Melly Jong: I am a first time MTB as well, am in my 31st week now!
It has been a fun journey thus far,like what 1Bean mentioned best to window shop and find the best deals in town which is what we did.
We started buying items slowly from the time we found out the gender of our baby, we had a list of items we needed immediately when the baby is born and a list that we set up for relatives and friends to buy for us during our lil girl baptism/full month celebration.
That way we cut down on our expenditure and not receive items that we do not need.
It is expensive but there are always great deals out there,you and hubby just have to work together and search for it. During that time you both get to bond and learn a lot together.
The first thing i did was book my confinement lady!! Very important if you intend to engage one as it is also the dragon year the good ones are taken up early. I book my CL on my 2nd month and she was already booked but due to unforseen circumstances with the other mother who cancelled, i manage to get her.
Robinsons & Takashimaya has good bundle deals and purchase with purchase deals.
Try and get a Robinsons or Taka credit card as its very good for nursery,kids and household items for future.
Baby Hyperstore has good deals on carseats and strollers.We only got our carseat and ISO fix from there.We bought our stroller from Motherworks at Great World City.
A lot of other items you can research online or speak to friends for recommendation.
For us the big ticket items were carseat + ISO fix,stroller,Medela electric breast pumps,Bloom baby cot and sterilizer + bottle warmer set.
Yes do try to get your items before you hit your last trimester as it might be difficult for you to move around depending on your condition.
Note
o not buy too many baby clothings as they will outgrow it very fast, as advised by my friends, so i have minimal clothings for my girl as i intend to bring her out shopping after a month of confinement! Hahaha.....
Do book for your post natal massages, you can either find them through recommendation from your friends,forums,free-lance or with an establishment. I chose Jamu Massages as i did not hear good feedback of freelance masseur. Just to share,but do find a reliable one which will not cancel or back out on you last minute.
Regarding the cord blood banking,we decided on cordlife due to the fact that they are accredited,more established and they are able to extract more blood cells then Stemcord according to proven researches. We took the 10yr plan which is fully paid by CDA,it can be expensive but my hubby and i agreed upon it as we do not want to be ever caught in a situation where it becomes a "what if", if you get what i mean. Life nowadays is so precious itself and with the fast moving technology in this world anything can be possible. Of course we do not wish for anything bad to happen but it is always that sense of security there for us. It is a very personal decision in terms of cord blood banking as some people do not believe in it at all, to us we see it as an investment.
If you would like to join the referral program i will PM you my IC no, do let me know if you are keen as the promo ends 30th Apr for both to get the $50 voucher.
Happy Shopping and have a great journey into motherhood, i know i am enjoying every bit of it!