I'm a full-time mummy

I was sharing almost 2 weeks back of my feeling bittersweet as anytime now, I won't be bringing our 2 kiddos to their church playgroup sessions. Reason being our 3rd baby is due in middle of October and I will be busy then (at least for the first 2-3 months).

I still remember when we first joined the church outing to the fire station, I asked Ben whether he liked this class and he said 'Yes'. Now after almost a month of attending the playgroups religiously twice a week for 2 hours each time, I'm very thankful we found this playgroup sessions and we managed to attend the sessions even though for a month long (for now!)

He perks up whenever I said we are going to class tomorrow and he goes 'Is it the class with the slides?'. He still does not want to attend his Sunday school classes in our church (as parents are not allowed to be in the class) compared to this playgroup sessions which I will be together with Alyson as well.

At first our 4.5 years old boy is very hesitant and takes some time to warm up to the storytelling sessions - well, any activities that requires children to sit together away from their parents/caretakers but I noticed that Ben is getting better with each session. It takes less and less time for him to warm up to the sessions. The first time he whispered to me that he wants to go home and doesn't want to be in the class and stomps his feet on the floor. Second time, no more stomping but the whispering to go home is still there. The next few rounds, no more stomping and no more saying wants to go home. He sits through the storytelling session though he still doesn't participate in the singing sessions. It's all fine with me as I can definitely see his progress with each sessions!

I also think that some of the storytelling session contributed to these progress as I can see Ben's interests perking up the first time we listened and watched the storytelling about 'Five Little Monkeys that disturbs the crocodile'. The teacher uses a hand and finger puppets to illustrate the story and it got Ben's interests! Partly because we have this storyapp on our iPad but the cool thing is Ben remembered and recited the whole thing back to daddy during dinner time. The latest storytelling session on Joshua and the Walls of Jericho got Ben sitting still and listening and watching intently, I like that!

I also like that the crafts sessions are creative and different. So far, we made elephant trumpets (the day's lesson was on animals in the zoo), paper plate lantern (the day's storytelling was about history of mooncakes and how messages were passed through secret notes slipped into the mooncakes) and paper plate lion head (the day's storytelling was about Daniel and the Lions' Den). All crafts so far were closely related to the storytelling and lessons for the day. I like the idea and relativity of this!

We joined in 2 of the church outings so far in September, one to the fire station and the other to a pet shop in a shopping mall. We enjoyed ourselves very much in both outings.

Social wise? Well, Ben does not remember his friends' names yet but I noticed he has been sharing more often and introducing himself to other childrens in the class. He also approaches children and adults there without any shyness lately. A milestone nontheless!

So with all these positive progress and milestones achieved after each playgroup sessions, I do hope to still be able to lug my 2 kiddos and baby after October month to the mother's group outing, well there are no lessons or storytelling or crafts during the mother's group outing but at least kiddos get to have free-play sessions with the toys at the center. I'm just going to pray pray pray for things to work out to our favor!

**Personal notes: Apologies but due to my paranoia of privacy and security of myself, my family and my kiddos, I am not going to reveal what is the SAHM group I'm in, the playgroup name, the area and so on. Apologies but like I said, I am really paranoid and with info like this being shown in public, I hope you can understand my reasons for doing so.

About 2 months ago, I was approached by Snoozaboo to review one of their baby sleep bag for our coming baby in October. I was initially excited as I have never tried products like this before in my product reviewing journey but sometime later as things get more overwhelming, I decided to put a hold to reviewing this as I was worried I might not be able to review it while juggling 2 kiddos and a baby.

The kind hearted and understanding folks in Snoozaboo gladly acknowledged my request to hold off the review and even offered to wait until our baby is older. Then I thought why not try it out on my 2 years old ninja girl instead of waiting till our baby comes along and grow older? I went to check their website to reconfirm and yes, their products even catered up to above 2 years old so I asked Snoozaboo whether they are OK with me doing the review with our 2 years old girl instead. Here goes my review:

Description from the product page:
"Snoozaboo makes baby sleep bags which are specially adapted for use in tropical climates. We think baby sleep bags are such a good idea that we aim to introduce baby sleep bags to as many parents in this region of the world as possible. We've put a lot of thought into the design of our sleep bags, and we've used only high-quality materials and components to make them. Our baby sleep bags are made of 100% cotton fabric for both the outer fabric and inner lining. The 0.5 tog bag has a light woven cotton lining, while the 1.0 tog version has a cotton knit lining for added warmth. We use only premium fully-combed soft cotton fabric."

Before I go into details of my review, I just want to share why I requested for the side-zip design instead of the front-zip design. For me, I feel that it is easier to unzip along the sides of the sleep bag and slot in our 2 years old girl. As of now, I can only do so when she's in her deep sleep as she is very very sensitive of being moved around in her sleep. The moment I tried to place any form of cloth or blanket to cover her up, just within seconds she will rolls to her sides and moves the cloth/blanket away. She is THAT sensitive to not wanting to be covered up! I dislike it whenever I feel her cold legs and all. Hence the reason for trying out the side-zip design sleep bag!

* PACKAGING: I received the "Ohayo" (size 18-36 months 0.5 Tog rating) side-zip design for our review. It looks so adorably cute in its own cute packaging, just flipped open the side and slide out the baby sleep bag!

* INSTRUCTIONS & LABELING: There is some brochures and information sheet that comes together with the baby sleep bag packaging. It explains the features of the baby sleep bag you are getting (side-zip / front-zip), the Tog/warmth ratings, how to care instructions and more.

* DESIGN: The "Ohayo" baby sleep bag we received features a super-cute kokeshi doll surrounded by sweet sakura on a peach-pink background! Simply adorable that I posted a sneak peek picture of it the day I received it in our mailbox!

* FEATURES: The baby sleep bag has a long zip that goes all the way along the side until the bottom which enables the sleep bag to be opened up flat.

Love that I can easily open up the sleep bag for quick nappy changes and also to place our girl in (when she's in her deep sleep!) I love the snap buttons at the shoulder parts which can be easily snapped open and close.

I also like the hidden zip tape which will ensure no exposed zip edges that may rub against baby's skin.

* MATERIALS: The baby sleep bag is made of 100% cotton for both the outer fabric and inner lining which is soft and comfortable to the touch, allowing easy ventilation.

* HOW TO USE IT? Ta-daaaa! Pictures below showing you how I sneakily placed our 2 years old ninja girl into the baby sleep bag while she's asleep. Hehehehe...

What I did was, firstly, I  unzip the sleep bag all the way then placed it flat right next to her, wait for her to go into deep sleep and slowly carried and placed her on the sleep bag. Then I slowly zip up the sides when she's still in her deep sleep. The first time I tried this method, she slept straight for 3 hours! No movement at all! She does not even kicks the cover away as there are still lots of room and space in the sleep bag to move around!

I love seeing her safely and comfortably cocooned in the cute little sleep bag! Amazing! Best part is after she woke up, I felt her legs, not hot or sweaty at all! Love it!

* WHAT ELSE CAN I DO WITH THIS SLEEP BAG?  For starters, I am happy to say that I can still nurse my girl while she is asleep in her sleep bag. Yes, even though I am 9 months preggy now, I am still nursing our 2 years old girl. So yes nursing mummies, you can still continue nursing while your little ones is safely and comfortably cocooned in their sleep bag!
 

Another time I get to use this sleep bag (when our girl is not asleep!) is when she fell ill with stomach upset. We can feel her legs are cold and she was moody and tired the whole morning. So I told hubby we will try to keep her legs warm in the sleep bag and see how it goes. She lies still in her sleep bag while she watches her favorite show on the TV throughout the whole time and after about an hour, her legs are warm again and her appetite and chirpy self returns and she was back to her cheeky self! 

To sum up my review of the Snoozaboo Baby Sleep Bag, I am glad to be able to review it and happy to know our girl is receptive to this sleep bag (she can't kick it away yay!) Definitely a keeper!

You can browse for more collections at http://www.snoozaboo.com/collection

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Snoozaboo in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

This post is to journal down the 9th month week 37 of my third pregnancy now! From 33 weeks onwards, we are going for bi-weekly check ups with our gynae. Anyway here goes the update:

* APPETITE

Sweet sugary stuff still lures me every now and then which I do indulges after resisting long enough.

* WEIGHT GAIN

My weight at this month (week 37 now) is 56.5kg, that makes it an increase of 11.5kg since I got pregnant, okay, so far so good, weight is gaining normally!

* GYNAE CHECK-UPS

Gynae said based on my previous 2 labors at 39 weeks, our 3rd child will most likely be the same, to be born around 39 weeks as well and based on the placenta shown in ultrasound scan, gynae said he doesn't foresee me giving birth so soon. Baby weight based on ultrasound scan is 2.8kg at 37 weeks preggy now - an increase of 800g in 2 weeks!!! I'm starting to freak out a bit as gynae said by the time baby is born, she might be weighing around 3kg. Benjamin was 2.73kg at birth while Alyson was 2.91kg at birth. Gulp!!!

Amniotic fluid level is normal so far and my biggest worry which is whether baby is turning head down already or not has been answered! She's down! Yay!

This time I also mentioned to our gynae that if possible, I would like to delay the cord clamping and let my hubby clamps the cord himself. Hubby looked surprise (hehehe I didn't tell him I wanted this) and asked why would I want that and I said I just want it lahhhh!!! Gynae is agreeable provided baby is born naturally and given all clear signs, else if baby is not crying after birth, he will have to clamp the cord so that the hospital staff can immediately look into baby's care.

* BREASTFEEDING DURING PREGNANCY

Yes, like what I did with Benjamin when I was pregnant with Alyson, I nursed him throughout the pregnancy. This round? Same. Nipples tend to get sore nowadays with Alyson continuing to suckle for comfort.

* BABY MOVEMENT

Baby movement very very active especially past midnight. Gynae advised to start monitoring for fetal kick count within the span of 12 hours, say from 11am to 11pm since I go to bed after midnight hehehe...

So there you go, updates as at 9 months (37 weeks to be exact) pregnancy... Overall, I am very thankful as all readings are normal and progressing well. I do get worry now and then when I think of the coming labor, even though this will be my 3rd experience, well, every labor is different you know!

Have a blessed week and thank you for reading!