Hey Baby

I wondered how many countries in the world take the task of increasing birth rate as seriously and as actively as the Singapore Government.  I was pleasantly surprised at the enhancements to the benefits compared to 4 years ago when I had the little lion dancer.  Does it yield results?  I guess so, judging from the recent article published by The Straits Times in February this year, citing an all time high of birth rates in 13 years, despite the still low fertility rates.

Looking at myself, I get married at 33, had my first child at 35 and second at 40, I'm definitely one of those who fall into the categories mentioned in the article.  Women nowadays are more educated, spend more time in school before joining the workforce in their mid-20s.  It would be a good 5 years from the first paycheck to save enough for a decent wedding, apply for a flat before even think about having kids.  Regardless, I'm still one of the 'late bloomers'.  Well, better late than never.  Some things in life cannot be rushed, isn't it?

I find this website - Hey Baby, rather useful in providing all the information you would need on Government's subsidies from the point of planning for your marriage to raising kids.

1. Cash payout

For the 1st and 2nd child, total cash payout would be $14,000 per child comprising $8,000 for Enhanced Baby Bonus Cash Gift and $6,000 for matching CDA funds.  This sum of money is supposed to help defray costs of raising a child, but is that enough?  How long can it last a typical family?

Middle-Income Family (monthly household income of $8,000)

Above $7,500, you do not get any additional subsidy on childcare, average childcare fees after working mother subsidy would be around $400-$800 per month.  Taking average of $600 per month, $14,000 would not last even 3 years. 

Low-Income Family (monthly household income of $7,500 and less)

Well, the sum of money would probably be able to last 5 years for this group of families.

For us, we are likely to use the cash payout to offset the maternity expenses leading up to the delivery.

2. Medisave Grant for Newborns

This is another enhancement from 4 years ago.  Newborns will have a new Medisave account set up and credited with $4,000 to help with medical expenses and to pay for Medishield Life Insurance. 

3. Enhanced Paternity Leave

When little lion dancer was born, my husband had only just a pathetic 2 days of paternity leave.  Now, he will get 2 full weeks to spend time with me and the baby.  Nice.

4.  Shared Parental Leave

Husband can now share 1 week of their wife's maternity leave to take care of the newborn.  No, this is not an option for him, haha.

5. Infant Care Leave

This is perhaps not new.  For families with kids up to 2 years, total number of days of child care leave a year is actually 12 (6 days for childcare + 6 days for infant care).

There are also other benefits which may not be applicable to everyone, eg. maternity protection scheme, work life grant, tax reliefs and foreign domestic worker levy concession.

Pray that come budget next year, there will be further enhancements (especially in the area of financial subsidies and flexi-work arrangement) that would be back-dated to 1 January 2017.  *Fingers crossed*

I want a baby brother..

Everyday during our journey to and fro childcare centre, we would have interesting conversations like this.

Isaac: Mummy, your tummy is getting bigger already.  There’s a baby inside.

Mummy: Oh, is it a boy or girl?

Isaac: Boy!! Because I like a baby brother.

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(Mummy vomitting)

Isaac: Mummy, is the baby making you sick?

Mummy: Yes Isaac. Mummy feels terrible. Can I don’t want the baby?

Isaac: No cannot. I want the baby.

Mummy: But why? Isn’t it good that you have all the toys to yourself?

Isaac: But the toys cannot talk to me mah.

Mummy: You have mummy and daddy to talk to you right? or we can get a pet.

Isaac: No but the baby is cute mah. So cute!!

Mummy: But our house is so small, where’s the baby going to sleep?

Isaac: The baby sleeps besides me lor.

Mummy: The baby will cry at night and disturbs your sleep, wakes you up.  Will you be angry?

Isaac: No, I will pat pat the baby to sleep.

(Kisses me everytime I feel sick)

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(Mummy holding saliva in her mouth and unable to talk)

Isaac:Mummy, you want to spit? Go toilet spit it out la.

(Spit)

Mummy: The baby is naughty, always makes Mummy so sick.

Isaac: No la, the baby is so cute. why you keep saying the baby is naughty? (Gets angry)

A very protective and loving elder brother.  He is ready, don't you think?

Second time lucky...

4.5 weeks ago, I found out I was pregnant.  What was happy news soon turned into a nightmare when the unrelenting ” morning sickness” hit me.  Harder than my first, I thought. Or has motherhood as usual made women so forgetful that they are brave enough to get pregnant again.

“Baby growing well, good size.” my gynae said at my 7 weeks scan.  We were immediately booked for Panorama test 5 weeks later.  Just 4 years ago, Panorama was unheard of and the usual for pregnant women above 35 years old would be to get an amniocentesis which though very accurate carries risk of miscarriage.  At that visit, I naively asked with concern on the lessening of my first trimester symptoms.  I was prescribed with hormone pills I never took as that MS beast came back full force the very next day!

5 weeks seemed like an eternity to me, especially with the debilitating fatigue and vomitting.  Is it age or I have really forgotten?

I count my lucky stars that the supposedly most difficult part of pregnancy happened when I am in between jobs.  This is a blessing ( as I am able to adequately rest) and a curse (time crawwwwls when you are confined at home).  A short trip to supermarket left me exhausted.  I had not eaten a proper dinner for more than a month.  What went in came out and more.  Imagine being sea sick and having food poisoning at the same time.  Great isn’t it?  Women are.

Then came the constant spitting of saliva. I couldn’t swallow – it makes me vomit.

At times, several times, secretly and aloud, I wished for selfish reasons that this pregnancy would stop.  I ended up googling information on this and ended up crying my eyes out.

My energy and appetite slowly returned as I turned 10 weeks though dinnertime is still a torture.  I am able to go groceries shopping without feeling like collapsing after an hour, do light packing and arranging of the cupboards.  Have I maxed it out already or was it the drips with Maxolon they put me on 4 days back?

Visited Chinese doctor today and prayed that he will be able to cure my saliva issues before I start work.  Spitting and driving at the same time without getting into an accident and not soiling yourself is an art.  I missed at times on the latter.

I bring a spit mug with me wherever I go and try my best to discreetly do my thing in public.  What a life right? At least, I am not vomitting. At least.

Hubby was impressed that I achieved level 101 of Bubble Mania in few days and say I have a talent. When you are counting the seconds everyday, you play Bubble Mania to distract yourself and everyone is a talent.

Let’s count the number of medications I had been prescribed with so far:

• Folic acid
• Vitamin B6
• Maxolon
• Antacids
• Dexilant
• Chinese meds

It had been a rough start but let’s hope it will all go away in 2 weeks’ time.

I had a sudden inspiration of baby names today. Hubby hoped for a girl and I thought I found a great name “Brea” – noble, strong, virtuous.  I don’t mind another boy “Zachy”.  In this case, I can call 2 kids in 1 go- Isaachy.

Gardens by the Bay: Flower Dome: Flowery Fun Times with Nursery Rhymes

We were at the children's playground at Gardens by the Bay when we decided to check out also the ongoing floral display at the Flower Dome.  Actually, it's more to escape the scorching heat by taking respite in the cool conservatory which is perpetually kept at  23 degrees Celsius.  We were thrilled to find out that the current exhibition is that of Nursery Rhymes.  Of course, we were in!

There was a long queue at the ticketing booth and boy was I tempted to sign up for the annual pass.  Anyway, in this heat, I thought it would make good sense to take a short drive from where we stayed and to enjoy the hottest times of the day in the cool conservatory (free!).  Well, until I thought about sharing my private space with loads of tourists, I changed my mind and decided to join the queue.

The Flower Fun Times is the third of six chapters in Gardens by the Bay's storytelling journey in 2015.  The display will be from 22 May - 19 July 2015, 9am - 9pm.  Here are some facts about the conservatory opening hours and ticket prices.



First in, we were greeted by this mother goose prop where we stopped to have a quick photo shot.  I can never get him to put on his best smile nowadays when taking photos.  So, I gave up and he can grumble about it when he grows up in future and see this posted publicly.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall....

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb...its fleece were white as snow...

Floral displays on our way down to the main attraction of the dome...

Old Mcdonald had a farm..e a e a o...

 Bah bah black white, have you any wool?

 
 There are so many flowers so beautiful and exquisite with names I cannot remember..

 

 

 

 

 

This is taken from a Chinese song, 客人来。

After checking out the nursery rhymes display, we headed for the upper level of the dome for succulent display.  Here we chanced upon a sculpture which means a group of family visit the gardens and loved it so much that they had left a piece of themselves here, while leaving for the airport.

Desert Rose -  a member of the frangipani family.  These are found in Africa, Middle East and Socotra Islands.  All species have stems which are swollen to store water.  So, that's how desert roses look like.  Beautiful, except that the sap is poisonous.

The ghost tree, so called as it is cultivated near tombs in traditional villages.

Stone plant - fooling their predators they are hard as stones,
but are actually soft and juicy with capacity to store water.

Tree grapes

Don't ask me why this is called the Elephant tree, it looks no where like the real thing!

Shaving Bush tree

 

Ask me again if I would consider buying the annual pass after my visit.  I think I would :)  Visiting the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and OCBC walkway would have set you back by $25 per visit.  Each adult annual pass costs $68.  Visit at least 3 times a year would have yielded you savings!

 Membership highlights:
•    Unlimited entries to the Cooled Conservatories and OCBC Skyway
•    Free parking for the first 2 hours
•    Special invitations to Gardens’ workshops and programmes
•    Exclusive dining and retail privileges

 Find out more here.