My Life

Sigh… I feel so disappointed with my company’s management…. poor resources management, no sense of urgency, no clear directions. Feel that efforts that they are putting in are more for their own credit….:(

Hmm…..I can feel that more and more people get demotivated with the management and I keep hearing complaints from people around me. We choose to close our eyes and ignore all these. Just take our salary, do whatever is required, and accomplish our tasks well. Never ever let these stupid things affect our family life.

Probably it is a bit hard for you to believe this… I can feel my baby hiccups inside my tummy…

Initially Hup and I were wondering why there is consistent kick (kick at fix interval) at certain part of my tummy and it gone after a while. Hup asked ” Is it normal?”

Later we realized that actually it is caused by baby’s hiccups, after we watched the baby documentary called “In the womb” :)  Haha… it is funny, right? So far, we had felt it for ~ 4 times….. hehe….our baby keep giving us surprises

Sigh…. what should I do about this. It is so common for me to wake up few times in the night. If lucky 1 to 2 times, not so lucky 5 to 6 times, bad luck is couldn’t get back into sleep after wake up.

I was having this problem during the initial stage of pregnancy but mostly triggered by pass urine or hungry. Now is different, I just wake up without reasons. 

My baby kicks me very often now. For few times, I can touch her hand or leg (can’t really tell which part of her body), but is something small that slighly protrude in my tummy for little while before it goes flat again. Yeah, now she is not just kicking, she is touching her mama or papa’s hand. Haha… sometimes, we just put our hand on the tummy and we can feel that some parts of her body slowly up, touching our hand then slowly down again. The feels is totally different from kicking, kick is an quick action and she can be quite violent sometimes

Her papa talk to her every night, so that she can recognize papa’s voice when she is born My baby can hear the voices around her now. Not sure if this is true or just coincident, she always react when papa talk to her or when there is loud music

Okay… now is 4.04am. I should try to get back into sleep, anothers 3.5hrs for me to sleep before get up to work.

Baby… don’t keep kicking mama liao…. Let mama have a nice sleep, okay? Night, sweet heart.

In 2008 National Day Rally, Singapore PM announced a series of measures as the efforts to boost the birth rate in Sgp. Last year birth rate is ~1.29 (with chinese birth rate only 1.14), with the target of ~2.14.

Hahaha….. lucky me !!!! I am entitled for all the new benefits with the pulled in of effective date from 1/1/09 to 8/17/08.

The measures include:
- Maternity leave for mothers increased from 3 months to 4 months. The 3rd and 4th month leave will be paid by government.
(Ahtin: I like this most !!! 4 months maternity leave is super long ! It makes me smile even in my dream Probably I will just take 2 and half months, and can clear the rest within 1 year. So good, I can really spend a lot of time with my little princess )

- More tax incentives for having children
(AhTin: Heard is 5k relief from my annual income for income tax charge. Good, pay less tax )

- More subsidies for childcare 
(Ahtin: I will enjoy this benefit after ~ 2 years, when it is the time for my little girl to attend nursary class)

- Parents (whether father or mother) can now take paid leave of up to six days for child from 2 years old to 7 years old
(Ahtin: Wow… additional 6 days annual leave for me … Hmm… let me plan where to travel with my little princess.. hehe…We need to emphasize on family life, as what Mr Lee pleas  ”Please put emphasis on marriage, on family: Make these your priorities, have a full and happy life.” )

- Subsidies for assisted reproduction
 (AhTin: This is more for moms having problem conceiving. Really good, help to reduce the financial stress. You can’t imagine that the medical charge can be up to 10k -> 20k for 1 trial)

 - More Baby Bonus cash incentives for parents
(AhTin: Not too sure how much I will get for first kid and how to get… If i remember correctly, the baby bonus for 1st kid should be ~10k. If so, “my baby, you are richer than mommy now )

- The Baby Bonus cash incentives for parents will be extended beyond the fifth child.
(AhTin: Definitely this will not be applicable for me. Probably only certain races can really enjoy this benefit )

To be exact, now is 25 weeks + 3 days

I went for regular checkup on Tuesday. Gynae said my little princess is doing fine. Her head is on my right side and is in good position. Can see her face more clearly and gynae said she is chubby Guess my baby’s weight is around 1kg now, another 3 months ++ for her to gain another ~2kg…:P

Details scan was done during last visit. Gynae checked her hands, legs, organs, brain, lips, face, heart, stomach and also measured the length of her head, stomach and thigh. The length of thigh is okay but her head and stomach’s lengh a bit longer than standard. This is not a big concern but mama have to do the Diabetes check. If diagnosed to have diabetes, then I have to strictly control my diet.

Hmm… I will do the glucose test in my next visit. Before the day of visit, I can’t eat or drink (not even a sip of water) after 11pm till 9am. Then, they will check my glucose level in my blood. After that, I will need to drink glucose drink (should be very sweet one), and stay still for 2hrs for 2nd glucose level check. This is to see how my body response to high glucose drink. If my glucose level is high, means my body can’t manage the glucose well. Then, I have to strictly control my diet. Diabetes during pregnancy is quite common and usually will disappear after giving birth.

Haha… I told Hup that I strongly believe I won’t have diabetes because I am not really keen on sweet stuff But, to me, it is just part of the process that  I have to go through regardless of how the result is Most importantly, my little princess is safe

We visited Cameron Highlands on July 26th, for 4 days 3 nights. We drove there, together with HongKeng and JiaYong. Cameron Highlands is an ideal place for relaxing, with tea farm, strawberry farm, vegetable farm, cactus and etc…. The cool weather there will make you feel comfortable

This is my 2nd time to Cameron Highlands and I like the place. I like to walk around the farms and see different types of vegetable and flowers. Can you imagine that the roses there only cost you ~RM0.21 which is < S$0.10 per rose? Wow… it is really so cheap. We went to the Strawberry farm where you can choose and pluck the strawberries, which cost us ~RM30 per kg. In total, we plucked ~1.1kg strawberries. Hmm… the strawberries there not so sweet and quite sour. Hahaha…. Hup only had one and gave us a very funny face. He just can’t take sour stuff… hehe…

Cameron Highlands towns are very small, just few rows of shop houses. There was one thing that really surprised me, there are so many indians over there and I can say that all the grocery shops are managed by indians. I always have the impression that Cameron Highlands is chinese teritory but seems that it have changed. Probably most of the farms owners are still chinese but they hired a lot of indians from India/Nepal which make the towns look like indian teritory

We also went for “Pasar Malam”. As usual, “Pasar Malam” is always so crowded, with people selling foods, very fresh vegetables & flowers, sourvenirs, clothes, and etc. We bought a lot of food and as expected, we couldn’t finished it

Most of us enjoyed the trip but seems like the story was different for HongKheng. She was sicked since the 2nd day in Cameron Highlands and she spent a lot of time in hotel

BBQ and TomYam Steamboat in Hotel (our first night at Cameron :P)

Plucking strawberries at Strawberry farm (my first experience)

Tomatos….

Visit to Cabbage Farm…

Having fun at tea farm (Cameron Bharat Plantation)

If you are not a mom or dad yet, you hardly imagine how powerful a baby can be…..

Somehow, my mindset change after I was pregnant. My thinking becomes more possitive towards things that happened around me. My attitude towards work not so aggresive like previously as I try to give myself less stress and always keep myself in happy and relax mood. For an example, few of my collegues just get promoted. The thought that I have in mind is … “yeah, they deserved it and eventually it will be my turn. No worries”. I guess if I wasn’t pregnant, probably I will feel upset and asking why it isn’t my turn yet? My priority in work and family have swapped, now is family first followed by work. The baby just got the power to change my mindset unknowingly.

What else? Hahaha…. the baby can just influence the mama and papa to spend huge amount of $$ on him/her. You just don’t mind spending a lot of $$ for things that you think is good for your baby. For whatever things that you do, your baby is always come to you mind first.

Regardless of how tired you are for being a papa or mama, you will just feel that all your sacrifices are worth it and you will still enjoy the whole process without any complaints. This is the power of a baby. Probably that is the reason why human can keep the generations for years and years !!!!….

If you are not a mom or dad yet, plan for a baby now and sure you will share the same thought as me

My little princess kicks me more often and more “violent” now :P. I read from a magazine saying that the baby will kick around ~200 times daily on Week 20 and will increase up to ~500 times daily on Week 24. Just the mama can’t feel that often and also depends on mama’s sensitivity to feel the kicks. However, the frequency of kicking will drop later on when the baby getting bigger as there is less and less room for the baby to move around. The baby now is not fix on certain position yet.

I am on Week 24 ++ now (Week 25 for another 2 days). So, now should be the peak period for baby’s kicking. My baby is very active at ~11pm++ daily, as she kicks very often around the time daily. 

Her papa is not around now, went back to Jitra for 4 days and will only be back on next Wed morning. Sure he will miss the baby’s kicking. He just like to feel her daughter’s kicking by putting his hand or face on mama’s tummy

There was once I told Hup…. “can’t move away your hand till the baby kicks for 10 times”… then the baby just suddently kicked for 10 times non-stop….. hahahaha… it was so funny coz she never did that before. You see, she is already sided papa now… hehe….

We started to shop for baby’s stuff on ~ 2 weeks ago and since then, we have endless shopping…

Wow…. really a lot of things to buy. Some experience mama advised me to complete my shopping before my 3rd trimester which is ~3 weeks from now. Else, I will be to tired to shop with my big and heavy tummy. So, I have to shop more now while I still have the energy

It was so coincident that there were a lot a promotions with the celebration of Singapore National Day. “Kiasu” people like me and Hup sure won’t miss the opportunity to grab cheaper stuff.

We really save a lot of $$ expecially on the big items !!!….
- Washing machine - save $300 with 25% discount (not for baby)
- Baby stroller - save $50 with 20% discount
- Baby cot - save $100 with 25% discount
- Breast pump - save $30 with 30% discount
- Thermal scan - save $22 with 20% discount
- Bath tub - save $10 with 50% discount…. etc….

In total, we have save ~$800 in comparison with the normal price without discount or free gifts. This is a lot, isn’t it?

Well… sad thing is… we also spent a lot. So far, we had spent ~$1.1k just on baby’s stuff and estimate to spend another $500. Also need to buy a sofa bed which cost ~$265. Bought washing machine with ~$900. Hmm… a total of S$2800

My little princess…. mama and papa broke liao !!!….