I'm a full-time mummy

The recent economic crisis has meant we’ve all had to tighten our purse strings. Shopping in charity shops is a brilliant solution to saving pennies when you need to update your wardrobe. The work of second-hand shops raises millions of pounds for good causes each year not only providing much needed funds for not-for-profits but also playing a major role in recycling of second-hand goods.

Today almost anything can be bought in charity shops, from clothes to old computers, DVDs to home furnishings. Donating old belongings to these shops is a really simple way to get rid of unwanted clutter that may be of use to others, helping them make cash for clothing and other goods and continue their charitable work.

Unlike purchasing from a high street store, charity shop prices vary from day-to-day, garment-to-garment. The pricing is based on many things. Firstly the location of the charity shop will play an important part. A pair of branded jeans for sale in Oxfam in London will be more expensive than a pair of jeans in an Oxfam in a small Northern town. The condition is the next important factor, along with the price of the item when it was sold new. You can expect to find bargains in charity shops, but volunteers are well aware of the value of designer and top-quality brand goods, so you will still have to pay a good price to get your hands on these items.

The internet has made it easier for charity shop volunteers to get prices more accurate too, as a quick web search will bring up new prices or the typical bids for similar second-hand items on auction sites. You used to be able to hunt down extremely cheap but valuable antiques in charity shops, however charity shop workers are now able to find out exactly how much an old vase or teapot be worth to a collector.

When you buy second-hand items from a charity shop, you have certain different rights to when you buy new. Goods are usually sold ‘as seen’ so you have a responsibility to check products carefully for any damage or imperfections that you are not happy with. You may not be able to return goods, but if you do you are likely to be given a credit note from the shop rather a cash refund. Always keep the receipt and return the items as soon as possible.

If you do buy brand new goods from a charity-shop, then you have the same rights as if you were to buy new from another shop which is run for profit. If the item is faulty or damaged you are entitled to a cash refund.

When you wish to donate your own second-hand items, each shop will have its own donation process. Many will accept boxes and bags of goods at the counter, or enable you to leave goods outside the premises overnight, and some may also provide free collection of large, heavy items of furniture like sofas or appliances such as fridges.

Just sharing some snapshots of a brochure on taking medicines while fasting I got from the hospital during my recent pregnancy check-up. Well, I'm a Christian and I have never fasted so am not able to comment anything on this other than just sharing for information and knowledge purposes since July is a fasting month.

Please note that the brochures are in Malay language, so I will try my best to translate it to my best understanding... hope I got it right and did not leave out any vital information...

Below snapshot showing the type of medicines which will not void your fasting: Medicines such as eye drops, nose or ear drops (provided not extending to ear drums), tablets to be placed under tongue and as long as you don't swallow them, all forms on injections, ointments and plaster, gargle medicine, nasal sprays, and local or half body anesthesia forms of medicines.

Below snapshot showing the type of medicines which will void your fasting: Pills (as you need to swallow them), liquid medicines that you will need to drink/swallow, inhaler, medicines which you will need to insert vaginally, suppositories, enema, whole body anesthesia form of medicines.

Hope the above helps! Happy fasting to my fellow Muslim followers!

I mentioned in my previous post on my third pregnancy at month 6 post that I had a bit high glucose reading (8.5mol when normal range should be 6-7mol) and after texting my gynae, he adviced me to do a self-blood sugar test and to report back the results to him before he determines the next step of actions for me. Hence, this post is to share with you how to do self-monitoring of blood glucose.

Firstly, you will need to get the following items from your local pharmacy:

- Sterile lancets (needle to prick your finger to extract small amount of blood for the testing)

- Alcohol swabs

- Glucometer

- Test strips (where you drip your blood onto the strip to get reading from the glucometer)

Picture below showing you all the items required to perform your self-monitoring of blood glucose:

Now here's the steps to perform your self-monitoring of blood glucose:

Step 1: Get ready to insert the test strip into the glucometer. Glucometer will automatically turned on when test strip inserted completely. At this moment, I did not slide in the test strip completely as I take some time to gather courage to prick my finger do the blood test.

Step 2: Ensure test strip is adjusted into the glucometer properly so that you can straight away push it in when you are ready to smear your blood onto the test strip.

Step 3: Open up the cover of the lancing device. Insert a sterile lancet into the lancing device. Just twist clockwise/anticlockwise to separate out the needle from the protective head of the lancet.

Step 4: You can adjust your level of how deep you want your finger to be prick. Mine is 6 as anything below doesn't even poke through my skin. Do note that the higher the number, the deeper the needle will poke into your skin. Close back the cover of the lancing device.

Step 5: Get ready an alcohol swab and rub the finger you want to prick. Let the alcohol on your finger dry first as it may affect the glucose values shown by the meter. Adjust the lancing device on top of the finger to prick and press the trigger for the needle to prick your finger.

Step 6: Push in the test strip, wait for the sign on the glucometer to indicate it is ready to read your blood test. Draw enough blood so that you can smear some onto the test strip. Wait for 5 seconds for your results to be shown on the glucometer screen. Do remember to use back the alcohol swab to stop the bleeding. You're done!

Some tips I got from the Internet:

- Don’t prick the same finger in the same area- keep on changing the places for pricks- this prevents the pain or infection which may happen if the same finger is needled all the time.

- If you use alcohol swabs to wipe the skin before pricks let it dry completely as alcohol itself is a reducing agent and may affect the values shown by the strip.

- When the oozing droplet is not sufficient increase the number on the dial of the lancing pen – or if you are pricking the finger manually, prick deeper - alternately change the place of pricks.

- Do not recycle the lancets, alcohol swabs or test strip. Use once and discard after use!

So there you go, hope I didn't miss out any information and thank you for reading!