Are You Taking Enough Calcium for Your Bones?

I'm very conscious of my intake of folic acid, vitamins and calcium now that I'm almost 6 months pregnant. Especially calcium as we all know that calcium is needed to build the baby's skeleton structure and other daily functions.

If we do not consume enough calcium, the baby will tap into the calcium storage in our bones just like how the body taps into our fat storage to make energy when we're not eating enough. Overtime, the bones become more brittle and therefore leads to a greater risk of Osteoporosis in future.

I've always assumed that I'm consuming enough calcium as I really like to eat food rich with calcium such as dairy products and ikan bilis.

However, it seems like we are really not consuming enough calcium that our body needs!

Credits: Health Promotion Board, Recommended Dietary Allowance

I diligently counted my calcium intake and found that I've only managed to consume maybe 800mg of calcium at the most everyday, and that is mainly because I've been popping the calcium tablets that my doctor prescribed. Despite my best efforts, I was still not taking enough calcium!

My calcium pills prescribed by my doctor

To make things worse, I really hate eating pills as they are so dry and hard to swallow (I'm the kind that takes forever to swallow any kind of medication *argg*)! It's such a dread to have to take them everyday and then have to endure the terrible feeling of it getting stuck in your throat >.<

I would much rather drink Anlene as 2 packets are all you need to fulfill your daily calcium needs as it contains Nano-calcium, Vitamin D and magnesium (which aids effective calcium absorption). And if you don't like to drink plain milk, there is always chocolate, which I personally loved =)

Kept a packet of Anlene chocolate milk at work to replace my usual hot tea that I drink every morning

In conjunction with World Osteoporosis Day, Anlene will also be giving away a set of Adidas sports merchandise worth $59 with every accumulated spend of $59 on Anlene products (Terms & Conditions apply)! At the same time, Anlene is challenging you to take 1 Million Steps at 4 Carnivals island-wide to help raise $20,000 towards supporting less fortunate families in Singapore. Refer to the poster below or visit Anlene's Facebook Page for more information.

Click to enlarge image

Stay strong and step your way to better bone health! =)


Disclosure: This is a sponsored story on behalf of Anlene Singapore. All opinions are my own.

A Day Out to Health Promotion Board & ToofDoctor

My girl's school was closed last week on Teacher's Day as the principal was bringing all the teachers for a little retreat (they fully deserve it!), so I took leave to spend quality time with my girl.

I wanted to bring her somewhere nearby that had a playground, won't be crawling with millions of kids and relatively cheap. Straight away, the Health Zone at the Health Promotion Board came to mind! It was nearby and the entrance fees were only $3/adult and $1.50/child, pretty reasonable I thought.

It turned out to be more fun than I had expected.

Mini-playground

Fun games and rock-climbing

Test your strength!

Exercise bicycles for adults to exercise while the kids played

How fast can you climb the stairs?

Super huge set of teeth!

Don't forget to take care of your emotional health too!

It was really educational and we all had fun but my girl was still most interested in the playground, where she spent most of the morning until it was time for lunch.

After lunch, I brought my girl for her dental appointment at ToofDoctor (Cantonment). Her dentist patiently explained to her how the different tools worked and cleaned her teeth while she took it all like a champ!

Letting her touch the tools so that she won't be afraid of them

The dentist cleaning her teeth

I credit her awesome performance to her previous visit to the dentist and the Dora book on how Dora had an enjoyable experience at the dentist.

She was so proud of herself for being so brave! That's my girl =)

I had an awesome day with my girl, which I truly treasure because as a full-time working mother, this does not happen very often =)

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This post is part of my MadPsychMum Fun in Singapore Guide to all things exciting for kids! 

Check out other fun playgrounds and attractions in Singapore! =)

You can also follow us on Instagram or join us by using our hashtag #mpmfuninsg! 

Oh, You Can Print the Vaccination Record Online?

Just one of those things it would have been good to know before I made a trip to the polyclinic, parked our car and took a queue number.

The child care centre told us that we needed to get the vaccination record from the clinic for registration purposes so we made our way there one Saturday morning. When I arrived, the nurse then informed me that I could print it online and promptly stamped my girl's health booklet.

To print immunisation certificate, please go to: http://www.nir.hpb.gov.sg/

All you need is your IC number, Singpass password and child's identifying information (such as ID number).

It was really frustrating for 2 reasons:
1) the polyclinic could have stamped it on our first visit so that we knew!
2) the child care centre should have also informed us!

So anyway, it was a wasted trip after all and I thought I should let other parents know in case they are like me and don't. Although I'm quite sure your clinics/ child care centres should be more informative than ours.

P.S: In the end I couldn't print the immunisation certificate as apparently she has not completed all her vaccinations yet. I told the child care and they were like, "Oh is it? Nevermind then." I was like, "??" *sigh*

Update: I tried to print the certificate again and this time I was able to download the summary and print. I think I just lost precious minutes of my life with all the inefficiencies (-_-^)

Linking Up With:

Pledging My Support for Global Handwashing Day

Today is Global Handwashing Day!

Global Handwashing Day is celebrated annually in over 100 countries around the world where initiatives are carried out to raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.

Do you know that more than 2 million children die before their 5th birthday due to diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia?

According to the World Health Organisation, diarrhea is the 2nd largest cause of death in children under 5 years old. More than 80% of these deaths occur in South Asia & Africa, the primary regions for Global Handwashing Day activities.

The sad thing is that such diseases could have been easily prevented through the simple act of handwashing with soap!

Washing our hands with Lifebuoy handwash, which kills 99.9% of germs in just 10 seconds!

4 variants of Lifebuoy products: Total Protect, Nature Pure (not in picture), Activfresh and Mild Care

So for this reason, Unilever, through its brand Lifebuoy, has been working with the Millennium Villages Initiative to educate children on the importance of good hygiene across 10 countries in Africa for the last 5 years.

This year, they have also taken on the ambitious challenge of ensuring that these young children reach the age of 5!

How You Can Help

You can join Lifebuoy in their quest to save the lives of millions of children by Pledging Your Support!

With every pledge received, Unilever will commit to teach a child on proper hygiene through a partner with the Unilever Foundation.

You can help save the lives of millions of children around the world just by pledging your support on Lifebuoy's Facebook page!

I did. What about you? =)

Disclosure: This is a sponsored community awareness advertorial on behalf of Lifebuoy Singapore. All opinions are my own.

My Arduous Journey to Wisdom Teeth Extraction

Warning: This post contains bloody images which may be harmful to readers with haemophobia or allergies to the thought of tooth-extraction. The experiences of the author may also not be the same for everyone. Reader's discretion is advised.

Hooray! I've finally removed ALL 4 of my wisdom teeth! Soooo proud of myself *grin*

It was such a difficult process that I just had to rant about it so bear with me.

It all started with my visit to my periodontitist. As my dentist looked at the x-ray of my teeth, he told me that I needed to remove my 2 bottom wisdom teeth as they're growing horizontally (instead of vertically) and are thus trapping food which may eventually cause an infection. And since I'm taking out the 2 problematic bottom teeth, I might as get rid of the 2 top ones as well.

I decided that I might as well get rid of all of them before they caused me even greater pain in future. So after seeing a dental surgeon, who explained to me my options and the risks involved, I decided to remove 2 at a time under local anaesthesia (LA).

When the day came for me to remove the 2 wisdom teeth on my left side, I was understandably very nervous. I put my stuff in the locker, don the gown and proceeded to speak with the surgeon. As usual, the surgeon was all "Any drug allergies? Do you know there's a 5% chance of permanent numbness? Blah, blah, blah.. Please sign here."

As he spoke, I got more and more nervous. And then it was time. As I lay on the chair, I whispered a million more prayers in my head and then opened my mouth for the anaesthesia injections.

The thing about LA is, you won't feel the pain but you will feel the drilling, the tugging and everything else! They covered my face (except for the mouth of course!) and my upper body so that I wouldn't get splashed with blood or get scared.

As my bottom wisdom tooth is hidden underneath my gums, the surgeon had to cut open my gums and drill the tooth into 3 before removing it. That took approximately 15 minutes but felt like forever! When he was finally done, he said, "ok now I'm taking out the top one" and literally it was like tug, tug, crack and it was out. In just 1 minute. Why can't it be the same for both teeth? *sigh*

After removal of my left wisdom teeth

I went home and suffered immense pain and swelling in lower gums because 1) I talked too much and 2) my body did not respond at all to the pain medications that I was given.

But it was well worth it because now it is so much easier to clean my set of teeth, especially the back. So although I'm really not looking forward to it, I set up an appointment to remove the other 2.

The second time around, my surgeon was female who was straight to the point and told me point-blank that the right bottom tooth is located very near the nerve so I will definitely experience numbness at my lower lip. "It would be a miracle if you didn't" she said. Obviously I became extremely nervous but decided to trust the Lord and go ahead with the surgery.

As she was drilling my tooth, I pictured my girl saying "I love you mama" over and over again in my mind so that I won't be scared. "I'm doing this for you baby girl," I thought to myself.

Apparently everyone is very interested to see what the nerve looks like so all the nurses and students gathered round excitedly. "There it is, that is the nerve!" my surgeon announced after extracting my bottom tooth after what seemed like forever.

And just like that, it was done.

After removal of my right wisdom teeth

This time I made sure that I got even stronger pain medication from the doctor and didn't talk so much. The swelling wasn't as bad as the previous time and when the anaesthesia faded, I touched my lower lip and there was no numbness! It was a miracle! =)

I'm truly glad that it's all over! Thank you Jesus for your grace and for an uneventful recovery =)

Linking Up With:

The Side Effects of Living with a Microbiologist

The hubby is a microbiologist, who counts the number of bacteria in food for a living (among other things). One day we were having dinner at a restaurant which faces a couple of fast-food chains and thus led to this conversation.

Hubby: Do you know that if a burger is brought into our labs, it will fail the test if its vegetables are in it?
Me: Why?
Hubby: Because they don't cook the veg, so it has a lot of bacteria. This is why I don't eat fast-food.
Me (eating my salad): Is it? Never thought of that.. though it makes perfect sense.
Hubby: And you know what is funny? The healthiest item on the menu is the salad but it is also the one with the most number of bacteria!
Me: ... Now you tell me (-_-")... Ah whatever *continues eating said salad*

And this, my friends, is a classic example of what I like to call  职业病 or "job hazard".

It is of my opinion that everyone has their own form of "job hazard".

Teachers like to correct other people's grammatical errors, lawyers like to point out what's legal or not and researchers, well, we like to debunk (or support) myths and back it up with random numbers we like to call statistics.

Speaking of which, did you know that approximately 150,000 deaths & 5 million illnesses can be attributed to climate change each year?

This lends support to the phrase that we often hear people (including me) say when someone is sick, "Hey you're sick? It must be the weather!"

In actuality, the changing weather is only the moderator and not the cause of illnesses. Let me illustrate this with a diagram we often use in our psychology statistics class.

The moderating impact of weather on the relationship between germs & illnesses

Bacteria is the mastermind behind the whole operation but the weather actually aids it. Bacteria live twice as long during monsoon seasons and in the right warm conditions, a single baterial can multiply into 131,072 bacteria!

Hence, besides loading up on vitamin C to boost your immune system, you'll also need to wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap regularly before meals and after using the toilet.

So the next time you get caught in the rain, don't just clean your clothes. Remember to wash your hands with soap! =)

Disclosure: This is Part 2 of a series of sponsored stories on behalf of Lifebuoy Singapore. However, all opinions & text are my own.

I May Have Some Kind of Balance Disorder

I have zero spatial awareness.

I knock into people all the time.

I walk on a flat ground with flats and still managed to trip and fall. True story.

Credits: babyblues.com

I think I may have some kind of Inner Ear Dysfunction or Balance Disorder.

And I think it's genetic.

My mum has it. My sister has it. And now my baby girl have it.

*Sigh*

And this is why, unlike other fashionista moms, I adamantly refused to wear heels of any kind when I was pregnant. I just hated the thought of having to carry a large bowling ball at the tummy while balancing on 'stilts', knowing full well that I have a predisposition for falling flat on my face.

I will never forgive myself if anything happened to my baby because of vanity!

So I chucked my heels to the far forgotten corners of my shoe cabinet, only to finally dig them out when I went back to work.

Only to fall and scrape my knee very badly on the way to my 1st class as an associate lecturer
-_-"

*Double sigh*

Maybe it's time to pay a visit to an Otolaryngologist... an ENT doctor lah *laughs*

Linking Up With:

The Health of Your Child Lies in Your Hands

With the widespread of illnesses such as flu and diarrhea from one child to another, it is our job as parents to protect our children from getting infected.. especially by the dreaded Disease Which Shall Not Be Named.

We all know that washing our children's hands is important to prevent the spread of diseases but did you know that it's not how many times you wash but how you wash that counts?

Credits: ttsh.com.sg

No matter how many times you wash your hands, if you don't wash it in the proper way, you'll still end up with some parts that are not washed properly.

So it's vital that we learn how to do the 8 steps of hand washing and teach our children to do the same.

Credits: hpb.gov.sg

I try to remind myself to make it a habit to wash my hands in this manner and also tried to teach my girl to do the same thing.

Washing her hands with help from daddy

But alas, her limited ability coupled with the usual short attention span of an almost 2-year-old prevented me from teaching her pass Step 1.

Washing her hands with hand wash

Thankfully, my girl actually likes to wash her hands (she will command us to "wash hands, wash hands!") so at least that's a start.

And if you don't have access to water as a wash basin is nowhere in sight, consider using anti-bacterial hand sanitisers which can kill germs instantly without the use of water. It's just as good as washing with water, if not better =)

I'm currently using Lifebuoy's hand wash and sanitisers, which leave a squeaky clean feeling that I like. You can read more about them on Lifebuoy's Facebook page.

Nevertheless, having said all that, well, balance is key. An overly sterile environment may actually be harmful for the building of your child's immunity so do sanitise thoughtfully.

Have a happy & healthy week everyone! =)

Disclosure: This is Part 1 of a series of sponsored stories on behalf of Lifebuoy Singapore.
All opinions & text are my own.

A Real Wordless Wednesday, Literally

You can see why I can't really talk.

1st time extracting 2 wisdom teeth

It looked like I took out more because they had to drill and break the bottom one into 3 in order to pull it out 'cos it was growing sideways. It's all the cutting and drilling that caused such a swell on my face. Not that I'm letting it stop me from talking though, I'm such a chatterbox.

But since it really worsens the swelling a lot, I'm trying very hard not to talk much today. Let's see if I'd succeed... *sigh*

I hope you'll have a better recovery than me when you extract your widom teeth =)

Linking up to:

CNY Madness in the Year of the Dragon

Typically, Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations lasts for approximately 20 days: 15 days of actual CNY celebrations plus about 5-7 days of preparations and reunion dinners. That's a lot of feasting and getting fat!

While I'm not going to attempt to cover all 20 days of celebrations in just one post, I will do so for the first week =)

Starting with our annual family reunion dinner on the eve of CNY. Following tradition, we had steamboat at home just like we did during CNY last year.

Annual reunion steamboat dinner

The mum-in-law wanted an easy clean up since she wasn't feeling too well so I helped to lay out aluminium on the hot-plate as well as the plastic sheet and newspapers on the table and floor.

Unlike last year, it was just the four of us this year because baby girl's cousins were vacationing in Tokyo (which was why we had an early reunion dinner with them 2 days earlier) and her great-granddad and granddad had passed away.

The mood was definitely not the same as last year but we tried to be positive about it all, knowing that he was with us in spirit.

Because of the recent deaths in the family, we were not allowed to celebrate CNY (i.e. no visitations, exchanging of mandarin oranges, giving of red packets, etc) according to Chinese traditions and customs.

But that didn't stop me from dressing baby girl in a cute 'ching chong' outfit on the 1st day of CNY.

"Happy Chinese New Year!"

Even if it's to go see her granddad at Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium. After spending the rest of the afternoon snoozing at home, we joined my aunt's (mum's sister) and my family for a nice dinner at a restaurant nearby.

As usual, it is a must to 'Lo Hei' (Prosperity Toss) some 'Yu Sheng' (literally means raw fish) at every meal for good luck and fortune.

Lo Hei

It's like tossing a coin in the fountain and making a wish. Only we get to eat the coin and the fountain! *laughs*

After a nice but ridiculously expensive meal (all Chinese restaurants jack up the prices before and during CNY due to the high demand), we headed back to my mum's place for some games.

Going to Popo's (maternal grandmother) house

Of course, the day is never complete without a family photo right?

My lovely family
(Miss you daddy! Wish you will come home from China soon..)

On the 2nd day of CNY, the next day, we were awaken by the sound of clanging cymbals and pounding drums. It was a lion dance troupe performing at a shophouse downstairs.

Tok tok chiang chiang chiang chiang chiang chiang CHIANG!

The Chinese believe that Lion / Dragon dance will bring good luck and prosperity to the one that engages it. This is a very common sight in my old school neighbourhood and needless to say, I had a great view of all the action from above in the comfort of my own home =)

Lion dance (left), Dragon dance (right)

It was quite a celebration and many onlookers gathered to take pictures and congratulate the boss of the shophouse. We then spent the rest of the day shopping at Ion Orchard, which was one of the few shopping centres that were opened in the whole of Singapore (and even then not opened completely).

On the 3rd day of CNY, the hubby and I were back at work and I had a super hard time keeping my eyes opened! It was really tough getting back into work-mode after a long week of celebrations! Nevertheless, we still managed to bring baby girl to Tiong Bahru Park in the evening after work.

Baby girl's 1st time at Tiong Bahru Park

I know it is strange that I have lived almost a third of my life (11 years to be exact) in Tiong Bahru and yet, have never been to this park. Sure, I've passed by this unique playground structure a million times and yet have never been in it.

Topsy-turvy train playground

Until now. Well.. better late than never. We discovered that baby girl absolutely loved the swings! =)

1st time on the swings

As it was her first time on it, I didn't know how she will react to it and whether or not she will be able to hold on tight. But hold on she did and thoroughly enjoyed herself =)

We also tried the old school merry-go-round and climbed into the train structure.

Merry-go-round (left); inside the train structure (right)

But baby girl wasn't as thrilled by it as she was the swings.

A self-taken picture with baby girl

It turns out, she was developing a fever! Apparently, my mum-in-law never got to see a doctor since the eve of CNY (as all the clinics were closed) and passed the virus to her.

Baby girl developed a high fever in the middle of the night (39 degrees celcius) so I had to take leave today to bring her and my mum-in-law to see the doctor, who said they might have a viral infection and prescribed a ton of medication.

Sound asleep after taking the meds

Both are feeling much better now and I'm praying they will get totally healed soon.

Braun ear thermometer

Incidentally, the forehead thermometer we bought was spoilt so I went out and got this ear thermometer, which was definitely more accurate, easy to use and reliable (but also more expensive!).

Hope you had a better CNY than we did (although we really did enjoy slacking around and doing nothing)! Enjoy the rest of your CNY celebrations! I know I will =)

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This post is part of my MadPsychMum Fun in Singapore Guide to all things exciting for kids! 

Check out other fun playgrounds and attractions in Singapore! =)

You can also follow us on Instagram or join us by using our hashtag #mpmfuninsg!