Baby Renzo Chan on National Day?

From the visit from last week, we knew that our week 38 visit to Tow Yung Clinic is going to be an exciting one. Last week, our gynae, Dr Lim Teck Chye, told us that he will be checking Feli for her dilation and to see if it was time for Renzo to be born.

So excitedly, we trotted pass the shopping arcades down the all-so-familiar route to Tanglin Shopping Centre. Feli and I arrived later than usually do, and to our pleasure, before long, it was our turn to see Dr Lim.

The nurse guided Feli pass the drawn curtains, settled her onto the bed and then ushered me in. Dr Lim emerged from the other room where he just finished consultation with another couple. He gently pressed onto Feli's belly and announced that he predicts Renzo to be about 3.6 to 3.7kg and joked that it must be because Feli is eating real well... making Feli wonder what made Dr Lim think so...haha. A routine scan to hear Renzo's heartbeat soon follows and then the nurse requested that I get back to the seat while Dr Lim examines Feli.

Feli's cervix has opened up just 1 cm and Renzo is not engaged (i.e. His head has not yet entered the birth canal) but Dr Lim said that as Feli's blood pressure is slightly high, he suggests induced labour (as opposed to 100% natural labour), earlier than the expected due date of 22nd August. He gave us a range between 12th August 2009 to 14th August 2009 and explains that Feli should be admitted to Thomson Medical Centre on that chosen date's 00:00 hour because hospitals charge by the day (LoL...) and by doing so, we pay for one less day as compared to if we admitted one day before. He will then arrive at about 08:00 to manually burst the water bag and begin the process.

Well... in a way we got a choice on which date Renzo's Birthday will fall on. I didn't like number 13 and Feli doesn't like 14... so after a discussion that lasted for less than 30 seconds, we decided that 12th August will be the date that we will have to mark on our calendar for the rest of our lives.

He again recited the 6 symptoms that would indicate that we need to go to the hospital to us, "2 in the head, headache and dizziness. 2 in the eyes, blur vision and seeing stars. 2 in the stomach, regular pains or feel of vomiting". Feli immediately informed him of her recent star seeing and feel of vomiting. And when she highlighted that she's having a "contraction kind of pain" (self-proclaimed as she doesn't really know the feeling of real contraction), a shocked Dr Lim enquired on the frequency. Feli's pain was almost a daily thing, though not an unbearable pain, but the menstrual-pain-like feeling isn't something all pregnant ladies have.

Smilingly, Dr Lim said "Good. Go take a CTG test and I'll be seeing you again later." Ah hah... Following my not-so-entertaining-one-hour experience from our previous CTG experience, I know well enough not to hang around there waiting. So i went on to Orchard Ion for the first time and damned, that place is big... 8 Levels of Shopping Paradise for the lonely father-to-be... LoL

The one hour passed and we stepped into the consultation room with Dr Lim again. He took a hard look at the CTG graph and gently told us, "(Judging from the contractions) We might be meeting tonight... But if baby decides not to, then it'll remain as planned... 12th."

For those who are interested on how to read the graph, the top half of the graph is the readings of baby's heartbeat and the bottom half is the contractions of mummy. Dr Lim mentioned that Feli's contractions are still irregular and from the graph (1cm/2 little box = 1 min), it certainly seems that way... lol...

*GASP* Renzo has a chance to be a national day baby!!!

( Mittens, Booties & Baby Scissors courtesy of TMC... passed to us by the clinic assistant as we informed her that we can cancel our week 39 appointment scheduled last week)

Mummy Chan's 1st pregnancy notes

I feel a bit regretful that I did not start a diary or something the moment I knew I was pregnant. The reason is simple, I can always use that as a reference for my 2nd pregnancy (If I do have the 2nd, haha), and by then at least I will not be so nervous like this time round. So here it is, the summary of major happenings during my 1st pregnancy written on my last day at work before my 4 months maternity leave starts..


Month 01
- Pregnancy kit test result showed positive on Dec 17, 2008..
- Announced the news to both side parents, Kelly and XiaoDong (Feli's sis and brother-in-law)..
- First visit to Tow Yung Clinic on Dec 26, 2008 (Win couldn't make it as it was a last minute change of appointment on a Friday morning)..
- Reassured by Gynae Dr Lim Teck Chye that the chest X-ray performed on Nov 27, 2008 should not do any harm to baby..
- Felt extremely tired, bloated and sleepy most of the time..

Month 02
- Win's first visit with Dr Lim's at Tow Yung Clinic on Jan 17, 2009..
- Confirmed expected due date is Aug 22, 2009 which is also Win's birthday..
- Dr Lim advised that Feli has slightly oversized yolk sac which might cause early miscarriage..
- Announced the news to Wilson and Lucretia (Win's brother and sis-in-law), they got the news while they were in UAE..
- Went for a 7 days Australia trip with Feli's parents from Jan 31 to Feb 06, 2009..

Month 03
- Announced the news to AiYaH! on Feb 14, 2009..
- Informed Feli's bosses about the news on Feb 18, 2009..
- Feli had a bleeding caused by cervical polyp on Feb 23, 2009..
- Attended Wilson and Lucrecia's wedding on Feb 27, 2009, and a few relatives got to know the news on that day..
- Dr Lim speculated that it's a baby boy..
- Changed from 3cm to 1cm heels..

Month 04
- Started to have water retention..
- Did triple test on Mar 07, 2009 and the result was all good..
- Cleared most of the usual clothes in wardrobe and started to wear "belly belt" (maternity pants extender)..
- Had a "sore nose" during the 1st whole week of 2nd trimester..
- Decided on not hiring a confinement lady..
- Dr Lim advised that placenta is low so might need to opt for C-section..

Month 05
- Did a full scan on Apr 01, 2009 and confirmed it's a baby boy..
- No more ultrasound pictures given after the full scan at 20th week..
- Win started the first post on Renzo's blog on Apr 12, 2009..
- Selected baby's name (both English and Chinese)..
- Announced the news to most colleagues as belly started to show around 5 and half month..
- Started to wear bra extension..

Month 06
- Win felt Renzo's first kick on May 01, 2009..
- Started planning for baby shopping list..
- Placenta moved up and Renzo's head turned down..
- Stopped wearing normal pants with belly belt, changed to leggings..
- Started prenatal exercise following "Fitmama" DVD..
- Paid 1/2 of Gynae package fee and booked hospital ward..
- Started to wear maternity dress (only 2 pieces bought by Kelly, a lot of $$ saved .^_^.)

Month 07
- Official baby shopping started..
- Lecture given by Dr Lim on "signs of labour"..
- Monthly gynae visit changed to bi-weekly..
- Felt a bit of contraction right after entering 3rd trimester..

Month 08
- Feli was given medication to control high blood pressure..
- Dr Lim advised that baby should move 10 times a day from now..
- Hospital bag packed..
- Dr Lim commented that Renzo's head is big..
- Frequent contractions (at least 4 times a day) started..
- Very bad sudden water retention on Jul 21, 2009, with numb fingers for 9 hours..
- Stopped "Fitmama" DVD after 1 day of severe backache (sprained the back during exercise).. Changed to stairs climbing every now and then..
- Started coconut drink twice a week from 34th week..

Month 09
- Dr Lim did internal check on 36th week and commented that Feli's pelvis is of right size for normal delivery..
- Very bad sudden water retention for the second time on Jul 30, 2009..
- Started to feel stronger contractions..
- Bi-weekly gynae visit changed to weekly..
- Thomson Medical Center admission letter collected..
- First stretch mark appeared at 37th week(about 4cm long, light purple color)..
- Dr Lim commented that Renzo's size is normal, but still, head is big..
- Feli did 1 hour CTG test on Aug 01, 2009 due to high blood pressure, result was all good..
- Feli did 1 hour CTG test on Aug08, 2009 again, and Dr Lim was expecting baby Renzo to be born on 09 or 10 since Feli already had quite frequent contractions..

Now just relax and wish that we will welcome our healthy little Renzo in no more than 2 weeks time =P

Our Longest Gynae Visit...

We have been visiting Tow Yung Clinic for about 9 months now... since December 08. But it was only until our 01 August 09 visit that we broke the two hour visit milestone.

It was a typical morning visit (again we were the first visitors of the day) and Dr Lim Teck Chye stepped in around 9:30... slightly later than usual, though not all that surprising, considering I'd be more surprised if i saw him there at exactly 8:30am. (He apologized to us for keeping us wait as he went to visit 3 of his patients at 3 different hospitals.. Of course we could fully understand that, maybe in 2-3 weeks time he will visit Feli prior to coming into his clinic also?? haha..) When Dr Lim examined Feli, he lightly pressed around on Feli's tummy and said that Renzo's size is normal, not too big not too small. I think it was only when he did the scan did he remember that Renzo has a big head...=P... but it is still at 9.7cm, not much of a growth since last week. But Feli's blood pressure was a little high (She stopped the medication for 1 week as per Dr Lim's advice but her blood pressure just shoot up again..) and Dr Lim suggested that she took a CTG (Cardiotocography) test, the same one that will be used during labour itself.

The process was simple. Basically it was only to strap 2 belts around Feli's belly. One supposedly was used for the reading of Renzo's heartrate and one for Feli's contractions. The annoying part of this test is that it was a one hour test and that I wasn't allowed (or anybody else other than that assigned staff) to be around her, so that the readings will be based on normal conditions. Throughout the hour, poor me walked around the clinic, reading the papers, playing graphically backward soccer games on my Nokia phone and I even took a little 20 minute nap...LoL.

One hour passed and for the second time, we entered Dr Lim's room for consultation. Dr Lim took a quick glance at the graph and readings and smiled. He explained that everything is in good condition. He then took a pen from his pocket, placed it on the graph which represented Feli's contractions and guided it along the Y-axis, onto the graph that represented Renzo's heartbeat. He went on to explain that things would be more complicated if Renzo's heartrate dropped after contraction (as opposed to with the contraction itself). *phew*

Feli then enquired on her weight-lost (a drop of 1.3kg since the week before) and asked if the drop meant anything significant. Dr Lim calmly replied saying that it is not a major issue, and that it could be due to a number of reasons including breakfast intake prior to the visit, frequency of toilet trips prior to the visit and even the weight of mummy's fashion (highlighting that denim jeans are the heaviest) may all be contributing factors. Strange thing is, we never had the habit of having breakfast before coming to the clinic... Feli always go to the toilet first upon stepping into clinic and Feli always wear light clothes to Tow Yung... but heck... no point digging deeper into the issue if all is well eh?

Dr Lim also commented that since Feli's blood pressure is relatively high, maybe we can't wait for the due date but go for induced birth before Aug 22nd, and he will check Feli for cervix dilation during our next week's visit..

And so, we have entered the birth month of Renzo's. Feli's mum will be flying in from China later this week on National Day (that's 9th August for you non-Singaporeans) and then we will all be awaiting for Renzo's arrival with bated breath... ^_^