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Wed, Jan 12, 2011
The New Paper
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Yummy mummies
by Germaine Lim

After seven weeks at the hospital, Jamie Yeo's baby girl (pictured top) is finally home.

Alysia Karen Li-an Nolte was born 21/2 months premature in early November last year.

Yeo, who is married to Englishman Thorsten Nolte, told us in this interview that Alysia has been given a clean bill of health and was discharged on Dec 19.

The little girl has also grown from her birth weight of 1.2kg to her current 2.7kg.

Even though it's been "tiring" since Alysia's arrival, the 33-year-old is "loving every moment".

She said: "I love watching her and smelling her head. I love breastfeeding her. It's a special bond that a mother shares with her child."

She's not the only showbiz Jamie who become a first-time mummy and given birth to a girl last year.

Local TV hosts and actresses Jaime Teo (pictured below), 32, and Jaymee Ong, 30, also entered motherhood with the arrival of their daughters.

Teo, who is married to Radio 913 deejay Daniel Ong, gave birth to Renee last April.

Ong, who married Australian Matthew Heath in February 2009, had her baby last August.

But 2010, being the Year of the Tiger, was supposed to be less auspicious a time to have girls.

According to the Chinese zodiac, they may grow up very fierce, especially if they were born in the morning or night - the time when a tigress goes hunting.

Girls born under this sign, while passionate and daring, can also be unpredictable, ill-tempered, rebellious and some claim, unfilial to their parents.

Furthermore, tigresses are known to be man-eaters!

But these three modern women told The New Paper they don't subscribe to zodiac signs and brushed off this superstition.

Renee was born in the afternoon - the time when tigers are supposed to be sleeping - but has already shown her strong-willed side, Teo said.

Brat

The Miss Singapore Universe 2001 recalled: "She's shouted back at me and Dan when we yelled at her for being a brat - not that she knew she was behaving so."

As for Yeo, she had forgotten that Alysia was a Tigress until a friend reminded her.

She joked: "I don't mind her being a man-eater. If she grows up to be unfilial, I'll remind her of everything we had to go through to bring her up."

Anyway, it's too early to tell their personalities, Ong said. After all, all babies are angels when they're young.

"But when they hit their teenage years, watch out!" added the Australian-Chinese eBuzz presenter.

"I think if she were to grow up to be an awful person, it wouldn't be due to her birth date, but it would probably be our fault."

Now that they are mothers, their showbiz careers take a backseat to family life. Yeo quit her role as an ESPN Star Sports presenter last August after becoming pregnant.

She now pitches in at Upfront Media, a marketing firm she co-owns with her husband.

She said: "In the past, I'd take on every assignment that came. I was ambitious and would work like a dog.

"I used to work every New Year's Eve because the pay is higher. Now, I won't go out searching for work. If any part-time work comes, I'll do it. I won't strike off doing ESPN again, but only if it's part-time.

"I used to have to go to work at 3am for filming but now I won't even travel to Malaysia for work. I want to be here for Alysia.

"Even before I was pregnant, I knew I wouldn't be working so hard after I have a baby because that's why you work hard in the first place - so you won't have to when the baby comes."

Teo and Ong have also become more selective about the type of assignments they take on.

Teo, who's managed by Fly Entertainment, puts her foot down to working at night because "that will interfere with Renee's sleep" since Teo still nurses her.

The ex-beauty queen had planned to take on more assignments when Renee turns one, but has realised that "plans come to a halt when there's a child in the household".

As for Ong, any time spent at work, which in turn means being away from Juliet, has to be "justified".

The Cosmic Entertainment artiste said: "It's not that work comes in second now. But if it takes too much time away from her and if it doesn't seem too important, I probably won't do it.

"Having a child has made me more picky."

Should they decide to go full throttle again, these yummy mummies won't have to fret about losing weight for the camera.

Teo and Yeo, who lost 10kg and is now 50kg, attributed their weight loss simply to taking care of a baby.

Teo shed 14kg and is back to her svelte 47kg. She had extra help in the form of a garter belt, which she wore day and night for a month after giving birth.

She said: "It worked so well that even my friends who have yet to give birth have asked me for it."

Ong (pictured right), who used to be a yoga instructor and has dropped 15kg, maintains an active lifestyle by taking Juliet out for walks and jogs.

At home, she uses wireless fitness video game EA Sports Active 2 to work out.

Of the 70-plus activities and exercises available, her favourite is mountain biking.

Ong, who's back to 54kg, explained the activity: "When the bike on the screen goes down a hill, you have to squat and hold the position. When the bike jumps,you jump. It sounds easy but it's tiring.

"The set's in my living room so I'm reminded to exercise whenI see it. It's comprehensive enough to give a total body workout.

"I probably got back my pre-pregnancy body slightly more quickly because of this."

This article was first published in The New Paper.

 

More stories:

'Kids are a gift from God,' says dad of 13
Putting family first pays dividends
Jamie Yeo: 'I didn't even know I was in labour'
Jaymee had a gut feeling about pregnancy
She refused to talk to mum for 2 years
Scandal star finds marital, screen bliss
Junita Simon (Celebrity mums part 1)
Diana Ser (Celebrity mums part 2)
Beatrice Chia-Richmond (Celebrity mums part 3)
Matilda Tao (Celebrity mums part 4)
Havens for mums
Life never the same after a baby

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