Amniocentesis

Amniocentesis is a prenatal test only to be performed by reputable medical practitioners to gather information about the baby's health from a sample of the amniotic fluid - the fluid that surrounds the baby comfortably while in the uterus.

The reason to have an amnio is to pre-determine if the baby has certain genetic disorders or chromosomal abnormality such as Down Syndrome.

The test is performed while the Mama is in the 2nd trimester (between 14-16 weeks, as per Dr F). Well this is an option test, not a compulsory test to be carried out. I was all set to see a Dr this Friday, but until recently I started to think about it... Does it make any difference for knowing? Will it affect my pregnancy journey? I suddenly have second thought about getting the test done.

Another doubt came when I read about how the procedure is done. Basically a needle is inserted into the mother's abdominal wall with the aid of ultrasound, the sac is punctured and the amniotic acid is extracted. It's scary having a needle poking INTO your tummy and puncturing the sac... What if it is overdone and the fluid would not stop flowing?! That thought kinda put me of risking the life of BB.

Until now, the appointment is still set but I'm still having some doubt :(

Getting comfortable with your Doctor

I think it is very important to feel comfortable while you seek medical opinion with any doctor. I was fortunate to have Dr C as my first doctor who diagnose my fibroid when we seek medical opinion regarding fertility. He is one of the top notch fertility doctor in the country. I had such confident in him that I did not seek out a second opinion. I do think sometimes you might need to seek second opinion especially if you are not comfortable with your first diagnostic or you need subsequent prognosis of your condition.

Then I had Dr F when we moved to JB. He is a nice doctor who has all the patience in the world to explain everything in details. His friendliness definitely ease your mind when you are tensed up by all the questions in the world you are gonna ask him.

There was once that Dr F was away, and Dr S came from KL to replace him for a couple of days. I was not comfortable with Dr S. It was a follow-up of my cysts review but the moment he spoke, he said it could be cancerous.... DO YOU KNOW SCARY THAT SOUNDS?? Dr F never scare me that way! I mean you only see me once, and by looking at ONE ultrasound scan you scare the wit out of me. From then on, I had to make sure that if Dr F is going for vacation, I will wait for his return!

Since Dr F return then, it was all good. He did my cyst removal. He adviced us on next course of action - with all the IUI and IVF. Throughout the process, he explained as much as he can and he cleared all the doubt that we had. Even after 1 failed IUI & 1 failed IVF, I trust that he will be able to come up with a better prognosis and treatment for me.

So for anyone you out there, always see a doctor that you have comfortable with. And not just for the name-sake of him/her referred to by your friends, or just because the clinic/hospital is near your house, ALWAYS remember you need to trust your doctor. When in doubt, seek a second opinion.

I've got to pee

I know when you are pregnant, the frequency to use the bathroom automatically increased by many many folds. I tried not to drink too much water at night so I won't need to wake up so much in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. But last night... oh boy oh boy oh boy... Even when I didn't drink much water, I had to wake up every 2 hours to pee!

Why so much pee... Apparently, it's due to the hormonal changes that cause blood to flow more quickly through your kidneys, filling your bladder more often. And over the course of the pregnancy, the amount of blood in mummy's body increases. This leads to lots more extra fluid getting processed through the kidneys and ending up in the bladder.

And eventually when the baby grows inside, the pressure on the bladder is not helping you to hold you pee-pee in.

But why some will pee more at night? Well, I read that it's because as you lie down in bed, he fluid that you retained in your legs and feet during the day makes its way back into your bloodstream and eventually into your bladder. Yaye to more liquid heading your bladder way!

1st Trimester

First thing first, as soon as I arrived the clinic, I had to pee in the container. Then the nurse will take my blood pressure and weight. To my surprise, I didn't put on any weight since my last visit 3 weeks ago! I have a bulging stomach, but I haven't put on extra weight - which I am happy but should I be worried??

Today is the last week of 1st Trimester, and I am so happy that I am in my last week of 1st Trimester and this could mean no more Cyclogest! During the scan today, I was surprised to see the size of BB. I remember 3 weeks ago, BB did not have a human form yet. But today, I can see the head, the body, 2 hands, 2 legs... and we can hear the heart beating ever so fast. And the big head is so cute... the skinny but adorable limbs... the 2 legs are rolled up against the body. The scan shows that BB is now 6.13cm from head to the buttock. Looking back, 3 weeks ago, BB is only 2.6cm!! What a fast growing little fella! And I'm glad Dr F said BB is growing pace is normal, all looks good so far. Great! And the greatest news - No more Cyclogest!!! YAYE!!!!!

Oh and today my mom came with me to the clinic so she got to see as well. I'm pleased that mom likes Dr F too. I assured her that Dr F is very nice, and he is wonderful and I am in good hand. If anyone is asking for a recommendation of OBGYN or even fertility doctor in the neighbourhood of Johor Bahru, I will strongly recommend Dr F!

Sweet hubby

My hubby has been very accommodating to me in many ways and I really appreciate it very much. I think it's really important to have the support from hubby so both of you can enjoy (well, more of mummy enjoys) the journey through.

Hubby knows my aversion- fish. So he will trying telling both mums about it. Though I think it was also his selfish reason- which I totally support at this time- coz he doesn't fancy fish either. Now I know too how he feels about fish!

He knows too that I'm super tired all the time so he would let me sleep a bit more whenever we can and he will let me sleep a bit longer sometime when I nap in the afternoon. What bliss!!

He understands that I can't walk as much these days so when we go out shopping, he is willing to accommodate to my constant request to rest :) I seriously can't walk as much now, my legs would give way and it would lead to some backache.

I love you Darling!! Mmmmuacks!

All the readings on the net...

I was browsing through MORE readings about getting myself ready for this pregnancy, and I find that they are mostly the same. Or is it that because I Google the same words and the search engine gave me same answer, I wonder.

I would rather read interesting blogs about how some of these great ladies go through their own pregnancies. Some of the do have great write-ups!

During the first trimester, every advice given is similar if not the same:

• Morning sickness - I am one of the fortunate one who doesn't really suffer from this, but is it necessary to mention this EVERY other week during the pregnancy calendar. I mean if I have morning sickness, I probably don't need to be reminded of how terrible morning sickness is.
  
• Sleeping on the left side - I asked Dr F, he said I can sleep anyway I like
  
• Boobs get bigger and sore - which is kinda lame when some sites suggested that they get bigger by the week. How BIG can you grow right?
• Cramps - I don't think everyone is the same. Some might be cramps thinking that it's the implantation cramps, some might think of the worse. But because I have high tolerence in pain, I didn't feel painful cramps. However, throughout the beginning until now, I do have some what I call "surface cramps" probably from the expanding skin around my old scar.
• Stain - I had very very very very light staining during the 2 week wait during this cycle. I didn't have it during the previous cycle. So is it implantation's in work, I don't know... Every pregnancy is different.
• Skin changes - I'm still on progesterone, Dr F said it's only gonna give me smoother skin! I'm so far happy about my skin condition. Even the eczema on my leg is GONE! Happy~
• Baby bump - So far... I'm not suppose to have one but seriously mine is HUGE by standard I guess. It's already showing very much earlier on and there is no hiding! I know the baby is tiny, but I have no idea my tummy is bulging already!
  

So far, I have not read anything about stretch mark - which is something I seriously want to prevent!!!

Stop the drilling!!!

The floor below our office is renovating this morning and it's doing some drilling work. Oh gosh, when they hit the first drill, it scares the *&@$ out of me! How I hate the drilling sound coming from the floor and I can almost feel the vibration from my chair. It's as if they drilling is right below me!!!

I would do anything to get out of the office right now!!!!!!!!

Maternity Clothings

I tried looking for maternity clothings from in-store and online locally and across the causeway, but they are out-of-fashion and costly. Why do maternity clothings look so frumpy, outdated like the 60s mama, as if it's not depressing enough that your tummy is growing and your body is gonna be out of shape soon. I'm not looking for anything fancy, just plain dress or blouse with reasonable pricing. Is that too much to ask!!

So I ended up asking someone to purchase online from Marks & Spencer UK. Their maternity wear is what I have been looking for: plain and reasonable price.

Let's compare, a simple plain colour wrap dress that I saw in a local store is going for MYR189.90 (I've seen more expensive ones) but in M&S, it's only MYR125 (GBP25). And there is this t-shirt I saw across the causeway, priced at MYR96 (SGD40) but in M&S, it's only MYR60 (GBP12). How can I resist not getting them from M&S right? If I am there right now at this moment, I'll try on ALL their available designs and probably ended up purchasing all of them. Then I can have a M&S fashion show at home!

More about my jab meds

I had an earlier posted about some of the meds and jabs that I had, after the IVF, I was still on Proluton jab every 2 days, twice a day Cyclogest and Progynova during my 2-week wait.

Basically Proluton the injectable progesterone which works the same way at Cyclobest. This oily solution is injected intramuscular that hurts your bum for HOURS! I still have one of this in my fridge - doctor gave me in case of emergency if any bleeding occurs and I should go to any clinic and have the injection immediately.

Then this Cyclogest is progesterone pessaries that I had to insert *ahem* in my vee-jay-jay twice a day - 11am & 11pm. Progesterone is normally produced by the ovaries in the second half of the menstrual cycle and also during early pregnancy. This is to ensure the lining of the uterus is optimal for implantation of an embryo. Tips for those using Cyclogest: remember to wear a pantyliner after insertion, as some of the residue could melt and eventually giving you white waxing discharge. So don't freak out if there is any on your panty!

And lastly Progynova a synthetic hormone replacement for oestrogen. Like Cyclogest, this is used to build up the lining of the uterus by thickening of the vagina wall. Like Cyclogest, this will help the implantation of an embryo - i.e. so that baby will stick properly on where it is suppose to be.

I didn't have the Progynova during my failed IVF attempt and was given during this current successful cycle. I probably have really low ability to "stick" so doc gave me so many meds to help building of the lining of my uterus.

I told Dr F, I don't mind ALL the jabs, but the Cyclogest... hmmm... it's something that I wish I don't need to have. I was on twice a day, and reduced to once a day after Week 9. I'm still on my Progynova which is fine - it's so tiny that I can actually swallow it!

All is good

Went for a check-up here and Dr Y said all is good. No need to worry. Bb is now 35.6mm- wow! that is fast growing in 1-week's time!! Bb even moved when Dr Y was doing the ultrasound scan- which is pretty cool and comforting.

So all is good! :)

What a day

We were on our way from back to JB from KL and had an accident. The traffic was slow moving ahead of us and suddenly came to a stop. We managed to stop our car in time (thanks to all the breaking and safety systems in our car!!) but the 2 cars behind us weren't as efficient in breaking and knocked into us. Sigh~

We are now back to KL and hubby is now at the automaker's service centre trying to settle the repair works as soon as possible.

I called Dr F clinic and advised me to go to the clinic here in KL to have a check up. I tried calling the clinic but there was no answer. I'll just have to continue trying a few more times.

I'm feeling alright and had a perfect nightsleep - only waking up once for my midnight pee.