I told myself that if I ever got pregnant again after Zal, I would love to have Dr. Citra again as my gynae. She was the gynae who helped me delivering Zal two years ago. And alhamdulillah, it happened.
It wasn’t easy to get an appointment with her. When I called NUH last month after I made sure I was really pregnant (i.e lots and lots of pregnancy test), I was told that the earliest I could get for an appointment with her is on August! Oh my.
My friends who went to Dr Citra after I gave birth to Zal indeed told me that Dr Citra is so popular now among female Muslims in Singapore. It’s becoming so hard to have her on your very first appointment. Of course we could also come to other gynae first and then came to her in August – but I wanted to be taken care by her since the very first time. I guess it’s true that gynae is somehow ‘cocok-cocokan’ :p
Anyway, I got a tip from my other friend who also recently gave birth. She was pregnant with her third child last year and she also called NUH to see if Dr Citra was available for her. To her surprise, Dr Citra was not available until few months later! But then the nurse asked if she was with Dr Citra before, and she said yes (her second child was delivered by Dr Citra as well). Alhamdulillah, she got a slot with Dr Citra around her 8th week.
So, I told the nurse who took my call that I was also with Dr Citra for my first pregnancy, hoping that somehow it could get me an earlier slot. Alhamdulillah, it worked! Instead on August, I managed to have a slot in April 7th, right when I was about 8 weeks pregnant.
I was so excited but was also worried before the appointment. This pregnancy felt different than when I was with Zal. The morning sickness didn’t start kicking until I was about 7 weeks – when I was with Zal, I was already puking like crazy during this time. And for some reasons, I didn’t feel pregnant at all.
(of course I am eating my own words now since I am vomiting at least once a day and my energy level is basically zero. Not to mention the nauseous and gassy feeling. Nothing tastes good and I have this sick feeling in my stomach every time I imagine those oily, full of MSG food. OMG typing this and I am gagging)
My first worry when I realized those not-so-subtle symptoms are, “Am I really pregnant?” Then came Sheikh Google feeding my worry even more. “Am I having ectopic pregnancy?”. Or something more hidden. “Am I having blighted ovum?”
Which makes me even more worried. I couldn’t wait to go for my 1st appointment but at the same time I was also scared.
What if I came to Dr Citra’s office just to see there is no heart beat?
What if I had the ectopic and then my baby needs to be aborted?
I had so many negative thoughts!
Anyway on April 7th, I took a whole day leave just for this appointment. It’s different from last time. Previously, Dr Citra only had one day of practice at NUH and it was on Tuesday morning – but this time my appointment is on Thursday afternoon.
Husband suggested that we should come earlier because it was our first visit. We needed to register first and the receptionist would explain the fees and all the usual procedures. We decided to leave after Zuhur.
The blazing heat of April made me feel so lazy to leave the house T.T
Taking MRT to NUH felt so nostalgic. I used to go there from Boon Lay, transferred at Buona Vista, and then continued with Circle Line until Kent Ridge. This time, we’re taking Purple Line and transferred at Serangoon, followed by Circle Line until Kent Ridge. The journey felt longer somehow.
We brought Zal along because we kinda wanted him to be with us when we saw his brother/sister for the first time. We thought it would be a good first step to let him know that someone will come to be his playmate 🙂
(but of course, it didn’t really happened. When I was having the scan, he ran around outside the room while drinking Yakult. Yakult >>>>> Sister/brother)
When we arrived at NUH, it was almost 2.30 pm. My appointment is only at 3.40 pm, but we decided to register earlier. The waiting room at Women’s Clinic was quite empty. It was really different with the last time we went there for our usual check up with Zal. Tuesday morning was always so crowded. I felt relieved that it’s not as crowded as before, but on the other hand, it felt lonely. I used to be surrounded with lots of pregnant women who were on the same boat like me, but this time, no.
During the registration, the information lady told me the usual stuffs. And she gave me another NUH pregnancy book, which I never read when I was pregnant with Zal. Haha.
Then I proceeded with collecting my urine and taking my weight check. Holy crap, what have I been eating that I am weighing 62.9 kg! How did this happen? I was only 59 kg when I had my first appointment for Zal.
Ah well T_T Maybe this is all the daily teh cino I have been consuming every morning.
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We only waited for 20 mins until my name was called. I was a bit anxious still. Husband was trying to catch Zal who was still busy running around the clinic so he didn’t accompany me to meet Dr Citra.
It was such a relieve to see her face. I don’t know why but there’s something special about the relationship you have with your obgyn 🙂 It felt like meeting your big sister somehow.
We chatted a bit, and she started taking my last period dates and what I have been feeling so far. Not too long after that, I proceed for my scan.
Unlike last time when her evaluation room has its own ultrasound machine, now I needed to take a short detour to the room beside her new evaluation room. So when I walked there, I saw Husband outside and let him know to come enter the ultrasound room once he’s done chasing Zal.
I entered the room and waited for the nurse. Not too long, she came and prepped me for the scan. And then Husband entered the room as well. He can’t bring Zal inside cause the boy himself was busy running. Sigh.
Then Dr Citra came, and she started doing abdominal ultrasound. As expected, the images were not clear enough. Same thing happened when I had my first ultrasound for Zal. So she did a transvaginal next, and that’s when I could see Little Pea.
Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah. I can hear Little Pea’s heartbeat and h/she measured fine. And according to Dr Citra’s measurement, I am actually about three days more far along.
Again, alhamdulillah. And I am so thankful that Little Pea looked healthy.
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When I was done with scan, Husband quickly rushed outside to catch Zal :p While I went back to Dr Citra’s room and had a little chat on prenatal vitamins. She prescribed me some folic acid that should be enough until my next appointment with her in a month time. She also explained to me about Down Syndrome test should I opted to have one.
Then I waited outside for my name to be called for bill and next appointment schedule.
The bill was quite… eye-boggling. I felt relieved that my insurance will cover almost everything cause really.. even with my MediSave, the number was really a lot. Strangely, the nurse didn’t say anything about scan on my next appointment, which was weird since I would be about 12 weeks plus on my next appointment and I should be scheduled for an NT scan like last time I was with Zal. When I asked the nurse, they just said that Dr Citra didn’t say anything so I was just like OK, perhaps she will say something about it on our next appointment.
I left hospital with so many happy thoughts 🙂
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Sadly, when I was back to office the next day, that’s when extreme tiredness and nausea started kicking in! Oh my what a timing.. just nice after I first saw you, Little Pea 🙂
Next appointment will be in May! Can’t wait to see Little Pea again 🙂
