The 1st payment of the Baby Bonus Cash Gift of $3,000 has been credited into my wife’s DBS Multiplier Account today. The next thing we did in the same day is to transfer this $3,000 into her POSB Smiley CDA. Now we wait for the Government’s matching contribution of $3,000. We are also waiting for the CDA First Step Grant of $3,000 by the Government to be credited.
We finally solved the problem of my wife having to wake up a few times overnight to breastfeed the baby. The solution is the Haakaa Silicone Manual Breast Pump. While my wife is breastfeeding the baby on one side in the day, the Haakaa is attached to the other side to keep the breastmilk that leaks out. It is then stored in a milk bottle in the fridge.
As this happens more times in the day, my wife builds up a supply of breastmilk that is stored in the fridge. At night, the confinement nanny wakes up to feed the baby using a syringe each time, while my wife gets a good night’s sleep.
It took us 2 weeks since the baby was born to get to this point. Because my wife needed these 2 important things to happen for the solution to work. First, the breastmilk supply must increase over time for her to have a sufficient supply to store the excess in the fridge. Second, the baby must learn how to feed from a syringe.
Once we problem-solved the baby’s overnight feeding, both of us can sleep through the night. My wife has more energy during the day at home while I can better focus at work in the office. Which translates into a more enjoyable experience with the baby when we have time for him since we are better rested.
On a side note, I was with my wife last night as she removed her C-section wound medical tape and dressing. Followed by her applying the medication on the incision to facilitate the healing and reduce scarring. The last thing would be me assisting her with placing the abdominal binder back on, which will happen every night for about 6 weeks until she is fully recovered. It’s a long road ahead to recovery and we just have to keep going day by day.
Doesnt your wife need to do at least one pump during the night? That is to keep the milk supply going. Drink lots of plain water (not red dates and what nots which the CL will tell you) to increase milk supply in general. All those lactation cookies add calories not supply 🙂
BTW, amazing that you have a CL for 3 months. First time hearing that, you guys can afford…
My wife does the last feed at 11pm at night and goes to sleep by 12 midnight. She sleeps through until 8am to do the first feed while the confinement nanny takes care of the feeds in between. The milk supply seems to be going okay for now but thanks for the advice! This arrangement allows my wife to get more rest and is only going to work with the confinement nanny here.
Which is why we are getting the confinement nanny for these 3 months when the baby’s feeding times are at the most frequent and demanding. And when my wife needs the rest the most to recover from her C-section. Yup, it’s not common but our view is that anything that can substantially help to improve our lives and facilitate our transition into parenthood is worth spending our money on. I reckon it comes down to what’s important to us and we will budget accordingly for it.