HiBlendr: Must-have thrill

I haven't been posting that much photos of my chubby self here, so most of you probably still have a healthy looking image of me in your head. The same can't be said for my family. The Hub, my family and even myself have been slowly getting used to my rolly-polly image. My tummy has been popping out for so long that honestly I can't even remember how it feels like to have a nice, flat tummy!

Resolution to self: To hit back the gym after baby arrives and have a more fit slender image. I didn't post much here, but before I knew I was pregnant, I actually signed up for a gym membership and was hitting the gym around 3-4 times a week to prance around LOL! cos I wanted to win my company's most active award...like WTH. Yes, that's how motivated I am by rewards!

When I saw the a portable blender at HiBlendr, I was quite excited about it cos I wanted to make fruit juices (which I know are not that healthy) and protein shakes for the men in my house. The mailing takes quite a while so you need to time your purchase ahead. It can be charged by USB which means that I can even use a portable charger to ramp it up if need be. The juice cup wasn't too heavy so you could just bring it around. 

One thing we noted after trying it was that the blender was rather powerful. It can even crush the ice. This led us to thinking perhaps we can use this to blend baby's food too and make his very own whitebait powder when he arrives. Quite a bit of use already for this blender I have to say. My only grouse is the colour. Navy blue looked really good in pictures but it is actually a lot darker in reality. 

The blender is quite easy to use and clean. In fact, we use the blending action to clean it. Basically, all you have to do is fill the blender with the goodies and close the cover until you see green blinking lights. Then give it a long press to start the machine. To stop it, give it one quick press. Initially, I was very gentle with it and didn't manage to seal it tight enough. 

As part of the safety measures, the red blinking light would appear. Also, the blender will not start if it is not sealed properly. Now, his blender is the hot stuff in the house. Every day, I will hear it at least once grinding a milkshake in the kitchen. My Mum's quest is now to make the most delicious milkshake. Check out our first ever avocado milkshake. (Pss...you can add gula melaka to make it tastier!)

Merry & Joyous: More bodysuits and cute hooded towels

Hohoho, this is a post with a massive amount of baby clothes. Most of you have commented that apart from a few selected places, most of our purchases still seem to be abit high. So today, we are going to prove to you we can find baby clothes that are within the lower price range. Merry & Joyous holds bulk baby bodysuits and have so many designs that you need to set aside some time to look through every collection.

By now, we have so many blessings from friend and family for 0-6 months, I decided to give them a try for the 9 months range since they are 100% cotton. Also, if the quality isn't as good, at least baby's skin would be less delicate by then.

I have to admit that Merry & Joyous had a few collection that were so cute. As you can see, I picked the sets that contained  a Moose Collection, Racoon Collection and Giraffe Collection. The quality were varied. To be honest, the quality of the boring pieces were better (softer and lighter) while the cuter pieces were of thicker material that may not be as comfortable for baby.

The clothes came in Kiddiezoom packaging so I did a bit of research on the brand. Honestly, I do see such pieces being donned by babies in Singapore so I feel reassured that the quality should be at least decent. My only grouse was that the one of the sets I select came with a duplicate piece. So I guess that means we are adding this to the giveaway in Dec. Woohoo!

Like the other baby bodysuits, this one came the metal buttons at his bottom and can widen the opening at the head area. Till now, I have to say I am terrrible at deducing the sizing. All the baby clothes thus far look really small to me. My first impression initially was "is this really for 9 months?!?". So I did some comparision, and indeed they were bigger than my 6 months collection. Oops!

Each sleepsuit cost roughly around $5 to $6, so the total damage for this amount of clothes would only be around S$60.  I think it is quite a decent price for clothes that are of such cuteness level. Another Mum shared that these were closing down sale prices at some places (which I totally agree). I recently got a $3 3m-shorts and that was from Robinsons moving out sale. 

The hooded towels are probably on the higher side in terms of price (around S$16 to S$22)...oops. I have to admit that I cave in because they were so cute. And now, Merry & Joyous  holds even more hooded towels of different designs. Yes, I know my baby is too small to use it for now, but I can't wait for him to grow into them already. Personally, I really like the quality of the organic bamboo towel. It is just so soft!

Design-wise, the lion design wins hands-down. But the quality is definitely nowhere near the organic bamboo towel. It also came with a button and was designed as a wrap and a button for the neck. From looks alone, I find the design a bit odd but we will only know whether it truly works when baby arrives. That's all I have. The next few posts might still be baby-related because I am totally in nesting mood. The Renovations series will be launched in Oct when baby arrrives, so stay tune adulting folks!

All about Gestational Diabetes: Machine, Diet and Prick Results

As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, I am sadly diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. It is a condition that usually happen during the third trimester whereby the mother's blood sugar level become too high. If not managed properly, baby may be oversized, diabetic since birth or stillborn. Generally, gestational diabetes is genetic (I come from a strong family history of diabetics) and it is likely I will get this again during my second pregnancy and in my later life.

I have to admit when the doctor sent me my report, I was very crushed. My mood was rather bad that day and I think I even took it out on anyone that was in my path. Although it was not exactly unexpected given my diet and family history, it was still very disappointing. (Just because you know you will die one day doesn't mean you will be fine with death!)

Usually the clinic I go to will rent out the machine (at around S$40+) , but as my luck may have it, there was no machine left. Probably due to Covid, the idle lifestyle of many mothers have caused a surge in Gestational Diabetes patient. Was a little bit annoyed because this meant I had to do extra research on my own. The silver lining was I got this whole new set at (around $50 +) and I probably need to replace the strips and lancet ($6.90) at around $30 and this would probably last me well till baby arrives. 

Sharing time, get them from the Polyclinic Pharmacy! They are the cheapest there, anywhere else the price is exorbitant. Also, you don't have to see a doctor. You just need to walk in and make your purchase. It might just be a blessing in diguise cos after using the equipment, I have to admit I prefer having my own given that the price is so close to a rented piece. It would have been a lot better if this was claimable by insurance, but sadly it was not. 

I can understand why some Mummies with Gestational Diabetes get frustrated. I also struggled with the machine on my first day. I did 6 pricks and my first try, I had to do 3 because 2 of them failed. To help other Mummies, set the lancet at 2.5 and prick pointing finger at the side. After much trial and error, I found this the least painful and will draw out enough blood. 

Collect the blood at the bottom of the strip instead of wiping it across the test portion. The strip will "suck" the blood upwards for testing. It takes a while to really get used to it. The next challenge is really to find the balance of the diet, which I found very difficult. I decided to share my meals and prick results because I couldn't find any resource on it and had to try myself to get it right. Note: all our bodies react differently to different food (I can barely take any brown rice but this might not be the same for you).  

Meals and Prick Results (For reference)
** Will be updated as and when I eat something more interesting

Under

1. 1 Avacado and Green Tea - 5.0
2. Chicken soup (infused with 1 bottle of Brands Essence) with spinach + 2 Strawberries + Half a curry potato - 5.4
3. Half cup of milk + Half bottle of vitagen + 2 Strawberries + Fish Soup with Broccoli + 1 M&S Cookie - 5.1
4. Half a Fried Fish and roasted chicken with lots of vegetables - 5.2 
5. 2 pieces of chwee kueh with chai po and fish soup - 5.3
6. Meat and Veg (BBQ Buffet) - 5.2

Pass

1. Kaya Toast + Chinese Tea - 5.6
2. Kaya Toast + Instant Coffee + You Tiao - 6.4
3. Fish Soup + 3 slices of pumpkin cake (chinese version) - 6.2
4. Yoghurt + Cheese Toast + Green Tea - 5.9
5. 1 KFC zinger patty (alone) + steamed fish filet - 6.4
6. Half a chilli crab bao + Green Tea + Yoghurt + Half a popiah + 2 Spoonful of Hubby's Ee Mian - 6.2
7. Thai  Basil Rice Set Meal (Only ate Half the Rice) + Half a Chicken - 6.5
8. Half a bowl of Yam Rice - 5.8
9. Yoghurt with Aloe Vera bits and Cheesy Egg - 5.6

Fail 

1. Salad (including corn) with Brown Rice as base - 7.0
2. Grandola (with dried fruits and raisins) with milk - 8.2
3. 1 Peach + Kaya Toast + Lipton Milk Tea (no sugar) - 6.8
4. Pork Bun + Red Bean Bun (super small) + a sip of soya bean - 7.7
5. Vegetarian Beehoon - 9.0
6. Soon Kueh + Half a cup of Teh-Si + Half a bowl of beancurd + 2 chicken wings - 7.0