The First Trimester. (Part 1)

So here's my story from Week 1 through Week 12 of my pregnancy.

Okay, not even from Week 1 since I found out about the pregnancy around Week 5 or 6! And I had meant to write about the entire trimester in one entry but I feel like it's going to be too long. Just too long!



First thing the doctor or nurse will ask you when you come in is;

When was the first day of your last period?



So it is really handy for you to have this information. I have an app on my phone called Clue that helps me keep track of my cycle. I do find it helpful, and especially so when it notifies me when my PMS is coming up!



Until they do an ultrasound of your belly, the doctor/nurse will use that last period date as an estimation of how far long you are in the pregnancy and your expected delivery date.

As mentioned in a previous post, a doctor from the airport clinic had confirmed that I was truly pregnant -- and that I was six weeks pregnant.



So there I was at six weeks. Went on Google to see when was the right time to get myself thoroughly checked and found that a majority of people said that the best time to get your first prenatal check up was between Week 8 and Week 12.



Okay. I had planned on going at Week 9; somewhere in the middle. heh!

Except that a week after my initial pregnancy confirmation, I had some bleeding. There was no cramps what so ever, and I wasn't bleeding heavily or anything. It wasn't bright, and it wasn't dark either.. A part of me thought that there was no cause to worry, but being my first pregnancy, I couldn't stop worrying!



So Monkey brought me to my first unofficial check up at a private OBGYN clinic where the first thing the doctor asked was;

Were you doing some strenuous activity? Heavy lifting? Sex?



Yeeaaaah..

So...



The doctor went on that the first trimester is where the pregnancy is really fragile. If the foetus is healthy, it'll stick. If there is something wrong with it (that it isn't healthy), our body will reject it and self-abort basically.

Slight bleeding in the beginning is common, apparently. But if they're followed by cramps, that's when you need to take caution.



The doctor then told me to lie down on the bed and proceeded with an ultrasound over my belly area.
We saw an almost insignificant dot inside of a small hollow inside my belly, and heard a murmur of a racing heartbeat.

He measured the dot and informed me that the foetus is six weeks old; a week later than what's initially estimated based on my last period alone.

He also prescribed me with Duphaston for a whole month that should help the foetus stick stronger.
He also advised Monkey and I to keep our pants on until the first trimester is over. (ha!)



So that's that.

A little over a week after that Monkey and I decided to just go ahead and get myself checked at a government health clinic.

This part was a little annoying. When I went on the Health Ministry official website to look for the nearest health clinic, it doesn't really say which clinic that I should go to. The website is really stupid, honestly I don't know if I was just dumb or everyone else was just like me and took a guess!



I actually whipped out Waze on my phone and typed up "klinik kesihatan" and it gave us two possible location. Being a Monday morning, I chose the one that was faster to get to and it was a Klinik Kesihatan Ibu Dan Anak (KKIA) in Kuchai.

It was a little over 8AM and the reception area on the ground floor was pretty empty. I told the nurse at the desk that it was my first time there and she asked where am I staying.
NOTE: Bring a bill or letter that is addressed to you (if your ID has a different address). They'd want to see it.
So the nurse told me to head on upstairs to the first floor and tell the nurse there that I'd like to "open a book". (bukak buku.)

I went upstairs, went into a roomful of parents with small children walking about, crying, then said to the nurse at the front desk that I'd like to open a book, and she pointed me in the direction of another room and said to talk to any of the nurses in there. Now, at this point Monkey and I couldn't understand why we didn't see any pregnant women around. Just a bunch of couples with children.

So I did what the nurse told me to do, went into the room and awkwardly looked around to see if any of the nurses in the room was available for me to talk to. Most of them were busy talking to patients (their parents, really) or writing up something in a pale blue book, until one of them saw me standing at the doorway and asked if I needed something.

I went up to her and said that I'd like to open a book. She asked me to take a seat and asked for my ID and asked for my current address (second time I had to procure my bank statement which has my address.) She proceeded to scribbling my details on a small piece of note paper and explained to me that this particular health clinic only attends to expecting mothers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. While she was jotting my details in a ledger of sort, she asked me to come back the next day early morning because the process of opening a book would take a while.
She then handed me the small piece of note that she was writing on (like an appointment sheet) to bring in the next day and I made my way home.

So here's what I learn that day;
1. The Health Ministry website is shit and useless.
2. I got lucky for picking out the right health clinic -- had I gone to the other one, we'd most likely have to make our way to this one because the zones really matter, it seemed.
3. different health clinics has different days for different patients. In Kuchai at least, Mondays are for children, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are for pregnant ladies.. and I have no clue what Thursdays and Fridays are for.
4. When in doubt, bring along your bill or letter with your mailing address on it.

Here is where I leave you, at the beginning of Week 8 and it's already too long!
I should talk about the itty bitty boring details of that first check-up in my next entry.