My Pregnancy Diary 2 - Prenatal Visits and Costs (Week 8 to Week 22)

Hi all,

Pregnancy has been a meaningful and wonderful journey where my hubby and I have so much to learn about.

Like all the different pregnancy symptoms at different weeks, the dos and don'ts during pregnancy, the things to buy for pregnancy, baby/ maternal insurance, deciding gynae, hospital and many more.

Luckily with technology and development of useful apps, we can find many information we need from Baby Apps and Internet.

The few very good apps which I have been using are:

1. What to Expect 

2. Baby Centre

Both which I think are really good

In What to Expect, after entering the expected due date into the app, there will be weekly update on the baby's development and also mummy's symptoms. Moreover, there are sharing of useful information and tips daily.

Beside sharing of the apps which I have been using during my pregnancy, I’ll share with you my experience during my prenatal visit and the costs of each visit. For those preparing to have baby, you can start saving because it seriously costs a lot!

My hubby and I agreed to find a gynae at Mount Alvernia where it’s very near out house (walking distance). We both prefer female gynae and have Googled a list of female gynae at Mount Alvernia.

We found the reviews of gynae from Internet and read many good reviews on Dr Kang Wee. Many said she is very motherly and experienced. We found her CV from Internet and read that she has practiced O&G for more than 20 years. Previously, she is a senior consultant in KK Women & Children Hospital and started her private practice in Aug 2011.

We decided on Dr Kang Wee and called to make appointment.

27 Dec 14: Our 1^st Gynae Visit – Our little Peanut is 7 or 8 week old.

Before our 1^st visit, the nurse has advised us to drink at least 1.5 litre of water before the visit. Initially, I thought it’s for urine test purpose but later realized that it is to allow better viewing of the baby during the ultrasound. Because the baby is too small during 7 weeks and need more water to allow better viewing.

During our 1^st gynae visit, Dr Kang Wee asked whether we are 1^st time parents. After a few simple Q&A, she performed an ultrasound. This is the 1^st time we saw our baby. It looks like a peanut (so cute!) from the ultrasound and we have decided to call he/she "xiao peanut" . Doctor measured the length of the baby and derived that it’s about 7 weeks old and our expected due date is 13 Aug.

Our gynae also prescribed prenatal vitamins and calcium for mummy.

Our next visit was scheduled in another 3 weeks time.

16 Jan 15: xiao peanut is 11 weeks

On our next visit, the gynae again performed the routine ultrasound to see the baby.

When she scanned it, she exclaimed “It’s so big already!”

Apparently, our baby has grew faster than expected. The gynae measured the size and said it’s in its 11^th week and told us the expected due date will be 8 Aug instead. Haha. “发发” it’s an auspicious due date. And we may be even expecting a National Day baby! :))

The gynae also asked whether we will like to perform the down syndrome test which have to be tested before week 14 and cost about $300++.

We read about the test and it seems to be a common test where most parent-to-be will take. We thought about it and decided to opt out. Reason being we will not choose to give up the baby regardless of the result so we choose to not take.

 

13 Feb 15: 15 weeks. Maybe a boy?

In this visit, the baby looks more like a little baby where we can see the head and body. The doctor even spotted something between the legs but couldn't be sure. She said this may be a baby boy but normally it can only be more confirmed in the 4 – 5 month so will be the next visit.

I'm asked to perform a blood test which is supposed to be a routine test to check on blood counts and any other abnormality.

6 March 15: 18 week. Baby is hiding the gender. And we may have to change Gynae :(

In this visit, we are supposed to find out the gender of the baby.

During the ultrasound, we saw the baby moving and shaking his body. It’s so cute.

We are excited to see the baby’s gender. But I guess our baby wanna keep mummy and daddy in suspension. Our gynae cannot be sure of the gender because the umbilical cod was between the baby’s legs. So no choice, we have to wait till the next checkout.

She also went through my blood test results which showed that I have slightly low red blood count which may be due to either iron deficiency or an hereditary blood disorder called Thalassemia (read more by clicking). This is generally harmless with no symptom if we are just the carrier. However, if both father and mother are carriers of Thalassemia, the baby will be affected. So she said it’s better to for the father to take the blood test as well.

There's also a not so good news. When we consulted about the prenatal visit package, our gynae told us that she has stopped the package because she may stop her O&G practice due to a policy change that requires her to pay for insurance post-retirement. Dr Kang Wee was near retirement age and may not want to continue practising if this policy is implement. She mentioned she can only let us know by end April. So there’s a chance that we may change gynae. :(

27 March 2015 – Detailed ultrasound. It’s a boy! xiao peanut at his 21^st week.

We did the detailed ultra sound at KKH because typically gynae don't have the ability to do detail scanning at their clinic. We are able to see the skull, spine, heart, kidney, stomach, the main arteries in the heart, face and the full body... and the doctor has confirmed the gender of the baby is boy! :)) From the ultra sound picture, the gynae said the baby looks like daddy.

I have to admit there are similarities especially the big nose. Haha.

I felt so touched when I saw the baby moving during the ultrasound session.

The gynae said he is very active and kept moving, giving her a hard time to capture the image of the baby organs.

The results of all the scans are positive. The baby is growing well and healthy except that my placenta is a little low which it’s common during 5 months pregnancy. I have to avoid vigorous activities and it should be fine if there’s no spotting.

After we know the gender of our baby. My hubby starts to search for the baby's name.

Initially, I thought of calling him Weagan because it's the name we gave to our monkey soft toy which is a special gift my hubby bought for me during our 1^st month together. I thought it will be meaningful to call our baby Weagan. Haha. But my hubby disagreed. He think Weagan sounds a little too cute and hope for a more mature name for our baby. He suggest “Aedan” which is a Irish boy name that means “born of fire”. I agreed with him that Aedan sounds nicer and I do like the meaning of this name.

So after a short debate, we decided to call our little boy Aedan. We hope he will live his life with passion and fire.

I feel so much closer with him now when he has his name and I feel his movement in my tummy more frequently. :) It’s great joy thinking that Aedan is with me in my tummy all this time. 


09 April 2015 – Week 22. Baby is active and we finally decided on our new Gynae

We have finally decided on our new gynae, Dr Goh Shen Li. Again, we prefer female Gynae and have read reviews from forums to find a younger Gynae so as to ensure that she will not choose to stop practice after the new policy is implementation. 
I am after week 20 so I thought it's a good time to decide on my Gynae and to sign maternity package to reduce the consultation costs. 

I read many good review on Dr Goh Shen Li, Moreover, her package price is more reasonable than many other gynae at Mount Alvernia. She is charging S$880 (excluding GST) for 10 sessions which include consultation, ultrasound scan and routine test. Her package starts at 14 weeks unlike many other which starts after 20 week. It will be good if we have decided to visit her earlier.

Without package, her price will be as followed:

• 1st consultation: S$110 
• Follow up consultation: S$80
• 1st ultrasound scan: S$60
• Follow up ultrasound: S$40
• Routine test: S$5

We are quite satisfied with her service during our first consultation with her. She is more patient during the scan and she will try to capture more movements of the baby.  We saw the baby stretching and touching his face. We have brought along all our previous test reports which she has also went through thoroughly with us. We have obtained the father's blood test report and we are glad that daddy's blood is normal and is not Thalassemia carrier. :)
We told her that during our detailed ultrasound scan, the report shows that my placenta is slightly low. She assured us that this is normal during 20 weeks and the placenta will slowly move up during later stage.

I have done an excel sheet of the costs of my prenatal visits so far. We have signed up for the prenatal package for 10 session after 20 weeks and hope this will help save some money. 

Week	Clinic	Items	Amount
8	Kang Clinic For Women	1st consultation	$120.00
		Routine Test	$10.00
		Ultrasound	$60.00
		Metoclopramide - 20 tab	$4.00
		Gestacare multi vitamin - one box	$15.00
		Bonacal - one large bottle	$38.00
		Total + GST	$264.29
11	Kang Clinic For Women	Follow up constultation	$70.00
		Routine Test	$10.00
		Ultrasound	$60.00
		Gestacare multi vitamin - one box	$15.00
		Total + GST	$165.85
15	Kang Clinic For Women	Follow up consultation	$70.00
		Routine Test	$10.00
		Ultrasound	$60.00
		Antenatal profile - blood test on mother	$70.00
		Gestacare multi vitamin - one box	$15.00
		Qualibrain - fish oil	$65.00
		Total + GST	$310.30
18	Kang Clinic For Women	Follow up consultation	$70.00
		Routine Test	$10.00
		Ultrasound	$80.00
		HB Electrophoresis - blood test on father	$45.00
		Gestacare multi vitamin - one box	$15.00
		Qualibrain - fish oil	$65.00
		Bonacal - one large bottle	$38.00
		Sangobion - 30 tab	$9.00
		Total + GST	$355.24
20	KK's Women & Children	1st consultation at KK	$105.00
		FA/High risk obstetric scan - detail ultrascan	$141.00
		Total + GST	$263.22
22	SL Goh Women's Clinic	Top up for new case in package	$87.00
		Antenatal Package for 10 session	$880.00
		Package includes:
		Follow up consultation
		Ultrasound
		Routine Test
		Hemoplex capsules - 30 tab	$11.60
		Total + GST	$1,047.10
		Total prenatal cost	$2,406.00

Though we met a little hipcup  (as we have to change gynae). we are glad that at least our baby Aedan is growing healthily and everything is fine.

The money is worth it as long as baby is well. :)


With love,
Twentysixoctober

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My Pregnancy Diary 1 - Pregnancy Test and Symptoms

Hi all,

Yes, I am finally going to blog about my pregnancy. It has been so long since I last blogged as I'm not feeling well with all the pregnancy symptoms.

I am currently at my 20th week (half way through my pregnancy), 2^nd trimester, which I'm feeling much much better as compared to 1^st trimester.

Not sure whether it’s a baby boy or girl yet.

But I'm really excited to find out in the next Gynae visit!

Ever since I revealed my little bundle of joy to my friends and colleagues,  many people asked me how I discovered that I'm pregnant.

Hmmm.. there were actually many symptoms before I decided to take a pregnancy test.

1. Decreased level of fitness and extreme fatigued. Before I discovered that I'm pregnant,  I was actively attending gym and pole dance classes. Last year, during one of my pole dancing classes (before I knew I'm pregnant),  I suddenly couldn’t perform the pole stunt which I have previously mastered. I even have difficulty climbing up the pole. For that lesson, I can only stood at the side and watched my classmates. :(
2. Feeling nauseous throughout the day. This is one symptom which made me really suspicious.  
3. Enhanced sense of smell. My sense of smell was heightened during 1^st trimester of my pregnancy, it's so heigthened that I can smell many things that others can't. And I was easily irritated when I passed by hawker centres. I hated the oily cooking smell and any unpleasant smell. 
4. Acne breakout. My face has many pimples popping out which make my face looks really red and sensitive. And it's really sad to see my face become like this :( Due to pregnancy, I cannot seek any acnes medication even external applications as they are generally harmful and poisonous to fetus. Luckily, my acnes condition got better in my 2^nd trimester.

All the above symptoms made me really suspicious. Frankly, after I experience these symptoms, I was 80% sure that I'm pregnant. I have told my hubby about my experience but he is skeptical. Haha so to be sure we bought a pregnancy test kit on 11 Dec 15 to test it.

I remember that on the day after our dinner. I was so tired & fall asleep after bathe. I woke up at 11am and realized that I have not taken the test.  My hubby was asleep at that time. I went to the toilet and took the test.

I followed the instructions, peed on the stick and waited for 1 min.

Nothing showed after 5 mins.

Then I thought maybe there’s not enough urine. So I peed again and waited.

I felt that time passed very slowly while I was waiting. Finally, something showed. It’s a plus sign! I looked at the instruction again and realized that it means Positive! I'm Pregnant!!

I was delighted! I took the test kit and woke up my hubby to reveal the truth. He was pulled out from his sleep and I remembered how shocked he was that this is really happening!

11 Dec 2015 marks the day where we realized that a new living being is entering into our life.

Thanks God for giving us this beautiful experience.

With Love, 

TwentySixOctober 

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Happy Anniversary!

Marriage

It has been a year since we signed on the dotted line to be legally bound to each other.

For the past 6 years before our marriage, my husband and I were almost glued to each other and have never been apart for more than a month.

This time round, we have been separated for more than 3 months.

During this period, I have reflected on our marriage. Maybe the fact that we have been always together made marriage the natural next step in life. We have been through disputes, taken steps back to accommodate and finally find a balance in our relationship. Hence, marriage has seemed to be an inevitable next step.

However, during the recent 3 months, when my husband went overseas to work, it makes me understand and discover many things and to reflect once again on our relationship.

When two become one, what is it about?

Is it about losing part of ourselves to take in another one?

Without him, many decisions in life will be made differently. A simple thing like how I will spend my weekend is  a lot different with and without him.

Why should we get married?

After much reflection, I have listed the following.

1. Lifetime Companion

We as human beings have the desire to find companionship be it friends, family or partner. It’s a natural instinct that we do not like being alone and yearn to have a sense of belonging in a group.

Moreover, it is true that opposite genders have natural attraction to each other, though most of the time, it’s physical. The union of a man and woman is almost purely a human desire to feel complete.

Of course, not all people will find their half. Especially in current society where people are more independent and woman being less dependent. For such cases, we seek alternatives or find comfort from friends and family.

So it seems like there’s no need to be married if there’re other sources of companionship.

But ideally, marriage is a desired source since friends and family may not be able to be with you all the time.

2. Procreation and Building of Family

I personally think that it’s almost a MUST for all married couple to try to have babies. This may be one of the ultimate goals in marriage. Without the needs to procreate and to provide children with a complete normal family, it may not even be necessary to be married.

3. Emotion and Financial Support

We seek emotion and financial support through companionship. In difficult times, we all seek support. A husband and wife structure, in my opinion, is the best source of constant support. I guessed that’s why before we sign on the paper, we have to swear to love and care for each other through sickness and difficult times.

Human beings have strong adaptability since we have evolved through centuries to become the most intelligent animal on planet.  Husband and wife relationship may seem to be less important as people adapt and forge alternative relationships for support. 
However, I do believe marriage can help two people who complement each other to become better. 

Marriage is not to consume individuality. 
Without each other, we should still be able to stand on our own with our own source of support and social circle. I am glad that my husband has gone overseas during this period; it makes me understand the importance of my other parts of life such as friends and career. Friends for emotional support and career to be financially sound.

I used to think that when two persons get married, they should be glued to each other.  This is not true.

When two persons get married, it supposed to be more than one. We should be able to love and develop ourselves more and provide freedom to each other.  Of course, to love each other more each day.

Happy Anniversary, my dearest half.

You have made me complete and provide me with the security to be the best of me.
I love you.

Our 7 Years Journey..................

Married you and be with you....

Travel the world with you.....

                                                  Bangkok                  

                                               Vietnam

Taiwan

Hong Kong

 Korea

Those were the days...

During university time.
Thanks for following me and being by my side even when I pushed you away

Celebrations of the date when you are born. 

Black and White Romance.
I never thought we will really be married when we took this set of photos for my friend project



Thanks for being in this journey with me and
let's write more stories.
Forever and ever after

With Love,
TwentySixOctober