Life Changing Moment

Hi ladies! I'm back!

First of all let me just wish everyone happy holidays! I hope you had a great Christmas celebration and wish you all have a prosperous new year ahead!

Ok as promised, I'm here to share with you the series of lab tests that my husband and I went through for our baby-making journey. A few days after I first met with my doctor, I received the result of my pap smear via mail and thank God it was normal. However, she stated that I have a mild infection and prescribed a medication called Flagystatin for me to insert down there. At first I was like "what the hell is that?" so I googled and found out that it's a common kind of infection on women so I stopped worrying. I brought the prescription with me to Watsons and handed it over to a male pharmacist {yah, talk about feeling awkward}. I waited anxiously as he read my prescription and when he handed me the box he asked "do you know how to use it?"... I didn't know how to respond and stuttered for a while but I managed to say a very awkward "no" and so he went on and explained it to me.

The capsule has a butter-like consistency that you insert down there for 10 consecutive nights. It is important that you don't skip a day as you need to restart from day 1 if you do so. Once it's in, it is best to stay lying down that is why I did it before we went to sleep. Let me just say it's not the most comfortable feeling in the world.

My next visit to the hospital was on my Day 3 of my next menstrual cycle {21 Nov 2012}. I was instructed by Dr. Anu to come down again to do a blood test during my day 2 or 3 and that's what I did. So I basically went in and the nurse drew 3 tubes of my blood and paid for  the following:

Full Blood Count............................$23.54

Amenorrhoea................................$107.00

Anti-Mullerian Hormone................$34.24

Rubella IgG.....................................$28.89

Total..............................................$193.67

On the other hand, my husband was scheduled for a semen analysis. He actually opted to do the "collection" at home since we were informed that we have a 2-hour time frame before his little soldiers die... lol! So we went in and paid.

Conventional Semen Analysis...............$64.20

Grand Total for the day....................$257.87

December 3, 2012. 

That day was definitely an emotional day for me. It was time for us to find out whether the cyst is still there. I was terrified and shaking inside to be back in the hospital because I know that there will be alien-looking gadgets going inside of me again. 

First order of business was to do the gynae scan. Though I was scared to find out whether the cyst was gone or not, my first question to the sonographer was "is it still there?" , she played it safe at first and asked me what my doctor told me and I told her I know that I have a cyst on my left ovary. She then confirmed it and said "yes, it's still there." 

Tears started rolling down my cheeks in an instant! All I wanted to do that time was run out of the room and be in my husband's arms. I know this sounds so cheesy and dramatic but that was really what I felt. She continued scanning and taking screen captures and handed this report to Dr. Anu.

We then went to see Dr. Anu and discussed the result. She told me that the kind of cyst I have is called a dermoid cyst which according to Wikipedia is a cystic teratoma that contains developmentally mature skin complete with hair follicles and sweat glands, sometimes clumps of long hair, and often pockets of sebum, blood, fat, bone, nails, teeth, eyes, cartilage, and thyroid tissue. She basically told me the same thing but at that time I wasn't really listening and when I went home and googled, I was shocked and disgusted with the photos I saw. I couldn't believe I have that thing inside of me right now. 

Dr. Anu recommended to have it removed via laparoscopic surgery while the size is still relatively small. I asked how much it would be and it ranges between $4k -  $5K. Whoa! That made my jaw drop. Since my husband and I are scheduled to go back to the Philippines next month, we told her that I will have it done there instead. Recently though, I found out that I have an insurance coverage from where I work so I will be undergoing the surgery here in Singapore instead by February.

She then proceeded on explaining the lab test results from our recent visit. It was good to hear that everything is perfectly fine. Both of us have good and healthy eggs, thank God! She encouraged us to continue trying and prescribed me folic acid and vitamins C and E for my husband for us to take daily for the next three months.

We stepped out from her office and proceeded to the cashier and paid the following:

Consultation Service...................................$80.25

Gynae Scan.................................................$90.95

Folic Acid.....................................................$5.75

Vitamin C....................................................$45.90

Vitamin E....................................................$25.80

Grand Total.............................................$248.65

That day was definitely a life changing moment for me. In a way I regretted not seeing the doctor earlier but I know it was too late for that. Though I am scared as hell to go through the surgery, I am excited to take this thing out of me and start with our baby-making journey! I know God will be with me in every step of the way.

Baby dust to all who are trying like us and I wish you all a Happy New Year ahead!

Thank you all for reading this lengthy post!

The Doctor Is In

Hello mommies and mommy-wannabes!

If you read my very first post on this blog, I mentioned that I will be sharing with you the details of my very first doctor's appointment.

To be honest, one reason why I kept delaying to see the doctor because I really don't know who and where to go. Now I realize how hard it is to be away from your family as I don't have my mom or my elder sister to ask for advice. I ended up asking a friend/ex-schoolmate Bing who lives here in Singapore and recently gave birth and she recommended me to Dr. Anupriya of National University Hospital. The day the "red witch" came after our Sydney trip, I immediately conquered my fear to make that call and set an appointment.

October 22, 2012. That was my first time to see an OB-Gyn in my 31 years of existence. Needless to say, I was nervous as hell! Heart pounding. Knees shaking. Cold and sweaty hands and feet. Yes, that's how scared I was. The uber cold, full-blast air-conditioning of the hospital made it a whole lot worst! As soon as we entered the Women's Clinic, I gave the nurse my ID card and registered. I waited in vain for my name to be called, and when they did, I thought I would pass out.

Image Credit to http://texas.811magazines.com

My DH came with me inside the doctor's clinic. Dr. Anu was friendly and I immediately felt comfortable with her. She started asking the standard and personal questions for my husband and I's profile and quickly went through a female reproductive anatomy. After the small chit-chat, she asked me to lie down on the bed behind the curtain and once I heard that, my heart skipped a beat! I wanted to run out of the room but I know I need to get this done and over with so I went ahead and lied down. I warned her and the nurse that I was on my 5th day of the red witch's visit but they said it was fine. That was an awkward moment for me.

With my hands on my face and my eyes slightly peeking through the spaces between my fingers, I watched the doctor as she put this strange-looking gadget inside me and swabbed me using a very long cotton bud. I thought that was it, I was done! Then she uttered "I need to do a gynae scan" and I said "ok" without knowing that involves another strange-looking and looong thingamajig. That was not fun at all especially when she uttered this next phrase -- "there is a small cyst on your left ovary, let's see if this will go away". 

My mind went blank.

We then walked back to her table and gave me a list of lab tests that I will be doing for my coming menstrual cycle.  I passively took it and agreed. My mind is not functioning. I can't think of anything to ask her. She also didn't act as if it's something to be too concerned about so I took the piece of paper and walked off. We went back to the waiting area and nervously waited for the cashier to call my name to give us the low-down on how much the damage was. 

This was the breakdown:

Consultaion Fee..........................$101.65

Liquid Based Pap Smear...............$40.66

Chlamydia Trachomatics..............$69.55

Simple Gynae Scan.......................$90.95

Grand total...................................$302.81

Phew! I wonder how much this would cost if I did it in the Philippines. Anyway, I am sharing this information for those who wants to have an idea how much it would cost to see a doctor for an initial appointment. Prior to our visit, I have been researching high and low on how much the cost would be but didn't find any source. Though I know it differs from one person to another (and doctors as well) as we have different cases but at least with this information, you have a rough gauge on how much you are expected to spend.

If there are gynaes out there reading this post or even those who have the scientific knowledge about what I am going through, I would appreciate your suggestions and recommendations.

For my next post, I will be tackling about my first lab test and hubby's andrology appointment. 

Thank you all for reading! I hope this post have been helpful.

Baby dust to all!

Ciao!

The Birth of This Blog

Hi everyone!

So I created this blog for me to have an outlet to express my feelings and emotions towards our journey to parenthood. This would also help me keep my sanity in check as I have so many things running through my mind in the  past few days.

Anyway, a brief background first -- my dear hubby (or DH in short) and I got married last year - Sept 10, 2011, here in Singapore at the age of 30. Since we have been together for 6 years at that time, we know that we are ready to take the next big step and that is to become mommy and daddy. Right after our wedding, we started trying to make our own little bundle of joy, naive of what it actually takes to have one.

Let me just say we took the "honeymoon-ing" part seriously. We traveled so much this year, from Europe to Korea to the land-down-under Australia, just to have that time off and get away from the busy and hectic life of Singapore and just catch a fresh breath of air. A lot of people would say to me that I have to relax and not stress myself out about it but IT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE. Though we were not bummed about it for the first few months of trying, after about 8 months or so, I started "questioning" myself and freaking out. I was afraid that there might be something wrong with me but on the other hand, I was dreading to see a doctor! I couldn't bare hearing that I wouldn't be able to conceive so we decided to wait it out until we reach our 1st year anniversary.

I was obsessed on joining TCC (trying to conceive) forums and reading on the success stories of other women who struggled to have their first born. Tried to exercise and diet but both were a failure, lol! After numerous mobile apps, ovulation prediction kits (OPK) , and home pregnancy tests (HPT), we were still unsuccessful.

So we flew to Sydney to celebrate our anniversary and lucky enough that it fell on the dates when I was most "fertile". Needless to say, we baby-danced all the way but still no luck. That is when I finally decided that we HAVE to see a doctor. 

I will be sharing more on that in details in my next post. I hope you continue to join us on this journey as we encounter life's ups and downs. I strongly believe that there is a perfect timing for everything and God has greater plan for us.

If you are on the same page as we are, please leave a comment and share your experience as well. Would love to hear from all of you!

Baby dust to all!

Ciao!