Everything you need to know about pregnancy and parenthood

Jes , 0 Comments

Welcome to parenthood!

It's a time of confusion, anxiety and panic as you go through a different phase of life. With a baby growing inside the mother's belly, the physical changes are obvious but mentally, psychologically and financially, all parents will need to adapt accordingly so as to provide for a new born.

Not to worry, I am here to help! I have consolidated all the tips and articles here so that you know what to look out for and go into each post if you need more details. Feel free to drop me a mail if you ever wish to know something more, I am not an expert but just another mum who went through the same stage.




For the first trimester
Read what to do during the first trimester. Be prepared for the list of all prenatal tests and shortlist a good gynaecologist. One of the best post I have written, do check out this post and prepare yourself financially with the 9 financial tips you must know for pregnancy. You can also read the guidebook for new parents that was prepared by Mt Alvernia.

For the second trimester

Get prepare on what to do during the second trimester. Go shopping! Now it's time to get the 20 essential things before baby's arrival. Good time to go for a babymoon vacation and celebrate with the end of the morning sickness.

For the third trimester

Find out what to do during the third trimester. Don't forget to pack your hospital bag soon! Baby might just surprise you but you need to be ready for the bundle of joy. Time to shortlist your delivery hospital and set aside an amount the the delivery cost. You can check out my delivery charges and my labour story for a light hearted read. If you want a guy's point of view, check out Coftea's guest post on Being Dad - Things I know but didn't understand. Are you afraid of pain and are considering epidural? I did not go for it but that does not mean you should not.



Start of parenthood

Get ready the contacts for the confinement nanny and post natal massage. You can contact me if you want me or my friends' contacts, I am happy to share! For my first baby, I did my own confinement and ordered confinement food instead. Eat more of these nutritious confinement food and snacks to recover properly.

Don't be too stressed up over breastfeeding if your breast milk does not kicks in. Continue breastfeeding as long as you can and supplement it with formula milk in the meantime. It's ok not to breastfeed exclusively and hope my top 20 breastfeeding tips can help you out. Try to get a good breast pump and eat these breastmilk boosting food to help your supply.

Below is a table I kept checking out during the first few months. Being an anxious new mother, I was worrying whether baby was drinking well and sleeping normally. Every parent goes through this stage. After a while, you will be more assured that baby will feed when they are hungry and they will sleep when they are tired. If they don't drink now, they will make up for it later. Sleeping not as much is also normal because all babies are different. This is just a guide and babies do behave abnormally during growth spurt phases, just don't get too hung up over the numbers.



For formula milk and diapers, I did some comparison of prices as I was confused about the many brands. You can read my Ultimate price review to formula milk and Ultimate price review on diapers. I actually switched from formula milk to cow milk after baby's 15 months with encouragement from my PD.

I was also contemplating between infant care vs maid vs nanny. In the end, I went with an infant care and have shared here on how to choose a good infant care.

With all the costs calculated, read up on the cost of raising a child in Singapore so that you can decide whether to go for a second baby.

I hope you find all these information useful. It's not supposed to be overwhelming and you are not alone. Contact me anytime if you need help on other topics and just focus on the positive moments you will have. Pain and lack of sleep are only for a short period of time but the returns, rewards and happiness are so much more than I could ever have imagined.

I guarantee you will feel the same way too. :)

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Jes

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