#2 IVF - MATERNITY BAG - What Should I Bring?

 Hey ladies!

Hope you are doing well over there! 

Praying all goes well to those who are going through FET & new cycle of Fresh IVF & IUI! You can do it!!!

So today I wanna share some stuffs that I am struggling to do.....

Maternity Bag!

Yes... I just wanna limit myself to bring what is needed and not overpacking!

So I decided to break it down by packing into days & room usage.

Let's start!

Item To Pack With

(Dad will carry it.. LOL! So I leave it to him to choose)

1 x Bagpack

1 x Hand Carried Disposable Bag (optional - can be folded and place in bagpack)

1 x Large Zip Lock/ Pastic (For Dirty Clothings)

Admission Day

(These will be place in 1 small folder)

- Payment (Cash/Credit)

- Pink Booklet (Maternity Booklet)

- Marriage Certificate (Original)

- Financial Counselling (if you went between 36 - 39 weeks to choose the ward room)

Labour Room (Mom)

(Packed in zip lock for easy grabbing)

- 3 x Disposable Panties

- 3 x Maternity Pads

- Portable Bidet/Empty Bottle with holes on caps (For washing on bed when peeing or pooping - if unable to walk)

- 1 Pair Compression Socks

- 1 x Wet Wipes (Facial Wipes)

- 2 x Packet Drink (100 Plus / H20)

- Candies/Snacks/Bread

Labour Room (Dad)

- Portable Charger/ USB Cable

- Bottle Drinks/Snack

- Headphones

- Camera (if allowed)

- Jacket/Warmer

- Moral Support for Mom when delivering (Important)

Ward Stay (Mom) - A1 Single Bedded

(Minimal 2 days for Normal Delivery - Ziplock Bags)

- 8 x Disposable Panties

- 8 x Maternity Pads

- Maternity Panties

- 1 roll x Disposable Etiquette Bags (To dispose soiled maternity pads)

- 1 Loose Dress (Can be the one used during admission for discharge day)

- 2 x Lightweight Pants

- 1 x Jacket/Warmer

- 1 x Thick Socks

- Toiletries (Shampoo/Soap/Tooth Brush-Paste/Comb/Deodorant/Moisturizing Cream/Perfume)

- Breast Pumps/Milk Bag

- Non Alcohol Wipes (Facial/Breast Cleaning)

- Disposable Shoe

Ward Stay (Dad)

(Dad is allowed to stay overnight in the A1 Single Bedded Suite)

- 1 x Clothes/Pants

- 1 x Socks

- Toiletries (Can share with Mom Supply)

- Disposable Shoe

- Snacks/Drinks (Mini Fridge Provided)

- Wall Charger (To charge Handphone, Portable Charger

Ward Stay (Baby)

- 6 x Newborn Diapers

- 1 x Baby Bottle

- Portion Baby Milk Powder

- 2 x Baby Attire

- 2 x Baby Mittens/Booties

- 1 x Baby Cap

- 1 x Swaddle

- 1 x Baby Lotion/ointment

- 3 x Baby Disposable Bib

- 2 x Disposable Face Towel

- 1 x Baby Wipes

- 2x Sterile Cotton Wool

For now, that's all I could think of. I am not sure if the hospital will be giving any free goodies to new moms and baby. But also, standby another bag (optional) for those too.

And these highlighted in BLUE are disposable items which will be discarded before leaving the hospital and back home. Lighter bag I assume and hope! LOL!

Do let me know if you feel that I have missed out anything crucial to bring along.. In the next post, I will try to share the haul for the lil ones and also post natal massage services that I have engaged!

Till then ladies! Have a great weekend!

#2 IVF 29 Weeks & Visit To The Diabetic Dept (7th April 2021)

 Hey ladies!!

How time flies!!

So few days ago I went in for a consultation with the Diabetic Doctor and to get my prescription top up!

So my appointment was arranged for 11am and I head in to get myself registered. Went into Room 4 to have my blood pressure taken, height & weight & a urine dipstick test. All is great and my weight maintained at 78kg for the past few months. I was wondering if lil bean is indeed growing or not.. I was curious and worried.

Took roughly 1 hour later for my turn to be called as there were some emergency cases the team needs to attend to.

So when I was called it, I was attended by Dr Ann Wright & her colleague. A very pleasant doctor! So I hand in my Hypocount Charts and my blood works.

On my previous visit, I was told to have my FULL BLOOD COUNT to be taken. Since I needed to repeat another HBA1C reading in my clinic, I decide to have the blood taken at my workplace which means, it's free! LOL!

So from the result, it shows that 

My Red Blood Cell is alright 3.8 (Range 3.9 - 5.6)

My White Blood Cell is slightly elevated 12.3 (Range 4.0 - 11.0)

Eosinophils is slightly elevated due to allergies 0.47 (Range 0.04 - 0.40)

HBAIC is fantastic! 5.3 mmol/L (Range 4.5 - 6.4 mmol/L)

eGFR is normal as well! >60mL/min

So the Dr were happy with my readings and my Hypocount Chart! They wanted me to maintain in taking in 250mg Metformin twice daily. But in my honesty, I rarely take them as my sugar readings were constantly low even without taking Metformin. 

So Dr Ann asked me to hop on to the couch to have a quick scan done to see lil bean! I was excited!

So I was assisted up to the couch. Believe me, at 7 months pregnant, every moment has it's aches.. LOL!

So I lay down slowly, exposed my watermelon belly to her and off she goes! Applying some warm gel and start looking around. So her colleague was at the computer and taking notes from Dr Ann's observations.

The first word I heard from Dr Ann was "Cephalic". So what is Cephalic?

It's the term used to determine the position of the fetus in the womb! As your due date is crawling in, fetus will start having it's head down to the cervix/exit while the legs are facing your lungs or upward!

I was happy to hear that! At 29 Weeks, I was hoping lil bean is as excited as I am! Also she mentioned that the amniotic fluid is adequate which is great! Too much can cause the fetus to move about more freely in the 3rd Trimester which can cause breech or proper position for normal delivery. While having too little amniotic fluid can disrupt the fetus movement to have their head move downwards in the 3rd Trimester.

And she mentioned that my Placenta placement is good, not low lying like the previous Dr in the other clinic mentioned. Maybe as our womb grows and extend, our placenta moves along as well, going upwards and away from the cervix. And she shows lil bean's flickering heart, the hands, face and body.. 

Subhanallah.. Looking great! And lastly, she began to check the baby's head circumference to determine the weight.

Lil bean is 1.3kg at 29 Weeks! Alhamdulilah! She mentioned it's on scheduled and right on target weight! I was super happy when I heard that! 

So that's all for today session, I hop off the couch with the help for the clinic assistant, clean my belly and sat down. I also mentioned to them that my medication supplies are finishing soon. So they prescribed for me another 2 month's worth and scheduled another scan and diabetic visit in 4 weeks time. Which will be on the 6th May 2021. Once all is done, I left the clinic and head over to the pharmacy to collect my medication. I was super hungry at this point that I had to grab some munchies to munch!

So head over to grab some rice with dishes to bring to work, and ate some Tuna Bun with Vitamin Drink. Roughly 20mins later my number was called to the counter. So at the same time, I grab some disposable maternity panties and head to the payment counter. Total sum for the 2 month's medication of Aspirin & Obimin Multivitamin and the panties are $18.60.

And today's consult + quick scan was $86.00.

Done with today's visit, I head off to work which is like 10mins away from the hospital. Definitely update you ladies with another post on my maternity bag packing itinerary and the baby haul!

Take care!

#2 IVF 24 Weeks - A Dr's Visit & Vaginal Staining (2nd March 2021)

 Greetings ladies!

This has been a pretty tiring week! I was super busy with my work and I had done alot of walking!

So for this entry, I wanted to share some details that I have been encountering.

Nothing serious, just something to note for the other ladies out there.

At 24 weeks, we are alright in our 6th months gestational or ending to the 2nd Trimester.

My belly are really well shaped, not much stretch marks as I was already a flabby girl around the waist. HAHAHAHA!! And amazingly, I didn't gain much weight! But the Dr wasn't concern much on the weight gain as I was already slightly off the chart with my weight and most importantly from the scan, lil bean is growing well. 

So for this few weeks, I started having brownish stains when I reached home after work. I have been walking around alot and carrying alot of stuffs. Not heavy stuffs, just groceries, less than 1kg items.. I didn't have any much contractions or aching. But I did feel extra tired and sleepy easily. 

Lil Bean has been very very very very active these whole period. Kicking, swimming around the womb, turning here and there.. I just love that feeling. I didn't imagine this day will come for both of us. Lil bean really loves the interaction with Mountain Bear aka PAPA BEAR now.. LOL!! And I enjoy putting stuffs on my belly & lil bean will knock it off.. LOL!!

So we did communicate with lil bean and asked which supermart lil bean wanted to go? SHENG SIONG? GIANT? COLD STORAGE? and lil bean kicked on NTUC when PAPA BEAR mentioned that. LOL!! And asked what lil bean wanna buy from NTUC? Lil Bean kicked again when PAPA BEAR mentioned Fried Chicken! LOL!!!

Anyways, we had a consultation meetings with the Dr today. We arrived at 8am while our appointment is scheduled at 9.30am. We sat down and waited to be called. As usual, the routine that I need to go through.

Height & Weight with Urine Dipsticks & Blood Pressure Monitoring.

So we sat down, Mountain Bear was looking for a new King size mattress online for our room, some of Lil Bean's stuffs as well like a stroller, high chair, bottles etcs. I will do a separate blog entry for those items ya!

I was feeling sleepy so I had my head lay on Mountain Bear's shoulder and wander off to lalaland for awhile. Roughly 45mins later, our number shown on the screens. For today's visit, I did register myself online via the Health Buddy App where you can register yourself and monitor the queue systems. This is ready handy for us! 

We got in and the Dr asked how am I doing and I told her that I have been having brownish stains and minimal cramps. She was worried if my placenta was low lying. So she had me up to the couch and did a quick scans. Lil bean is sleeping well! From the head circumference, she mentioned that lil bean is roughly 800gms to almost 900gms in weight now.. WOW!! Almost 1kg! Hehehe..

And now, from today's scan, she mentioned that my placenta is slightly low lying which could have caused the staining. And she wanted me to come over to the Emergency O&G dept if anymore episodes occurs. I took note. I also requested for a copy of the detailed scan results from last visit for references and safekeeping. She gladly print them & issued 1 day MC for me today to rest. No need to collect any medications. I was advice not to do any heavy lifting, more rest on bed, walk slowly and avoid strenuous activities. I took note and that's for the visit.

So once that's done, we can proceed home or out for a quick shopping! We decided to head over to Little India & Mustafa Center to enjoy a hearty breakfast of Thosai & Pratas! Then we went for a quick shopping in Mustafa Center with tons of bags upon exiting.. LOL!! We bought Candies, Chocolates, Tools, Snacks etc.. Mountain Bear refuse to allow me to carry any of them. We head home afterwards.

It was a nice day out with love! Today's fee is $49.00.

So my next visit will be with the Diabetic Dr again at 29 weeks on the 7th April 2021. Will update soonest! Take care ladies!

#2 IVF 21 Weeks - Another Visit For Scan At AMC & Discharged (9th February 2021)

 Hey ladies!

So today is another routine for a quick scan & a consultation with the Dr. I was suppose to proceed to 2 clinics for today but ended up on going to 1 clinic. Will share with you on the outcome.

So for my 21 weeks scan, we proceed to level 2 for the scan at the AMC dept. We arrived fairly early around 7.30am (well... Mountain Bear was with me.. He woke me up early.. LOL!) while our appointment was at 9.05am.

Had a quick breakfast and head up to the clinic at 8am. Self registration and pass my pink booklet to the counter staff, sat down to have my blood pressure checked, checked my weight and height, and also, urine dipstick which shows normal.

So sat down for another 15mins before my name was called. There was an intern, a male intern who was attached to the sonographer who was doing my scan for the day. She asked me for the permission if it's alright for him to witness the scans that she is doing on me. I told her, I have no issue. Mountain Bear was not around, clearly I knew he wouldn't want another man to see my exposed belly. LOL!

But being in the medical field myself, I knew such exposure to these interns are important and they rarely get the chance to be allowed to witness the scans and also, asked questions. I told him that I'm in the medical field too and understand that it's hard to get such chances. He thanked me and sat at the corner of the room, looking at the monitor screen diligently as the sonographer moves the doppler over my belly.

There, I could see lil bean sleeping, facing the other way, showing the butt. LOL!! The sonographer gently shake my belly to try make lil bean turn around. Not working. LOL! So I was asked to lay on the side as she needed to take further pictures of lil bean's heart chambers and valves. It was an awkward position with slight pressure applied on my belly, but she managed to get the photos needed for the Dr. 

After the 15mins were done, she asked if Mountain Bear is around, I told her yes and she asked me to call him in to see lil bean. Which I gladly called and when Mountain Bear enters and saw the male intern beside the wall, he had a shock on his face and just said 'Hi' while the intern raise his palm and gesture a 'Hi" with a nod. Once Mountain Bear came up to me and spoke few words...

THERE!!!! Lil bean can't stop moving about!! Lil Bean seems to get so excited hearing Mountain Bear's voice! LOL!! So the sonographer showed the gender, the head, the arms, legs, butt and everything looks good..!

So once that's done, sonographer told me to wait outside while she pass my report to the specialist Dr to view.

We waited outside and was worry for our visit to the next clinic which is scheduled in 20mins time.

Roughly 15mins later, we were called in by the specialist Dr and she explained that the scans were all good. All organs were visible. Lil Bean's heart is at a great rate and he is growing well accordingly to the gestational period. The Dr then mentioned that she will be discharging me from this clinic and only need to do a follow up with the other clinic from the next visit onwards. I was happy to hear the news! Lil Bean's heart growth and functions were normal from the scans checked. So the Dr prescribed me another sets of medications to collect and we can go home. Mentioned to her that we had another appointment with the other clinic, she told us that it's not necessary to proceed and the consultation has been done with her!

Great!!! So we thanked her and proceed to the pharmacy to collect our medications and went off! It was a great day! Me & Mountain Bear decided to head out for a date and enjoying each other's company!

For today's visit, it's $116.00. Reason for that is because, we did a detailed scans for Lil Beans Heart & organs.

Our next visit will be on the 24th Week. Will update soonest! 

#2 IVF 18 Weeks - Visit To The Diabetic Dept (21st January 2021)

 Hi Ladies!

So today I wanna share with you on the updates and stuffs that was done in the diabetic clinic.

Before we started our journey into the IVF world, there were few tests we need to go through. One of them are to check for any Diabetes. Sadly, I was one of them. But knowing that my family history has these, I anticipated that I will have them too in the future.. Didn't expected to have them this young.. (lol...young...😝)

So let me share with you my HBA1C readings until the latest one up to date.

__________________________________

Ideal: 4.5 - 6.4mmol/L

Optimal: 6.5 - 7.0mmol/L

Suboptimal: 7.1 - 8.0mmol/L

Unacceptable: More than 8.0mmol/L

___________________________________

17th November 2017 - 6.6mmol/L

12th July 2018 - 6.6mmol/L

4th September 2019 - 8.0mmol/L

20th February 2020 - 6.7mmol/L

24th July 2020 - 6.7mmol/L

24th November 2020 - 6.0mmol/L (Pregnant)

1st April 2021 - 5.3mmol/L

Yes.... I kept such records for references. And it look better than ever now.. 

So on 21st January 2021, I was scheduled to meet the Diabetic Dr for assessment.

Located on the 7th Floor in this hospital, I was told to bring along my Hypocount Chart which I have been filling it up diligently daily and indicated it in the list.

Upon arrival, I needed to do the self kiosk registration. Then proceed to the room indicated on the receipt it printed. Room 4.

Upon reaching that room, I was escorted to do a Height & Weight, Blood Pressure & Heartrate monitoring & a urine dipstick test. Once all of that was done, I was told to wait outside for my consultation period. I arrived at 4pm and was seen by the Dr roughly at 4.45pm. I just finished my morning shift at work and went down straight for the appointment.

Sat down with a few lady Drs and they asked me a few questions, along with reviewing my Hypocount Chart. Everything looks good and the Dr even asked what was my HBA1C reading. I mentioned it was 6.0mmol/L and pass a copy to her of my results. She also asked if I am on any insulins or diabetic medications. I told her, no insulins just Metformin 500mg twice a day.

She mentioned that, from all the readings she seen in my chart and my HBA1C, I do NOT have diabetes but glucose impairment. And I told her that my clinic Dr too mentioned the same, but because of family histories, to be cautious, I was started on Metformin 500mg early. She then told me that she will reduce my Metformin 500mg dosage from 500mg to 250mg once daily. I was happy to hear that!

Then I was told to lay down for a quick scan. I was excited to see lil bean at 18 weeks! Got up on the couch, pull down my pants slightly while the nurses helped me with the couch tissue & warm gel. So the Dr apply the doppler onto my belly and I could see Lil bean sleeping in a transverse lie position with my placenta position, not low lying & not blocking the cervix opening.. Alhamdulilah!! I wanted to have a normal delivery if possible! Also, I got the chance to hear the heartbeat... It was beautiful!

So after that was done, I got up and clean myself. Sat down with the Drs and they schedule to see me again in 8-10 weeks time. And they wanted me to continue monitoring my hypocount level 2 times a week now instead of daily checked. Pheww!! That was a relief to hear! My fingertips are sore from the daily poking! LOL!

I was happy with the outcome! I was told I can leave and make the payment via the app in our phone.

The total charge for today's visit was $86.00 (including the tests done in clinic)

Alright ladies! That's all for today! Thank you for reading my blog! 

 

#2 IVF 14 Weeks - Harmony Test Results & Gender Identified

 Hey ladies,

If you guys have read the previous post, I apologies if it made some ladies uncomfortable with the news shared. I just wanted to document all the steps that I went through with my 1st viable pregnancy and hopefully it could help some ladies who are going through the same boat as I am.

I even search in forums and groups online, surprisingly that there are alot of ladies going through the same issue.. I even read some NT (Nuchal Translucency) were 4.7mm, 5.2mm, 9.0mm & 13.0mm and most of them commented that my NT is still within the normal range of 3.5mm and below, according to the UK standard measurements. I am not sure why my country is stating the range to be 2.5mm and below. It could be for the group range/ statistically researched outcome..

So today is the day, 30th December 2020 we will get the Harmony Test Results & another scan done today.

We arrived earlier by 1 hour for the scan. Scheduled for 8.30am but we are already there at 7.30am. Hahaha!!

We had a quick breakfast and went for the scan at 8am. Got called 15mins later to do the scan.

Subhanallah, seeing lil bean moving around, the lil arms, legs, fingers and toes, the spine and butt.. I was really in love with the lil one.. Took few photos and we went over to the next clinic for the consultation with the Dr.

We sat down in the clinic, and at roughly around 9.30am we were called in. Also, I needed to do a Gestational Diabetes checklist (GDC) where I need to record my sugar level reading daily. Oh my goodness, my fingertips are already nerveless or should I say NUMB with no sensation due to the constant poking daily, 7 times a day! Before after meal and before bed.

Surprisingly, my sugar level has been constantly great! It's like lil bean helped regulate my sugar content and from the scans, lil bean is not beyond big from the gestational measurement as per stated by week, lil bean is growing well and consistent as scheduled.

We got in and was attended by 2 lady Drs who seems cheerful and happy! I hand over my GDC records and she mentioned that I should continue doing it until my visit to the Diabetic Dr which is scheduled on 21st January 2021. I took note and waited patiently for the Harmony Test.

"So before I hand over the Harmony Test, do you want to know the gender of the baby?"

I was shocked and totally forgotten about that part! I looked at Mountain Bear & I knew he had peek into the test results in front of the Dr. 

I kindly asked to have the gender portion tape with a small paper or sticky pad and the Dr gladly do it. LOL!!

"Ok that's done!" She said

"Now, let's get to the real reason for the Harmony Test. In your previous FTS, your risk for Down Syndrome is 1:860 which we will still considered it as mid risk. What we wanted to know if the Harmony Test will help show a proper reading to the previous test. Now, the results from the Harmony Test shows that for all Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, Trisomy 21 are 1:10,000 which is at the lowest risk for your lil baby. And there is no chromosome abnormalities detected. So, you can relax now, baby is fine."

ALHAMDULILAH!!! ALHAMDULILAH!!!! ALHAMDULILAH!!!! I could feeling the lightness in my heart and shoulder upon hearing the results.. Lil bean is well & growing well! Alhamdulilah!

So we thank our Dr and proceed out, smiling behind our face mask and went to sit at a corner to see the gender. I was excited to know & mountain bear mentioned that he notice from the scans we went through that He had a feeling lil bean is of that sex. While I mentioned to him it was the opposite sex. Well, reasons is because we used a Gender Prediction kit which we used during my 1st trimester. LOL! It could be the right one or the opposite outcome!

So gently I peel of the sticker on the gender result, it was what Mountain Bear has guess!! HAHAHAH!! I was surprised and wasn't upset it didn't turn out to be what I thought! I guess his fatherly instinct kicked in when he saw the scan.. "It's ok love, we can get that gender you wanted on our next try.." I laughed and smiled at him, wanting to kiss him right there!!! 

We got up and head out for a visiting to my in laws.. At the same moment, Mountain Bear texted his best buddy with an icon without saying the gender. His buddy, who had 2 children of the same gender wanted an opposite gender baby on his 3rd try! And when he knew Mountain Bear had the gender he wished for, these 2 mens laughing out loud! HAHA! 

I am soooo happy to see him feeling great.. And I am super blessed to be given a chance to carry a child in me. A child which is part of me & mountain bear.. the man whom I really love and madly crazy for.. 6 years being two is amazing!! I can't wait for our 7th year to be a trio!

That's all for reading this blog ladies!

I will update you guys on the next scan & appointment with the Diabetic Dr.

Till then!