shopping for baby.

here are a couple (okay, my mistake - A LOT) of things that need to be prepared before baby (aka pipit) arrives:

FURNITURE and BIG THINGS
baby crib/playpen, bassinet (or both if you have money to spend)
baby tub (and what goes with it like cloth/ sponge tub supporters & seaters)
stroller
baby seater or bouncer
diaper changing table (some cribs have diaper changers attached to them)
baby mattress
diaper pail
dresser for clothing storage


CRIB EXTRAS

fitted crib sheets (a couple of them, since babies are pee machines)
waterproof pads (can also be used for diaper changing)
comforter sets/extra sheets (to cover the waterproof pads to allow air circulation)

studies have shown that babies don't need pillows or anything else in their crib as these extra things may be dangerous or may possibly suffocate them.

LAYETTE

a couple of:

tees ( short & long sleeved: side ties, pull-overs, kimonos)
short sleeved onesies (i like these because they look like bathing suits)
rompers and body suits (for cold nights)
receiving blankets (also a couple as they can be used as towels)
cloth diapers (unfolded ones can double as burp cloths)
baby washcloths
socks, booties, mittens, hats


FEEDING ITEMS

breast pump (if breast - feeding)
a lot of baby bottles
milk storage bottles or bags (some baby bottles come
with sealing discs and can double as storage bottles)
extra nipples for baby bottles
bottle brush
bottle sterilizer (some sterilizers double as drying racks and bottle keepers)
drying rack
bottle keepers/containers
nursing bra, breast pads & lanolin cream (not for baby. haha)
pacifiers


DIAPERS & WASH ITEMS

disposable/cloth diapers
diaper pail
changing pads
wet wipes
baby wash
alcohol
lotion/oil/powder
rash cream/petroleum jelly
cotton pads, cotton buds
washcloths

EXTRA THINGS

first aid kit (includes medicine feeders, thermometer, nasal aspirators etc2)
nightlight
baby sling/carrier

well, these are probably the basic things one would need for a newborn. and it's weird because i'm in my eight month already (33 weeks) but i only have the layette part complete oh. the feeding items too, but they wont be here by mid - September pa because they're coming from america pa (from bear's sis and some that i ordered online). i have parts of the diaper/wash items covered (ordered baby wipes and disposable diapers in bulk) already. but other than those, i'm still not ready.

well, i would love to buy baby's mattress and sheets already but i still don't know the color of the crib. and since i'm being my usual arte and kikay self, i'd like to wait until we have Pipit's crib so that i can match the sheets with the crib color. not that the baby really cares.

oh, well. i still have seven weeks. or five. or nine. whichever. =)

baby shower for pipit star

thanks to everyone who came for pipit star's baby shower (and my b-day at the same time).
pictures will be uploaded soon. =)

GirLy Boi

see. i always felt Pipit Star was a girl.

not that i really prayed hard for my baby to be a girl. having a baby boi or a baby girl didn't matter as long as she/he was healthy. well guess what? she's a she! (funny sounding sentence.)

we went to the doctor this afternoon, and since pipit star was already 28 weeks (7 months), it was the right time to know if the baby was a girl or a boy (we had two previous ultrasounds na, for various reasons at 2months and 5months).

---

well, bear and i waited for almost an hour (madonna hospital only has one radiologist - but believe me, the doctor was very great & accommodating so it was worth the wait) before it was our turn, so this is what we did to pass the time. -->

hehehehe. we had the normal ultrasound, not the 3d/4d whatever you call that. anyway, our turn came and pipit star refused to cooperate. her position kasi was breech and her legs were in my pelvic area, so they were pressed together. because of that, the doctor had a hard time telling whether pipit was a girl or a boy.

after over fifteen minutes, unsuccessful pa rin, so the doctor told me to take a walk outside. which we did. finally when we came back pipit decided to cooperate. and so we found out.

it's a GIRL!

i found i found!!!

bear (little angel's dad) and i hung out, window shopped and had dinner at limketkai yesterday (you can actually include DID PRENATAL WALKING in the itinerary.) we were just going around, looking at some stuff when we decided to go to that toy store behind robinson's sOooOO much and made my heart jump.

the store sell playtex ventaire bottles!!!! (read my previous posts.) i may sound crazy, and yes but i have been eyeing on them for months, never mind the facts that i can't actually afford them. but they look so cute. they have this ventaire system (which makes it anti- colic), and they're bpa free. okay, so let me get this straight. avent bottles also have those features, but taking bottle design and look into consideration, these babies are waaaay more fashionable (see picture above.) bear even agrees.

bottles in threes. they're sold individually, or by five (which is called a starter pack.) i saw pink, green, blue and purple. i guess they used to be available in SM but SM phased them out, and that broke my heart. so it's really great that they're still available locally. the only downside is that they don't sell the ventairei'll wait for awhile, maybe they'll have boxes of threes.

well, if anything else, they're still available (AT A LOWER PRICE) from two manila based merchant sites moirahjing.multiply.com and babyuno.multiply.com (they ship orders too). so there. =)

leave comments

hi friends. i've been busy for quite some time. and PIPIT STAR has also been very busy moving inside my tummy. hehehe. so anyway, if you happen to drop by, do leave a comment (there's a shoutbox at the right side) - and let me know it was you who dropped by. =)

save the earth.

i came across this as i surfed through some online philippine shopping sites, and it really did get me thinking.. bitaw noh, why don't we try this when the baby arrives?

as an expecting (and super excited) mom, i started worrying about our baby expenses even before my baby bump started to show. that meant me waking up in the middle of the night to compute estimated costs of diapers, milk, vitamins and other baby needs per month. so imagine my excitement when i found out about the tushy wushy cloth diapers. they're leak-proof cloth diapers (made with fleece) that are healthier for baby (some chemicals used in making, and those contained inside disposable diapers are apparently toxic - and can cause rashes.) they look really great (since they come in different colors and can be worn on their own without shorts). aside from that, they're eco-friendly (because they're reusable and baby's poop goes into proper waste management - i.e. down the toilet and not into the landfill) and they save you a whole lots of bucks too.

at first look they seem quite expensive (at Php 300/peice), but take this into consideration:

suppose i used 10 diapers everyday for six months (baby would outgrow the size small by this time so that's my estimate), and a regular diaper would cost about php 8/piece. it would look like this:

php 8 x 10 tushy wushy diapers x 30 days x 6 months = php 14,400

that's a whopping php 14,400 in six months. if i get tushy wushies, i guess i'd only need about 15 pieces (just to be sure). that would only cost me php 4,500. or i could get 18 pieces, which would still only be php 5,400.

the question of convenience also ran though my mind, so i figured out that even if i used disposable diapers for my baby at night and during trips out of the house at an estimate of 60 disposable diapers per month, that would look like:

php 8 x 60 disposable diapers x 6 months = php 2,880

that would only come up to an additional php 2880. which would mean:

tushy wushies (php 4,500) + disposable diapers (php 2,880) = php 7,380

that's only php 7380 for the whole six months. you can add water and soap expense if you like but the thing is, php 7380 is a big, big difference from php 14,400. so you get the picture.

and to add to that, i also learned that "Disposable diapers promote aggressive consumption of both renewable and non-renewable resources and overburden landfills. Do you know that it takes 550 years for disposable diapers to decompose?"

so there. aside from doing my share in saving the earth, that would mean i would able to save more money for other things in life. guess i'm starting out good at this mommy job nah, no?

tushy wushies are available at next9.org.