Just published: my story in City Weekend Parents & Kids

I recently wrote an article for the Shanghai magazine City Weekend Parents & Kids about being pregnant in Shanghai. When I first found out I was expecting in mid-2011, I couldn't really find an article like this in any of the parenting magazines or websites, so I pitched this first-person story idea to the editor.

Here is part one. The second part (out in a few months) will detail my experiences as a new mother in Shanghai. Happy reading!

Our little koala has arrived!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus but I have been a little busy of late. Our baby girl arrived in the world on March 10 (six days late!) after a five hour labour. I'm falling more and more in love with my sweet baby each day. For now, we're finding our feet with feeding and sleeping schedules but I hope to be back blogging soon.

"Yes Mummy, I'm very warm for a cold Shanghai day, but I think my coat is too big!"

Little Darlings

I have just ordered some prints online for our baby's nursery. I'm not into cutesy themes or pastels at all, particularly for nurseries, so have been searching for something appropriate to spice up the room in a modern way.

Enter the Little Darlings range of prints. I can't remember where I first saw these, but they're from US photographer Sharon Montrose, who specialises in modern animal photography. I love her clean, crisp style and I'm sure the prints will work nicely as our child grows. I can't decide which little face I love the most! After much umming and aahing, I finally settled on six: the lamb, giraffe, duckling, kangaroo, lion and bear.

And I really love how it weaves in links to both our native countries: a kangaroo for my Australian roots and a lion for my husband's South African birthplace. If only she had a baby panda to represent China!

Now, I just hope they arrive in time and don't get held up at Chinese customs...

I'm having a bikie baby

Apparently, at 27 weeks, my baby is able to hear sounds in utero. I fear I may be having a bikie baby as we've become addicted to the TV series "Sons of Anarchy", about a motorcycle club in Northern California. Great acting, great scriptwriting, lots of drama. Perfect.

Either that, or he/she will be a Real Housewife. I'm not sure what's worse?!

Getting ready for baby, aka "get your wallet out"

Who knew such a small person needed so much paraphernalia?! And who knew HOW MUCH baby stuff is out there to buy? Luckily, both my sisters have had babies this year, so they have been very helpful in providing comprehensive lists of what's necessary and what's not. I can tell you I was shocked at their initial list of "must buy" items! My husband almost passed out.

That said, I do have slightly different needs to them, i.e. I don't have a car or a house. This will be an apartment baby in a big city where I'll be walking and catching cabs or trains a lot. Everything needs to be compact and light. And we don't have a great deal of room to store unnecessary items. I also had a strict budget. But I did want to buy quality products if they were worth it. Thankfully I have a saviour - Ikea!!! - so I plan to buy most of my nursery furniture from there -- cot, feeding chair, change table, etc. Best of all, I know the safety standards will be good for baby.

In many ways I'm lucky to be having my baby in Shanghai as there's not a great deal of choice. There are only a handful of baby shops and boutiques - many with severely inflated prices!! - and I have had to spend a fair amount of time researching if products are even available here in China at all.

I've taken a gradual approach and have been slowly buying stuff each month so we wouldn't have a massive blow-out in one paycheck. I did have a bit of a shopping spree when we were in Singapore a few months back. I took the opportunity to buy up a lot of stuff I knew I either couldn't find here, or that I knew was significantly cheaper. Glamorous stuff like a breast pump and bottles. But at prices 40% cheaper than Shanghai, it was worth it.

Here's some of the haul thus far...

Pram and Baby Capsule - Baby Jogger City Mini and Maxi Cosi CabrioFix car seat with car seat adaptors. Bought from Baby318. I was initially going to splash out and buy a Bugaboo Bee Plus, however I opted for the Baby Jogger for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's light. Secondly, it's a one-handed fold. Thirdly, it was half the price. I didn't mind spending the cash if it was worth it, but I found the Bugaboo to be too heavy, too hard to fold on my own and the baby was too low to the ground.

  

Cot - Gulliver crib from Ikea. Simple, budget-busting and safe.

Bouncer - Bloom Baby Rocker. Bought second-hand for less than half the retail price on the Shanghai Mamas classifieds. I'll probably end up with a Fisher-Price all-singing, all-dancing brightly coloured rocking chair/swing/bouncer, but I'll give this designer looking rocker a go first...

Nappy Bag - Skip Hop messenger bag "Dash" from Lollipop. Not too big as I want to keep as streamlined as possible. Yes, this may be a pipe dream, but I'm going to try.

White Noise Machine - Sleep Sheep from Lollipop (it attaches to the cot with some ties at the back, so it looks like a fluffy toy, not a white noise machine). Usually I hate fluffy toys, but this thing is cute.

Infant carrier - Ergo carrier with infant insert from First Few Years in Singapore (it was 20% off).  I was initially tempted by the Baby Bjorn, but after a fair bit of research, I decided on the Ergo as I can use it from newborn to toddler, it distributes weight more evenly across the hips and should prove to have more longevity when the baby becomes heavier.

Muslins and Blanket - Aden & Anais muslin swaddles and muslin dream blanket. On special from Mothercare in Singapore.

Swaddle Wrap - Kiddopotamus from Mothercare in Singapore (half price!). I bought this as I'd read great reviews. But mostly I just wanted to buy it because of the name. My husband had seen the name on my list and was like, "what the #*% is a Kiddopotamus?!!".

As for clothes, I've found it very difficult to find neutral, non-gender clothes. Absolutely every shop has defined girls and boys newborn, baby and toddler collections. Does no-one have a delivery surprise anymore? But I have persevered and have managed to amass a fairly decent collection of cute white, grey, red and navy onesies and more. My favourite places have been Gap, H&M and Marks & Spencer and I did stock up on Bonds pieces from Australia. But I've tried not to go too nuts as I'm very aware that babies grow. And quickly  So my rule has been to only buy on special. So far, so good....

I've also ditched a few things from my list as would-be-nice-but-I'll-see-if-we-can-do-without. Tell me if I'm wrong but I'm not buying a baby monitor, nappy bin or fancy bedding.

The most-asked question of the last few months...

Q: "What are you having?"
A: "A baby I hope"

I was surprised when my obstetrician said the other day that she estimates 80% of people now find out the sex of their child ahead of the delivery. That statistic did get me thinking for a minute, but I'm happy with our decision not to find out what we're having. There are so few true positive surprises left in this world that I'm going to wait for a delivery surprise. Sure, it would be easier to know now what kind of clothes to buy for the baby, but I figure I'll have a lifetime of shopping so I should enjoy the anticipation. And let's face it: I'll be happy with whatever I have. There are only two possibilities -- and either is good with me.

And I suppose if I really want to wind my husband up, I could add this response to my repertoire:

Q: "What are you having?"

A: "A Wallaby not a Springbok"