Having a baby in the States is so much more different than the experience of having one in Malaysia. Well, as I had mentioned before it takes quite a while to land an appointment with the OB/GYN, as opposed to Malaysia, where I could call up at 11:00a.m. and have an appointment set up at 2:00p.m. the same day, at worst I would have to wait two or three days later.
There are so many new things I am experiencing now:
- Unlike in Malaysia, the OB/GYN’s office does not come equipped with an ultrasound device and a patient’s bed. Instead, every OB/GYN has a separate room with a bed and other equipment, where the patient is ushered into, and then the doctor will come by and do the checkup.
- Appointment reminders are in the form of an automated phone call, where you are reminded to come at least 15 minutes before your appointed time. The last appointment we had, we were there 20 minutes before, and we were amazed that the entire checkup finished in about 15 minutes! The wait time was only 5 minutes.
- Ultrasounds are not done at every checkup. I heard that throughout the gestational period of the pregnancy, only two ultrasounds are performed. And it’s not hard to see why! The ultrasound is performed in the radiology department, where an appointment has to be made (everything is about appointments here!). And that’s not all, the ultrasound is VERY thorough. They take like 15, maybe more, pictures of the baby from all angles. And after that, all the images are saved in a CD for you to take home and look at. The radiologist took a longer time with mine, because the baby was moving a lot and it was hard to get a good shot.
- There are also lots of tests that need to be done. But since I only started seeing the doc here when I was 21 weeks along, I guess I *escaped* some of them. The tests are all so very thorough too. Even though I had a urine test done the last visit, I am also required to have a glucose test done, which is really a blood test. The lab has already provided me with a big bottle of glucola, which I have to finish within 5 minutes. I think it’s close to 300ml! My blood will need to be drawn precisely 1 hour after drinking the glucola, BUT I need to be at the hospital 15 minutes before the 1 hour. If I arrive too late, I’ll have to redo the test.
I haven’t decided when I can make it for the test yet, but redoing it by drinking the entire bottle of sweet solution is definitely out of the question.
Well, other than that, baby is doing fine. Been kicking a lot lately in all directions and at all times of the day. I think we have a really active one on the way! 😛
Little Miracles
Our Journey of Love
i can make out your baby’s leg! =)
The Giddy Tigress says: Aha! Good observation there!
Got a name for the baby yet??? 😛
The Giddy Tigress says: Oh yes, but I ain’t telling!
What’s the gender? Pray tell…..or did I missed it in your earlier posts?
The Giddy Tigress says: Nope, you did not miss it, because I haven’t revealed the gender yet. Hehe…keeping you in suspense…
Sounds like it is pretty straight forward there. A bit off topic but similar to your story. When I was 11 my appendix burst inside of me and I had to drink an orange drink for the cat scan. I had to down it in 30 minutes or less and it was a ton. Plus it tasted really chalky. They sat there forcing me to drink it all the way down and said I had little time left. Eventually I couldn’t fit any more and puked it all up. That showed them and their stupid cat scan.
I had to redrink it later, they shouldn’t force people to do it quickly though. Jerks…..
The Giddy Tigress says: Sorry to hear about your ordeal.
Hey Joyce! I haven’t been blog-hopping lately due to work commitments. So I know that you went to the US, but I think I missed the “pregnant” part. Anyway, congratulations on your second bundle of joy! 😀
The Giddy Tigress says: Thanks Pelf…hope to hear more from you soon! And as for the blog-hopping front, I am as guilty as you are for being tardy myself!
They did very thorough check up there.
The glucose drink is the glucose tolerance test. Most centre will take blood one hour and two hours after drinking the super sweet glucose drink…
o.O
The Giddy Tigress says: Oh I just did the test this afternoon. They took my blood promptly at one hour after I drank the glucola. Thankfully no need to wait for another hour 😛
ya, as what dr chen said, you usually need to be there for at least 3 hrs.
i have done GTT (glucose tolerance test) quite often.
even done prolonged GTT (6 hrs). but won’t want to do it again. even the 3 hrs ‘normal test’ is taxing for my system, being glucose sensitive. *wink* (i think i had to fast before that too.)
but overall, it IS a good way to know how the body is performing.
The Giddy Tigress says: Eh, but here in the US, they only took my blood ONCE after the hour was up wor…and you know, surprisingly, the glucola did not taste too bad…A bit like 7-Up or Sprite 😛
Congrats again!! A baby on the way! You achieve quite a lot in the US ah. hehe….
The Giddy Tigress says: Hey…bun already in the oven before we came to the US la…and NO, it wasn’t planned that way…
Eeh I went for a cervical exam recently and the ultrasound looks like yours sans baby! (of course! 😛 ) I had no idea what was what – nothing looks like what they look like in bio books
The Giddy Tigress says: Oooh yeah, it’s a brand new experience!
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