(2006/12) December 2006 MTBs

[dey]

Vanessa,
Mine not yet..the last visit at week 34 was so brief..she just did a scan then glucose test and asked me to come 2 weeks later...nothing eventful..

By the way, can we actually feel we have diluted? During showering last night, i could actually feel that my lower part has swollen up abit..like bulged out.. is it a sign that it is diluting?

 

[starluster]

bobianah,
phew! so that weird feeling is normal

i oso got similar dream!!, but a few weeks ago. bb is out but somehow i had no recollection of labor, and that i feel stomach still got movement. so i was confused.. why stomach still feel like got bb??

me hate cervix check too

 

[vaness81]

dey,
I also dunno the sign of dilating, think probably will feel contraction bah, cos only when there's contraction then show got dilation lor... ;p

 

[dogggies]

Vanessa,
My gynae will be doing the GTC or CTG and swab test at virginal area for me this thursday. Understand the GTC or CTG will be able to detect any contraction right? I also kan jiong cause 35weeks already. If BB want to pop early than must be after 8/11 (hubby exam), otherwise cannot imgaine gg to delivery alone.....Sure

 

[dogggies]

Kimi,
Thumb up for your BB.....So yr BB really "yi chun" both yrs and hubby sleep pattern, so cute...hehehehe

Qianhui,
Whenever i sleep hor, left, right or back also not comfortable.....So alway wake up in the middle of the night to adjust sleeping position one

...

Ladies,
I also hate cervix check...That the reason why i choose a female gynae

 

[vaness81]

Jackie,
Ya, that can be use to detect Contraction.... yeee.... so excited.... counting down to 40 weeks..... I keep imagine what happen to my 2 gals when my 3rd one is born....

 

[dey]

Vanessa,
I still dun feel any contractions so far..not even BH, like what u ladies describe here..

Jackie,
You better start talking to baby so he won't come out early lor...

 

[mbb]

Kimi,
congrats!
your bb very cute

Dey & Jackie,
from time to time, i will have BH but other then tat all is very good.
no other pain and still sleep very well.
sometimes will feel breathless, like now.....

 

[bobianah]

jackie, qianhui
i oso cannot sleep throughout the nite undisturbed. must wake up to adjust. left, right or back oso cannot stay comfortable very long. And turning from one side to another, machiam like a whale, so difficult...plus i have lower back pain oso.

dey
i oso feel zero BH contractions...dunno isit ci2 dun4 or wat...

 

[isishui]

Qianhui, Jackie, Bobianah,
same here.. i always wake up a few times at night to adjust sleep position.. oso to pee... now quite impossible to hav undisturbed sleep liao lor..

i can't sleep on my right.. everytime i flip to my right, bb will protest.. i will see a huge bulge on my right side.. den it's very tight.. not painful, but very uncomfortable lor.. den got to quickly lay flat or flip to left side.. den muz keep sayang the bump.. else the feeling is like bb struggling to burst my tummy lidat... aiyo.. naughty bb..

i oso having constant backache now.. ard my waist area... think it could be due to my standing posture bah... now hoping tt weight won't increase too much.. so tt backache can be kept to minimal.. heee~ think i'm the onli mommy here who's not worried abt bb's weight gain.. selfish mommy here... heee~

 

[choo]

jackie,

is it compulsory to do CTG? my gynae didnt mention abt tat to me...seeing her next sat though!

i didn't ask her if i need to do GD test or not too..

for the cord blood ting..if we never sign up for the two private ones so wil they auto donate to the public bank?

bobianah,

i called up Yet Con..they only accept $ ah!

how much is the pork chop,sao rou n fish maw soup? cos got to draw $ then can go eat!

 

[isishui]

kimi,
ur bb very cute leh.. it's such an interesting sight to see mommy, daddy n bb sleeping in the same pattern.. heee~ so cute..

me juz hope tt my bb dun "yi2 chuan2" daddy's snore... else my whole house will shake..

 

[kimi]

choo,
u going yet con today ar? me n hubby might b going if he's nt too tired after work.. i always eat e chicken rice + roasted pork... for 2, will b ard $15.. but pork chop n fish maw soup i dunno leh..

jackie, mbb, shihui,
ya lor! i oso find it v cute!

but like tt, impossible to take 3D pix leh!

 

[isishui]

choo,
if u din sign up for private banking or cord blood donation, they will throw away... so if u wish to donate, u may either call up SCBB to express ur interest or tell ur gynae...

i'm going to sign up with SCBB for cord blood donation during my coming checkup... during my last visit, i told the nurse there tt i want to donate cord blood.. as mine is NUH, the nurse contacted SCBB on my behalf.. aft tt, SCBB called me to arrange for a meetup during my coming checkup for consultation and do the neccessary paperworks lor..

 

[deex2]

hi ladies
thank god dat i dun ve any back pain...mayb rest 2 much liao....;p

i oso dun ve BH contraction...or izzit ve but i didnt realised??? beri blur...but nwadays always ve the urge 2 go toilet 2 do my big biz......at least 2x per day....dunnoe izzit normal????

och
dun work so late.....work 4ever cannot finished.....must rest more ok...

doremi
take care ok.....do drop by when u re free

 

[momtb]

Och, Jackie
I bought the Braun infrared thermometer from Robinson also. My fren had a scare with her 2nd bb and told me to get one cos it will come in handy if baby ill.

 

[choo]

kimi,

intend go this sat evening!

oh ok...at least i know roughly the price..wait for bobianah to highlight me on the price for pork chop

aiyo why dun they accept card??!! me no rich lah..where got carry so much cash?

shihui,

wow thanks for the info! SCBB is the public cord blood bank? we wont be signing the private cord blood bank cos too much money involved...

 

[dogggies]

dey,
I have been talking to BB everyday...Keep telling him that can only come out after 38weeks when gynae is ard. Think hor BB also scare of this naggy mummy

dey, MBB, bobianah,
On and off i will have BH....Sometime the tummy so tight until must slow down if i am walking...Hubby alway tell BB dont bully mummy when that happen...kekeke

Qianhui, Shihui, Bobianah,
It the BB weight that is making us uncomfortable...Let "ren" since we are going to graduate soon

choo,
Not too sure whether compulsory to do CTG. Only know my package include 2 time of CTG. So hor BB better dont come out too early otherwise i "lu ke" hehehehe..

As for cord blood hor, u must call if u intent to donate to the public bank. Hubby and me have been delaying on this, must settle by this weekend. Most probably gg for stemcord cause cordlife intitial cost very expensive....

 

[isishui]

Choo,
yup.. SCBB is the singapore cord blood bank.. it's the public cord blood bank..

me n hubby oso decided not to sign up with private banks bcoz it's very ex... haha.. not willing to spend tt amt of money... rather use the money to buy insurance/investment plans for bb..

 

[och]

ladies,
yesterday was a bit abnormal bah. dateline at midnight, n since i spent half a day at gynae's clinic, had to rush to meet the dateline. woke up only at 11am today. hee hee.

vanessa,
can i hv the names of the pd u r visiting? where is the lighthouse in bt batok?

kimi,
ur bb is v. cute.

jackie, lil,
where did u find the braun thermometer in robinsons? it's not in the bb dept i suppose?

dey,
i'm also hving the swollen feeling. dunno why it is so. initially i thot bb was engaged, but gynae said no.

calynn,
i'm also writing a novel now. hv to report to my advisors my work done b4 they let me go on leave. think mine will be half fiction. haha.

shihui,
what insurance n investment plans r u looking into? i'm also looking around.

choo,
i just signed up with scbb yesterday. filling in the questionaire take some time, cos they hv to check our family history. but hor, the scbb lady told me yesterday that she's not sure if my bb's cord blood can be stored, cos i hv hep b immunity.

 

[vaness81]

Och,
The PD that I'm visiting in TMC is Dr Ong Eng Keow from Singapore Baby and Child Clinic at Level 5. Apparently, he is also in Mt A. The other PD in Bukit Batok is above Interchange, The Baby and Child Clinic and the Dr is a female, Dr Chang and she is located behind the stretch of Furniture shop there. The Lighthouse is also located near there, just around the corner. When u come up from the Interchange, walk straight and there's a Cheers store, it's beside the cheers store and opposite the coffeeshop nia....

 

[kimi]

yeah! hubby just called! can go out later! Yet Con here I come!

 

[starluster]

Vanessa,
Dr Ong Eng Keow is the pd that is highly recommended by my colleague too! Looks like he is really good huh...

 

[och]

vanessa,
thanks, thanks.

 

[bloom75]

Jackie, sometimes its hard to quantify good/bad mother loh... I am sure if you talk to alot of mothers of grownups they would have regretted doing some stuff.....

och, thanks for the address.. see if I got the mood to go there and kapo during the warehouse sale I thought nowadays gynae will usually not let mommies go beyond edd? Hope you can wake up later today to compensate for working late yesterday!

choo, so means after the pre admission letter TMC will snail mail us a detail card har? I have not gotten this card yet...

Vanessa, you mean the PD charges is different for the one at TMC and the one at Lighthouse? Why do we need a PD har? Won't the usual GP suffice? How long does a bb need to see a PD until we can switch to a normal GP? Cos seems that all PD's office are quite far from my place...

starluster, so you sleep better after your hubby's rearrangement? If yes, ask him to rearrange again tonight lah Basically my hubby didn't take any leave in 2005 cos he still got off in lieu that he can clear when he work overnight for server upgrades etc so about 20 working days to leave before year end..ahahahah.... that company is like that one.. last time when I work I also always got 1 month to bring over cos we never have time to really take leave...

kimi, my hubby also said bb very cramp inside.. but I thought all bb are cramp inside the womb one..anyway with our size our tummies cannot be too big else very xin ku. My gynae said abit small but still growing and both me and hubby are small size so its ok. But duno if its really ok or she is just being reassuring loh. Seeing her on Thursday again so hopefully bb grow up abit faster

Congrats on being able to try for natural delivery!!!

bohbiahah, hahaha..you already jump to caregiver mode in your dreams liao..

MBB, yeah, me not looking forward to cervix check too. Heard that its very painful and I got a very low threshold of pain

choo, Shihui, I keep forgetting to tell gynae that I want to donate to the public blood cord bank..really bad memory

 

[kimi]

vanessa, geri,

like bloom, i'm wondering bt PD. wld u b assigned a PD b4 u deliver? cos i understand tt e bb's to go 4 chk up after delivery rite? but do we haf to decide n sign up anything b4 delivery huh? cos if we sign up 4 e whole immunisation package liao, afterwards want to change PD how? can still change one?

heard o Dr Ong EK oso but heard his Qs r getting longer n longer, might haf 2 wait a quite a while. so, if i deliver in TMC, must i haf a TMC PD, at least 4 e initial stg?

v confused...

 

[choo]

kimi,

wow envy!!

bloom,

no leh..u know when u visit your gynae you have this small appointment card plus one big card which record all your details like blood pressure.weight etc etc? tat will serve as an admission letter

 

[och]

bloom,
i am hoping to deliver just after edd. fr what i gather, pro-natural gynaes wun ask for induction b4 edd unless it's an emergency. so if there is no sign of labour b4 edd, they will schedule induction within the wk after edd.

 

[bobianah]

choo
sorry, i dun know how much cos always other ppl pay the bill. =P I think $50 is more than enuff for 2pax, cos when i go, usually 3-4 ppl. Their food not very exp.

Shihui
i now oso worry abt bb weight gain...after my gynae said better not hope for too big bb wait difficult to come out! haha! maybe 3.2-3.4kg is ok? =P

shihui, choo, och, bloom
me going with SCBB oso. Cos unlikely we need to use the cordblood, so let other ppl have a chance to live. I oso looking at insurance for bb instead...hospitalisation, etc. more useful, since kids sure somehow get sick. hahah! My AIA fren recommend. He got his own kids, so i just get wat he got for his kids.

 

[vaness81]

Bloom, Kimi,
I was recommended Dr Ong when I was in TMC, apparently u will need a PD to check on ur bb after delivery to ensure bb got no problem. Afterwhich, u may choose to stay with him or switch to another dr lor. PD is a specialist hence the fee is rather high, at least $70 per visit, but I find Dr Ong quite good and he can tell me the sign of a newborn and when is it a concern to bring bb back for check up, I always bring my gal back there for injection till after 6mths or so then I switch her to normal GP if her illness is not serious. Dr Ong clinic gives priority to newborn, but of cos he will alternate the q lor, so I'm still quite ok with the q and the nurses are really friendly. At least when u called up the clinic and tell them ur concern, they will advise u if to continue monitoring or to come down for dr to check again.

Lighthouse is the normal GP, but he is a pro-breastfeeding dr hence if you are going to breast feed ur bb, it's best to see him of any concern.

 

[momtb]

Och
The bb dept at robinsons Raffles City also sells infrared thermometer but not Braun brand. I tink it's safety 1st brand and is more ex than Braun. The Braun thermometers can be found at the Pharmacy-like section on ground floor (where they sell those health supplements n toiletries etc. I bought mine during the Amex 15% sale...usual price I tink $119.

 

[isishui]

och, bobianah,
me not sure wat to get for bb leh... but got a few frens working in the insurance line.. so will ask them to recommend lor.. most prob getting an endowment plan coupled with insurance bah.. den hope the plan end when bb needs money in university.. den i dun hav to worry abt bb's uni allowance liao..

bloom,
u may want to give SCBB a call since u delivering in private hospital.. heard tt some private still dun provide cord blood donation..

och,
is mary rauff pro natural? she seems quite pro natural to me.. esp when till now i still dun hav iron/calcium pills.. i oso heard fr colleagues tt she discourage c-sec unless it's high risk.. else, even if twins, she try natural birth too... i dun wish to deliver too late leh.. hope to deliver b4 31st Dec... else will be Jan bb liao.. dun want lah..

choo, kimi,
aft hearing so much on Yet Con's pork chop, roasted pork etc, i "gian" until order roast pork rice for lunch.. heee~

 

[momtb]

Those mummies who will be storing cord blood with SCBB, do u know if they accept unused stored cord blood from private CCBs.

I intend to store cord blood with a private bank cos like my gynae say it's a form of insurance for our bb mah but if after a couple of yrs, looks unlikely that the cord blood will b needed then would b waste if discarded. Thot can donate to SCBB for public use.

 

[isishui]

bobianah,
me oso aiming for below 3.5kg bb.. afraid later too big difficult for mommy.. haha.. but hor, till now i still dunnoe my bb's weight.. but subconciously, i feel tt bb is growing well.. got confident in bb.. heee~

 

[isishui]

LiL,
i dunnoe if they do accept unused stored cord blood fr private leh.. rem read fr a thread tt for private banking, they do not do testing of the cord blood b4 storing.. ie, they store watever they collect...

but for SCBB, they will do blood testing of mother n child n the cord blood collected to ensure tt it's free fr diseases etc.. if the blood test shows tt it's not suitable for donation, they will use it either for research purposes or throw away.. they won't store cord blood if the collected amount is too little too...

so, think it's better to call SCBB directly to understand fr them bah..

 

[dey]

Shihui,
Did your gynae do an estimation of how heavy your baby wld be by EDD? Mine did an estimation for me and said my baby is a good size and should weigh approximately 3kg to 3.2kg at EDD...I also dun want baby too be too big.. scare too difficult during birth..moreover after seeing the video on natural birth, quite scared..think better for baby to be smaller, easier to give birth er..

By the way, if we intend to donate the cord blood to public bank, do we need to fill up any form or something? After discussing with hubby, most prob we will donate the cord blood...

 

[deex2]

Lil
yah, dat's wat we thot oso....dat's y i already sign up with stem cord during a promotion 6 mths ago....our 1st gift 4 bb

 

[isishui]

dey,
nope.. so far no estimation of weight.. gynae juz say tt bb is growing well...

but i will be having another detailed scan coming checkup.. by den, shd noe if bb is of the correct weight anot bah..

me too, aft viewing the video on how much our "down there" will be stretch during labour, i really hope tt bb's head won't be too big.. looks painful..

if u wish to donate, need to sign consent form with SCBB... can either call SCBB directly to make the arrangement or tell the nurse in ur gynae's clinic on how to proceed with it..

haha.. i can be spokeperson of SCBB liao.. heeee~ keep asking pple to call SCBB..

 

[dogggies]

Och,
Can find the braun thermometer in robinsons/JL toileties department. I bought mine (with 8 memory) during the sale. Usual price $129, after 20% $103.20

Kim,
Enjoy yr date with hubby

Lil,
Which private company u storing the cord blood with? I have not decided yet..

 

[dogggies]

CF,
How much is the charges with stemcord

?

 

[bobianah]

Lil, Chang
The cord blood pte bank will not give it to SCBB. If you stop, they will just discard it. And after yr bb 21 yrs old, they will ask ur kid if they want to continue to pay or throw.
BTW, i think it is not insurance for ur own bb leh, i read that it is useful only for siblings or other ppl in the family. Cos for some diseases, the "mutated" gene is oredi present in the cord blood, so cannot use own cord blood to cure. Have to use sibling's or some other match.

Shihui,
U go gal!

be the ambassador. Btw, wat i say abv is abt right correct? Cos i remember reading it in some medical reports...

 

[dey]

Shihui,
I am also praying my baby's head won't be too big..else can stretch untill tear..can imagine the pain man! and that day, my mother in law frightened me somemore by telling me usually the gynae would need to cut down there and the pain will last for a few days..scary leh...

OK. I will inform the nurse of my intention to donate the cord blood when i go for my next gynae visit...

 

[isishui]

bobianah,
yupyup.. if it's genetic disorder, doc won't want to use bb's own cord blood coz it's already in the genes.. they prefer to get their source elsewhere where bb will stand better recovery chances..

cordblood is more for family members' benefit lor.. if bb's cord blood is free fr the genetic disorder, it can be used to treat the family member who needs cord blood lor..

 

[momtb]

Shihui
Thx...will check with SCBB. As for testing, I dunno abt Stemcord but Cordlife does test the cord blood before storage.

CF Chang
Ya first gift for our bb. U lucky u managed to get the promotional package...much cheaper.

Jackie
We r most likely going to go with cordlife which is a division of an Australian listed biotech and immunotherapy Comp. We r attending a talk organised by them this Sat and will sign up then also.

 

[isishui]

dey,
but hor, usual practice is tt the gynae will cut lor.. they said it's better than tear...

unless u specify to the gynae tt u dun want to cut... read in "what to expect when u r expectin" tt we can start doing perineal massage nearer to our EDD to prevent episiotomy... but hor, i hav no idea wat is perineal massage.. they did describe in the book.. but i still find it vague..

 

[och]

lil,
thanks for the tip on braun thermometer. i think at the moment, scbb does not accept cord blood transfered fr private banks. read somewhere that it is too difficult for them to transfer cord blood without contamination. also scbb is v. strict on what cord blood is stored n tend to err on the side of caution. if there isn't enough in a tube to conduct dna profiling n test for diseases, the blood will be discarded. like my case, with hep b immunity, they also said there's a chance my bb's cord blood will be discarded just bcos of the immunity alone.

shihui,
mary rauff is pro-natural. i hv no iron pills until now too n she always raises an eyebrow when i ask for more calcium pills. yesterday when we discussed birthing options, she started writing "n" on my case sheet even while asking me if i was going for natural birth.

u can agree on a date for induction if bb is late. i had several friends who did that. some choose the day after edd, some choose the weekend after edd. just let mary rauff know b4hand can liao.

dey,
there's a consent form u hv to sign off n u need to sign off the consent form again b4 delivery. in case u change ur mind b4 delivery, scbb will not collect any cord blood fr u. in addition to consent form, u also need to fill in a fairly long questionaire on family n travel history. the questionaire deals mainly with blood n sexually transmitted diseases, be they inherited or contacted.

oh yah, nuh has complimentary 6-month insurance for bb fr aia.

bobianah, shihui,
i met up with a prudential agent for insurance the other day. seems like there is this savings plan that will give approximately 4+% return. we can choose to buy in bb's name or our own name. then there is a hsbc plan which gives 3%, but the life insurance portion carries on after 18 without a need for premium. now not sure which is good. we r planning to maintain separate accounts for kid's savings n insurance, cos insurance plans really dun give much returns, but not sure abt which vehicle to use.

 

[kimi]

vanessa,

thx 4 e clarification! can change after tt then good lor cos TMC is nt tt convenient 4 me.

jackie,

thx! will enjoy e date. hope my appetite'll b good later!

 

[fizz]

Hi Galz...

I hnvt logged in for a while...my energy seems to hv been diminishin wif the endless night outs...

I jus wen for my gynae checkup yest...my bb is on the small side...1823gms at 34.5wks...as both my hb n I r small...

I wil b hvg the CTG durin my next appt as well...initially I tot tat the CTG is used to monitor the bb's heartbeat...hmmm...so itz used to monitor for contractions...I hv to b put on the CTG for haf an hr...so far I dun hv BH as well...

Does anyone noe of anywhere wif available rasberry tea leave...I guess we can start wif the coconut next wk liao...

 

[momtb]

Bobianah/Shihui
For now the use of cord blood are limited mainly to treating blood and immune diseases like leukemia, which can be caused by numerous factors...not just genetics. For such diseases (if not due to genetic), can use bb's own cord blood, otherwise have to wait for to find a match in bone marrow. So it is a form of insurance for BB. Besides the cord blood can also be used by other family members if need b...higher chances of a match...for eg if ur subsequent child needs it. So it's win win loo.

 

[dogggies]

Lil,
Oh, i have just sign up for the talk with cordlife this sat as well.....Finally we get to meet each other

. But the one time fee of $1,400 is rather costly....Hope they will have promotion during the talk

In fact both stemcord and cordlife will do a test to check for the no. of stem cell in the cord blood before storage. If the cord blood collected is not suitable they will refund the cost after admission charges