More lists

I asked a good friend (who had her kids about 7 years back) what I should have in preparation for the baby. Here's her list, uncensored:

For the baby:

1) Bed and beddings
2) Bathing items - tub shampoo, slip mat, baby oil and ru-yi oil (the type that comes in bottle inside a cylinder tin box) to rub on baby's tummy.
3) Feeding bottles, sterilizer and washing brush/detergent.
4) Clothes and pins. The right detergent for babies.
5) Cloth diapers and disposables.
6) Towels, lots of hankies.

For myself:

1) Sarongs coz you'll be going to the loo quite a bit and it's easier to take off and put on than pants. Wouldn't want to be lifting your legs so much with all those wounds.
2) Maternity pads. Lots of it.
3) Are you washing your hair? I got dry shampoo coz MIL only let me wash once a week. So I dry shampoo in between.
4) Blouses that button in front. Easy for breast feeding.
5) A small mirror if you dare to check your episiotomy. I used it to apply the flavin on the stitches after each time I pee. Not a pretty sight.
6) A sarong to line the bed if you want to look at your stitches and apply the flavin.

Everything on the baby list looks pretty manageable, except I'm not sure what the ru-yi oil is. And I'm not sure where to get cloth diapers. It's a detail that my mom would probably know the answer to. I think I'll just boil everything as a method of sterilization.

On my list, items 2 and 5 are starting to freak me out (I have been studying this list the past two days). Maternity pads? Did she mean sanitary pads? LOTS of it? Good gawd, what am I gonna be gushing? The entire contents of my reproduction system?

And item 5? Sounds entirely like a gruesome scene from 300 or one of those gory medieval battle scenes in movies. Am I going to even risk peeing? I was thinking of risking swabbing in the general area if I need to and preferably not look at the massacre that will be my nether regions after I'm done with the giving birth bit.

Here's how she ended her email to me:

I hope I'm not scaring you! It's not that bad-lah. The doctors stitch really well these days so it heals really nicely, and the stitch will just melt away as the wound heals. Not even a scar. I don't know where my episiotmies were now. So there's no ugly zig-zag tears and rough stitches/scars like our mother's time.

Make sure you have two bags ready to bring to the hospital. One for you and baby. Should get it ready now and just leave it on standby coz you never know when the contractions come. Then when it's time, you can just grab the bags and go.

Oh, BTW, when you do feel your contractions, there is enough time to take a bath and shower, and wash your hair. It's not like what you see in the movies. The contractions starts really mild and takes a few hours before you dilate to 7 cm. So relax and don't panic.

If your water bursts just put on a pad, get someone to help wipe up the mess while you take a shower then go see the doctor.

Maybe I really should just consider C-section as a viable option...

Who will she look like?

As my belly gets bigger and the impending date looms closer, I can't help but wonder what kind of baby Sophia will turn out to be. More immediately, what she will look like and who she will resemble in character.

I hope she:

1. Looks like her father, has his eyes, features and abundant hair (as her crowning glory, preferably, everywhere else can take after the Chinese blood and be less hairy).

2. Inherits her father's intelligence and patience.

3. Has my resilience and a generally high threshold for pain.

4. Is healthy, of course.

5. Learns to love our cats and animals in general, like her parents.

6. Has a dose of stubborness from me, but just a little.

7. Is a happy little bundle of joy.