estamun

Dear mist, Sorry to hear about your dad's situation. Brainstem stroke, age, pneumonia, MRSA... all adds to the poor prognosis. FYI, doctors often give the worst case scenario in terms of prognosis so that family can be adequately prepared for it. Thus, there will be many examples of patients "doing better than expected by the doctors". Brainstem control the basic functions for human to stay alive, e.g. breathing, body temperature, etc, thus the doctors would be pessimistic. There are stroke patients who recover, but those I've come across are cerebral stroke patients, e.g. the hemiplegic stroke patients. I think ahjane's advice is very relevant. Again the hospital staff can help you with this as they can provide you information on the licenses and procedure to handle death in Singapore. FYI, if your doctors' evaluation is that your dad is terminally ill, hospice care is another option. Hospices are given more leeway in the care/medication they can give to provide optimal patient comfort. My family didn't know about hospice care when my granddad was in the last stages of cancer 10+ years ago. He suffered much at the end because acute hospital care was bounded by restrictions on care/medication they can provide (e.g. amount of painkillers that can be given). Continue talking to your dad. Hospice caregivers say that it is the last sensory function to go. For precautions to take for your baby and yourself, the hospital staff will be able to advise you. Take care! Hugs! applefreak, I don't think the above in italics is a fair statement. Afterall, certain types of hospital wards have an unusually high concentration immuno-compromised patients. Any visitor/staff could be a carrier of the bacteria. You won't find the same risk levels in other ward specialties e.g. Obstetrics. Why? The conditions of the patients are different.

Have replied your PM. It is not a home jac setting, but a hospital one. Hospital environment ensures that you and your baby can be well-cared for should there be any issue.

Have replied your PM about the water delivery. My friend told me about her very experienced confinement lady which guided her to develop confidence as a new mum. If you want, I can ask her. PM me if I missed your reply. One question. You already visited a gynae? Do you intend to stay with the same gynae? If so, you will need to find out which hospital your gynae is attached to. Gynaecologists usually have 1 or 2 hospital where they usually practice.

Good point raised by deepakvali. To prevent bed sores, it is important to re-position your dad every 2 hours (hospital practice). In addition, check the backside (known as sacral area) for any redness or broken skin. Apply a skin barrier for added prevention. You can check the following url for Pharmex, a shop that sells/rent medical products and equipment. http://www.pharmex.com.sg/v2/index.php?pag...t&Itemid=26 May be worthy to observe chest physiotherapy being done to help your dad clear his lungs. This reduces the phlegm/fluid gathering in the lungs which increases risk of infection. You may also need to flex his joints (called "range of motion exercises") to keep them supple. Lastly, you may need to sit him upright sometimes to reduce bone de-mineralization.

Must have enough folate during 1st month of pregnancy for proper neural development. Other nutritional advice can get quiet easily from your gynaecologist's office or at the polyclinics. http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?...late+(archived) For baby's complexion, some people swear by breast feeding. I have seen a toddler breast fed by his mom for 2 years, and his complexion glows! But then, the mommy also has good complexion leh, so dunno whether it boils down to genes. For brainy baby... dunno ah. My mom swears by cod liver oil and fish... fed us lots of it when we were growing up. Hee, hee. Personally I find exposure and supportive environment are important too. One of my favourite bloggers recommend the following. http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2008/06/m...-up-gifted.html A ex-schoolmate of mine swears by hot-housing during pregnancy. That is, play classical music, read stories, etc to the womb while pregnant. She claims that she did it for her 1st child, and he is very smart. But she regrets not doing it for her 2nd child, whom she felt is not so smart. Aiyah, mommy delivered safely and healthy baby is already very good.

Yup, but in a tub (not a pool). Trying to PM u but your PM box is disabled or full. PM me back

Congrads! When are you due? Trying to PM u, but your PM box disabled or full. PM me back

For elderly care, a maid can be trained at Choa Chu Kang polyclinic. This 1-day training will include all the basic skills for day-to-day care for your father with stroke. The maid only need to attend Module 1 "Care of Elderly", costs around $98. It's much easier than finding a maid who is already trained. http://www.nhgp.com.sg/contentview.aspx?article_id=494 You can try Home Nursing Foundation for nurses to come to your home for the occasional more complicated tasks of changing the feeding tubes (NGT) and urine tube (urinary catheter). http://www.hnf.org.sg/ For more in-depth 3 month training, can consider the Healthcare Assistant course. http://www.hmi.com.sg/hmi_ihs.html http://app2.wda.gov.sg/web/Contents/Contents.aspx?ContId=40 Btw, depending on the weight of your father, you may need more than 1 person to lift/position him. 1 maid alone may not be able to do the job. In a hospital setting, there are usually 2 persons. For heavy patients, it may even take 5-6 persons to move the patient. Please do not leave it to the maid alone if your father is heavy, or he may be inadvertently injured or suffer discomfort during movements. In the interim while you're settling the arrangements for your dad's care at home, you may wish to consider step-down care such as Ang Mo Kio Hospital. You can get help from the hospital nurses for referral to an appropriate interim solution. In addition, get the referrals and follow-up appointments for physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy care. As for your dad being unable to open his eyes, this may be only temporary. You can check with the ward nurses or the attending doctors for more details of your dad's prognosis. Find out where the stroke location is, and you will understand what physical limitations your dad may face. FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diving_Be...d_the_Butterfly "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is a translation of the French memoir "Le scaphandre et le papillon" by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition called locked-in syndrome. It also details what his life was before the stroke. It is also available as a film on DVD.

Hi LadyLuck, Was replying someone's PM, saw your message. Try these. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_leadership http://www.grad.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_pa...r/p!epmXjFc Most importantly, do not complain about your staff to your supervisor unless you have clear reasons for disciplinary action (e.g. bringing unauthorised persons to office premises, or consistently under-performing according to previously agreed measures). Otherwise, it will only reflect badly on your "poor leadership". Good luck!

Yeah, my friend's colleague and my sister used them and happy with their service

Your next door neighbour family name is Scully? My ex-colleague also same family name, scully is my ex-colleauge Scully! Hee hee Ok, pulling your leg but really got some1 with this family name lor

Me 2 then

Think the "dare to commit" part depends on an individual's risk appetite. Just did a quick calculation. If monthly income is consistently $3k/mth (x,12 mth/yr) from age 25 to 35, then CPF Ordinary Account (if left idle, OA at 22% of income, with interest 2.5% p.a.) would be around $100K at age 35. Based on HDB transaction site, 2 room cost around $120k, so can be fully paid-up if one has some savings. For 3 room, range is much bigger from $150k to $240k... so depends on what one is looking for, so one can be below-1/2-paid or 2/3-paid. For 4 room and bigger units, well... back to risk appetite. That said, personally I wished that the income limit to qualify for HDB preferrential loan rates would be higher, e.g. to match the median household income since HDB is supposed to be public housing for the masses.

1st my disclaimer hor... i personally have not been to a pre-marital check-up, still single mah! But I saw the pre-marital check-up notice on a doc I go to lor... 8-11 clinic at Yishun central (very nice docs there, both are Dr Goh). Anyway, pre-marital checkup can be for many things. Besides check for hereditary issues, also sexual health etc. then doc can advise mah, e.g. if one partner has STD, care to prevent infecting the other partner. Some STDs may also carry extra risks for pregnancy, e.g. herpes. So if know earlier got problems, can plan for solution mah. Got couple friend who checked ahead (before they hit their target age to try for baby) just in case. Lady got history of bad cramps, check show some fibrous stuff (pretty common) and partial blockage lor, so doc suggest they come in sooner (than the common try-2-years) when they want to have baby. Not everything 0-1, black-vs-white, marry-vs-cancel lah. A lot of things can discuss how to solve and got alternatives mah. Impt thing is open communication to discuss lor, but know earlier means got more time to solve issues and not so pressurized mah.

Thanks! Will go check it out O i c... i tot h/w price only go down so guess i was lucky