(2012/06) Jun 2012

Petrina
Will go and find more information about playdates, thanks for that.

For bus, I only board it if there are seats available or else i will wait for the next bus since I am taking from the first stop and the bus come real fast too. As for train, I only take 2 or at the most 3 stops so i think is ok to stand for awhile. Ever since we knew i'm pregnant, we have been telling my youngest that i can no longer able to carry him and he is used to walk on his own now when my hubby is not with us.

Nattan
We moved to msia because hubby is the only child in the family so he has the responsibility to take care of his parents in a few years' time. Currently his parents will come over twice a year to visit the grandchildren while we go over twice a year too. If we were to move to sg, i guess we will be only going back once a year since we won't be buying a car in sg and also i cannot imagine where are his family going to sleep when they come over.

My hubby intends to visit 2 private preschools next week when he comes back from KL, we were told by his friends that they teaches the same way as sg. Or perhaps I will do what the rest suggested, get playdates or just let him go 3 days instead of 5 days a week. My main purpose for him to go school now is to encourage him to open up more and talk.

Joeey
That a good idea too, maybe i can do that.

Jul
If I were to let him choose, he will choose infant or those who around 6-8mths old only because they won't snatch toys from him. Haha..

Gynae Package
My gynae package start from 2nd visit and I signed up mine when I was 8weeks pregnant, it cost me $650. It include all scans done in clinic, routine blood & urine tests, multivitamins (fish oil has to pay) and 2 postnatal visits. As for his delivery fees, it cost $1400 for normal delivery. He didn't increase his price as I paid the same price 3 years ago.
 


Felicia, woah your company is so generous! In that case it's good you find the one you can claim fully lah. hehehe..

Huhu my company can claim any visit to GP but cannot claim if related to pregnancy
sad.gif
 
<font color="aa00aa">Chin, </font>
i think can claim up to $450 from medisave for your prenatal package.

<font color="aa00aa">Prenatal package</font>
My package is $700 from 12 weeks onwards, inclusive of the usual vitamins like iron and calcium. Price was $550 when i delivered in 2009.

<font color="aa00aa">jenny, </font>
Is this your first pregnancy? I think travelling is ok but don't over tired yourself.
I have travelled to Genting twice for this pregnancy and will be going to KL and Taiwan next month, with my 2 kids.
If can, try to negotiate with your company to cut down on the travelling. I think its too much for them to ask you to quit if you cant travel.
They might just want to save on the maternity and find ways to ask you to leave by yourself.
 
<font color="aa00aa">Cord blood banking</font>
Can ask if any of the mummies here have stored the cord blood of your elder kids?
I did not store the cord blood of my 2 elder kids, was thinking donating but cant as my hubby have G6PD deficiency.

I am now thinking whether to store the cord blood of this baby as it will be my last pregnancy.
 
Groovy2009
yup not bad lor, welfare for mummies are good.. and that 2k bonus hor, can claim up to 3rd child and it's not just for female employees, male also can claim for their kids de.. and maternity leave is 4 months for both singaporeans and foreigners which is a plus point since we hire a lot of FTs, haha...

jenny
yup i am also wondering if this is your first child. in general during 2nd trimester it's alright to travel.. i went to Australia during my 1st pregnancy and everything was fine.. for my job i also need to travel to US yearly, but hor i think if you can travel by SQ, still not too bad.. i took UA for my last trip and was really bad experience due to delays.. so maybe talk to your boss again and find out how many more travels he expect you to do before your Maternity leave, and if all within 2nd trimester, see how much you can really cope.. if only one trip to US and another 2-3 short trips to nearby countries, think still fine, after all i am a very career person so i won't just leave the job because of this, as much as i still can cope i will try lor..

but hor if 1st pregnancy then i think my limit is 1 US trip + 1 or max. 2 short trip only i guess..

princessdella
i didn't store for #1 and no intention to store for #2 either.. my concept is simple, whatever i do not have for myself when i was a kid, not necessary to get for them, lol..
 
jenny: as long as you aren't carrying heavy luggage all the time, and have plenty of time to go from one place to another, I think it should be fine to travel now. Perhaps you could get luggage with wheels and also avoid bringing too many things. Or use backpack to distribute the weight.
but do check when you can't travel by plane because of restrictions.
 
nattan

Normally older folks aren't so particular abt hygiene one lah.

petrina, glass, joeey

Why ah? They shd be speaking to the child in the language that they are most proficient in right? Why make the parents speak in their proficient language &amp; start speaking broken language to them? Can't understand!

glass

Actually church kindy isn't too bad leh. At least the few I heard of are supposed to be quite gd. haha but I think SIL's church kindy was not so gd.

For me, I ngiao abt pure Montessori lah. That's why I found this expensive, hard to get in, far away sch for my son haha

Chin

There's a cap to antenatal claim &amp; delivery claim. Normally, the cap is $450 on antenatal, so if u have a package, there's no need to keep the indiv receipts.

Felicia

Your co benefits v gd hor? Can work from home some more.

jenny

It depends on what you have to do for your work. Do you need to carry heavy equipment? Or walk ard inspecting factories etc? If just fly there, do accounts, basically sit &amp; not so much physical exertion, I think it's ok.

I went to Japan in my 2nd tri. Went F&amp;E, walked all over the place, no probs. Most imptly is your gynae must give clearance.

audrey

Haha your son is very smart hor?

Why not start with younger kids? Then as he slowly builds up confidence, move to same age? As long as he has interaction with other people other than your immediate family, which is your intention right?

princessdella

I don't intend to store also. At most get from public bank haha
 
Jenny,
The first thing is do you need to carry heavy equipment like your laptop through the whole travel? Is your laptop that heavy?

Because first of all, we need to carry our hand luggage everywhere as to US need to do transit and last time they don't allow us to leave our belongings even though we're taking the same flight (in year 2007)..

Second is do you have companion to help you just to get your luggage from the baggage claim? Because otherwise it'll be pretty difficult.

Third, are you the shy person type to ask help or not. If not, they should be fine, can just ask other persons to help you carry your luggage from the baggage claim etc, OR if somehow you feel sick etc they can help..

Fourth, it's best if you can have a flight companion. Maybe if your husband cannot, then can ask your parents or friends if they want to join you. You can always pay their flight ticket and they can stay with you in the hotel. I guess it'll still be cheaper than OUT OF JOB right now since you'll lose your maternity leave and it will be very very difficult for you to get a job after your child is born..
 
princessdella,
I store for my #1.
I really feel it's a kind of insurance. Who knows in the future it might be a cure of cancer or other kinds of diseases that might be more and more common nowadays.

You might join the seminar first to get to know more about the benefits. But also, you need to ask whether the private bank also accept cord blood if your husband has G6PD deficiency..
 
Hi All Mummies

Sorry to interupt. I got 1 BN similac mum 900g expiry date 2013 but forgot which mth. Giving away for a token of 6 BN big pkts of pigeon wet wipes. I also got some sample pkts to give together. Anyone keen, pls email me at [email protected]
Tks
 
hi all, i be travelling alone.. got to carry heavy tihngs anot.. maybe not too heavy stuff bah..i m not too sure.. but definitely have to carry laptop around..i m not the shy type of person but i still find it quite tough to travel around alone especially even now not travelling i am experiencing legs and thighs aching, lower back pain and shoulder aching and giddyness and stomach unwell all the time..
 
jul: yeah man, even my mil speaks mainly cantonese, and yet she speaks to my son in super broken english with poor pronunciation occasionally. Even the mandarin she speaks to him is bad. I would rather he just pick up cantonese from her.

hubby just went to check out the church kindy, which caused all the problems for me initially. Told me that my son was just 3 months too young to start in jan, and i should try again in march/april. That was why I didn't want to send my son there as the period for adjustment is too short. I wanted him to start school much earlier, so that he would have more months feeling ok before the next kid comes.

Now my hubby went to check with them this morning, they told him to register him for jan 2013! What nonsense!!! Should have told me much earlier in Nov. If not for the episode in Dec where I was concerned about the type of environment that suits him the best, I would have happily waited until march, then to find out he will not get a place.

Anyway, now my FIL can't get his wish, I must really check out other schools. Really have problems with transport to the first school I sourced in Dec, and this MMI is exasperating me.

Maybe I should send him to this school my friend is spending $2000 a month on plus $200+ for bus where there are only 4 students and her daughter is really enjoying school! Both of us live near to each other, so my son could have company.

Ridiculous!
 
jul
yup my company pay not super good so benefits better, LOL.. as for work from home, more because our job nature allows us to do so occasionally, but not every time lah, my previous company a lot more flexible, well it's the boss after all, cuz last time it's a Dutch boss and now HK boss lor.. very diff style...

glass
wow 2000+200? gosh, thought i am paying 520 for a full day childcare is already not very cheap.. 2k a month is like one person's take home pay liao, that time i wanted this montesorri childcare so much but it's 1k+ a month and we calculate and calculate still decided to give it a pass since it's too expensive.. hope you can find a good one with reasonable budget soon!
 
Felicia: Ok, I just called the centre and it turns out that it is around $1.1k for the afternoon session. Will interfere with my son's afternoon nap, but never mind, he can usually stay awake when he is having lessons in the afternoons.

Guess I am paying for the super small class size, and attention, plus the bilingual curriculum.

If I have to pay this type of fees, then I will forgo the maid, and hire a part time cleaner to solve my household chores problem. I think my husband will be happy with this. I guess when #2 comes along, I can have the afternoon off to concentrate on #2 during my maternity leave.

Then I also don't have to see my FIL's face regarding sending Elgin to school. He just has to bring him down to wait for the school bus.

They are mailing me the registration package, and I will see how it goes.
 
Jenny, also take note is the travel immediate or still next mth.. Last time when preggy with #1 I actually let go of my opportunity to go to US and I always regret it. That time becoz the opportunity comes when I'm in my first trimester, but the trip is in my 2nd trimester when I'm 5th mth pregnant and feeling A LOT BETTER already. huhu..

Nowadays company still not in a very good shape to allow lots of people to travel to US. Unlike last time in 2010. And this time I think I need to let go again if there's any opportunity since I'll be in my 3rd trimester.
Dunno next year also can travel or not, as when the baby is born I plan to pump and I need to pump and dump the milk lor if need to travel to maintain supply. huhu..
 
Petrina: Does MMI have chinese lessons? I read someone that says it doesn't have, and I don't see it on their brochure. But my friend says yes.
 
Glass: yes they do. everyday. half hr each. depending on the centre u choose also.. some schools prefer once a wk or so..
the best thing about montessori is all kids grow individually. not graded by level. so same class can have different kids learning different stages. so you don't have to worry if ur kid can't catch up.

So exp!!

Re - cordblood
i still have same views, it's good to have but if u have budget constrains, then just donate it instead of disposing. You have to choose b4 delivery as the relevant people need to bring the equipment on the day you deliver.
of course donation = u have priority over public cordbank if u need it. But you need to be able to find a suitable blood cell to make the organ transplant.
 
jenny

Hmm.. I don't travel to US much so I don't really know abt those transit or domestic arrangements. Does your co pay for the transport from airport to hotel etc? If so, hiring those private airport taxi will make your life easier. If need to take train etc, then I think it's too tedious liao.

If your co is trying to make you quit to save maternity beenfits, u shd tolerate as long as possible. I think they can't dismiss you issit how many mths after you're preggie etc leh. I can't recall liao but it's on the MOM website.

glass

Aiyah my MIL speaks in a smattering of Hokkien, Chinese &amp; Malay to my son. She says it's GOOD coz he'll learn many languages. That's not the way to learn many laguages. You just switch from PURE Malay/Chinese/Hokkien at a time, that's learning many languages. Not all 3 in 1 sentence! Hiaz!


I understand lah. I also pek check when I was trying to find a 1/2h playgroup for my son at 18mths. What come back next yr. By next yr, I might as well register for a proper kindy/CC.

Either too expensive, or too far, or no sch bus, or curriculum no good.. full of probs. The PCF near MIL's place even funnier. I registered for it when he was 18mths old, just this week then they called me asking if I was interested!

My Montessori doesn't have separate Chinese lesson. The Chinese teacher will speak Mandarin to the kids. But when they are abt 4, they can have option to attend pure Chinese lessons in the afternoon.

Chris

me me! I'm gog alone, &amp; I may only stay for the BF-ing part too! If we meet for lunch, I can leave Hubs at home alone with #1, instead of dragging them all the way then they hand ard in Bugis, &amp; he cannot nap well etc etc. I PM-ed u my hp heehee
 
Felicia

Some companies disallow teleworking even if the job nature is suitable. Afraid the staff skives at home. Or some are just plain lazy to send emails etc when they just wanna call u into the office n rattle off instructions
 
LOL... Jul. ur MIL same as mine siah! my MIL also speak hokkien/eng/mandarin all in a single sentence.. haha
so in the end my son speak chinese cum eng in a sentence. I work in a PRC firm so my collys find it very amusing to talk to my son during company sponsored family outings...

Jenny: I think travelling during pregnancy is ok. All airports have trolleys so u dun have to carry luggage by hand most of the time.
Your co shld provide airport transfers and personal driver during your stay in overseas trips. otherwise you shld be able to claim taxi. so u can book in advance to avoid flagging cab on the streets.
Just be sure to get compression stockings for flights.
If they r using travels to force u to resign, then the more u shld not let them have it. if really need be, then u use ML to look for another job.
 
Jenny, your co is so mean to threaten you. Can this be reported to MOM? I think these companies should really be reported for threatening pregnant employees. Can consider Petrina's suggestion to look for new job during maternity leave. Personally I think asking an employee to travel during pregnancy or even after maternity leave is something companies should think twice about. If something happens to the baby, who is going to be responsible? Definitely not the company right? Also, if the mummy still wants to continue breastfeeding the baby after maternity leave, travelling is very inconvenient. Like my colleague who had to travel to China almost immediately after returning from maternity leave. Everyday she had to pump and throw away her milk in China. Her baby had to rely on stored milk or formula while she was away for 10 days.
 
Hi mummies,

I have the following to let go:
1) Brand New in box - 125ml/4oz Avent Feeding Bottles (3pcs in a box)
2) 4 boxes of Size 2 Avent teats and 3 boxes of Size 1 Avent teats. (Note: each box has 2 teats)

Please PM me.
 
Hi chris,
I am going for the cord life talk. I not sure if my hubby wants to go with me.. If not I will be alone too..
 
Petrina

Hias speaking of MIL, i need to gripe.

I've been avoiding telling her too much abt my son's sch other than logistics. But tdy she was bending my ear abt must tell teacher to give him food, he was v hungry after sch, must say he cannot ask for food, gotta prompt him, blah blah. Went on n on abt how 'hot' schs r not good. Ratio too low, teachers can't cope etc

I was stupid enough to try to tell her where got sch with 1teacher to small student ratio? Even PCF is full. Look at their ratio! If it's so empty, something must be wrong with the sch.

Went on n on abt teachers cannot cope with so many small ones. So i made the mistake of trying to reassure her that it's mixed age group, the teachers only have to cope with 5 small kids. Then she went on abt the big kids will bully the small ones.

By then hubs stepped in to talk to her n i just gave up n went out to my son. Hiaz! Everything also cannot please one. Luckily i din enroll my son into her downstairs PCF or CC. Can imagine her peeking all the time into the class, distracting my son n complaining all the time abt how terfible the place is.

She mentioned there was some other playgroup or kindy near her place. I wonder if she was trying to hint switch schs? Hiaz
 
Jul: I think my fil will be constantly peeping into the church kindy if my son went there.

My husband told my mil about the Sch I was eyeing today, and she straight away said it was expensive and her grand nephew went to one with four students only at $300 a month a few years baxk. Where to find such a place now? Plus the boy lives in far away from us, so it won't be in the same place. She told her niece about it and luckily the niece tried to help by saying the program is different, hours different etc.

If not for their insistence on sending him to that church kindy just because it is very near and the neighbor says it is good, I would have looked harder for a school earlier.

Last time she interfered in my house, now my son's education too.
 
Glass

It's like that. ILs or parents feel that they 'eat salt more than we eat rice' so they're constantly trying to make sure we do things correctly according to their hard-earned experience. They just dun realise times have changed. And most of the time, they interfere coz they care.

Think there's no perfect way in this world. Just like CC kids r more independent, learn faster, etcetc but their food n other basic needs r not looked after with such dedication. So i aws TRY to remind myself that there r pros n cons to every alternative. TRY to listen then make my own decisions. N hopefully "umm umm" can fool MIL lol

So u're gog for the church kindy?
 
<font color="aa00aa">My gynae is not offering package now so it's pay-per-visit. Next visit will be 5 weeks later, doing detailed scan.</font>
 
moi

My gynae has package from 20 weeks onwards. I calculated that if I go only by scheduled visits, it's cheaper not to sign package. So I dunno whether to sign now!

It used to be slightly cheaper price for 12 weeks onwards package. Gosh! Inflation hits everything
 
jul, how come scheduled visit will be cheaper than package?
Maybe it'll be like Felicia case, the delivery fee is subsidized when you sign package?

Also must consider I remember last time I need to go back twice after delivery, one to check the stitch, the other one for pap smear. Both will cost you money too! (If with ultrasound of course it'll be more than $100 per visit)
If your package inclusive of those, it'll be best..

I have a friend never go for post delivery consultation though because she need to pay extra for that. She doesn't have any problem at all.. But for me maybe I'll still go even though not inclusive in the package..
 
my gynae will let me decide to sign package on 20 weeks onwards till delivery only include the consultation fee and exclude any other vitamins. it is about $800+. I calculated still worth. If I delivered on EDD, then i still need to see her for 11 times, each consultation she charge $60, ultrasound $50.
 
Morning ladies,
Have been really busy with all the festive season and had no time to check the forum.
Anyways i went for my 16W check and we are expecting a baby girl!! We are totally stoked!

My next check will be early Feb on my 20W and my gynae will be doing a detailed scan however what is the detailed scan for? *Curious*

My hubby and i are also going to invest in cordlife. Do let me know your opinions after you have gone for the seminar. Would love to go but i have prior appointments.
 
I stored my no.1 cord blood with cordlife. Reason is my hb is Thalassemia minor, My no.1 has 25% chance a thalassemia minor carrier too. So we decided to keep. When she was still less than 1yo, there was once she has very high fever, PD did a blood test on her and the PD checking if I am a thalassemia carrier cos looking at her report she suspected my gal is. TIll now we have not took her for a details test to check if she is minor carrier.

When we filled in the questionaire for cordlife, the sales got shocked that my hb has so many problems, but luckily I am normal so in the end they accepted my gal cold blood.
 
groovy

If I add up planned individual visits vs package price, package slightly more ex! Unless I have additional visits due to complications or deliver later etc then package cheaper.

My gynae's package doesn't incl after delivery visits also.

loshita

How you calculate 11 visits?
 
adeline

Congrats! Detailed scan is for checking structure &amp; organs, bones, liver, etc, cleft lip &amp; so on.
 
Morning mummies..

during my last check up on Christmas Eve, I was asked whether I want to sign up for the gynae package which is $1.5K, but they needed a deposit of $700 which I didn't prepare, so I didn't sign up and paid cash for my visit inclusive of supplements which added up to about $160. If I had signed up, the cost would be included in the deposit paid. I also dunno if it's worth my money to sign up. The nurse said if I come for appt before scheduled date, they will charge extra. No extra if I go for scheduled visits. Now not sure if I should sign up or not??
kao_confused.gif


Adeline, congrats on finding out your baby's gender. Is this your first child? I'm going for the seminar this weekend but probably will not sign up for the cord blood banking. I'm thinking of donating the cord blood with the Singapore Cord Blood Bank. I figure that since we don't have any family history of serious illnesses, it would be better to donate the blood to have the chance of saving another child's life.
 
loshita

Oic.

I think last time, mine was 20, 24, 28, 32, 35, then 37 I give birth liao. So it's not worth for me to sign up.
 
jul: my package is for 10 visits. usual $107 incl gst per visit. so i paid $800 means i 2 free visits.

from 3rd trimester see gynae every 2 wks. so u count from now till then how many wks u r till edd.

Adeline: Detailed scan is to check limbs, spine, body structure n gender. make sure all parts r growing well according to wks.

Re MIL
jul, i noe how u feel. my mil also dun like me to say PCF not good. i told her yesterday i received a call from their principal asking if i still wanted the slot for my son. So i told her i think their enrollment is low, so they have to call those who reserved names previously to see if they can catch any leftovers...
but i think i don't have FIL. so i only need to deal with 1 person.. hehe. easier. grandparents r usually very concerned abt their grandkids.
my parents r also similar. dun need exp school. last time we also grew up on PAP kindy...

but they failed to acknowledge that now PAP kindy is no longer run by PAP. it's run by NTUC called Little Wings...

culture n teaching style is very different from olden days where the teachers r like parents.

plus competition is so stiff, even if i want to relax also can't. i don't need a scholar. i just want my children to be able to cope in school.

Glass: grandparents r stuck in the era where school is filthy cheap! hehe. i told my MIL Maris Stella very cheap liao. $300 per mth ratio 1:8. she say PCF lagi cheap, $170 ratio 1:8 but not really 8 students since their enrollment is very low so maybe is 1:5.. faintz
i'm glad she dun peep. on the other hand, when i m on leave, i like to peep.. hehe, see wat the rascal is doing in class.
 
nattan

Same lor. If scheduled visit, no need to pay extra. But mine doesn't incl supplements. So I also headache
 
Thanks ladies.

Regarding the detailed scan the nurse did ask if i want another doctor to also conduct the detailed scan after my own gynae has done th detailed scan as she would need to book an appt for the other doctor. Do you all go for 2 detailed scan?

Nattan: Yes it is our first child, first baby for both of our parents and the first female grandchild for my husbands side.
happy.gif


We are looking into investing into cordlife as an insurance and you can never be too sure nowadays.Medical technology has advanced tremendously so it will definately gives us a piece of mind for the future. However it is a very personal opinion, i must say.
 
Jul, mine includes supplement, but I think if you can buy your supplements outside, would be cheaper also.

BTW, the Topicrem is still with me.. when do you want to collect from me?? :p
 
loshita: my package - 16,20,24,28,32,36,37,38,39,40.
for #1, i delivered on 38th wk. so i nvr save or lugi $.. hehe
i hope this time i'll tahan till 40.
 
Adeline, cord blood banking is good to have if you can afford. I also have friends who banked their kids' cord blood.

Re detailed scan, mine is scheduled in mid Feb. It's already part of my triple test and OSCAR scan package.
 


nattan

I meet u at Cordlife seminar lah hahah

adeline

Mine will be done by the TMC 'lab'. My gynae will only tell me the results.

petrina

I count liao. So individual cheaper lor. Mine is $125 per visit.

Yeah lor. They don't realise that PAPs no longer cost $20/mth lor. Anyway we also don't let them know how much my son's Montessori costs. They sure faint. But I'm sure they have an idea that it's not cheap, looking at the sch , environment &amp; the other students lah.
 
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