The Challenging New Job: 24/7

It is a woman's privilege to experience the pregnancy and motherhood. So I boldly went where no man has gone before.

I believe that you are controlled by the baby inside when you are pregnant because I could not help but eating so much ice cream like I never had in my life. I would not pretend that I was a small eater, but the appetite during the late quarter of pregnancy was something beyond my control. The baby turned out to love ice cream and had a very good appetite from the day-one.

We named our daughter Sarah. I was baptised in the year 2001 by the international church of Kuala Lumpur, St.Andrews Presbyterian Church. I was hoping she could have a name from the bible which does not sound awkward in Japanese. Also my husband and I wanted our daughter to be a truly global person when she grows up and wanted give her a name which is familiar to people in many countries and cultures.

In fact, we later found out that the name Sarah existed in the Muslim culture and other Asian countries like India and Thailand not only US and UK. I want Sarah to be a boarder less and open-minded adult one day.

I went to the hospital on 6 November 2003 as the doctor advised me to go for c-section since the baby was in the breech position and it was my first delivery. My husband took a day-off to be with me in the operation room.

The anesthetic was partial so that I would be fully aware when the baby was out. It felt funny that you are awake when your tummy is being opened. But the doctors in Pantai Hospital were excellent and everything went smoothly. My husband had to suffer from more scary scenes sitting next me where he could see exact spot where the baby came out!

Sarah was 3,800g and completely healthy. When I held her for the first time in my arms, I thought I came out as a baby myself...she looked very much like me. She even had the same dimple at the same spot on cheek. It was such a sacred moment and my husband and I were filled with joy and love.

But it was a beginning of many sleepless nights and challenges. She happened to be a baby who requires a lot of attention all the time, and I was committed to give her a full breast-feeding which means no supplement milk or water for the first 6 months and continue it until the baby is 2 years old.

During the mother's class provided by the hospital when I was 8 months pregnant, the doctors emphasised the importance of the breast-feeding and I was completely convinced with the scientific facts. So I decided to make it the first gift to the baby.

Really...it must be difficult for those have no kids to imagine, but it WAS a real challenge. If it is a full breast-feeding, you can't ask someone to feed the baby on behalf. Theoretically you could extract the mother's milk and feed the baby from the bottle, but Sarah REFUSED to be fed by the bottle.

I thought all the babies would love the bottles...don't they love it on TV and movies?

Each baby is unique and different. Sarah happens to be the baby who does not WANT to be fed by the bottle. Even if I was out for an hour or so from home, she never ever allowed anyone to feed her. No matter how hungry she was, she waited for me to come back to feed her from the real thing. She was stubborn little baby and determined what she wanted or not.

So, like every other mother on earth, (except for those who are fortunate to have much easier handling babies), I took this new assignment seriously and dedicate all my waking time. It really was 24/7 work. No weekends or public holidays, whether you are sick or not, 3am in the morning or 4pm, the baby needs you.

I was fortunate that I lived in Malaysia. I hired a part-time maid who helped my with the home chores and changing diapers. Only a couples of hours for twice a week, but it made a huge difference. I don't know how to go through that in Japan or elsewhere you can't find such assistance.

No matter how hard this new job was (with no salary), I felt there was no other work on earth which could be more rewarding. The happiness filled my heart as I looked at Sarah's face when she was sound asleep. I thanked God so many times for this precious gift and made a pledge that I would provide her everything she needs until she is fully grown up and ready to stand on her own. I would never let her suffer for not having enough fund for education.

With a handful of friends who became mothers around same time, I was happy being a full-time mother. Not working disturbed me a bit, but I DID have an important job to raise Sarah, so I had no nervous breakdown this time. In fact, I was really busy every day as much as I was working full-time especially the first year of Sarah's life.

The peaceful family life was interrupted when I received a phone call from a consulting company where one of my previous business contact joined and became a country manager. It was late 2004. I was asked if I could come back to work, this time as a SAP consultant. They were looking for a Japanese-speaking consultant but there was no such resource in Malaysia, and they promised to send me for the full training course to obtain the certification in Finance module. He remembered that I had CPIM and SAP implementation experience. No other Japanese person had either in Kuala Lumpur.

During my college time, I did a research on the effect of working mother on children. In early 1990, it was suggested that mother should spend more time with a child until he/she becomes 3 years old. So I intended to go back to work after Sarah became 3 years old, but I doubted if the similar opportunity could be available two years later.

My husband and I had a serious discussion. Sarah was only 13 months and my husband wanted me to be a full-time mother for a few more years.

But I felt strongly moved by this opportunity and I could not let it go.

So I went to the interview to the consulting firm called Diagonal Consulting (now changed the company name to Morse Consulting) located on the 63rd floor of the Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur City Centre. It was a UK based firm and had several overseas branches. Immediately after the interview, I was offered a position and a confirmation letter. Everything went so quickly as if it was all planned along.

Now my husband and I agreed that I go back to work and send Sarah to nursery full time. I found a good local nursery with many foreign kids which also provided transportation from/to the nursery everyday. The new life as a working mother started in April 2005.