Here we go...

we are in the labour room now....
water broke at around 10.30pm....

here we go....

of anticipation and picture book...

"Any time now…"

That’s what Dr. Tan says in our visit last Saturday. I guess that is bumps up the anticipation by a notch. Somehow going through it for the second time seems a bit of different.
Not that we don’t love our little Shaun any less, but it somehow seem different. Less of the nervousness but more guild for not being nervous. Less getting edgy about preparation and weather we had prepared enough, but more of the feeling like we have this under control.
So it’s like a mixed feeling.
He also seem to be getting more and more active these days. Was moving quite a lot last nite and Ah Fie got a feel of it too. Poor little girl wants to feel her brother in mummy’s tummy but when he moved the little girl just pulled away. Maybe feeling geli.
But one thing our silly girl did was she took up her picture book and point it to wifey’s tummy as if to show her brother the pictures. Keep saying stuff like ‘I show baby’. Hopefully she maintains that sharing spirit when she meets her little brother for real…
So… Any time now…

of super backdated post and pacifiers...

This is a super backdated post…..
Actually I have been meaning to write this but scared of jinxing it.
I think when Ah Fie was about 1+ going to 2 she weaned herself off the pacifier. At that time we have not even think of planning to wean her but I guess she beat us to it.
I guess it’s a good thing that our little girl was a bit fussy. she is kinda fussy about her pacifier. If it does not feel right she will spit it out. Then she also have this habit of biting her pacifier. Then she also have this habit of biting her pacifier. So what happened was that she bit a small tear on one of her pacifier and started to rejected it. We got her a new one but she doesn’t like and that is how she decided that she don’t need it …
So I guess 2 seemingly bad habit (fussy about pacifier and biting it) can add up to be one good thing.

or stemlife and cryocord...

I think we have been taking things with our boy too lightly liao. It just hit me that wifey is about 1 month away from delivery and we still have a lot of things to prepare. Sometimes feel bad also because seems like oftentimes we were so busy with ah fie that we thought that we will have enough time and should not be an issue with ah boy. I mean we have gone thru the whole delivery thing before mah…
So last night we start to sort out the baby clothes to get them washed, make a list for wifey on what to pack and plan out the sleeping arrangements etc.
Then there is also this part about cord blood banking… and we are back to the decision between Stemlife and Cryocord. For ah fie, we used stemlife and thought that maybe we can use cryocord for ah boy to increase the variability. But then stem life have a very good discount when I called the sales agent 1.3K++ only….
Anyway, I have contacted the sales agent for both and sad to say, both are not really pleasant experience.
First one is stemlife. Somehow I feel like the sales agent is not very keen on getting me sign up. She like to rush when talking and keep correcting me. I have the same feeling when dealing with her when we had ah fie and to me service is a major consideration. Anyway, I told her I will call back, but at the back of my mind, even if I were to sign up with stemlife, I will probably sign up thru another agent.
Then next I try Cryocord. Since I do not have the contact number I called their hotline at their website. Definitely not a confidence inducing call… The girl (and I stress girl) that answered the call sound more like some admin in a tire workshop than someone who I will trust with something important. From the get go, she greeted and talked in market Cantonese (which I think not very professional laaa). When I asked about the packages and rates that they offer… she also don’t know… (I figured out later that maybe the hotline is for people who have already sign up and want to notify them that they are delivering so that cryocord people can come and collect the blood). But one right thing that she did is to take down my phone nmber and say that she will direct me to the sales people. Then later the same night, a guy called me. And from the get go he started to greet and spoke is a very rushed tone in Mandarin. Nothing wrong with mandarin, but maybe he might want to consider talking in a more professional manner. After all sales people are the front office of the company maaa. Anyway…. I think the hotline girl maybe took the wrong info and inform this guy that we are delivering now or something and that’s why he called immediately. After I clarified, I asked about the rate, and again the first thing this guy tell me is that he can’t tell. (talking about sales.) I am not a salesman, but I think it should be one of the 10 commandments of a salesman to be aware of what you are selling. Anyway, after I pushed a bit, he say that maybe not convenient to talk over the phone and he will pass me to another agent that covers the hospital that wife plans to deliver at…. I dunno laaa. Maybe I am being a bit of a ‘wet market auntie’ fussy, but I think as a sales person, it should be pretty basic that when a customer comes in, your objective is to make the sale.

So in summary, I think there is really a good opportunity for someone with the means and resource to set up a cord blood banking service. Because from the experience I have with these two supposedly major one, the sales people failed.
I think maybe I am being a bit nitpicky here but I think I have the right to be so as I will be spending a significant amount of money and entrusting someone with something precious.

Maybe in the end I might just as well get an airtight container and keep ah boy’s cord blood in my home fridge…