”. As long as you nurse/pump regularly, milk will be
produced. “Demand equals supply” they always say. “The more you nurse/pump, the
more milk will be produced to meet that demand” they claimed. Even if one
hasn’t studied Economics, it’s common knowledge that supply doesn’t always meet
demand. Nor does demand always meet supply.
During
baby’s 1st week, she hardly peed or poo. The confinement lady was
worried and asked me to pump out my milk to see how much baby is drinking. I
only had 30ml. She said it’s probably isn’t enough and I should supplement each
nursing session with formula milk first while waiting for higher supply to kick
in. The first time baby had formula milk after I nursed her, she passed out
black poo (Meconium). By right she should have cleared the black poo by 3rd day
of birth, but that was on Day 6!
I belong to
the low supply group. No matter how often I nurse or what I eat, I could not
seem to meet her milk demands. It caused much unhappiness for us. I was often
frustrated and tired with the hourly nursing schedule while my baby wasn’t full
enough to take a nap after nursing. I was almost glued to the sofa as I nurse
for 30-40mins, rest 20-30mins and baby cries for milk again. When I couldn’t take
it anymore, I gave her formula milk after nursing. The first time I did it, my
baby gobbled down the whole bottle hungrily, gave a satisfied look and dozed
off for a long nap. It broke my heart. My insistence on total breastfeeding had
starved my baby instead. I thought maybe I should just go on full formula milk.
Didn’t we all grow up on formula milk anyway? I told my friend about my
difficulties and intention to stop, but encouraged by her words, I decided to carry on for 3 months.
Everyday I
looked forward to the end of 3 months. When 3rd month was close, I
thought maybe I can extend for another month. And maybe another month. Before I
realized it, I had breastfed for 6 months. I was probably used to the nursing
routine and enjoyed the special bonding between baby and me, that’s why I could
carry on. However at 6th month, I decided it’s time to stop. No more
extension. I was feeling very tired and falling sick often. That made me easily
irritable and I had no mood to interact with baby. All day I just think of
making her take naps so that I too, can take a nap.
It has been
3 months since I stopped. I do miss that special bonding but I’m still bonding
with my girl over toys, songs and lots of hugs. Although she suffers
constipation more often now (due to formula milk & semi-solids), she’s
otherwise very strong and healthy. I do not regret my decision nor feel too bad
about stopping whereas other mums can do so up to 1 year old or older. They are
efficient cows, I’m not. So why compare and make myself miserable?
Friday, November 25, 2011
Life with a little one inside
I used to think being pregnant simply meant having crazy food cravings, a super good appetite, licence to put on weight, morning sickness, difficulties walking around with a little basketball and enjoy privileged status.
I was so wrong!
While I did have food cravings, I could live without it for a few days as long as I get to eat it in the end. Sometimes after a few days my cravings go off even without satisfying it. I didn't crave for a single item for long. I think my longest record was probably Kovan Hawker Centre's ketchup wantan mee which I craved and ate for 3-4 consecutive weekends. Other than that, it was something new every other day. I never craved for sour plum but I did like sour stuff. During my 1st trimester, I was craving for a lot of junk food like potato chips, prawn crackers, french fries etc. Hubby likes to eat these junk too so we would stock up on these at home. Needless to say, I put on weight "too much too soon" as quoted by my gynae.
There were many cravings I couldn't satisfy due to dietary restrictions, some old wives' tales, some scientifc. I never knew being pregnant meant not being to eat a lot of "harmless looking" food such as half-boiled egg, stingray, crab etc. I even avoided fresh sugar cane juice as it's high in sugar content plus there's a risk of "rat poisoning" due to the storage of sugar cane at hawker centres. When I gave in to my craving for durians, I had to watch the number of seeds of durian I ate due to its high sugar and calorie content. I became a little paranoid over what I ate. Everything has to be thoroughly cooked. No salad allowed. Food has to be piping hot.
The 1 craving which I'm supposed to avoid but didn't follow was drinking tea. Having tea with milk for breakfast is a must for me. Without it I'm restless for the morning, plus I can't do my toilet business. Sounds strange, but tea with milk has a laxative effect on me. On hot days, I drink iced lemon tea during lunch or dinner. But people tell me tea is very "cooling" and should be avoided. It contains caffaine which isn't good for baby as well. However I simply couldn't resist it. I still have my daily cup of tea throughout pregnancy. If I exceed the 1 cup quota in a day, I try not to drink any the next day.
I plan to attack a list of food once baby's out! First on the list is salmon sashimi. Going to Japanese restaurants and seeing others eat sashimi and sushi while I can only see was pure misery. Next is crabs!! Chili crab, black pepper crab, butter crab. I did eat a little 2 weeks ago but it's not enough. I didn't dare to eat much as it's believed that if the mum eats crabs during pregnancy, the child will grow up to have "many hands", meaning everything wants to touch. Third on my list is BBQ Sambal Stingray, washed down with a mug of ice cold beer. Stingray has high mercury content and it's believed to cause bad complexion for babies, so I had to avoid it.
My appetite wasn't very good. My stomach filled up very easily and I would feel bloated for hours after that. Buffets were out. During the 1st trimester I was always hungry, especially at night, yet I couldn't eat much as it meant bloatedness which led to sleeplessness. Sometimes when we are out, I want to eat a variety of items and ordered a lot but in the end it's my hubby who had to clear all the leftovers. Luckily he has a huge appetite with high metabolism so he maintained his weight despite eating my share.
Putting on weight is expected during pregnancy but I didn't know there is a limit to how much I am supposed to put on. For normal BMI, weight gain should be between 11-16kg, the bulk of which should be gained during the 2nd & 3rd trimester. I put on 5kg within the first 3 months which gynae disapproved so I started to control my diet after that. I've put on 8kg to date and hope not to exceed 10kg by the time baby's out.
Morning sickness was mild for my case. I got it during weeks 6 - 12 of pregnancy. Usually I would feel nauseaous in the morning but would be fine by noon. No puking although appetite was affected. It didn't help that my workplace then didn't have a wider variety of delicious food so I often snacked on biscuits instead.
Gynae warned my hubby that my pregnancy hormones will cause me to be a monster at times with mood swings. Luckily for him, it hardly happened for the past 8 months. I believe because I wasn't working and had lots of rest at home, I was relatively stress-free and happy most of the time. Still that didn't mean he escaped the angry monster on that few occasions ;p
My little basketball popped up from 6th month onwards. However I could still walk a lot and at a relatively fast pace. I do not feel heavier with the big tummy. Discomfort sets in only when the tummy hardens like a rock at times. Although people tell me to rest more, I find it rather uncomfortable to sit down or lie down for long periods. I feel better when standing or walking around.
Sleeping is a challenge with the front load. Cannot lie on my back as it'll cause breathlessness and might affect baby. Lying on tummy is impossible. Best position is lie on the sides, preferably on the left. But when I lie on my side, my heavy tummy drops to the side as well and I'll feel the strain on the tummy. So now I've to sleep with pillows tucked under the tummy for support. Sleeping on the left for long is uncomfortable and I will end up with an aching shoulder. Oh, and just when I thought I've settled in a comfy position to sleep, I need to get up the bed to pee and this happens every 2-3 hrs at night!
I thought being visibly pregnant means getting reserved seats on buses & trains. No such thing here! People are usually very sleepy on public transport or living in their own mobile phone world, oblivious to their surroundings. It's hard to get a seat unless one dares to demand for it. I've been rather lucky to be offered a seat on most occasions although there are times when I've stand in a train of sleeping or busy passengers. I thought with my bump, people will be more careful around me. I didn't realise that most people are blind to bumps and I've to walk around with my arms protectively around my bump to fend off any blind rats who might knock into me.
The only privileged status I get is from my family & friends who take extra care of me. My mum brews good quality birds nest and very delicious chicken soup for me every week without fail. My brother, sis-in-law & sister helped me find out more about pregnancy stuff (coz I don't have many friends with kids). My friends always accomodate my preferred location for meet-ups and make sure I've boarded the taxi or hubby has arrived before they go off. All these little gestures by my family & friends really touched me. Soon the little one will enjoy the special treatment from them. In fact, the little princess already has a stroller given by my siblings & their spouses, rompers & pillows from my sister, rompers from my friend. My dad & sister now greets the little one inside first when they see me. Even hubby asks about the little one first when he's home. I've become #2 even before she's out!!
Despite all the discomforts & restrictions, it's nice to have a little one inside. I look forward to every gynae visit where I can see her on the grainy black & white ultrascan screen. On a recent visit, she was having hiccups while touching her head. Very cute! Everyday I get to feel her movements in the tummy and wonder what she's doing inside. Looking forward to see her in 3 weeks' time :)
I was so wrong!
While I did have food cravings, I could live without it for a few days as long as I get to eat it in the end. Sometimes after a few days my cravings go off even without satisfying it. I didn't crave for a single item for long. I think my longest record was probably Kovan Hawker Centre's ketchup wantan mee which I craved and ate for 3-4 consecutive weekends. Other than that, it was something new every other day. I never craved for sour plum but I did like sour stuff. During my 1st trimester, I was craving for a lot of junk food like potato chips, prawn crackers, french fries etc. Hubby likes to eat these junk too so we would stock up on these at home. Needless to say, I put on weight "too much too soon" as quoted by my gynae.
There were many cravings I couldn't satisfy due to dietary restrictions, some old wives' tales, some scientifc. I never knew being pregnant meant not being to eat a lot of "harmless looking" food such as half-boiled egg, stingray, crab etc. I even avoided fresh sugar cane juice as it's high in sugar content plus there's a risk of "rat poisoning" due to the storage of sugar cane at hawker centres. When I gave in to my craving for durians, I had to watch the number of seeds of durian I ate due to its high sugar and calorie content. I became a little paranoid over what I ate. Everything has to be thoroughly cooked. No salad allowed. Food has to be piping hot.
The 1 craving which I'm supposed to avoid but didn't follow was drinking tea. Having tea with milk for breakfast is a must for me. Without it I'm restless for the morning, plus I can't do my toilet business. Sounds strange, but tea with milk has a laxative effect on me. On hot days, I drink iced lemon tea during lunch or dinner. But people tell me tea is very "cooling" and should be avoided. It contains caffaine which isn't good for baby as well. However I simply couldn't resist it. I still have my daily cup of tea throughout pregnancy. If I exceed the 1 cup quota in a day, I try not to drink any the next day.
I plan to attack a list of food once baby's out! First on the list is salmon sashimi. Going to Japanese restaurants and seeing others eat sashimi and sushi while I can only see was pure misery. Next is crabs!! Chili crab, black pepper crab, butter crab. I did eat a little 2 weeks ago but it's not enough. I didn't dare to eat much as it's believed that if the mum eats crabs during pregnancy, the child will grow up to have "many hands", meaning everything wants to touch. Third on my list is BBQ Sambal Stingray, washed down with a mug of ice cold beer. Stingray has high mercury content and it's believed to cause bad complexion for babies, so I had to avoid it.
My appetite wasn't very good. My stomach filled up very easily and I would feel bloated for hours after that. Buffets were out. During the 1st trimester I was always hungry, especially at night, yet I couldn't eat much as it meant bloatedness which led to sleeplessness. Sometimes when we are out, I want to eat a variety of items and ordered a lot but in the end it's my hubby who had to clear all the leftovers. Luckily he has a huge appetite with high metabolism so he maintained his weight despite eating my share.
Putting on weight is expected during pregnancy but I didn't know there is a limit to how much I am supposed to put on. For normal BMI, weight gain should be between 11-16kg, the bulk of which should be gained during the 2nd & 3rd trimester. I put on 5kg within the first 3 months which gynae disapproved so I started to control my diet after that. I've put on 8kg to date and hope not to exceed 10kg by the time baby's out.
Morning sickness was mild for my case. I got it during weeks 6 - 12 of pregnancy. Usually I would feel nauseaous in the morning but would be fine by noon. No puking although appetite was affected. It didn't help that my workplace then didn't have a wider variety of delicious food so I often snacked on biscuits instead.
Gynae warned my hubby that my pregnancy hormones will cause me to be a monster at times with mood swings. Luckily for him, it hardly happened for the past 8 months. I believe because I wasn't working and had lots of rest at home, I was relatively stress-free and happy most of the time. Still that didn't mean he escaped the angry monster on that few occasions ;p
My little basketball popped up from 6th month onwards. However I could still walk a lot and at a relatively fast pace. I do not feel heavier with the big tummy. Discomfort sets in only when the tummy hardens like a rock at times. Although people tell me to rest more, I find it rather uncomfortable to sit down or lie down for long periods. I feel better when standing or walking around.
Sleeping is a challenge with the front load. Cannot lie on my back as it'll cause breathlessness and might affect baby. Lying on tummy is impossible. Best position is lie on the sides, preferably on the left. But when I lie on my side, my heavy tummy drops to the side as well and I'll feel the strain on the tummy. So now I've to sleep with pillows tucked under the tummy for support. Sleeping on the left for long is uncomfortable and I will end up with an aching shoulder. Oh, and just when I thought I've settled in a comfy position to sleep, I need to get up the bed to pee and this happens every 2-3 hrs at night!
I thought being visibly pregnant means getting reserved seats on buses & trains. No such thing here! People are usually very sleepy on public transport or living in their own mobile phone world, oblivious to their surroundings. It's hard to get a seat unless one dares to demand for it. I've been rather lucky to be offered a seat on most occasions although there are times when I've stand in a train of sleeping or busy passengers. I thought with my bump, people will be more careful around me. I didn't realise that most people are blind to bumps and I've to walk around with my arms protectively around my bump to fend off any blind rats who might knock into me.
The only privileged status I get is from my family & friends who take extra care of me. My mum brews good quality birds nest and very delicious chicken soup for me every week without fail. My brother, sis-in-law & sister helped me find out more about pregnancy stuff (coz I don't have many friends with kids). My friends always accomodate my preferred location for meet-ups and make sure I've boarded the taxi or hubby has arrived before they go off. All these little gestures by my family & friends really touched me. Soon the little one will enjoy the special treatment from them. In fact, the little princess already has a stroller given by my siblings & their spouses, rompers & pillows from my sister, rompers from my friend. My dad & sister now greets the little one inside first when they see me. Even hubby asks about the little one first when he's home. I've become #2 even before she's out!!
Despite all the discomforts & restrictions, it's nice to have a little one inside. I look forward to every gynae visit where I can see her on the grainy black & white ultrascan screen. On a recent visit, she was having hiccups while touching her head. Very cute! Everyday I get to feel her movements in the tummy and wonder what she's doing inside. Looking forward to see her in 3 weeks' time :)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
4 mths & counting..
4 months of tai-tai life has passed... I wonder why it feels so fast when I've nothing much to do at home! Yes, i do get very bored at home but somehow the week ends before I know it, and it's a new week again. It's as if I'm at work. Hmm, nope, I think time passes slower at work ;p
I start my day at 9am with breakfast & newspapers. 10am I'm at facebook/surfing net till noon. Go out tabao lunch then more FB or I'll go shopping till late afternoon. Prepare dinner & watch tv. When I was still doing the PT course, twice a week my afternoons were used for homework.
I don't have Monday Blues but like those who're working, I have the "TGIF" feeling on Fridays too. Coz hubby can go out with me to further places since he drives.
Left 2 more mths to end of tai-tai life and start of "huang lian po" life.... will it be good too?
I start my day at 9am with breakfast & newspapers. 10am I'm at facebook/surfing net till noon. Go out tabao lunch then more FB or I'll go shopping till late afternoon. Prepare dinner & watch tv. When I was still doing the PT course, twice a week my afternoons were used for homework.
I don't have Monday Blues but like those who're working, I have the "TGIF" feeling on Fridays too. Coz hubby can go out with me to further places since he drives.
Left 2 more mths to end of tai-tai life and start of "huang lian po" life.... will it be good too?
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Tai-tai life again
Once again I'm jobless! The last job lasted exactly 3 mths including notice period. Not actively looking out now coz I'm considering a career switch and taking up a part-time course related to it. After a couple of years in HR, I'm getting quite sick of it. It's a thankless job where we are like the personal assistant to every single employee in the company. In the past when I was in a GSS environment my phone hardly rang coz my job was specialized in HRIS. I wished then I could do a generalist role, interacting with employees. Guess the saying of "be careful what you wish for" is true coz my recent job granted my wish, in fact it was "over-granted" and I had to hang up my phone most of the time and tried to avoid interaction with employees!
It's been almost 2 wks since I started my tai-tai life and it's been great, though a little boring at times. My day starts at 9am, simple bkfast & newspaper till 10+, then go online surf net or watch drama online. Noon time go out buy lunch and grocery shopping for dinner. Early afternoon prepare dinner, do some housework or do part-time course's homework or watch more drama online. Early evening cook dinner then relax, watch tv, wait for hubby come home. After dinner, more tv time then bedtime at 11. Mondays & Weds got lessons from 7 - 10pm so I'll go back mum's place in afternoon to nuah, enjoy mum's cooking then go class with sister. I guess by attending part-time course, my days pass faster. And now with a new hobby of cooking for hubby, tai-tai life at home is quite enjoyable :)
It's been almost 2 wks since I started my tai-tai life and it's been great, though a little boring at times. My day starts at 9am, simple bkfast & newspaper till 10+, then go online surf net or watch drama online. Noon time go out buy lunch and grocery shopping for dinner. Early afternoon prepare dinner, do some housework or do part-time course's homework or watch more drama online. Early evening cook dinner then relax, watch tv, wait for hubby come home. After dinner, more tv time then bedtime at 11. Mondays & Weds got lessons from 7 - 10pm so I'll go back mum's place in afternoon to nuah, enjoy mum's cooking then go class with sister. I guess by attending part-time course, my days pass faster. And now with a new hobby of cooking for hubby, tai-tai life at home is quite enjoyable :)
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