Jessica's Blog

Hello all!

It’s been 2+ months since I’ve became a walking milk-bottle to our little Keia, and I’m still learning to be a mom. Here’s what I’ve learnt so far (through experience & Googling) and would like to share with fellow new mummies out there.

1. COLOSTRUM.

The initial 3-4 days of breastfeeding after your baby is born👶🏻, your boobs only produce a runny liquid called colostrum that’s oh so important to build up your baby’s immunity to fight against bacteria & viruses. It is important to latch on and/or pump every 3 hours religiously as it is not only good for your baby, it will kick start your milk flow for breastfeeding.

2. MASTITIS.

From my very own experience, massaging out every single lump (these are blocked milk ducts) while pumping is a MUST. Make sure you really empty the boobs of milk at each pump/feed to prevent Mastitis (infection of clogged milk ducts). I had an early onset of this during my 4th week as a #newmom though I thought I was emptying at each pump/nurse but I wasn’t massaging enough. Experiencing 2 days of high fever without medication due to allergies (39.7 degrees!) really isn’t the best feeling 😷 having to continue nursing your babe, and feeling like a bear with a sore head. Massaging your boobies during the feeding/pumping session also provides relief to sore engorged boobs – do engage your hubby to join in the fun too🙈. Once your baby’s suction is strong enough (usually 5/6th weeks old), she will naturally help you drain your milk-filled boobs & massaging can stop.

3. GROWTH SPURTS (BE PREPARED!)

This usually occurs around 3rd & 6th weeks, 2, 3, 6 & 9 months. Your baby will suddenly want to feed like CRAZY! I mean like every 30-60 minutes. Looking back at my 3rd week, I was literally sitting at the sofa all day long nursing Keia without any time to use the toilet/shower/eat/drink. I felt I wasn’t producing enough for her appetite, but it’s a supply & demand thing. The more you nurse, your milk supply will naturally increase. Hence, it’s important to pump when you miss a feed to maintain the supply of liquid white gold.

4. HYDRATE, REST & EAT A WELL-BALANCED DIET.

For you to produce more milk, your body needs a lot of water & rest. The more rest in between feeds, increases your milk production naturally. That is why breastmilk is usually the most in the mornings after a night’s rest (whatever shuteye you manage to get😴). Eating nutritious food is also important, as whatever you eat is translated into your milk. Do avoid broccoli🥦, cauliflower, cabbage, onions as these foods can make your milk gassy & create an unhappy baby.

5. BURPING.

It is important to burp your baby after each boob or 30-60ml if you’re 🍼 bottle feeding. Sometimes your baby fusses not only because of hunger, but because of tummy discomfort from trapped air. Try different methods of burping. For me, I rotate between 3 techniques each time I burp Keia – over the shoulder, patting her back while she sits upright on my lap & rotating her in circles on my lap. Find your fav burping style with your little one through trial & error.

6. BACK SUPPORT.

Make sure you have proper back support with a lot of pillows or use a breastfeeding pillow (I use @mybrestfriend) because you will sit down to breastfeeding for long periods of time. Find alternatives like lying down to feed when your baby gets too heavy (I do this for night feeds so that I can catch some extra winks), football hold, cradle hold, etc.

Hope this helps soon-to-be mummies & first time moms like myself!

Comment or PM me if you have any questions.

XOXO

Jessica

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Hi all,

love to be able to conveniently shop for flowers. Since the invention of online shopping, I don’t think there’s a single person in this world that doesn’t wish they can order everything from the comfort of their own home. In one of my online shopping sprees in preparation for my upcoming birthday, I came across a florist in Singapore, that offered less traditional flower creations. In fact, they craft, what you can call, Instagram-worthy bouquets and arrangements.

I found that flowers in Singapore can be expensive, but A Better Florist’s offering is among one of the most affordable ones, considering the kind of breathtaking blooms they make. Their flowers literally look like they come from a fairy tale. It’s a little piece of flower heaven on Earth, that I kept selfishly for myself so far, but I had to finally share my enthusiasm for the best florist in Singapore with all of you.

Their website doesn’t have a huge, endless selection of flower bouquets and arrangements, but each bouquet that’s displayed on the website is fresh and beautiful, and cuts down the time you would waste otherwise scrolling through pages of similar bouquets. I love that they are determined to craft special designed that stand out and cater to all kinds of different people with different tastes.

I suggest that whenever you’re doing online shopping, you do thorough research. While I was researching A Better Florist, to seek for additional testimonials and proof that they are actually as good as they seem to be, I came across a list where they were listed as the best florist in Hong Kong. This obviously led to finding out that they also have Hong Kong flowers delivery and a Dubai Florist, ensuring me that Singapore isn’t the only place that’s gone under the spell of A Better Florist.

Personally, I love flowers for every day, and if it wasn’t for my birthday, I would have ordered a pampering bundle anyways. I always feel better looking at flowers in my home, as they have the ability to lift my spirit. My friend is having a baby soon, so I don’t have to go on a search for the best baby hamper delivery Singapore has to offer, because I already know who the best is. The A Better Florist team always delivers on time and sometimes even within the same day, so I don’t have to play the waiting game and be anxious about when my flowers are going to be delivered.

I highly recommend jumping onto A Better Florists website and checking out their offering, as well as placing an order just to see for yourself how efficient and marvelous these guys are!

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Hello Everyone!

With the convenience of online shopping nowadays and the numerous online stores sprouting out, it’s hard to find a good website that you can get a wide variety of pet supplies. I’ve recently discovered this website https://www.kohepets.com.sg which offers a huge variety of pet supplies from pet food to supplements, toys and bath products etc. and it is not limited to cats & dogs, the website even has pet supplies for small pets like chinchillas, birds & hamsters! You can imagine the amount of time I spent surfing that website like a kid in a candy store looking at what I can spoil my doggies with. As most of you know I’m a proud mama to 2 fur-kids Moscow (the Cream Retriever) & Mika (the Shiba Inu), both 9 years of age. Furthermore, Kohepets offers free 2-day express shipping for orders above SGD$60 which isn’t hard to accomplish – a 30lb bag of dry kibbles for Moscow & Mika to last them 1.5 months is easily over the minimum spending.

Being a typical bargain hunter, the first tab that I clicked on is the SALE tab, where I found great deals in dog food and offers of free samples to add to your cart (who doesn’t like freebies?).

One of the trusted brands of dog food that I usually get – Wellness CORE Grain Free dry kibbles – is on promotion! Purchasing a bag of 24lb bag comes with 2 cans of grain-free canned food at $132.80. I try to maintain a healthy balanced diet for Moscow & Mika (aka M&M) so that they can live a long life together and only feed them grain-free kibbles. Grain-free dog food is known to benefit your pups in:

• better digestion of food hence reduced stool amount
• more energy
• less shedding
• healthier skin
• shinier coat
• less doggy farts

Although grain-free food tends to be more costly, I find it well worth it as you can’t put a price on your dog’s health. (think about it – a fancy meal costs more than a big bag of dog food to last your pup for a month or two)

On their main homepage, I noticed another promotion on raw dehydrated dog food. I decided to spoil M&M and added Stella & Chewy’s Simply Venison Dinner Patties Freeze-Dried Dog Food to the cart. Venison is a meat that is rarely found fresh in Singapore or Hong Kong and I would love M&M to enjoy it other than their usual fresh minced beef or pork that I would cook for them in addition to their dry kibbles. Hence, freeze dried venison is a good and healthy meat alternative for them.

As you can see M&M are excited with the sight of their newly arrived dog food!

Moscow is a cream retriever which comes under the golden retriever family. Most golden retriever dog owners would know that this breed is prone to hip problems which comes with age. Moscow recently turned 9 in December which means she’s now in her middle-age to senior years. I’ve started Moscow on her daily glucosamine intake since 2 years back to help keep her hips in check. It seems to be working as she’s still very active and runs around like a puppy (certainly doesn’t behave her age) on her daily walks. Therefore, Excel Joint Care Glucosamine is a must to upkeep Moscow’s regular supply.

Moscow is showing off her balancing skills here!

Next, I needed to look for a dog shampoo for Mika as hers is running low.(Moscow goes to the groomers to get her monthly trims, so only Mika gets bathed at home) When I browsed under the “Grooming” tab for shampoos & conditioners, I was totally spoilt for choice! There was 439 options to choose from. After going through all the options, I decided to use what the Mr. recommended which is also on their best-seller list – Earthbath Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo which is known for relief of itchy and dry skin which Mika gets from time to time especially during shedding season.

A lot of dog owners think that dogs have to shower every few days which is actually a big no-no. Dogs need to build up their natural oils on their coat to keep their fur healthy and water resistant and constant showering removes it all and after regular constant baths, they will stop producing these oils all together which will then make them stink up more easily. Instead, regular brushing to massage and stimulate these oils and to spread them evenly on their coats is better for dogs than showering them ever so often. I only shower Mika every 1-2 months, and I can vouch that her skin is healthy and she doesn’t smell bad.

After a long while, these items were in my shopping cart:

and I finally decided to stop my shopping spree and submit the order. Kohepets did live up to the 2 day delivery promise and the goods were delivered to my doorstep promptly. I placed my order in on a Tuesday night and the delivery guy SMSed me on Thursday morning to confirm the delivery timing for Thursday evening.

I am now looking at other items to purchase on their website. Time to stock up on their Frontline supplies! 😉

XOXO

Jessica

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Hello all!

I was looking to try out the latest 1-Day Acuvue Define with Lacreon in is latest colours – Radiant Shine & Radiant Charm – to wear for my upcoming nuptials. I’m already a regular user of Acuvue Define, wearing shades in Natural Shine & Vivid Style, but the latest colours look like something that will make my eyes sparkle even more during the big day. Hence, I decided to get them, albeit last minute.

So I scoured online for good deals on them and I finally came across this Malaysian online shopping site MrLens.com.my which offers those contact lenses at a price cheaper than Singapore opticians. MrLens sells them at RM118/box of 30 lenses which is about SGD37.80/box. This is pretty much the price I used to pay when I drove into JB to purchase my contact lenses but now I can do it at the ease of home and get them delivered to my doorstep without the hassle of crossing the border! MrLens ships the lenses to Singapore via DHL Express, so it should reach me pretty quickly.

Speed of Delivery Test
I placed my order on 28 November, Monday at 9:45pm. The whole process is very straight forward and fuss-free. You just pick out the contact lenses that you want in your eye degree, add to cart, pay and wait for the delivery!

After my order is placed, you can opt for contact lenses re-purchase reminders so that you won’t forget that your contacts are running out amidst your busy schedule.

The very next day on 29 November, I received an email confirmation that the order has been received and is processing on their side.

On 30 November, I received another email that the package left their warehouse and is on the way to Singapore! 

Very shortly after, I received an SMS from DHL stating that the package will be delivered the next day on 1 December.

On 1 December, Thursday morning at 11am, the DHL delivery guy was at my doorstep in Singapore with my package! I am amazed! That’s less than 3 working days!

DHL express service to Singapore is free when you purchase at least RM500(about SGD$160) worth of products from MrLens, otherwise the shipping fee is RM49.90.

I immediately tried on my new contacts and now I can’t decide which color to wear on my big day! What do you think?

Wearing Acuvue Radiant Charm

Wearing Acuvue Radiant Shine

No Wait Time for Astigmatism Lenses

MrLens holds a wide variety of popular contact lens brands like Acuvue, Air Optix, Biomedics and Freshkon to name a few. I also placed an order of Acuvue dailies with Astigmatism for my hubby-to-be as he was too busy with work to head down to the optician to get new ones. Usually opticians don’t hold much stock for lenses with Astigmatism. We would have to order from them and wait 3-5 days before they phone you for collection and go back down to the optician to pick it up which can be quite a hassle (that’s why my hubby didn’t have time to replace his lenses and has been wearing spectacles instead).

This time, when I placed the order for his contacts, I expected to wait a while for the delivery as its with Astigmatism. So what really surprised me is that everything came together on Thursday morning which is much faster than getting them from the optician itself.

I am one very satisfied customer and will definitely re-order my contacts from MrLens again.

XOXO,

Jessica

Check out MrLens Facebook Website for updates on promotions and giveaways!

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Ok… so if I were to be asked this question:

Which part of your body do you dislike the most?

My answer would be my ugly hands!

I admit, I am born with the most unfeminine boney hands that will never be casted as a hand model. My mother agrees.

All my life, be it during my pudgy teen years, my hands could never gain fat at the right areas. And I’ve heard constant nagging from my mum to eat more because I need to put on some weight on my hands. (The day my hands becomes beautifully fat will be when I’m unhealthily overweight!) I’ve tried explaining to her that my boney structure of my hands can’t be helped by just putting on some weight! (But she doesn’t believe me ever!)

My ugly hands

I was doing some research on how to improve on the hydration of my facial skin for my wedding. And a friend of mine told me about Restylane’s Skinboosters ,also known as 水光针 in Asia. Whilst surfing Restylane’s website, I chanced upon before/after photos of a patient’s hands using the same Skinboosters to improve the outlook of her hands! Honestly, I never knew that you could use hyaluronic acid fillers to make a boney hand less boney looking! In my mind, the use of fillers has always been used for changing the shape of the nose, lips, cheeks and chin to enhance certain features on the face.

Restylane Skinboosters Vital

The function of Restylane’s Skinboosters is used to improve the general skin quality of the face, neck, hands and even acne-scarred skin by applying microinjections of stabilised hyaluronic acid (HA) into the skin to boost up moisture levels from inside your body. Stabilised HA is a moisture loving gel-like substance that absorbs water. Therefore, once its injected into your skin, it will bring deep skin hydration to treated areas and improve the smoothness, elasticity and firm up the area. Generally, people use this treatment on their whole face to make their skin brighter and more radiant.

Since the issue of my boney hands has long been bothering me, and they are going to be photographed during my wedding with the rings and all, I decided to seek treatment with Skinboosters to improve the outlook of my hands. Every bride wants their wedding to look perfect right? (imagine… scanning from beautiful hair & make-up, the perfect dress, the gorgeous ring and THEN… horror of horrors…manicured skeleton hands!)

I went down to a reputable aesthetic clinic See Aesthetics & Medical Clinic, that uses Restylane Skinboosters, to treat my hands. I specifically wanted to only use Restylane’s Skinboosters as they’re the original creators of 水光针 and it received the Red Dot Design award for their smart click system enabling doctors to accurately administer 0.1ml of HA into the skin with each click minimising doctor’s error.

There’s a lot of other brands in the market like Juvederm, Korean brands, Filorga, etc. however, Restylane is a more reputable brand that has been in the market for 20 years. Over 28 million treatments using Restylane has been administered worldwide and they are the first HA fillers to be approved by FDA. Naturally I would want the best product to be injected into my skin and not opt for a cheaper alternative since I always believe in 一分钱一分货(you pay for what you get).  I’ve friends who went overseas for cheaper filler treatments, but they commented that it doesn’t last very long nor see great effects. In addition, I’ve been following this US reality show Botched, and have seen how people wanted cheaper treatments and went to Tijuana, Mexico, coming back with horrible outcomes and I do not want to be a botched job!

I consulted Dr. See regarding my hands and he felt that I am a suitable candidate to undergo the treatment but he did warn me that there might a some bruising as hands are quite vascular (I did my treatment on 23 November, so there’s ample time for healing before the wedding) .

He used the cannula method which is a long rounded blunt head needle to inject Skinbooster under the skin of my hand, it looked really freaky seeing a needle like thing going under your skin and poking out but yet not piercing through the skin. It’s much safer using this method as it won’t accidentally inject fillers into the blood vessels and cause any blockage. To be honest, it felt slightly uncomfortable, but not painful, looking at it looks a lot more painful than it actually is and I felt faintish from looking at it! But all is worth it as the results is incredible as you can see from the photo!

Before After Photo

I am so pleased with the immediate results! When I got home and showed my mum my “new hands” she was very happy and said I should have done this treatment earlier! *lol* The small needle holes didn’t bother me as I know it will go away pretty fast and I didn’t incur any bruising. It’s just like drawing blood from my hands, in fact I remember bruising more when I drew blood. Dr. See was very meticulous and ensured that no vessels were injured and I would incur minimal to no bruising.

Today, I can’t stop touching my softer and fleshier hands and I’m no longer shy to get my hands photographed. (In the past, whenever I had casting with the requirement to photograph my hands I’m always so hesitant and would try to position my hands in a way it doesn’t look ugly!)

A day after Skinboosters

One more week to the big day and I’m all ready!

XOXO

An excited and happy bride-to-be

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One of the biggest decisions you may ever make is the decision to have anti-aging treatment. On the one hand, you may be sick of dealing with discolored patches of skin, unusual hair growth, wrinkles, or other blemishes. On the other hand, you may be a bit leery of so-called clinical treatments. The hardest part is in picking the skincare method that is likely to work the best. Two of the contenders are lasers and Dermaroller (micro-needling/collagen induction therapy), but which one is better?
 

The Basics of How Skin Ages

To answer that question you have to start by getting to know the basics of how skin ages. I did some research online on this to find out more, so now I’m sharing what I found out. The primary reason that your skin could develop wrinkles and sags as you get older is that levels of collagen and elastin in your body will naturally drop with age. Those are proteins that give your skin its tight, stretchy appearance and feel. In fact, collagen is commonly referred to as a “building block” of cells. The natural passage of time causes the production of these substances to decrease gradually.

Of course, other things help this process along and can contribute to other skin issues, such as discolored spots and dry skin. For example, smoking can age the skin at a much faster rate. So can too much exposure to UV rays or harsh chemicals. So, the aging process doesn’t occur at the same exact rate for everyone.

How Dermaroller Treatments Helps to Repair That Damage

Dermaroller is a process that utilizes a tool covered in tiny needles. As the tool is moved over the skin, the needs create puncture marks. The depth of those marks depends on the size of the needles, which in turn depends on the type of Dermaroller treatment chosen. Larger needles tend to be better for treating more advanced skin problems.

The point of the process is to purposefully damage the skin. When your skin is damaged in such a widespread but mostly superficial way, it doesn’t do any long-term damage to you. What it does is simply encourage your body to send in the cavalry in the form of healthy proteins, including elastin and collagen. So, once the healing process starts, not only with the Dermaroller damage be repaired, but so will some of your previously existing skin damage.

The Differences Between That and Laser Treatment

Some types of laser medical equipment, namely fraxel lasers, work basically the same way. The only major difference is that they use a combination of light and heat, rather than needles. The lasers drill the tiny holes, causing similar damage to what you would see after Dermaroller treatment.

Other types of laser devices don’t work in the same way at all, even though they might produce similar results. Non-ablative lasers, for instance, stir up skin cells below the surface. Ablative lasers, on the other hand, focus almost exclusively on the skin’s surface and don’t penetrate to the lower layers, but they can all be used to encourage collagen production and reduce lines, wrinkles, and other skin issues.

Making Your Final Skincare Decision

Neither Dermaroller nor laser treatment is better in general, but one can be better than the other in an individual case. For example, you might not qualify for laser treatment if your skin is oily, but you might be a good candidate for Dermaroller. So, the final decision about whether to have one or the other might depend on a variety of factors. You might even find yourself choosing a completely different type of treatment, depending on your situation.

Personally, I do use Dermarollers at home during my home facials and I do have my occasional visits to Dermacare in Ion for laser treatments just to maintain my skin. 

XOXO

Jessica

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