sooyindotcom

…baby is equal in weight to a Chinese cabbage — about 2 1/4 pounds. (Length: almost 15 inches, from head to heel.)

Photo and info from: Baby Center

Following my decision to exclusively breastfeed baby, I started researching about baby bottles. Yes, I know it sounds contradictory, but there will be times where I might have to express milk (I’m being optimistic that I’ll be able to produce enough milk…hahah!) and it would be nice for hubby (if he wants to!) to be able to feed baby as well.

Most of the articles and books that I’ve read recommend that mothers who want to breastfeed should avoid introducing the bottle to the baby in the first 6 weeks to prevent nipple confusion (and it’s not only bottles…pacifiers as well!). I’ve also read about some cases where even after waiting till 6+ weeks, the baby still prefers suckling from the breast vs. the bottle (and vice versa, ie. baby takes very well to the bottle and rejects the nipple after that!). So nipple confusion was something that I hope to avoid…I mean, every little bit that helps increase my chances to breastfeed baby counts, right?

There’s also been this whole hoo-hah about which bottles are BPA (bisphenol-A) free and which aren’t. Luckily, there are some websites, this one in particular, that have taken the trouble to list down the brands and the ranges within each brand that are BPA free vs. non-BPA free. In fact, they also have similar lists for pacifiers, baby food containers, etc. so if you’re in the process of researching for BPA free stuff, you should print out their helpful cheat sheet!

Anyways, obviously, I want to find a 100% BPA free bottle. With all the contaminants that’s going into food these days, the least we as parents can do is to ensure that the bottle that is used to feed our baby is certified chemical free!

So which bottle…which bottle?

Well, since baby is still safe and snug in my tummy, there was no way I could test out which bottles she would like (and if she turns out as fussy as me, we’re going to have a problem… ). At the same time, I still have to get some bottles ready since I’ll be in confinement (read: prison!) for the first 28 days. The Pigeon sterilizer and baby bottle warmer set that I bought in Singapore did come with a baby bottle starter kit. However, when I asked the sales person if the bottles are BPA free, she gave me such a roundabout and uncertain answer that I strongly suspect that they are definitely not BPA free at all.

There were so many different brands, with different recommendations and reviews. Avent, Dr. Brown, Playtex, MAM are among the few popular ones that I came across. Yet, some are BPA free, some are not and some had really bad reviews, while some mothers raved about certain brands…

I definitely did quite a bit of Googling while trying to decide…

In the end, I settled on a brand that I found while going through the BPA-free list - Adiri. I’d read several reviews online from moms that said how their babies would reject every bottle except the Adiri Natural Nurser…and I was definitely intrigued. The bottles do not look like conventional bottles, and it’s actually been designed to mimic the shape of a breast and nipple - which is a big plus on my mental pros-and-cons list. The more I read, the more convinced I was that this is the bottle that I should try.

However, these bottles do not come cheap…

The First Few Years @ Curve just brought some in recently…I happened to see them at the shop when I was buying the Tiny Love Activitot and expressed my surprise that they were being sold here as I couldn’t get much information from Google regarding these bottles in Malaysia. The manager told me that the ones I saw belonged to the first shipment…she’d also read good reviews about it and decided to bring them in. Despite the price - the bottles are retailing for about RM65+ each…like I said, not cheap - they’ve actually sold quite a few in the few days since it’s been in stock.

The US retail price is around USD$12+ ($12.99 @ Babies ‘R’ Us, $10.99 @ Amazon.com), which is considerably cheaper. Problem was, almost all of the websites that carry this bottle does not ship to Malaysia, with exception for a few like The Soft Landing*. However, the shipping fee was just wayyyy too expensive and the cost worked out to be the same as getting it from The First Few Years.

After exchanging some emails with a helpful C, who happened to be researching baby bottles at that time, she recommended that I try eBay as the cost + the shipping would be considerably cheaper. I was abit hesitant at first…while I’ve bought things off eBay before, this bottle is something that’s gonna go in my baby’s mouth…the last thing I wanted was to end up with a 2nd hand bottle! However, after checking out the seller’s reviews, etc., and contacting her directly, I decided to go ahead and purchase a pack of three as well as the bottle cap warmers (necessary if you want to warm the bottles in the bottle warmer).

As the Adiri Natural Nurser comes in three different stages - Stage 1 bottles are for babies from 0-3 months, Stage 2 are for babies at 3-6 months and Stage 3 are for babies that are 6 months and above - I purchased two Stage 1 and one Stage 2 (yes, the eBay seller allows you to mix and match). The difference between the three stages (other than the color!) is the number of holes in the teat which controls how fast the milk flows. The website recommends that if you want to continue breastfeeding but occasionally bottle feed your baby, then you should try one stage slower than the baby’s age.

I received the package from the seller pretty fast, and I was very pleased with the purchase. The top 1/3 of the bottle is soft and quite squeezable…the texture of the teat is really rather nipple-like. The bottles definitely do not look like conventional bottles…it’s considerably thicker and more rubbery. The bottles only come in one size - 8oz - but I don’t think that will pose any problems. One thing to note is that because the bottles are filled from the bottom, it cannot be attached directly to a breast pump. Again, I don’t think that’ll be a problem for me as I’ve already decided to use breastmilk storage bags (bought a box of Medela’s breastmilk storage bags when I bought the breast pump) vs. bottles when I express breastmilk so it’s just a matter of pouring the milk into the bottle and warming it up when it comes to feeding time.

Now I just have to wait till baby is born and see if she takes well to the bottle! Fingers crossed!

* For moms who are willing to fork out the moolah for the shipping fees, The Soft Landing has a great concept where they bundle a few different types of BPA free bottles together…so you actually get to try out different brands to see which one your baby takes to!

Braxton-Hicks! Heartburn!

It’s kinda weird, coz the day I crossed over into the third trimester, I started feeling both Braxton-Hicks contractions AND heartburn (2 nights in a row before I wised up and started eating smaller portions). It’s like a ‘third trimester’ switch got flicked on or something…

Anyways, now I know how a ‘false’ contraction feels like…it really is different from when baby is squirming around in my tummy. Usually, the latter just causes one side (the left more often than the right) to bunch up, whereas the former makes me feel like I had rocks for lunch.

As for the heartburn…oh…what an awful awful feeling. It feels like my dinner got stuck halfway down my esophagus and I drank a cup of acid to wash it down. Cure? Eat small portions and don’t drink too much water immediately after eating. Luckily, I’ve only experienced it twice so far…no more, please! No more!

Baby movement…her repertoire of movements now include stretching, kicks, jabs, poking, hiccuping, drumming her fingers and very likely…turning round and round in my tummy! Her hiccups are so cute…it feels like tiny little drum beats! Recently, she also started doing some kind of maneuver that feels very much like she’s trying to break free of her little ‘prison’…she pushes really hard against one part of my tummy, so hard that it actually hurts. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like someone is using the blunt end of a pencil and pressing and drawing it down the soft, fleshy part of your arm really hard…

I’ve also done more baby shopping! myBBstore.com is having a sale on their baby products, and I managed to find my Tiny Love Nature’s Serenade cot mobile there! On sale too! Happy happy joy joy!

Other than the cot mobile, I also ordered the Fisher Price Newborn to Toddler Rocker - the discount was just too good to resist!

As for the muslin clothes, bibs and changing pads…I decided to buy those from Ikea. Like I said in my earlier post, figured that these will get dirty pretty fast, so I did not really want to spend too much money getting fancy-pancy ones. I also bought two plain bedsheets and some hooded towels from Aussino. Some of you may be wondering why I just bought bedsheets instead of those pretty quilt + pillow + bolster sets. Well, blankets, quilts, pillows and bolsters are actually a big no-no in a baby’s cotl…all the baby books, websites, etc. warn against using these in the cot as it contributes to SIDS. Some even warn against using bumper pads! All in all, the only things that should be in the baby cot are:

1. A good and firm mattress
2. Tight fitting bedsheets

And, as pretty as those bedding sets may be, baby won’t be able to tell the difference and if her diaper leaks, soiled sheets are still soiled sheets…

I also found some comfy cotton pajama pants from La Senza (2 for RM129) for myself, as well as a nice soft pink robe that I can use in the hospital. Those, together with my earlier order of nursing camis from Old Navy should suffice for my hospital stay, I hope!

My room in my parent’s place (I’ll be staying there during my confinement) is slowly but surely starting to fill up with all the baby stuff that I’ve been buying. I’m now searching for a comfortable armchair that I can use when I breastfeed. Preferably one with a high back and a foot rest…considering that we are advised to breastfeed at least 8 to 12 times a day at the beginning, I think it’s worth getting a good one since I’ll be spending alot of time in that chair.

Two and a half months and counting! Wheeeee!

Last week’s class covered the following topics: Labour and birth, epidural and pain relief as well as a tour of the maternity ward.

Some of the information given was a repeat of the previous class - ie. how to identify real labour vs. false labour signs, and some can be easily found in pregnancy books - ie. types of pain relief. The lady who presented was much better than the one from the previous week’s class, though. I still didn’t manage to get all my questions answered…no matter, will just go through the list during my next checkup.

We were also shown a video on childbirth…however, the video mainly focused on the first stage of labour, with the last 2-3 minutes showing the second stage where the baby was delivered. Quite bloody and not something I would like my hubby to see in real life… …will definitely want to ensure he stays on the ‘non-gory’ side when I deliver!

The second half of the session was a tour of the maternity ward where we were shown the labour room. I found this very useful as it helped me to visualize where I’ll be on D-Day - at least I now have a clear image of how everything looks like in the room.

The thing I like very much about DSH (although other hospitals probably offer the same thing) is that the hospital is very pro-breastfeeding and rooming-in…both of which are what I want. Straightaway after the birth, they will pass the baby to the mother for skin-to-skin contact. They will then take the baby to the baby warmer which is located in the same room for cleaning and tagging before passing the baby back to the mother for breastfeeding. They also encourage walking around during the first stage of labour if the mother is up to it to speed up the cervical dilation - you can request for a walking epidural if you want to dull the pain.

Today’s class is the final one, and it will cover breastfeeding and immunization as well as the role of the father…let’s see how this one goes!

…baby is as hefty as a head of cauliflower, weighing in at almost 2 pounds. (Length: about 14 1/2 inches.)

Photo and info from: Baby Center