We took the day off from work to rest up, go for gynae appt and shop for baby stuff. Mixed in with our own personal care appts and shopping as well. We are heading into the last month of pregnancy and our preparations for the baby’s arrival are starting to pick up. There are so many things to do and get ready for that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Good thing this is a long weekend with Monday being a public holiday.
Just a quick list of everything that’s happening. We have arranged for the helper to arrive in Jan 2020 with an overlap of 2 weeks with the confinement nanny (arriving next month in Nov 2019). So the former can learn from the latter about taking care of a baby. Speaking of which, we have to apply for the confinement nanny’s visa soon for her stay of 2 months.
We have bought most of the essential baby items for his room and my wife but we continue to keep a look out for critical things we might have missed. While trying to ensure we don’t overbuy stuff. A tricky balance when you have no idea what you need. Which is why we are grateful to be staying close to my parents-in-law as this living arrangement continues to yield significant benefits.
There’s the tips to my wife about what to expect with the pregnancy, baby’s arrival and taking care of the baby. Helping us with buying stuff, recommending both the confinement nanny and helper, driving us around, etc. Just generally making sure we are taken care of and especially on things such as having home-cooked food to eat at their house when we want to and time for ourselves as a couple and individual.
We have studied, worked and lived overseas long enough to know we can take care of ourselves. But we are happy to accept all the help we can get with this. It’s getting more difficult for my wife to maintain her pace of work in the office and she should start to handover her roles & responsibilities to her cover soon. She’s also trying to wind down and relax more while making sure her team continues to function now and in the future when she’s away on maternity leave.
I’m proud of my wife for everything she’s done to get to this point. Dealing with her pregnancy, workplace issues and even managing me when I was at a low point in my previous workplace. She should be receiving her remuneration outcome in about 2 weeks and I hope it’s better than last year because she deserves it.
I’m in a better state of mind now as my current workplace’s conditions are more conducive to my career development. While I remain closer to my ex-colleagues (I did spend more time getting to know them after all), I’m glad to have gotten out of that toxic work environment. Apparently, it’s been getting worse with an average of 1 resignation per month since I left.
Sigh, I feel bad for them but I’m happy for myself. It’s about time I stepped up more to try and increase my salary income. Can’t keep relying on my higher-earning wife to hold the fort because it’s exhausting for her. My own performance review is coming up and I hope it translates to a positive remuneration outcome when it’s my turn next year.