Summer in Singapore

Many apologies for the long lapse of time between posts. It was a very busy week last week and then the "move" to Singapore, so I am just catching my breath after a couple days of sleep and rest and several episodes of 24.

I came here on Saturday, which was evidently a couple days too far into my pregnancy for Singapore Air's comfort. Fortunately we got it worked out ahead of time (after a very anxious day on the phone with them) and there were no problems checking in and boarding the flight. It all worked out, but as the days neared to my flight I started to become very nervous about waiting until the last minute to fly here. What if the baby decided to come even earlier than would be usual? It was something I did not want to find out. Now, I could deliver in Jakarta and most likely everything would be just fine. I know several women who delivered their babies there and they all had positive experiences. So the reasoning behind coming to Singapore is not really a fear of low quality of care. What I was afraid of was being in a situation where the nurses may not speak great English and of course my underwhelming abilities in Bahasa Indonesia would get me nowhere in a medical setting. If there's an emergency, I want to know exactly what's going on. Also, I don't like my doctor back in Jakarta very much. Since I knew I was coming here and this is my second child, I never bothered to find a different doctor in Jakarta. He was fine for my situation, but considering he is pro-C-section (ahhh!), which is so contrary to my beliefs, he is not the OB I'd want to deliver with. Yet another reason, and this is probably the most important: my blood type is RH negative. Only 1% of Indonesians have RH negative blood, compared to about 15% of Americans and Europeans (if I'm remembering that correctly). What this means is that if there was an emergency and I needed blood, they might have difficulty finding it for me (I did learn about a group of expats who are RH neg. that regularly give blood to maintain a blood supply for us. I will join it once I'm back). Again, NOT a situation I want to find myself in... And finally, J's company is paying for us to be here, so why not?!

Our temporary apartment here in Singapore is quite nice. We have a 3-bedroom so it is somewhat spacious. The furnishings are updated and there is a lot of light, as well as some great views of the city. There is a huge swimming pool and kiddie pool, an indoor and outdoor play area for C, and a resident's lounge which I have yet to check out. It is also conveniently located above a mall, so I need only go downstairs to go grocery shopping (and they deliver for free to the apartments, which is oh so convenient at 8 months pregnant), find a restaurant, pick up baby supplies, etc. It isn't within walking distance of much, but they have shuttles to different points around the city and taxis are fairly inexpensive. So, basically, it will be a nice place to live for about 6 weeks.

I haven't done much around town yet. And whatever I end up doing will be limited due to lack of general mobility I'm sure. I did get out and do some shopping yesterday. It's a fun time to shop in Singapore right now. For about 6 weeks from May-July the whole city has the Great Singapore Sale, where all the shops have big sales. As a result, my experience yesterday was part bliss, part torture. All of these sales and all of these clothes that are currently out of reach for me. I did manage to find a few things that I could use now and in the coming months, but mostly I just looked through shop windows and drooled and cried. I'm sure J is thrilled though, as I'm not able to run up our credit card bill. I have already planned, however, to return next June and have some fun (anyone care to join me for a shopping spree??).

A friend back in Jakarta introduced me to a woman who is also from Jakarta and here in Singapore to give birth. She is staying at the same place as me so I'm sure we will get to know eachother over the coming weeks. I also just learned of another woman in the same situation and hopefully I will be able to meet her as well. It will be nice to make some friends here with whom I can waddle the sidewalks of Singapore.

J and C arrive on Sunday, after C's big end-of-year concert at school. They are doing an Around the World theme and C is going to be an Indian, for the American West dance that his class is doing. Half of the class are cowboys and the other half Indians. They have been practicing for weeks and I have no idea what a group of 2 year olds are going to do. J will videotape it for me. I don't have high hopes that C will cooperate with them though. He refused to put on his halloween costume last year, and although I don't consider him to be a really stubborn kid, he definitely refuses to budge once in a while. At playgroup last week all the kids let their moms trace their body outline on paper for a coloring activity, except for C. He had no interest in that what-so-ever and nothing I said made a difference. I guess it's a good thing that he knows how to stick to his guns and doesn't cave into peer pressure (he didn't care at all that all the other kids were doing it). He does love coloring though. His activities at home consist mostly of going on walks/bike rides, playing with his cars, and coloring. Maybe my mom will have another artist in the family afterall.