Married for 18 years, with 10 children - and counting
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Madam Elliawati Mohamed Ali, 39, and her husband Mr Idwan Sa’at, 45, are parents to 10 children, aged five months old to 16 years old.
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Felicia Choo
It has been 18 years of marriage and counting, with 10 kids - and there could be more in the pipeline for Madam Elliawati Mohamed Ali and her husband, Mr Nur Idwan Mohamed Sa'at.
"I love babies," professed Madam Elliawati, 40, who gave birth to her youngest, Muhammad Nazhan, in February. "But once they grow up, I'm very sad. No cuddling... It's a different phase."
Her eldest is 16 - she had him two years after marrying Mr Idwan, 46, and quitting her job as an accountant. They have six girls and four boys, each born a year or two apart.
The big family often attract stares and questions from strangers on their travels. "First, they will ask 'How many wives?' no matter where I travel," said Mr Idwan with a laugh.
The sole breadwinner works as head of production and operations at The Rice Company, a non-profit arts and culture organisation.
The ever-expanding brood required the family to move from a four-room flat in Coronation Road West to their maisonette in Choa Chu Kang in January.
Madam Elliawati also has to work punishing hours every day to take care of everyone. On weekdays, she usually wakes up at 4.30am and gets to bed only at midnight.
Her husband takes the secondary schoolchildren - Naqib, 16; Nabil, 14; and Nadhrah, 13 - and those in primary school - Najwar, 11; Nayla, nine; and Nawwar, seven - to school before he takes public transport to work.
Madam Elliawati is in charge of taking five-year-old Nawrah to kindergarten, before going home to take care of Nafhah, three; Nahwan, one; and the baby. She also picks up all the children from school.
To lighten their mother's load, the children help with household chores and the older ones take care of their younger siblings.
Madam Elliawati gets a breather on weekends, when her husband and sons shop for groceries in Johor Baru. But she is not complaining.
"Sometimes I think, 'Am I too ambitious?' But at the end of the day, when they say, 'Thank you, ibu, for raising me,' that drives me on," said Madam Elliawati. Ibu is Malay for mother.
She and her husband do not come from big families themselves - she is the eldest of three children, while Mr Idwan is an only child.
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Their oldest daughter, Nadhrah said she does not have much time for schoolwork as she has to take care of her siblings.
"Having a lot of siblings is a bit stressful because we don't really have a lot of time to catch up with our homework, but we make sure that we finish all our work by the end of the day," she said.
But unlike what some may think, the siblings do not always quarrel with one another.
"We don't quarrel 24/7 because most of the time we have each other's backs," said Nadhrah.
With so many children, the couple admit that they sometimes mix them up.
And ensuring that each child gets the attention he deserves means the couple take them out in smaller groups to watch movies or shop.
"My kids are self-directed... Family values mean you have to help, care and love each other," added Madam Elliawati.
Another important value is thrift - they try to save as much as possible and spend within their means. The family's monthly expenses average $4,000, which take up a large chunk of his salary, said Mr Idwan.
Last year, they applied for the Ministry of Education financial assistance scheme, which pays for school-related expenditure, including school fees, uniforms and textbooks.
Madam Elliawati has had smooth natural births in general, except for her last delivery in February, when she had high blood pressure before giving birth and bled more than usual after that.
ENCOURAGEMENT
Sometimes I think, 'Am I too ambitious?' But at the end of the day, when they say, 'Thank you, ibu, for raising me,' that drives me on.
MADAM ELLIAWATI MOHAMED ALI, on managing her large brood.
She was given medication used to contract the uterus and underwent a blood transfusion, said Dr Adrian Tan, a senior consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist who has been her doctor since her first child.
"Increased bleeding is a known issue for multiple deliveries, possibly related to
increased laxity of the uterus and reduced efficiency in contracting after delivery," said Dr Tan, who is from ACJ Women's Clinic at Thomson Medical Centre.
(in other words, she has a very loose cheebye that doesn't contract well after delivery la!)
While the exact cause of Madam Elliawati's high blood pressure is hard to pinpoint, her age and family history of hypertension could be a strong contributing factor, he added.
Madam Elliawati miscarried twins in 2012, three months into her pregnancy. But a few months later, she became pregnant with her seventh child.
Asked if she would have more children, Madam Elliawati hesitated, saying: "To be frank, I'm growing old and I also need to focus on my children who are growing up."
But what if God gives her and her husband more children, she asked herself aloud. "Because I used to say, 'Seven is enough,' but then next year, pop again!"
"To be continued," added her husband with a grin.
Felicia Choo
They do multiply like rodents, don't they? 
