Yunna 陈韵传 – February Mama of the month

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For mothers, after giving birth to their precious babies, all they hope for was to be able to participate in all stages of their child’s growth. A child’s growth milestone only comes once, it is impossible to rewind when you miss it. But for working mothers, there are times when you can’t help but miss one or two big moments in their milestones. In addition to child-rearing, there are also the responsibilities of work.

This month’s Mama of the month — we have Astro <Evening Edition> former TV news anchor, network host – Yunna Tan. Our wonderful Yunna had just recently given birth to her second sweetheart. A full-time career woman and also a full-time mother, Yunna is blessed with ample time in her 24 hours for child-rearing due to her ‘work-from-home’ work system during this pandemic. 

“The pandemic has taken and also given, for me, I am blessed in not missing any of my child’s growth milestones.” 

Let together read more on her colourful journey of becoming a mother in this era of Pandemic!

Enduring 60 hours of contraction to give birth

“I can say that I was a very lucky mom during my pregnancy because I didn’t have morning sickness. I just had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my first child and having it makes me anxious, so I started to have a balanced eating habit.

At the 38th week, the doctor suggested that she needed to give birth. However, she wanted to give birth naturally, so she insisted on waiting. At the 39th week, the doctors advised her that she could not drag it any longer,  worrying that the baby will be subjected to unexpected problems. So the baby needs to be induced. “I thought the inducing process works very quickly. As a result, three attempts were unsuccessful.” There is a saying in the medical community that birth should not exceed 48 hours, but Yunna still wanted to try her best to give a natural delivery, so she persisted until 60 hours (2 and a half days). Despite that, because her body could no longer bear it, Yunna finally chose to have a cesarean section. 

“Mothers, don’t be too obsessive. Everyone’s physical state is different, so you don’t need to force yourself. You should listen to the doctors because doctors know you and your baby best.”

Everyone accompanying her for confinement during the pandemic

For Yunna, breastfeeding her first child was a challenge. In addition to having her first baby during MCO, she also faced the problem of milk plugs (clogged milk duct). Because of the MCO, no one can go out of the house and they accompanied her during confinement. Even though the lactation specialist could not come to help her in person, the nurses at the confinement centre still came to her help and the hospital nurses also taught her how to solve her breastfeeding issues whenever she visits the clinic. Alas, they couldn’t completely solve the clogged milk duct issue. Yunna described the pain, “It was worse than childbirth.”

Still have your own time, don’t lose yourself

“Although I still cherish ME Time, I still don’t need so much ME Time”. Yunna is naturally a lively and cheerful person, she loves having family, friends, and children around her. In addition, her baby is a literal angel who’s easy to take care of, even in the early days after being born. The baby can sleep overnight at 2 months. Yunna recalled her experience, she was very nervous and anxious so she asked the doctors, does she need to wake the child up to breastfeed? Will the child be dehydrated? Instead, the doctor told her to not worry, ”The doctors told me something along the lines of – the child loves the mother, and hope that the mother will rest more, and the child will wake up naturally when he is thirsty and hungry.”

In addition, she also arranges the child’s sleeping schedule very well. The child goes to bed from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am the next day, Yunna can simply do her own work with ease and watch a movie with her husband while the child is sleeping. She already has plenty of time for herself. 

Children don’t need a perfect mom, they need a happy mom

Many people think a mother has to be perfect, but in fact, you don’t need to force yourself too hard. “As women, our value is not only to be a mother but also to be ourselves, don’t put everything in life circulating child. You can only be happy if you love yourself first. When children see us happy, they will be happy too.”

“So, for the modern independent women, try to find a work-life balance. Mothers should enjoy the sweet journey of being a mother and do not need to feel that they are not good mothers or that they are not good enough. Life still has to be lived, children are a part of life, not the centre of everything that is going on in life. In the end, you still have to have your own life, venturing into businesses or careers.”