Packing (Part 1 of 2)

It's been about two weeks since we've posted, but there's been no news on the baby-front; everything seems to be going well.

Thankfully we're almost finished with renovations to the house and only have a few small projects to complete before we start cleaning up the dust from our rather large mess.  John simply amazes me with what he's capable of: installing flooring, electrical, plumbing - the list goes on.

Clothes, blankets, burp cloths...

180 Newborn diapers

Most of the baby's packing is done, however we need to get some new luggage.  The suitcases we bought over a decade ago are beginning to fall apart.  One sleepless night when John was out of town, I decided to begin packing baby clothes, blankets diapers (pretty much everything).  I simply could not make it all fit in a pretty large suitcase.  Diapers (even newborn sized) and blankets take up a ton of room.  My solution, my kitchen food-saver vacuum sealer.  I shrank everything in them into stiff inch-thick boards that fit perfectly into the Phil & Ted's cocoon.  The diapers take up about 1/3 of their original size.  I did a few tests and they puff back up.  Although, the longer they're compressed, the longer it takes to get puffy again.

P&T Coccoon: Love the green apple color!

We pretty much copied Ryan & Ruben's (of "India Calling") packing list - dividing it in half of course. Thanks guys!

The only items we're skimping on from their list are the wipes, bottles, and electric sterilizer. We're bringing 7 small-sized bottles and some extra nipples. Electric sterilizers seemed too bulky to pack so I bought these microwave sterilizer bags you can use up to 20 times each. I've also heard of the electric sterilizers breaking or shorting out in international electrical outlets. We're bringing only a pack or two of wipes (also bulky and heavy), as the malls under and around the Svelte should carry them.

Lastly, the medicine bag:

• Cipro (a last-resort antibiotic our travel doctor gave us)
• Mefloquine (Malaria pills - I've heard they give people terrible nightmares, and I'm already prone to night terrors AND we have to start them a week before we leave! Fun times...)
• Gas relief drops
• Desitin
• Johnson & Johnson travel kit (shampoo, lotion, powder, and body wash - probably won't use these, but better safe than sorry)
• Wet Ones & a LOT of hand sanitizer!
• Anti-diarrheal & bismuth tablets (the doctor said, "it's going to happen")

We're getting excited and everything is lining up well, although I'm losing sleep and waiting for a call from Dr. Shivani saying it's coming early.  To keep myself occupied, I've been looking at all the websites I can to familiarize myself with Saket.  I was born and raised in  Southern California, so to me Saket looks like home, then again SoCal stood-in for Korea in M*A*S*H, so SoCal can look like anywhere and everywhere.

Here are some websites you may find useful:

• The Svelte Hotel: http://www.svelte.in
• Select Citywalk (the mall under The Svelte): http://www.selectcitywalk.com
• DLF Place (the mall next to Select Citywalk): http://www.dlfplace.in

It's interesting to see how different and similar these famous menus can be:

• Starbucks (no Dunkin' Donuts sites, but they have one at DLF): http://www.starbucks.in
• McDonalds (THEY FREAKIN' DELIVER!!!): http://www.mcdonaldsindia.com
• PizzaHut: http://www.pizzahut.co.in
• Domino's Pizza: http://www.dominos.co.in
• TGIFridays: http://tgifindia.com/index.aspx
• KFC (check out the curry bucket): http://www.kfc.co.in/index.php
• Taco Bell (not in Delhi yet, but interesting menu): http://www.tacobell.co.in/tacomenu.aspx#

If you know or come across any other sites, post them in the comments.

Cheers!
Morgan