Eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. The thought of losing that – at least for the next five years, according to her friends – worried actress Sheila Sim when she was trying for a baby.

“I really need a lot of sleep,” she says. “So it really surprised me that I could still be energetic with only two to three hours of sleep in the first month.”

Sim, 36, and her bank executive-husband Deon Woo, 39, welcomed their first child, Layla, on Sept 22 last year.

“When I see her smile in the morning, I’ll be 200 per cent recharged,” she adds.

Gone are the nerve-wracking newborn days when Layla would cry hysterically. Sim now understands her little one’s needs and emotions better, and cannot wait to hear her first word.

Sim is even ready to try for a second baby a year later – yes, that eight-hour stretch of sleep can wait.

Sim, who graduated with a positive psychology diploma from The School Of Positive Psychology in Singapore last July, hopes to be a mindful and conscious parent.

“Sometimes, as parents, we have our own issues and unfulfilled needs that we put upon our children. It should be about them and what they want; it’s the life that they deserve, not the life that we want them to have,” she says.

Barely three months into motherhood, Jillian Kimberly Lim is plagued by mom-guilt.

“It’s a real thing women place upon themselves,” says the Kiss92 FM DJ who gave birth to her first child, Lily Indie Meals, on Oct 29 last year.

Lim, 30, knew that breastfeeding was the better choice for her baby, but came to the painful decision to stop that.

“I was just constantly getting sick (from breastfeeding) and was unable to take care of the baby.”

It was also difficult coping with her newborn when she had colic.

“The inconsolable crying for hours was terrifying and exhausting,” she recalls.

It made her convinced that she needs a village to raise a child and that it is okay to seek help, she says.

“My neighbours offered to help with her and I gladly accepted.”

Asked about her New Year’s resolution, Lim says: “To be easier on my partner. He’s a very hands-on father, but his way of doing things isn’t my first choice.

Lim is married to Kenneth Christopher Meals, 31, who owns a barber shop.

“I need to step back and let him do it his way. At the end of the day, if it works and the child is happy, who cares how it got done. Right?”

Singer and athletics coach Alfred Sim, 39, is always surprised at how his two sons look so different from each other.

Both of them were “the same size and height at birth”, but his second child seems to grow faster.

Born on June 28 last year, he is now “much bigger” than his firstborn when he was six months old, Sim tells The Straits Times.

“Oh yes, he has less hair, bigger eyes, too,” adds Sim, who is married to fellow singer Tay Kewei, 37.

The celebrity couple has never revealed their children’s real names to the public, and addresses them by their cute monikers.

Momo, now three, nicknamed his little brother Xiao Pian Pian.

Being second-time parents, Tay says they are more confident in their roles and aware of baby development milestones.

Tay adds: “I hope to expose Xiao Pian Pian be exposed to as many new experiences as Momo.”

Natasha Faisal takes a look at her mobile phone’s photo album and exclaims: “It’s all Luna, all 40,000 of them.”

The 987FM DJ is clearly infatuated with her first baby, Luna Iqmal, who was born on June 11 last year, and embraces motherhood.

From waking up late to becoming a morning person, Natasha, 25, is amazed by how much she has changed.

“It’s embarrassing, but my mum can attest to how I needed her help getting up because, most times, the alarm was not reliable at all,” she tells The Straits Times.

“But since I became a mother, I actually enjoy preparing breakfast. The slightest movement or a little sneeze from my baby can jolt me awake and I start my day as early as 5am.”

She cannot wait to explore recipes and cooking for Luna, who recently started on solid food.

“I love being in the kitchen and meal preparation. I can only hope that she turns out a big foodie like her parents,” says Natasha who who is married to Iqmal Jumaat, 30, a business manager.

For now, she is reminding herself to go easy on taking videos and photos of Luna. “Like seriously, I don’t need 500 photos of her sleeping with her mouth open,” she says with a laugh.

“But on a more serious note, I’d love to overcome the unwillingness to ask for help and feel less mom-guilt. I hope to reclaim myself so that I can be the best version of me for my family.”

It has been almost a year since UFM100.3 DJ Lee Xinying’s parents saw their new granddaughter.

With the Covid-19 travel restrictions, Lee, 36, is longing for the day when everyone can meet up again.

Her Malaysian parents live across the Causeway and have been communicating with her through video calls.

Lee and her sales manager-husband Robin Leow, 35, welcomed their daughter, YC Leow, on Jan 22 last year.

Those early days when YC was always “making a huge fuss and crying” were long gone, and she is now a happy, curious and distracted baby.

“I want to spend more time reading with her, but she would be grabbing the books, resulting in many unfinished stories,” Lee says with a laugh.

The first-time mum says she has not fully recovered from childbirth and is still suffering from postpartum pelvic girdle pain.

“Before I had my child, I was told that the day after a natural birth, I’d be able to walk freely as usual but that was not the case for me,” says Lee.

For months, moving her legs was difficult and painful, affecting her daily movements. Till today, it still hurts when she takes long walks or carries YC for long periods. But the pain is worth it.

She says: “The moment I held her in my arms, my life has changed forever as this child has become a piece of my heart.”

These Singapore personalities also had babies last year:

Huang Jinglun, who is based in Taiwan, welcomed his first baby on Sept 24 last year. On his 37th birthday in July, he announced on social media that the “best present” was that he had tied the knot and would be a dad soon.

He is very private about his family and has not revealed their names.

Class 95 DJ Vernon A, 48, is now a proud father of three boys. He and his wife Jayne Tham, 31, welcomed their second child Niall on Nov 23 last year. They also have a two-year-old son, Liam. Vernon has a 17-year-old son, Ethan, from a previous marriage.

It’s also a boy for YES 933 DJ Lim Peifen, who delivered her second child, named Jude, on Oct 1 last year. She and her product manager-husband Lie Wei Xiang, both 38, have another son Luke, five. Lim shared on Instagram last week that Jude is her rainbow baby, having had a miscarriage in 2019.

Text: Elisa Chia/The Straits Times

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