Hi Verona,
No, I didn't get to choose the anaesthetistfor the epidural and..oops, I missed out the unpleasant part of the delivery..hehe..There was a very young anaesthetist and a very experienced one around. The young one introduced herself to me first and I was thinking"Oh my good, look is she experience?" She tried to do the injection for me twice but failed. Then, when SF Loh said babies have to be out by 1pm, the senior anaesthetist quickly took over. But don't worry, it wasn't very traumatic. Sorry, the bottom line is, no we don't get to choose the anaesthetist.
As for upgrading, my hubby did tell the nurses at the ward while I was still in the recovery. But think we eventually have to remind them again when I was sent back to the ward. Accordingly to the nurse at TPS, though A1 costs is indicated as Package, it is not exactly cheaper than itemised. It's just a package in the sense that they bundle up the itemised costs of the basic items.
Well, Dr Loh did say I can select any date that I want. However, the dates given by the Feng Shui Master was either too soon (36 wk) or too late (38wk). So in the end, he chose a date for me.
On the BF, for my case, it is not true. For my eldest son, I also didn't have enough milk. So I actually supplemented by letting him suckle or EBM and then give FM later. He had no problem taking to the breast even though he was bottle fed right from birth as he was in special care. As for the twins, I started off by nursing them then pump to stimulate the milk supply. They both had no problem latching on. The LC at KKH recommended to spoon feed them else they will reject the breast. However, after a few attempts, it was too messy and troublesome, especially when we had to go to hospital the first few days. So we gave FM in bottle. I have hardly let them latch on for the past fornight. However, they still have no problem latching on during the rare occassions that I put them to the breast. I will pump every 3-4 hourly and give them EBM in bottle. They don't reject the EBM at all.
Sad to say, I am still trying very hard to stimulate the supply. I only manage to pump between 40-70ml,depending on the time of the day. I suspect if it's a single baby and I let him nurse directly, the milk is probably enough. But for 2, I still have to supplement them with FM.
