Review: Delivery at Mt Alvernia Hospital

After our maternity tours at TMC and Mt Alvernia, and talking to friends and reading reviews online, we've decided to go ahead with Mt Alvernia for our delivery of baby C.

My experience there has been really pleasant and I'm glad I made this choice. It's indeed as good as what I've heard and read about. The uncomfortable feeling I had during the maternity tour didn't bothered me. In fact, I did not even feel anything. Maybe there's too much other excitement for me to feel anything.

I checked in at around 5am, and somehow, it's a popular day and there's no delivery suite or bed at the observation ward for me. How lucky! Waited at the sofa area outside the delivery suites till around 8+am. The contractions were still bearable so it's still okay. I can see the nurses are trying their best to get a bed for me, and can see its a very busy/peak day for them so I wasn't angry or anything. They also kept asking me if I need milo and biscuits and if I'm ok.

At about 8+am, the brought me to one of the doctor's resting room to hook me up to the CTG machine to monitor me, as well as to give me the med to clear my bowels. Someone poped and they shifted me to the delivery suite soon after where the fun begins. Will leave my birth story to another post.

The Delivery Suite

I chose to stay in a 4 bedded ward since it's only for 2 nights, and I reckon the husband can rest better in the comfort at home. Was initially told that 4-bedded wards are not available, but dunno why I was still given a bed in a 4 bedded (which is good la!) I heard from another patient 4 bedded ward is more spacious than a 2 bedded.

I'm staying in St. Elizabeth Ward. I've heard horror stories about sub-standard service for 4-bedded at other hospitals, but I'm pleased to say the service at the 4 bedded ward here in Mt Alvernia is very prompt and the nurses are very helpful and attentive. If the level of service I'm enjoying is the lowest level, then I can't imagine how good the service are in those atas suites. One thing that really stood out during my stay there is how dedicated and committed the nurses are in their job. You can feel that they really love what they are doing and it's not just a job to them. I can feel their passion for their job. Almost all the nurses I got in contact with are wonderful. They are also very knowlegable and helpful so don't be shy to ask them all kinds of questions you have about your baby (or yourself), and even questions about breastfeeding! I personally find them more helpful than the lactation consultant since the lactation consultat is only there for a brief 15mins or so, but the nurses are always there. Ask them , get them to help you, guide you. They are all very patient and helpful.

The food from the confinement menu are pretty delicious. I wasn't expecting much from hospital food, but surprisingly, they are really good!

This is pork ribs and mushroom for dinner. Not sure if it's cos I'm starving since my last meal was breakfast (they refused to let me eat when I was starving and in labor. =/ ) but I remembered clearly this is so delicious! Each meal consist of a main course (meat), soup, veggies, fruits and a bottled fruit juice (which I gave the husband since my mum says I can only drink red dates longan water).

Mee Sua soup for breakfast the next morning with milo and a bottled fruit juice

Lunch. Braised Lion Head. This is very very good! Who says confinement food is boring?

Tea Break. Some pie and red dates longan tea.

Dinner. Ginger Spring Onion Pork

My experience at Mt Alvernia has been really pleasant and I'll definitely choose it again for my next delivery. The rooms and service are great, and coming from a fussy person like me, it really means something! :)

How to Relieve Aches & Pain: Prenatal Yoga

I've been practicing yoga for a couple of years now, and have seen the benefits it has on my body. I love how it relieve me of my back and shoulder aches, something that even massage can't really relieve. I realized that massage provides only a temporary relieve but yoga is more of a permernant solution. Little did i know the benefits to my body during pregnancy.

After getting pregnant, I did yoga occassionally as I felt tired and lazy. However, ever since reaching 20 weeks, I started having pain around the hips. When it first started, it only happens when I walk extensively, but the ache will be so bad I can't even move myself in bed. Movements such as trying to turn myself on bed, or to adjust myself can be unbearable. The pain will last around 2 -3 days. Gradually, I found the pain coming even when I did not walk much. After some monitoring, I realized the pain appear whenever I failed to stretch and do my morning Yoga stretches. Hence, despite feeling tired, lazy and heavy all rolled into 1, I forced myself to stay active and do my yoga stretches every morning. Whenever I do my stretches, I'll be pretty pain-free, or even if I do feel some pain, it subsides realtively quickly.

Here are some prenatal yoga videos that I've been following. I'm usually in a rush in the morning and rarely have the time to do a 30min workout so during work days, I'll usually modify it to a 5 - 10 min strech, which still does wonder. Whenever I feel lazy and stopped my stretches for a few days, I notice the pain creeps back again, so I dare not be lazy these days.

Yoga has definitely helped me alot in relieving me of those aches and pains. Although I still get tired easily, and can't walk for extensive period of time, I'm still pretty mobile which I'm thankful. :)






do you have other yoga videos you love? do share with me! :)

Mt Alvernia - Maternity Tour

After sharing about my TMC's hospital tour in an earlier entry, let me share my experience at Mt Alvernia.

After reading all the reviews on Mt Alvernia, I was quite determined to choose Mt Alvernia. Almost all the reviews I read are positive and full of praises (unlike the reviews for TMC which are mixed with alot of complaints and rants). One of the most common "negative" comment about Mt A that I read about is its alot more dated, which I'm fine with since its just a 2 nights' stay.

Parking is alot easier compared to TMC. However, I have a very bad feeling once I stepped out of the car. Probably due to my sensitive nature (I'm very sensitive to energy), and energy in hospitals are generally alot more negative. If you want to know what kind of bad feeling I felt, I just felt uncomfortable and scared. =/

The gathering point is at the main lobby, patient liaison center. The guide (can't remember her name again) is really patient in answering our questions. But I feel overall, information shared is alot lacking unless we asked. If I didn't do some research online before hand, and I havent been to TMC's hospital tour the week before, I probably won't have all the questions that I'm asking, and dunno what I dunno.

We were brought to see the different rooms, and like what most people shared, it's pretty dated. Some rooms are more dated than the others (which have been refurbished) though the rates are all the same. We also cannot pre-book the rooms. so it's a matter of luck when you're admitted. :)

The goodie bag they gave is pretty attractive. Lots of samples and stuffs, There Anmum Lacta (for breastfeeding mummy), Huggies wet wipes, Huggies newborn diapers, Kodomo samples, lots of random coupons, and they even give us a drink coupon at the cafe after the tour.

After going on the hospital tour of Mt A and TMC, I can't decide. If only this is as easy as choosing hotels (just read the reviews on tripadvisor and decide!). If I based on reviews, TMC is definitely out, and Mt A is the one. BUT, based on personal feelings, I'm more incline towards TMC. I just feels weird with Mt Alvernia.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.  Maybe I should just let the cost decide.


You can book for Thomson's hospital tour here: https://apps.thomsonmedical.com/hospital-tour/
Book Mt Alvernia's maternity tour here: http://mtalvernia.force.com/MaternityTourRegistration/MaternityTourRegistrationD

Thomson Medical Centre - Maternity Tour

Our gynae delivers in Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) and Mount Alvernia, and we need to decide which hospital we're delivering soon. Before doing any research on the 2 hospitals, I always thought I will deliver in TMC but after reading many mixed reviews about them, I began to have second thoughts, and decide to go on a hospital tour.

You can book for Thomson's hospital tour here: https://apps.thomsonmedical.com/hospital-tour/
Book Mt Alvernia's maternity tour here: http://mtalvernia.force.com/MaternityTourRegistration/MaternityTourRegistrationD

I'll focus on Thomson Medical Centre here.

Parking is a problem (it has always been a problem), so please use their valet service. They will park your car at this big open space public carpark (where all the lorries and buses are), and have a shuttle bus there to let you pick up your car.

Go to the information counter at level one (next to delifrance) to register your attendance, and they will give you a goodie bag, which contains lots of leaflets and some magazines. Here, we will meet with the other couples and the guide will bring us on the tour. I can't remember our guide's name, but she is a very experienced lady (those nurse that looks super senior (doesn't mean old) and experienced) that makes me feel very comfortable as if we know we're in good hands.

The tour is very organized, and the guide walks us through in details what to do, what happen in each stage. From admission, to what goes on in the delivery suite, the different options available etc. The guide was very clear in sharing with us what to do if we're admitted during the day, and what happens (and where to go) if we need to be admitted in the middle of the night. What happens in the delivery suite, what happens after you've delivered (step by step, like after you've delivered, they will bring the baby to clean up and weigh, then send to you for skin to skin, and you can start breastfeeding etc. I'm really thankful for this detailed walkthrough as it's very beneficial for a first time mum.

The rooms, from the delivery suite to the single rooms, to the 2-bedded all looks pretty nice and comfortable. Overall, I have a very good feeling there.

If I'm going to make a decision just based on what I see and feel, TMC is definitely the one. I feel really comfortable there. HOWEVER, all the negative reviews I read online are giving me second thoughts and those are stuffs I can't judge based on the tour since I have no encounter with the nurses, the cashiers etc.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

- Mama J

Mothercare Baby Fair

The past weekend has been a babyfair weekend, with Mothercare babyfair happening at Harbourfront Centre, and Babyworld Fair happening at Expo.

This is our first time going to baby fairs, and were really excited, yet cautious about the crowds and long queues we heard so much about.

Was half decided to give the Mothercare baby fair a miss after hearing about 3 hours queue during the VIP preview. I certainly do not have the time nor energy to queue for that long. but since its so near to my office, I decide to pop by on Friday during lunch time. Was already prepared to queue, but to my delight, there's only a very short queue, and they have very thoughtfully prepared lines of chairs for us to seat (very thoughtful to mothers! :)). Only queued for like 5-10 mins, and went in.

The items on my to-buy list are baby cot, swaddle cloth, breast pump, avent bottle sterilizer , milk bottles & warmer and bath tub. and I kept reminding myself "Keep Calm. No more Clothes". =p

I realized having a buying list (and keeping to it) is very important, especially when shopping for baby as we tend to get so overwhelmed and excited over all the varieties and cuteness of everything before us. There seems to be this "soooo CUTE! buy!" kind of feeling with so many things I see, or "this looks useful! dunno need or not, but maybe I should buy?" and before long, my shopping basket is filled with lots of stuffs, most of which were not on my to-buy list. I'm glad I managed to be rationale in the last minute, and kept to my to-buy list (most of it that is). Too many people have warned me of going crazy and buying too much stuffs only to realize most are useless.

Bought the Philips Avent 4-in-1 Sterilizer Bundle at $199, which includes the 4-in-1 sterlizer, a newborn starter kit which has 2 newborm bottles, and 2 bottles for 1 month and above, and a warmer. Slightly cheaper than what I saw in OG the weekend before, and they give away a free nursing cover.

Got the Aden + Anais muslin swaddle cloth finally. I've been eyeing this for the longest time after reading so much about it, but could't bear to spend $70+ on it. Finally got it at $39.95. I'm a happy mummy. :)

Bought 2 tommee bottles at $3.90 each. I dunno anyhing about this brand, but it looks pretty premium with nice packaging, and since its on sale, I just grab. hope its a sensible buy.

and yes, I did buy a few more clothes. couldn't resist when I found this adorable 2 x 2 piece set (which means 2 tops, 2 pants) at only $8. and this cute pants at $5 (i love this pom pom design on their butt). and this 2 x super cute floral bib at $5.

these 2 sets at $8!

aint these adorable?

decided not to buy the breast pump there (I'm eyeing a Spectra S2), as I realized Qoo10 is selling it at a much cheaper price.

So this sums up my first mothercare fair and I'm looking forward to the next one already. :D

- Mami J

Prenatal Education

Some people think that educating a baby starts after the baby is born. The parents will start to teach the baby simple things such as ABCD... or recognising colour. In actual fact, once the mother know that she conceive , she can start to teach the baby who is still in the womb simple things.

The baby inside the womb is able to sense things. When the mother reads a lot of books and communicate frequently to her baby in the womb " I hope you will grow up to be a good child who likes to read a lot.", the child will have a interest in reading a book.

Listening to classical music will also help the baby inside the womb for development. Often, you will hear expecting mummy or the surrounding family members or friends using vulgar languages. Many people will think it is alright to do so or the baby inside the womb will not know. However, that is not true. The baby will be able to hear or sense what mummy or people surrounding had spoken. One may ask or think how can one control other people from speaking vulgarities even if the expecting mummy don't speak? You can simply walk away if possible, just like you enter into a smoking environment which is also harmful for the baby inside the womb, you can walk away from the smokers.

How do one start to educate the baby inside the womb? Example, the mummy can visualise a image of a red apple and send this red apple image to the baby through intention and say, baby, this is a red apple. You can do it for a few minutes and stop for the day as you do not want to exhaust your baby.

Hassel free Bird's nest for mama

Hassel free Bird's Nest for mama.

It was mentioned in the internet  that Bird nest is good to be consumed during pregnancy. Bird nest is believed to be nutritious for pregnancy mama and it is generally safe to consume. However, there is lack of scientific evidence to proof the benefits of consuming Bird Nest during pregnancy.

Generally, Bird Nest provides protein, carbohydrate, total dietary fibre & sodium which is necessary for pregnancy. We preferred home prepared Bird Nest than bottled Bird Nest and happened to found Divine Bird's Nest which we found it hassel free to prepare. You need not wash, soak in water, look for feathers & remove it. Just have to follow the few simple steps below.

Directions

1) Wash the red dates. Remove seeds as the seeds are heaty if you do not remove
2) Pour about 200ml of boiled water which has been cooled into the bowl and boiled it.
3) Put the bird's nest together with the red dates & rock sugar and double boiled for 20mins.
 For softer feel, double boiled for 30mins.

Ingredients
1 packet of Divine Bird's Nest
4 no. red dates.
4 small rock sugar (add more sugar for sweeter taste)
200ml of boiled water.