Baby's First Toy

Introducing Sophie the Giraffe

Trusted by celebrities and mothers around the world, millions of Sophies have been sold worldwide since 1961. Sophie is handmade in the French Alps using natural rubber from the Hevea Tree and decorated using non-toxic food paint. Soft, light and easy to grasp, Sophie the Giraffe is perfect for little hands and makes a happy sound when squeezed. Babies especially love her bumpy head to sooth their teething gums. Sophie the Giraffe is BPA and Phthalates free, and complies with US safety requirements of ASTM F963.

Sophie the Giraffe was conceived by Monsieur Rampeau, who was an expert in transforming sap from the Hevea tree using the rotational moulding of rubber as a toy-making concept. He came up with the idea of designing a toy giraffe, sensing that such an exotic wildlife figure would be the first in the market, and its size and shape would be ideal for the baby's hands to grasp and fit the baby's small mouth. Sophie the Giraffe, who looks exactly the same as the day she was 'born', went into production on May 25th, Saint Sophie's day, hence her name.

Sophie was an immediate success in France. Young mothers saw straightaway that Sophie was a must-have for their babies when the first signs of teething appeared. By simple word of mouth, the little Giraffe's fame spread. From then on, generation upon generation of children in Europe, have come to love Sophie & her happy sound. Sophie is still traditionally produced today, by Vulli, which is based in Rumilly in the Haute-Savoie Region of France. This process involving more than 14 manual operations is still a jealously-guarded secret by the company. Now, parents, friends and families can buy this wonderful teether for their loved ones from Sophie.sg.

So what makes Sophie the Giraffe such a success? This is baby's first toy, and stimulates each of his senses from the age of 3 months.

• Sight: At the age of 3 months, a baby's eyesight is still limited and can only make out high contrasts. The dark and contrasting, attention-catching spots all over Sophie the Giraffe's body provides visual stimulation and she soon becomes a familiar and reassuring object for baby.
• Hearing: Sophie the Giraffe's squeaks when pressed and keeps baby amused and stimulates his hearing. In later months, this helps baby understand the link between cause and effect.
• Taste: Sophie the Giraffe is made of 100% natural rubber and food paint and is completely safe to chew, just like a feeding bottle teat.
• Touch: Her soft texture and numerous chewable parts (ears, horns, legs etc) make her perfect for soothing baby's sore gums during teething.
• Smell: The scent of natural rubber from the Hevea tree makes Sophie the Giraffe very special and easy for your baby to identify amid the other toys.
• Easy to grip: Sophie the Giraffe's shape and size are perfect for baby's small hands. She is very light, and her long neck and legs are easy for baby to grasp, even in his early days.

Boy or Girl

I come from a 2 girl family. Hubby comes from a 2 guy family
Naturally, my family wants a guy and hubby's wants a girl.

Win win situation? Perhaps.

Yesterday was my 13 week checkup at Dr Chan's. As usual, we waited over 2 hours for our turn. I was feeling super lousy and had to make multiple trips to the toilet to puke. It didn't help that I was also wracked with an excruciating headache and Hubby was down with a cold.

When the nurse took my weight, she informed me that I had lost weight again- 2kg this time. That brings the grand tally to 5kg. I wasn't surprised at all as I've been weighing myself almost everyday. This time Dr Chan didn't praise me or encourage me to lose more weight (as he always does). I think he is starting to realise that excessive weight loss over such a short period of time may have an adverse impact on the mother and fetus.

I lay listlessly on the bed while Dr Chan did an invasive ultrasound on me. The fetus looked really active and was bobbing up and down, continuously stretching its limbs. We could even see its rib cage and nose. Hubby was utterly fascinated and Dr Chan commented that this would be one "frisky baby".

When we pressed Dr Chan to make a guess whether it was a girl or guy, Dr Chan's immediate response was that his guess would be a girl as he could not spot any bird like protrusion sprouting from the baby's groin area. Hubby immediately perked up and broke into a wide smile. He has made it clear right from the start that he wants a girl.

I didn't quite know how to react as I am indifferent to both girls and guys. What matters is that the baby is healthy.

Anyway, we will wait till the next scan to confirm the gender.

Since Hubby and I have a family history of Down Syndrome, we also asked Dr Chan whether it is advisable to go for the OSCAR test. Dr Chan recommended against it, citing the following reasons:

- The OSCAR test is less accurate than the Triple Test which I will be taking in a month's time.
- Even if I fail the OSCAR test, the next fastest option to confirm whether the fetus has Down Syndrome is to take the Chrorionic Villus Sampling Test which basically extracts some tissue from the placenta for testing. Since snipping off a part of the placenta is akin to cutting off part of the root of a tree, chances of miscarriage are high (1 in 50)
- Dr Chan said Down Syndrome babies are usually quite sedate in the womb. Since mine is moving around so much, it is unlikely to be a Down Syndrome Baby
- Dr Chan also did a Nuchal Translucency Scan and found the amount of liquid under the skin of the baby's neck to be acceptable at 2.71mm (for Down Syndrome cases it is 3.5mm or more)

Happiness

Happiness is....

Waking up and realising it is Saturday morning
Knocking off at 530pm sharp on a working day
Getting an all-clear from the doctor after a gynae visit
Having a good night's rest
Being nausea free
Lazing in bed all day
The smell of the sea
Visiting the toilet after 3 days of constipation
Getting a nice massage
Owning a Chanel 2.55

Better times ahead?

Today finally marks the end of Week 12 and the beginning of Week 13.

Changes are aplenty.

I no longer puke so much and feel preppier. For the first time yesterday, Hubby and I ventured out of Tampines territory and did a Friday night walkabout at Orchard Road. Dinner comprised of a sumptous spread of beef rendang, chicken satay, tahu telor and sambal kangkong. Although I piled on half a kilo almost straightaway, I feel quite pleased with myself.

Work can get quite frustrating at times. I get quite bothered when I am made to send out "pre-vetted" emails which do not represent my true views. Nonetheless, I guess this is a small blemish and I am still very blessed in the bigger scheme of things.

Really looking forward to the gynae visit next Saturday.