Inlove: Thank you for sharing your survival tips with me, as a fellow thelassemia-sufferer [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif] I was told we can lead pretty normal lives but it’s only under very trying circumstances such as being pregnant where our disorder rears its ugly head. My gynae stopped my folic intake at 3 mths and you are right that iron supplements will not work for us since ours is genetic. And I don’t drink coffee [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/sad.gif] Maybe I should consider drinking some coffee though. I’m just so desperate to find a way to stay perky throughout the office day. It’s like what I often tell my hub – that I start the day with something like a 50% charged battery and it wanes quickly throughout the day. By day’s end, I’m lucky if I have 5% energy left to eat dinner, bathe, play with my cat and get some reading done!
Geri: Working from home once or even twice a week sounds great to me. Unfortunately, we don’t have such a policy here in my office. I think if I didn’t have any maternity benefits, the choice to quit would be alot easier to make. It’s difficult to be motivated by money all the time. My own sanity matters more to me, so in a perverse way, I actually have to force myself to be more “money-minded” (scare tactics like looking at huge credit card bills often work) so that I constantly remind myself to work for the money. Not exactly the way I want to continue living my work life though :/
Pootz: The cot-bed I got is from Shears and I bought it from Baby Boutique in Tampines for $239 if I remember correctly the last two digits. It comes with some free bedding (at least 2 little bolsters and small pillow with covers) and if you pay another $38 you can upgrade to the foam mattress with holes instead of the ordinary foam mattress. She doesn’t have latex mattress for this size of cot-bed. The size, I think is something like 56x48cm. It’s abit more narrow than most other cot-beds but that suited me fine because it meant I could push it through the doors from one room to the other. There are at least three other cot-beds designs available at Baby Boutique (including Mama Love brand) in larger sizes costing not much more but those won’t be able to fit through normal-sized doors. All come with castors and some are not available in white, only browns. The one thing that the one I got DOESN'T have is these small side panels to replace the drop-down panels once you're ready to convert to junior bed. The small side panels help prvent your toddler from rolling out of bed too often. Some of the other models have this feature. So it’s really what your preferences are. But in general, I find their designs not too bad and prices very reasonable. And for Baby Boutique, they have that lifetime membership I mentioned earlier (for just $5) and the more stuff you buy from them, the bigger overall discount they try and squeeze out for you. Their shop space is small so naturally physical samples are pretty limited, but the friendly saleslady is more than happy to bring out her catalogues to recommend something suitable once she gets a good idea of what you’re looking for. Now that’s what I call customer service [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif]
Hi Mummies, I measured my waistline (tentatively, may I add) two nights ago and am still coming to terms with the shock that my waistline is now nearly 40inches!!! *groan* Geri, I know you are going to attempt to console me by saying it’s not quite as big to yours, but still!! It used to be, around 5th month, that people commented they could hardly see my bump and they were extremely surprised to hear I was pregnant. Not so these days

I think people are now shocked when I say I’m 6 months as opposed to... 8 mths? Hehe ... must be all those bubble teas and sweet things I’ve been craving and succumbing to this last month.
And I think we have settled on naming baby Lucas [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif] My hub has liked this name since 4th month or so but I said I needed a couple months to see if I liked it enough or not. Well, I haven’t been able to come up with anything more spectacular and the name IS growing on me, so little one’s full name will be Lucas Alexander Seah. Hope that’s not too long to write during exams (one of my top concerns, haha!).
Baywater: Just read your update ... alamak, looks like the maid situation is giving you a big headache. You make me want to think twice about getting a maid too [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/sad.gif] Hey, if your hub is going skiing in early Dec, that means he’ll be back in town in time for your delivery, right? Try and see it in a positive light ... some guys just need to escape once in awhile; that’s their way of coping with stressful situations. I definitely don’t agree that he should be spending so much precious money on himself during this important time though!! Hugs!!