Things to get for the baby!

We were so excited to welcome the arrival of our baby. After the first trimester, we started buying things for our baby. The first was a pair of Croc sandals! It will be years before baby Aisyah can wear them but they were cute at that time and they were on sale.

We did our homework and still made some mistakes when getting things for the baby. When buying anything for the baby, do bear in mind your child has their own personality. What you like they might not. For example strollers, some babies like to be carried. Babies will have their likes and dislikes somethimes different from both parents. Baby will also be growing fast. If you spend too much too early, you might not have enough later on. And of course, you may have another child.

Things we could not live without:

1. Baby Carrier - We bought our first carrier the Ergobag out of desperation. Baby wants to be carried all the time and cries when we put her down. We had to carry her all the time and our hands were just tired. She gives a loud cry until she loses her voice. We can of course just ignore her and let her cry it out but that would not be right. Imagine if you are a baby, would you not be scared if you can't move, can't talk, everything looks strange and bigger than you? I would. Thats why we keep our baby close to us. Recently we bought another carrier, the Synergy Active from BabyBjorn and it is super. This carrier lets the baby face towards and away from you. It dries fast when washed and is lightweight. The BabyBjorn is easy to wear on your own.
2. Tommee Tippee Feeding Bottles - Baby experienced nipple confusion and we had to get feeding bottles that does not confuse the baby. After looking at whats in the market we decided on Tommee Tippee. Initially we used Avent bottles but baby had nipple confusion. She did not want to breastfeed after using the bottles. We tried using Breastflow from The First Years. It works, no nipple confusion. We had another problem, colic and lots of it. Thats when we tried Tommee Tippee and stuck to it until today.
3. Safety 1st Baby Bath - We bought a tub with a build in-seat and sling. Its easy to bathe the baby and both hands are free.
4. Mothercare Sleepsuits - We waited until sale time to buy these. The most practical clothes for baby to wear at home. No need for mittens and socks. The sleeves can be turned to become mittens.
5. Baby Mobile and Lamaze Baby Gym - This is a lifesaver for us. We use it when we need a few minutes to distract baby in the house and car.
6. Baby Monitor - Lets us monitor baby while she is asleep. The monitors by Motorola is great, it has little background noise relative to other monitors. They are very sensitive too and we can hear baby turning herself. If we have a choice, get the new ones with a video camera.
7. Mila Stroller & Pebble Baby Carrier - It took a long time for us to get the right stroller and baby carrier. We wanted a baby carrier that can fit into a stroller. We have to purchase both together. For a stroller, something light and sturdy is ideal. It must be easily lifted by my wife and lift by herself into the car. The child carrier needs to be safe and in our favourite colour.
8. Mamy Poko Diapers & Clothes Diapers - they work great.
9. Baby Books  - Baby Aisyah's favourites are Where is Caterpillar by Lamaze and Nursery Rhyme by Ladybird.

Are You Pregrant?

"I am hungry" said my wife. "Can we go out and have a bite in McDonald's?". "Sure", I said. "We can go out in 5 hours time. Its 2am, how can you be hungry?"

On that night I suspected my wife was more than just hungry. She could be pregnant. If she was, one of our baby's first meals would had been a Big Mac! A nutritious meal indeed. Actually I did not know if she was pregnant then. At that time it was too early to tell. Pregnancy test kits would not work. They usually need a high level of pregnancy hormone before its of any use.

What do you do when your wife is pregnant? Go shopping? Celebrate? Enjoy before the baby comes out? I feel it starts before she was pregnant. She must want to get pregnant. She needs to be comfortable and secure with the thought of being pregnant. Carrying a baby in one's tummy and giving birth is a scary thought. Years ago childbirth was life threatening. Theres a high chance of dying when giving birth to a child. Now with modern medicine the process is much safer. However there are no guarantees, giving birth is still risky.

Can a woman who desire a child be scared of pregnancy and childbirth? The short answer is yes. Why not? I wish babies were brought by cranes but they don't. Labour can be a long process. A painful process.

Some of the fears before and while being pregnant:

• Pain during childbirth
• Child's life and the mother
• Child is healthy

What can husbands to? For me I just talked about it. Talk openly and be emphatic with your wife. Care genuinely. Going for prenatal courses and visiting friends with newborn children helps too. But nothing replaces a a heart-to-heart talk.

New Parents

Its been 3 months since our baby girl was born. Why did it take this long to blog? It took that long for us to cope with the new addition to our family. After long sleepless nights, about an hour sleep a night at one time, our schedule is now stable. We seem to understand our baby better. Initially what we hear were just cries. A lot of crying. Then we heard cries for milk, cries for diaper change and cries wanting to sleep. Now our baby does not cry for milk and diaper change. She gives us baby talk to tell us what she wants. How fast she had grown. We as parent had grown a lot too, learning every step of the way. Here is our adventures in parenthood!

After 9 months of waiting, my wife and I were happy and relieved to finally see our baby. We had ultrasound scans, 4D scans, test. That were not enough. We did not know if our baby was going to be OK. At one stage of the pregnancy, baby was in breech position and this just increased our fears. Will our child be OK? She did come out ok and turned close to the delivery date. Phew, What a relief. I was there at the delivery room from the night before. After my wife was induced, we had to just wait for the baby to come out. The maternity room was cold too. I just hope the service in the hospital was not as warm as the room.

"Riinngggg". There my handphone was ringging again. Gosh, its the office. They know my wife is delivering today, why are they calling. What is just so important? I finally called back my office only to find out they need some document which I had sent earlier. Hmmm. My wife is furious at this moment. I was suppose to focus on her delivery now. I rushed out to find a computer in the hospital. Just my luck, theres a public terminal on the top floor. I rushed up and re-sent a quick email and rushed down to join her back at the maternity room. Thank god the baby did not come out when I was away.

"Weekkkkk!" Our baby came out crying. A beautiful baby girl. Gosh, I can't believe she is so energetic and big too. Her hands were moving everywhere. No wonder my wife was complaining on how tired she is during pregnancy. And theres blood . A lot of blood. Blood on the floor! I had some blood splatters on me too. I cannot forget this moment. At that moment I was concerned for my wife after seeing a lot of blood coming out of her. I was afraid for the baby .....will she be ok? The delivery was fine, the doctor told me. I do hope so. I hope both are OK.

After the first cry, everything seems to move so fast. Everyone in the maternity room knows what they are doing. Like clockwork everyone did what they are suppose to do. The nurse was cleaning and warming the baby. The gynae and other nurses was tending to my wife. There were other people but I don't know who they are. I was overwhelmed looking at all these activity. I could see the gynae taking some blood from the umbilical cord for the blood cord banking we subscribed. I just remembered, I have to call the company to pick-up the blood samples. I wonder what other things I have to do from now......now that I am a parent.