Monday, January 31, 2011

Baby #2: Decisions, decisions…

With Jayvon, it was a whirlwind of uncertainty and consulting with other Mummies as to what to buy and what not to buy.

With Xavier, I think it is more a matter of trying to learn from some costlier mistakes! Hahaha!

One thing that I hold true to… online shopping for togs for my boy! I know people tell me how much I’ll save from having two boys… but honestly, I don’t have that many newborn clothes left in the storeroom! Haha! But it is okay, I love Gap clothes, and check out some of the buys I got online! He will be accompanying me to the office Nursery after two months, so I figured, these will be well put into good use!

gapxThese are TOO cute!!!

But there’re other decisions that aren’t as easy to make….

For example, the diaper challenge. During Jay’s first few months, he went through MANY diaper changes A DAY. As such, I am toying with the idea of cloth diapering! Of course, the initial capital outlay is pretty high – Bumwear’s Cloth Diaper Starter Kit goes at $245… but assuming Xavier continues his brother’s diaper changing record, I figure my breakeven point should be less 3 months on. Of course, there’s a whole encyclopaedia of words to read up on cloth diapering, so I am planning to skip all those words and make my way to Bumwear’s United Square store. Haha!

Apart from the poo, there’s also the intake. With Jay, I breastfed him, and as I was a first-time mom, and under pressure by Jay’s well-meaning grandmother, I only introduced the bottle to him at 5-6 weeks. Which, I know now, was a bit too late for this fussy little eater. At the Nursery, seeing how Mommy actually needed to work and not be an on-call cow, Jay “suffered” through the bottle feeds, but it took him at least 3 times longer to finish even 80ml of breastmilk! Eventually, I succumbed to latching him almost every other time.

BUT with Xavier… and that’s the cool thing about having a second chance at parenthood… Hey now, I know better (I hope!), and I will be expressing to let Baby X get used to the bottle from Day 1. Okay, or maybe Week 1. Haha! To cement my decision, I plonked down a big investment to get a super-duper workhorse in the shape of the Medela Pump-In-Style! I can only pray I am as dedicated as JerB is now! Hahaha! Yes – I shall keep in mind the huge savings we will enjoy as a result… all the better for Nic to buy my Loewe bag with.

Also the question about cot vs playpen.

With Jay, we got a simple wooden cot, which he quickly outgrew! I believe it was 4 months when he got a huge bump on the back of his head after rolling a bit too much inside his cot, and thus started his days of co-sleeping with Mommy & Daddy!

With Xavier, we are thinking of getting a playpen instead! Light, portable, and (hopefully) able to last him longer than the cot did with Jay! Haha!

image

So many playpens out there! Gosh, I hardly know where to even look… Am looking forward to the next Baby Fair, to hopefully snag a good deal on one of these!

And finally, the other major decision: The confinement month.

With Jay, my mother did my confinement for me, but it’s been a tad too long for her and her memory has faded as to the kind of “proper” confinement food. Of course, in all justice, I probably am not the easiest candidate, given that I hated all kinds of kidney or liver or even sesame oil *ewwwwww…*

The supposedly water-replacement during that first month – red date tea – was also neglected, as my mom only made a small glass, which I gulped down first thing in the morning and proceeded to continue with my usual routine of Milo or orange juice or even water! After a week of paltry vegetables and sad-looking chicken pieces, I rebelled and told my mom I was on confinement, not imprisoned, and that I would just eat what she made for the rest of the family.

This time round, as my while family would not be able to fit into my parents’ place during my confinement month, we decided to plonk down yet another huge sum of money, and hired a confinement nanny! She came highly recommended, so we are looking forward to an extra pair of hands to help with Xavier, which would also give me a bit more time with Jay as well.

Now, all that is left is to get a chest of drawers for Xavier’s clothes, and of course, make my final decision on the playpen and cloth diapering, and I *should* be all set for his arrival! Gonna be so fun taking care of a baby once again!

6 comments:

Mum in the Making said...

I agree with you... one fun part about waiting for baby is the shopping hehe... :) Looks like you are having fun planning all those purchases! :)

Unknown said...

Hi MamaJ: Yeah! Also fun planning for it. Not so hot when it comes to paying! Hahaha!

Unknown said...

I like the light blue shirt about Mom!

Unknown said...

@Jerb: Haha! I know! But see, to make it fair, I also *had* to get the dark blue Daddy romper! :P

T said...

Gap has really nice stripey stuff; I've a soft spot for anything stripes! Looks good on boys, methinks! Nice loots you've gotten for Baby X! :)

Grace Rays said...

so exciting to hear of baby Xavier coming!!! counting down... =D