Motherhood – Page 3

MATERNITY LEAVE IS NOT A PAID VACATION

July 17, 2018 by Little Miss Honey 218 Comments

My friends would message me when I was on my maternity leave how lucky I am that I get to rest from work and relax all day at home. I do feel lucky I get to spend more time with kids. However, I may have rested from office work but juggling 2 constantly fighting toddlers and a fussy newborn can be challenging. We all know how tired a mommy can get be with a new baby while recuperating from child birth, and in my case, caesarean operation. Though I feel blessed and happy that I was given opportunity to spend extra amount of time to be with them but I hope people would not easily assume that my maternity leave was like a fully paid luxury spa trip. I need it to allow my body to regain its energy from my 38weeks of being pregnant. I need it so my body can recuperate from child birth and allow my painful caesarean tear to heal nicely. I need it to spend time to bond with my new baby. I need it to give extra play time, constant hugging and story time with my two toddlers so they wouldn’t feel like all my love attention is now only for their new brother. I need it so I can breastfeed my baby, do unlimited latching and constant skin-to-skin contact to encourage good breastmilk production. I need it so I can get some extra time to experience how it would feel to be a proper housewife by waking up my husband to work, making his breakfast, cooking dinner and happily filling him up on the funny cute things the kids did for the day when he gets home with both of us lying in bed to rest before we eat dinner. I need it so I can tutor my firstborn who is going to school and go for parent-teacher meetings. I need it so I can organised our home and our files & paper clutter which I can never do when I was working. I need it so I can create a daily routine for my kids which my helper would follow when I start working. I need it so I can see my eldest boy off to school when his school bus fetch him at home. I need it so I can get to have funny conversations and tickle fest with my second-born. It is wonderful and challenging at the same time. It is still work in a way. But a work that I wouldn’t mind doing and it is definitely worth it. Yes, like most jobs you would still have to do time-management, practice patience and resilience, must multi-task, learn negotiating skills (especially to a strong-willed toddler), conduct captivating presentations (like storytelling and leverage on your other talents like cooking, singing, dancing & drawing.

So no, it is not a luxury spa or a paid holiday. Mommies also put in loads of work (and loads of laundry) during maternity leave. It is not an easy breezy phase in a mom’s life. That is why she needs to take a break from her current livelihood to work on just this – “Being A Mom”. And don’t scoff on that “Being A Mom” statement. All mommies would agree that it is the hardest work out there.

I believe that it is essential for all mommies who just given birth to have an adequate maternity leave to just concentrate for the next few months to be just a mom. (But please don’t neglect your husbands too. Be a wife too. That is as important as being a mom. Because you need to care for your partner to build good building blocks to nurture your kids.) If you don’t believe me why maternity leave is so important. Go watch Ali Wong’s Hard-Knock Wife on Netflix. She is on point and so hilarious.

Despite its bits of struggle and agony, I still wish maternity leave would last for 6 months. Some even advocate maternity leave to be as long as 1 year.

My maternity leave has ended and I started working this Monday. I am entitled to 8 weeks maternity leave (which includes weekends & public holidays) as a foreigner employee. I added 3 more weeks to stay home with my boys, using my annual leave. I learned that in the United States, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, you are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of your child. In France, as long as you are covered by the French social security system, you can take 16 weeks of maternity leave with full pay, and up to 26 weeks if you are having your third child. In Denmark, parents can receive a total of 52 weeks of paid leave per child from the government. In the U.K., paid maternity leave can extend to six months. I learned Oman expats are given 50 days paid leave.

I couldn’t bare to part with my kids just yet inspite my body’s occasional quiet screaming for a break or an alone time. Those days of me as a (temporary) stay-at-home full-time mom were blessings to me. I enjoy being with my 3 little boys. I love to seeing their happy faces when they wake up and see me still lying beside them in bed. They would often give us a cheerful “Good morning Mommy & Daddy!” or sometimes if they are still quite sleepy, they would snuggle closer to me, to give me a hug with a smile on their faces. (Yes, we co-sleep our 3 boys. I might get scolding from those who are anti-co-sleeping. But this works for us so please let us be.) It is nice to have time to be with my kids. I get to play with them, talk to them, watch movies with them, tutor Naj in his school work, breastfeed Zeke the whole day, nap with Fynn and get unlimited hugs & kisses through out the day.

On my first day of work, when my eldest got home from school at 3:30 PM, he hurriedly ask our helper, “Is Mommy home already?” I left early to work with them sleeping and I got back home & they were already asleep. (My workplace is so far away from our home.) Yesterday, I managed to get home earlier than my 1st day back to work. My two elder boys saw me from the glass window of our unit and they were screaming excitedly like their Super Hero character in the flesh, “‘Mommy! Mommy!” They ran to the front door to open the door for me. Upon getting a hug and a kiss from Naj and Fynn, I took Zeke who is squirming from my helper’s carrier. I learned Zeke does not like my expressed milk or formula milk that much. So I breastfeed him automatically, before I did anything else at home. Awww, my boys are adjusting too with me going back to work.

Maternity Leave is a necessary leave that should be given to mothers to provide adequate attention for her newborn (& other kids) and allow adequate time a proper recuperation & for mothers to regain back their strength that was lost during pregnancy and delivery. But no, it is definitely not a paid luxurious vacation.

Expat mommies around the world, how long are your paid maternity leave entitlement?

CONFINEMENT FOOD SERVICE FOR POSTPARTUM MOMMIES BY NATAL ESSENTIALS

June 18, 2018 by Little Miss Honey 2 Comments

When I was into the 6^th to 7^th month of my pregnancy, most of my local friends and colleagues here in Singapore would ask if I have engaged a confinement nanny or someone to take care of my meals during confinement. As a Filipino, this was not practiced in our country but being introduced to this idea of confinement period in Singapore made me curious about this postpartum practice.

Confinement Period starts after a woman has given birth. There are a lot of physical changes in a woman’s body during pregnancy and labour which require a proper recuperation and allow mothers to regain back their strength that was lost during pregnancy and delivery. Postpartum mothers also need proper nutrition to provide for their babies especially if there are breastfeeding. Confinement Period means the mother is not allowed to go outside after giving birth for 30 days. It also requires mothers to have a special confinement food diet to accelerate the recovery of mothers’ post-birth body that have been weakened by pregnancy and child-birth. Following a confinement practice would also help in preventive measures that are often seen postpartum like postnatal hair loss, back aches, rheumatism, premature aging, etc. Confinement foods often have common ingredients found in any regular Chinese diet: ginger, eggs, sesame oil, black vinegar, Chinese rice wine, pepper, black chicken free-range or organic chicken, fishes, and pork. Other ingredients of confinement food include fairly general herbal provisions like Chinese Wolfberry/ Goji Berry (Gou Qi), Angelica Sinensis (Dong Quay), red dates, black dates, dried longans, and whole bunch of other Chinese traditional herbs.

I believe that it really makes sense to have a 30-days confinement period for all postpartum mommies. All mothers know that being pregnant and delivering a baby require a lot of strength and stamina. Regaining that strength and being taken care of after birth are definitely essentials. Thus, I was excited to try out the Confinement Food Services by Natal Essentials for 5 days. I wanted to experience the Confinement Food service.

Natal Essentials is a Confinement Food Service Delivery in Singapore that was setup in March 2002 to deliver quality home-cooked confinement meal to door-steps of postpartum mommies. They served thousands of customers from different races and nationality. They are known for providing excellent customer service, food and quality standards. Their cook has more than 20 years’ experience in the confinement meal which make them a top quality confinement food service provider. There are proud to inform their clients that no MSG is added in their dishes and each dish is designed to serve a purpose.

To start my 5-Day Confinement Food Delivery, I log-in to Natal Essentials user-friendly website. I completed an order form with my details to design a menu that would fit my preference and needs. On the order form, you can indicate your preference on the type of ingredients to be omitted. I also choose to have brown rice with my dishes instead of white rice.

My 5-Days Lunch & Dinner Confinement Food:

Day 1:

LUNCH

Stir Fried Pork Tenderloins & Liver with Assorted Vegetables and Lemongrass
Stir Fried Spinach with Ikan Bilis
Double Boiled Lotus Root with Peanut & Discorea Yam Chicken Soup

DINNER

Grilled Salmon Filler with Teriyaki Sauce
Stir Fried Broccoli with Shimeji Mushroom, Black Fungus & Baby Corn
Double Boiled Sweet Corn Lily Bulb Pork Rib Soup

Day 2:

LUNCH

Braised Chicken with Homemade Glutinous Wine
Stir Fried Long Bean with Minced Pork
Double Boiled Six Herbs Pork Rib Soup

DINNER

Braised Trotter with Chestnut
Stir Fried Lan with Sliced Sheng Yu
Double Boiled Hashima Black Chicken Soup

Day 3:

LUNCH

Steamed Threadfin with Black Fungus & Lily Bulb
Stir Fried Snow Peas with Sliced Liver
Double Boiled Chicken Tea Soup

DINNER

Deep Fried Mid Wing with Rock Honey Sauce
Stir Fried Spinach with Braised Mushroom
Double Boiled Raw Di Huang Pork Rib Soup

Day 4:

LUNCH

Grilled Chicken Chop with Black Pepper Sauce
Stir Fried Broccoli with Lotus Root & Assorted Vegetable
Double Boiled Sweet Corn Lily Bulb Pork Rib Soup

DINNER

Stewed Fish Maw with Pork Rib
Pan Fried Egg with Long Bean
Double Boiled Tian Ma Chicken Soup

Day 5:

LUNCH

Braised Vinegar Trotter with Egg
Stir Fried Chinese Spinach with Wolfberry
Double Boiled American Ginseng & Carrot Black Chicken Soup

DINNER

Steamed Threadfin with Bean Sauce
Stir Fried Snow Peas with Sliced Chicken
Assorted Beans Pork Rib Soup

My Natal Essential Food Delivery Review

Having Confinement Food delivered right on my doorstep was a very new experience for me. I love the convenience of having healthy food delivered to help me in my postnatal healing, I am surprised and happy to receive the food kept warmth in a pink thermal bag and arrived conveniently 15 minutes before my usual meal time. The food is packed carefully without any nasty leaks running from the containers or bag which you would expect because most of the dishes are soups and with gravy. I happily noted that no leakages and that it was sealed neatly. They take particular care with the food presentation. I got acquainted with different types of confinement foods and I didn’t expect that the dishes would be so flavourful and yummy. My favourites are the Stir Fried Pork Tenderloins & Liver with Assorted Vegetables and Lemongrass, Stir Fried Spinach with Ikan Bilis, Deep Fried Mid Wing with Rock Honey Sauce and Pork Rib Soup. It was my first time to try the Black Chicken. Initially, it was jarring to eat a black chicken but once I got pass the color of the chicken, it was actually quite flavourful. Each delivered meal was anticipated with excitement. I was aware of the menu but it was still fun waiting for how the actual food would be presented and tasted. It was also nice to know that feedback from Natal Essentials was very much welcomed and they cater to their customers with great concern and care.

On the 5^th day of the delivery service, I could happily conclude that it was a wonderful experience and I would recommend that all postpartum mothers need confinement food for better recovery. Natal Essentials is a great confinement food delivery service that knows what postpartum mommies need in the stage of healing and recovery after giving birth.

Promotion benefits for all My Readers!

Simply fill up your name and quote “Honey” as seen- Name (Honey)

on our order form at http://www.natalessentials.com/order-form/ to enjoy these promotion benefits:

28 days double – 15% discount ($238.20)

20 days double – 10% discount ($118.80)

28 days single – 10% discount ( $81.80)

Natal Essentials Pte Ltd

Blk 15, Woodlands Loop,
#02-42 Woodlands East Industrial Estate,
Singapore 738322

Tel: (65) 6755 4747
Fax : (65) 6752 8667
Email: enquiry@natalessentials.com

Operating hours:
9am – 5pm ( Mon – Fri )
9am – 4pm ( Sat – Sun & PH )

Website: http://www.natalessentials.com/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/NatalEssentialsConfinementMealDeliverySingapore/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalessentials/

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post collaboration with Natal Essentials. The 5-Day Food Delivery were free of charge. All opinions are my own. Regardless, I only recommend products which I personally believe will be good for my readers.

10 RECOMMENDED ITEMS FOR NEW MOMS THAT ARE WORTH BUYING

June 13, 2018 by Little Miss Honey 1 Comment

I was one of those new moms who feels overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to buy once baby arrives. There are so much products in the market that you get confused what to buy for baby as well as you as a new mom. I am guilty for accumulating items in the house that I though I would need or baby would need but it end up neglected and never been used.

So now, being a mom of three, I can share with you 10 Recommended Items for New Moms That Are Worth Buying. I have been using these items with my 3 kids and I highly recommend them. And I have to mention that these products are not sponsored. I just happen to love them and save new moms the trouble of buying too much useless items.

ADEN + ANAIS SWADDLE

When I was still pregnancy withy first-born, my good friend living in the US and Naj’s godmother sent me a package filled of wonderful baby stuff which I have to say I been using the products up to my 3rd son. One of the items there is the Aden + Anais Swaddle. They are amazing! My first two sons doesn’t like to swaddle but I got to use these cloths in many ways. Though, I would usually used these cloth for them to be wrapped in going home from the hospital.

Naj in Aden + Anais Swaddle Muslin

I used it to placed as a cover for my babies to lie down. The texture is so soft and comfortable. I can also use it as their bath towel to dry them up. I used it as burping cloths too. When we are out, I used it too as a nursing cover. It is breathable so it reduces the risk of overheating. They also come in cute patterns. Now, Zeke loves being swaddled. So I get to used it more often and I even got more patterns.

2. Baby K’Tan Carrier

Mommy carrying Zeke in the Baby K’Tan while holding Fynn

I love this carrier a lot! It is truly magical. I been using it with my 3 boys and they all love it. I prefer carriers than strollers so I gotten so much used out of this. I could never bear to throw this away. Being an advocate of attachment parenting and babywearing, I couldn’t emphasise how great this carrier is. I would attribute my sons ~~clinginess~~ closeness to me because of this one. Inside the Baby K’Tan, they sleep easily while we are on-the-go. They feel like they are still inside my womb, warm, safe and cozy. It looks great in clothes that it almost look like part of your wardrobe ensemble. It can also strategically cover my flabby arms and hide a bit of my postpartum belly. It is also perfect for breastfeeding. It can act as breastfeeding cover as well.

with baby Naj during a Breastfeeding Group Gathering

3. MEDELA FREESTYLE BREASTPUMP

I am an advocate of breastfeeding. I love the benefits of breastfeeding to my little ones. Once I was back at work, I need to pump milk for them. I had several breastpumps. I currently have two breastpumps but if I get to choose one, it would be the Medela Freestyle Breastpump. I like that it is very handy. I used it anywhere on-the-go, even in bus stops, grocery, buses, trains, etc. I can pump while eating my lunch, watching videos on my phone and reading a book. It is not loud and not heavy. It can effectively empty my breast from milk. I do used the Spectra M1 Breastpump which is not expensive and very strong to effectively empty the breasts. However, if I get to choose only one, it would still be the Medela Freestyle. I think it is a good investment.

4. Peep & Drink Nursing Cover

While we are still in the subject of breastfeeding, I found the perfect nursing cover. I have used several nursing covers before and I find that this is the best one. I like that it has a wire in the neck area so you can see your baby and your baby won’t feel suffocated. It has an adjustable neckline too. I find the tie-back feature to be a bit troublesome so I cut both ends so I can tie back on my own instead of the loop feature. It comes in different fun patterns.

6. PUMPEASE HANDSFREE PUMPING BRA

Since I am a working breastfeeding momma, I need a handsfree pumping bra to use during my lunch time pumping session. I need to pump milk while eating my lunch at the same time. I previously got a pumping bra that is a dual zipper in front but I found it too troublesome that I stopped using it. I am glad I found the PumpEase Handsfree Pumping Bra which makes pumping milk so easy and somehow, coincidentally, I can produce more milk using this pumping bra.

7. TULA CARRIER

Once baby gets to be too heavy for me to use the Baby K’Tan, we would often use a stroller or a more sturdy carrier. We have tried the Baby Bjorn before. We still have it. But I found the Tula Carrier to be one for us. I used Baby Bjorn only up to when Naj was 6 months old. The adjusting and putting on can be a hassle. However with the Tula Carrier, I have used it with Fynn way past 12 months of age. It was so easy to put on without needing anyones’ help. It is not painful for my back or shoulders. If you love to travel as a family, this is the best to bring along. My hubby and I managed to handle two young kids in our winter travel to Korea with me carrying Fynn in this Tula carrier instead of using a stroller.

8. BAMBOO BELLY BANDIT

Credit: www.epharmacy.com.au

After pregnancy, you are often put on a binder for your belly especially for caesarean mommies. They would often apply a cloth binder using bobby pins to help provide support and shrink back your belly size. But I have learned about the Bamboo Belly Bandit and I have been using it even with my first born. I love that it is comfortable. It is not itchy and provide great support for me. These are its claims and I can attest to it:

Helps shrink your belly, waist and hips
Helps you lose centimeters faster
Provides support while breast feeding
Recommended by Doctors
Accelerates healing
Supports back, legs and core muscles
Helps expedite fluids through your system
Provides comfort for C-section moms
Our exclusive Power Compress Core is your secret weapon
Latex free

9. SAFETY 1st BATH SLING

Credit: www.amazon.com

This is the bomb! My kids love bathing in this. It is so safe and it made me enjoy bathing my kids especially when I was a first-time mom. They can just sit there safely while I bathe my baby. I usually put the baby sling inside a baby tub. When they get a little older and bigger around 4-5 months, the sturdy baby sling would do. It is designed for quick drying to prevent mold and very durable. I been using the same one with my 3 kids. It has cushioned legs and side and very light weight that I can bring along during travel. It is also easy to store when not in use however it is not bendable.

10. COTTON ON BANDANA BIBS

Fynn with Mamu

Babies are drool-machines. We need bibs for them. I love Cotton On Baby cute take on bibs. I adore their stylish bandana bibs. They are not cumbersome and too large. They are very soft too. I like that it can function as a bibs but also makes my kids looks so fashionable and cool as well.

I hope my top 10 recommendations has been useful. Let me know if there are other items you would recommend for new mommies or parents as they embark in the exciting world of parenthood.