TTC No More

Hello ladies!

If you still haven't guessed from the title well yes, WE'RE PREGNANT! I don''t even know where to begin because if you remember my last post, I mentioned there that I don't have any high hopes for that cycle since we only got to BD twice last month. Well lo and and behold, great things really do come when you least expect it. 

So what triggered me to take the pregnancy test? Well first of all, I'm 5 days late today. Although that really doesn't say much because there was a time when I was a week late but still turned out to be negative. However last night, my DH noticed that my "girls" are getting bigger. I actually don't see it myself but I can feel it though. My breasts have been tender for the past few days on the week that AF is supposed to come and that is one sign that I've never had before. I normally experience soreness a week before my expected period not during the week. Aside from those two symptoms, I have been feeling "wet" down there recently {sorry TMI} for the past week to the point where I would run to the toilet with a napkin in my pocket thinking that AF finally came.

Aside from those mentioned, I didn't have any more symptoms that was really obvious. I wish I could have listened more to my body. I used to be paranoid about it before and write down every single "symptom" I used to feel but then I kept getting negative HPTs so I stopped it. It was one thing that stressed me out, I think. Lol!

So how did I break the news to my dear hubby? Well let me tell you, I have been orchestrating a very elaborate way of surprising my hubby with the good news in my mind but today, it proved that I am not capable of pulling off a surprise like this. I took my HPT at around 9 in the morning while he was bathing {our toilet and bath are separated} and as soon as I saw the two lines, I started to cry my eyes out! It was so surreal, I couldn't believe my eyes so I hurriedly went to the bathroom and asked  my hubby to hurry up with my voice cracking up from my hysterical cry. I knew he panicked and went out immediately. As soon as I saw him, I showed him the test and I started to cry even more. He gave me a hug and hushed me to stop crying. He said I might stress the baby and as soon as he said that, I slowly stopped crying. Later on he told me that he thought I was crying because AF came, so in a way, it was still a surprise for him. Hehe.

Since I wanted to be super sure, I headed out to Watsons and bought me the Clearblue digital pregnancy test. Sometimes the regular HPT can still trick your eyes so I wanted the digital that says if I'm really pregnant or not {although I know a blood test would be most accurate way}. So here are my results... I've been staring at them for the whole day now with the fear that it might change, lol!

Anyhoo, a little background of how our month went by:

• May 10 - AF showed up!
• May 20 and 22 - Baby Danced. Kept my legs up, like I always do, for at least 15 minutes then laid still.
• May 23 - Positive OPK

What's funny is that on the 22nd we actually went for a staycation at Costa Sands Sentosa and checked-in in the same room where we were on our wedding night! How awesome is that right? After a year and 8 months, we came back to the same place and turns out, we "conceived" our first baby there. Being happy, stress-free and care-free that day may have helped in a way in my ovulation.

Needless to say, I am still floating on cloud 9 as I write this entry. I cannot contain my excitement and happiness. On the other hand though, I cannot help but worry. I know that the first trimester is the most crucial part of the whole pregnancy and I am hoping and praying that everything turns out good. 

To those who extended their prayers, well-wishes and congratulations, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts! I hope and pray that those who are also on the TTC journey will soon be blessed like we have been.

On that note, I think it is right to say that I am no longer a hopeful mommy-to-be instead a happy mommy-to-be! Baby dust to all!

Hebrews 10:36
Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised.

Psalm 37:5,7
Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act

TTC Cycle 3 and New OB-GYN

Hello ladies!

I'm sorry if this post is quite late but I really intended to update you guys AFTER my appointment with my new OB which was scheduled today.

So needless to say, our TTC attempt last month was a failure yet again. I got my AF on the 10th of May just before boarding the plane from Hong Kong back to Singapore when we had a quick family holiday. What a spoiler right?! Tears fell but got over it after five minutes. I think I'm getting used to this. 

However on the next day, I was on my computer the entire day researching for a new OB Gyn. I wasn't too satisfied with how things went last month with my TOO. I felt like I just flushed our money down the drain. I'm not saying that just because I didn't get pregnant. Overall, I'm just not satisfied anymore with my OB Gyn and her service. I have mentioned again and again about the "waiting time" I did whenever I visit her. I sometimes wait for 2 to 3 hours for my name to be called and when they do, I stay inside her clinic for 15 minutes... 20 minutes max. I just felt like she's always rushing and not really explaining everything. 

Anyway, I still did make an appointment with her JUST IN CASE and then went on to finding other OB Gyn. I first took into consideration the distance of the hospital from our place because it would take me an hour or so to go to NUH from my place and I wasn't really happy about that especially if I get an early morning appointment. The nearest hospital around our area is the Parkway East Hospital and found Dr. Roland Chieng's name in one of the forums I visited. Although I am hesitant of having a male OB Gyn, I still booked an appointment for back up. My search continued and I stumbled upon another OB Gyn's name Dr. Sheila Loh of Raffles Hospital. I googled her and read a number of good feedback about her so I decided to book an appointment as well and today, I finally met her.

My appointment was at 4PM and we reached the hospital at around 3:45PM. Since it was my first visit, I had to fill out forms. They also checked my height, weight and BP for my profile. Though it was an hour's wait, we felt like it was worth it. She's very friendly and has an approachable personality. We gathered more information from her as she explained more in details about my previous test results from NUH (I was instructed to bring them so I don't need to undergo the same tests). 

Dr. Sheila did an ultrasound scan on me just to see how my uterus and ovaries are now at this stage. I'm on cycle day 22 and she said by this time there should be evidence of my ovulation. She checked my right ovary and the appearance is normal, no cysts and it has 13 follicles. My left ovary also has a normal appearance, no cysts and has 10 follicles. She said that it is a good sign that even after going through surgery, I still have good egg reserve so that made me happy! Unfortunately though, she didn't see any sign that I already ovulated but that doesn't mean that I didn't. 

She then went through my hubby's lab test result. All the parameters were good except for two. First is the Vitality or the percentage of live sperms. The limit set by the World Health Organization is 58% and he got 56% which is really not that bad. Another parameter is the Morphology or the form of the sperm. The standard is 4% and he got 3%. Dr. Sheila said if the form of the sperm is below the standard, then it may have a hard time fertilizing my egg. These can be addressed by taking Vitamin C & E which was actually prescribed to him by my previous OB Gyn, Dr. Anu, though she didn't explain it to us as clearly as Dr. Sheila did. Unfortunately though, my husband is not that consistent in taking his vitamins (bad!) so from now on I will be reminding him every single day. Dr. Sheila also asked my hubby if he cycles because that can also have an effect if you do more than an hour and unfortunately again, my husband does! On weekends he enjoys riding his bike as his exercise so now I told him to cut it down. I even jokingly said that I will take a photo of his bike and post it online and sell it... haha! 

So to finalize my check-up, Dr. Sheila prescribed me Clomid. This is actually a drug to help induce ovulation and release at least 2 eggs to be fertlized thus getting a higher chance of getting pregnant. This will be taken on cycle day 2 to 6 if I do get my period this June {which I'm hoping I won't}. She gave me 10 tablets to cover 2 months and if it is still unsuccessful, then we may need to resort to artificial insemination. 

So yeah, that's my story this month. To be honest I don't have high hopes this time because we only BD'd twice. Don't judge.. lol! DH and I actually decided that we will just do it only when we feel like doing so and this month was actually busy month after our family holiday. We only got the chance twice but hopefully, the timing was right. All I can do now is pray. 

Oh by the way, something different I did this month was to take Blackmores Conceive Well Gold. I have been wanting to try this for months but I just find it too expensive at $46 for one box (28 days use). But when I saw it on sale for $55 for two boxes I immediately caved in! I showed this to Dr. Sheila and asked if it's ok to take and she said yes. This just primarily contain multivitamins and it's actually good for preparing your body for conception.

Here's the breakdown of fees:

Consultation..................................$130.00
Clomid..........................................$25.20
Practice Cost.................................$12.50 (I actually don't know what is this for?!)
Ultrasound.....................................$110.00

Total Charge after GST..............$297.10

So let me end this quite lengthy post with these inspirational Bible verses..

Hebrews 10:36
Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised.

Psalm 37:5,7

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act.