Third Pregnancy - Then & Now...

~ Posted on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 7:32 AM ~

2 years ago (when I was pregnant with Alyson), I wrote a post about my pregnancy then and now and I'm recycling the contents of that post to include the 3rd pregnancy updates now.. hahah...

The table below is to recap and note down what are the differences between my pregnancy then and now...

Pregnancy in June 2008 - March 2009
Pregnancy in Nov 2010 - Sept 2011...
Pregnancy in Jan 2013 - now...
Working in IT line, constantly in meetings with users & vendors for the new IT system, apart from being in-charge of changing company's website & the legacy IT system
No longer working in IT line, a full-time mummy now catering to the whims & fancies of a 23 months old toddler who is ever so active and playful and cheeky.
A full-time mummy catering to the whims and fanices of a 4 years old boy and a 1.5 years old girl.
What's good then?
* A more fixed eating time, breakfast, lunch & tea time snacks are pretty fixed
* The availability of squatting toilets in the office allows me to practise my squats (which I read in some pregnancy article saying it helps with your contractions)
What's good then?
* Hopefully able to maintain regular eating times (as my schedule  is pretty much determined by Ben)
* No squat toilets in the house so have to make do with squatting as much as possible while playing with Ben, at the same time, ensure safety to ownself as well (as in not to be overly crazy while playing with Ben)
What's good now?
* Ben is fully potty trained before he turned 4 years old, so I've got one worries off my mind...
* Alyson is OK with pooping in a potty and a toilet seat though I have not officially potty trained her, but she does give me quite accurate signals a lot of times!
* Since March 2013, we have adopted a timetable, so eating, learning, playing, entertainment, etc are more fixed and not haphazard as it used to be...
Gone through 3 gynaes:
#1: Female gynae in a private hospital who we think is not capable & caring enough for her patients
#2: Male gynae in a private hospital (but has his own clinic) & who we think is capable & caring but  the charges are pretty steep
#3: Male gynae in a semi private hospital & who we think is capable, caring, soft-spoken & the charges are very low!
We wanted to go back to our gynae #3 but turns out he got promoted to be the dept head for O&G in Miri, Sarawak. So he's no longer in the semi private hospital anymore.

We are keeping our options open for other doctors in the same hospital though our current gynae check-ups are done at a private hospital.
We went back to our gynae in Putrajaya hospital, my first check up was done when baby is 10 weeks old. Next check up will be at 28 weeks pregnancy. Yay!
Complications during 1st trimester:
Do not experience any morning sickness at all

Complications during 2nd trimester:
Weight not going up, got scolded by 2nd gynae to top up food intake. Guzzled full cream milk on daily basis on top of going crazy with McDonalds' and Wendys few times a week.

Complications during 3rd trimester:
Blood pressure touching borderline. Ordered by 3rd gynae to go for alternate days for check ups on blood pressure. On my last gynae visit, was told I had low amniotic fluid and advised to go for induced or to be C-sect in a week's time. Thank God contractions started on the same day & I ended up having natural delivery.
Complications during 1st trimester:
The first 2 weeks, food looks good but when I eat it, it felt like a lump and very difficult to swallow and eat on. Had not been having any appetite when I see fried food.

2 months + now, no problems with any food, nothing that makes me giddy or nausea or anything though I've been regularly eating chicken rice with roasted pork slice.

Complications during 1st trimester:
The 2 months, food looks good but when I see it, I lost my appetite. The only thing that I wanted to eat for the 2 weeks are luncheon meat (I know, not healthy!) and luckily I found a substitute, which is salted chicken, a dish that my dear hubby taught me how to make.

And somehow this round, I bloat up real easily. Just drink a bit of water and I bloat up like I'm 6 mths preggy.

Tiredness was a definite thing this round, maybe because I've got 2 kiddos to handle this time, on top of learning, feeding, caring, blogging (which I've cut down loads of reviews and giveaways since) etc.
Have no idea what to expect in terms of breastfeeding
Breastfeeding? Bah... been there, done that... heck, still doing it!
Breastfeeding? Bah... been there, done that... heck, still doing it for Alyson! Ben weaned off at 45 months old, a happy journey I will always treasure in my heart. But this round, I have no worry about breastfeeding through pregnancy since I have done without any complications.
Have no idea what to expect during labor. In fact, totally forgot all about my breathing exercise!
Images and memories of 1st labor flashed back the moment home pregnancy tested positive...
Oh boy... I do get scared sometimes when I think back of my previous 2 labors...
Contraction 1cm at 12am
Contraction 4cm at 4am
Gave birth at 4.30am
Contraction 1cm at 6am
Contraction 8cm at 12pm
Gave birth at 12.30pm
No idea yet...
Natural delivery using Enthonox and had an episiotomy (4 stitches)
Natural delivery using Enthonox for few seconds and a slight tear due to gynae pulling out baby (4 stitches too)
Hopefully natural again... and no tearing...
Worries about Labor, breastfeeding, babycare
Worries about Labor, breastfeeding during pregnancy, baby care as Ben is around this time...
Not as worried since been there done that...

And just a couple more things to note that I will not be able to do in a few months time:

* Lie down on my front
* Be able to look at my feet (thanks to my hubby who kept telling me to enjoy looking at my feet now!)
* Wear my favorite short pants (no wait... I already can't wear it now!)
* Get up from bed as easily as I can now...

And the things I'm so NOT looking forward to in a few months time:

* Heavy belly
* Cramps on my feet
* Difficulty in breathing as the belly gets bigger
* Heartburn
* Itchiness around belly and/or thighs as belly gets bigger (skins stretching you see...)
* Stretch marks
* Swollen feet
* Clumsiness and being forgetful

Please wish me luck and I really need all the support I can get in making my breastfeeding during pregnancy works! And of course, most important is I have a smooth and safe pregnancy and delivery!

I have also made an extraordinary decision this round, will share when I received the items I ordered. I've already gotten my hubby's approval to do this, so hope to have my family, relatives, friends and you guys supporting me as well!

Thank you for reading, have a good week and God bless you!

What Got Me Through My Morning Sickness...

~ Posted on Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 7:53 AM ~

This, ladies and gentlement, is what got me through the early days of nausea feeling during my torturing morning sickness phase... with Benjamin and Alyson, I had nausea for about 2 weeks but this 3rd pregnancy seems to last longer.

I'm at my 3rd month now and still need to rely on this every now and then..

The usual pickled/preserved fruits does not seem to work for me, all except this. Thank God!

What about you? What got you through your morning sickness?

Check-up Routines Under Full Paying Patient Scheme at Hospital Putrajaya

~ Posted on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 8:04 AM ~

Before I begin today's post, I just want to state a disclaimer that this procedures noted here is what I have personally gone through on 12th March 2013 for my 1st check-up (3rd pregnancy now) and I apologize if I have left out any important routines/procedures or accidentally added any extra procedures. It is best for you to call up the hospital and follow their instructions.

Please note that prior to my 12th March check-up, it has been over 1 year since I last went to the hospital after giving birth to Alyson in September 2011 so I have definitely missed out and did not realised the new procedures in the hospital, especially those under the Full Paying Patient (FPP) Scheme.

FPP Hospital Putrajaya

Prior to this for my 2 earlier pregnancies, I actually just go to the registration counter and reopened my FPP account and immediately arranged for an appointment with my gynae on the same day. But now, the procedures are different as you will need to arrange for an appointment with your gynae first as any immediate walk-in to register for FPP and wanting to see gynae right after that will not be entertained. The staff at the registration counter will check whether you have arranged for any appointment with your gynae before they process your registration, so please spare yourself some headache and stress, call up to make your 1st appointment with your gynae before you go to the hospital straight.

So for my case, I actually called up early March and managed to speak to my gynae directly and I booked for the earliest date he can slot me in his busy schedule, which is 12th March 2013 2pm. I asked for afternoon time as I remember the crowds are lesser in the afternoon.

I actually arrived at 12.30pm on my check-up date, I thought I should be there earlier as the staff might need some time to reopened my FPP account and process my documents. But no, they said my appointment is made at 2pm, come back at 2pm. They are THAT strict now. No kidding! So I had no choice but to go lunch at cafetaria with my 2 kiddos and my kind-hearted sister in law who fetched us there and accompanied me for my check-up (hubby caught up with meetings back to back and not able to go with me), we also spent some time at the indoor playground in the hospital (not very well-kept and clean but better than have my kids running around outside exposed to the germs and etc)

At 5 minutes before 2pm, I quickly get my queue number and only have to wait for another person before me. Once I was at the registration counter, the staff passed me an FPP consent form to fill up. I have previously filled up this form twice so it's just routine task for me. You can click at the link to print your own form to save time, make sure you use yellow A4 paper since theirs are in yellow colored paper.

I also told the nurse I want to go back to my previous gynae who attended my 2nd pregnancy. He didn't delivered Alyson because he was on holiday that time but I like this gynae as he is soft spoken and gentle and did not rush through our appointments.

*** Confession: I think because of my previous blog post on the factors I chose Putrajaya Hospital and also recommending my gynae, he is now the doctor with the most FPP patients, so I am now quite hesitant to recommend him further as I'm really sorry to flood his schedule, and I'm very lucky to still be able to have him as my gynae.

I then have to pay RM110 for the FPP registration (one time fee to open FPP account in the hospital) and they reused my previous hospital card (no problem for me since it's still not fully used and I wrote all the important contact numbers in the booklet) If you noticed, I also used a marker pen to write the word 'FPP' in the cover of the booklet, I wanted my card to be easily seen by the staff there that I'm an FPP patient hahahaha....

FPP Hospital Putrajaya

I was also given a pink visiting slip with a small note that I'm seeing my gynae at the A counter (gynae section)

FPP Hospital Putrajaya

Armed with the small hospital booklet and the pink slip above, I walked to the O&G section and passed them to the nurse at the counter. Not much crowd at all on that day and there's a board written with doctors' names for the day too...

FPP Hospital Putrajaya

The nurse did asked me for my pink medical record book (apparently you can get this book from any government clinics / hospitals) but I don't have a new one with me as my previous 2 books were given by my gynae hahaha.. I told the nurse the same thing and they issued a new book for me. The nurse filled up all the details, including my contact details, previous pregnancies history, family health history and then took my blood pressure.

I was then asked to go do my urine test, left my sister in law taking care of my 2 kiddos near the toilet where I went. For urine test, you need to take just 1 strip of the urine test sample, 1 empty bottle to store your urine and some toilet papers which are all provided at a trolley right outside the toilet. Once you were done, dip the urine test strip into the bottle filled with your urine and throw the rest (bottle in a yellow chemical dustbin in the toilet) while the urine you throw into the toilet seat of course... Then you show your urine test strip to any nurse around the hallway and she will write down the results on your urine test in your pink medical booklet. You will then be asked to wait for your turn.

I walked back all the way to the O&G counter, leaving my kiddos and SIL (which is why you see the picture below they were so far away hahaha) because I don't want to miss out my name being called by the nurse at the counter.

FPP Hospital Putrajaya

I was initially told my gynae has gone upstairs to check on his patients and later a nurse telling me my gynae have to go operating room for an emergency c-sect case, so I was fine with having to be checked by other specialists there since my primary goal is to reopen my FPP account and to have my 1st check-up to make sure everything is fine. But to my surprise, when the nurse called for my name, I saw my gynae in his room. I almost wanted to hug him actually!

Too bad he doesn't remember me (no hard feelings, he sees hundreds and thousands of patients since my time) but his service is still the same. Soft spoken, gentle and no rushing at all. But I think he starts to remember a bit when I mentioned to him that I'm still nursing Alyson now, same as how I was still nursing Benjamin when I was preggy with Alyson in 2011. Anyway, he did the ultrasound scan and everything is fine, baby doesn't move much but we can see baby's heart movement which according to my gynae is the most important as baby might be sleeping now and at 10 weeks, still too early to see much movement.

Before we scheduled for our next appointment, I requested for a longer duration because with 2 kiddos now and staying 40 minutes away from the hospital (no traffic jam scenario), it is tiring and troublesome to go for monthly check-ups so our next appointment will be at 28 weeks. That's me at 7 months pregnancy. Woohooo!!! I think my gynae is fine with that seeing I have no problems with my previous 2 pregnancies anyway.

Please note that if it is your first pregnancy or you have risks or complications in your pregnancy, you do need to see your gynae as frequent as possible, do not follow my steps ya!

That's all the updates I can share for now. Again, a disclaimer that the procedures noted here is what I have personally gone through on 12th March 2013 for my 1st check-up (3rd pregnancy now) and I apologize if I have left out any important routines/procedures or accidentally added any extra procedures. It is best for you to call up the hospital and follow their instructions.