Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Hospital Bag Checklist/ Hospital bills

Hello readers! Many will be curious on what to pack for the hospital bag when it's time for you to go to the hospital. 

I am sure many first time mum to be will be researching or at least asking around a typical hospital bag to pack. For me, i use my handcarry luggage that i will always bring whenever i travel but this time with covid, we couldn't travel anywhere so i only get to use this bag to pack for the essential items that i will need for my post delivery in the hospital.

I will be listing out the items that i actually packed to the hospital and the items that i think i do not actually need to pack. This is just for reference if you are like me, delivering via c section and not breastfeeding. I stayed total 3D2N in Thomson medical centre.

Initially i was told to bring all my receipts during admission as we can offset $900 under maternity package through deduction of medisave. However as i have submit the documents during my pre-admission, so i didn't have to bring any receipt on the day of actual admission. 

For Singaporeans, there is an app call the LifeSG, so basically you can register your baby birth yourselves via the app, including baby bonus etc instead of having to get the hospital to register for you as there are additional admin charge.
Jeremy friend told us we could register at the ICA so that it cost only $18, but if we were to register at the hospital it will be at $45. Even though if you register yourselves at ICA, you will need to go down to their office to collect the birth certificate compare to if you register at the hospital, you can collect it at your convenience. 
So for my hospital bag, i didn't bring my marriage certificate. 

What i originally packed since this is my first time staying in the hospital at Thomson Medical Centre.
Actual hospital bag that i packed as follows : 
1. My IC (identification ID)
2. Phone charger
3. Handphone
4. Wallet
5. Personal toiletries such as toothbrush, toothpaste, facial foam
6. Face moisturizer, sunblock, minimal cosmetics 
7. Contact lens and solutions
8.Wearing glasses
9. Maternity bras x3 set
10. Breast Pads x60 pieces
11. Haakaa Manual breast pump x1
12. Maternity sanitary pads (1 month supply) 
13. Disposable panties x10 pieces
14. Socks x 3 pairs
15. Disposable hotel like slippers x 1 pair
16. laundry bag for soiled clothes
17. Adult wet wipes
18. A set of jacket
19. 1 outfit to wear upon discharge
20. 2 set of baby outfit, with mittens, hat,swaddle
21. baby diapers


So after my hospital stay i would revise my hospital bag as follows :

1. My IC (identification ID)
2. Phone charger
3. Handphone
4. Wallet
5. Personal toiletries such as toothbrush, toothpaste, facial foam
6. Face moisturizer, sunblock
7. Contact lens and solutions
8.Wearing glasses
9. Maternity bras x2 set
10. Disposable panties x3 pieces
11. Maternity sanitary pads 10 pieces
12. Disposable hotel like slippers
13. laundry bag for soiled clothes
14. 1 outfit to wear upon discharge.
15. binder

This should be the most minimal items that i think would be necessary to pack, first thing of all the necessities, handphone, wallet and phone charger. I don't really get to spend anything but wallet is just in case if i need to spend. Thomson medical centre do provide the basic toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, comb except toothbrush, toothpaste, so for mum to be that would like to shower after birth, don't really need to bring your own shampoo/conditioner or body wash unless you prefer to use your own shampoo/conditioner.

These are the basic toiletries Thomson is providing as shown below. 


If the husband is staying, Thomson medical centre will provide a male set toiletries too.

For me, i only shower until 1 week later from my delivery date so i don't really need those except toothbrush/toothpaste and facial foam to wash up my face. For contact lens, the only time you will need to wear it should be upon discharge. That is, if you still bother, since you can't put on contact lens during your operation and you need to rest most of the time. Upon discharge, you should be heading home, so it doesn't really matter if you are planning to wear just glasses.

For maternity bras, during the first day after the op, you will be wearing the operation gown and won't be able to get out of the bed, for c section mummies so basically you won't be wearing any bra even after the operation, you probably will only be able to get down the bed on the second day and that's when you will need 1 bra and 1 more on the last day of discharge.
I stayed in TMC for 3d2n for c section, so if you are opting for natural delivery, you might not even need to pack x2 set of maternity bras.

As i decided not to breastfeed, so the haakaa breast pump and breast pads is redundant for me since i took the medicine to stop breast milk production so i didn't use any of the items that i packed inside. 

For disposable panties, they will help you to wear the maternity sanitary pads after the op and you won't need to change any panties because you won't be able to get down the bed so you won't have a chance to even check if you need to change the pads. The nurse will help you to wipe your body the next day, and i think time to time they will help to check if need to change the pad, then the nurse will help you to change. 

For me, i thought it will be cold so i brought jacket and socks, but it turns out during my stay, even though the aircon has been adjusted to the lowest temperature but i was feeling hot all the time and was sweating, Jeremy had to wear a jacket in the room but not me. so i will think this is optional for anyone that is considering to bring. For baby outfits, i don't even need to bring anything because the hospital will provide the diapers and upon discharge they will dress the baby in the Thomson medical cute outfit, with swaddle, mittens and even the beanie, and if you are going home straight, there is really not a need to pack baby outfit. Unless again, you prefer to use your own for your baby.

On the day of my discharge, the nurse has shower the baby and dress him up nicely before handing me a bag with all the remaining diapers, baby wipes that they used during his stay and give me alot of other freebies including a pail that i can use to shower my baby back home. Hahaha. 

During the second day in the hospital, Thomson will deliver a gift pack specially curated for mummy and baby. 

I think there were quite alot of useful items, and every year their gift pack is different. This year gift pack includes the following items.
The nurse also give us this little pail for us to shower our baby, but he soon outgrow it. Haha
Besides that, they also give me this diaper bag that i find it to be pretty useful with lots of compartment since i didn't even bought any diaper bag. Haha

As we opt for express checkout, so we didnt have to clear our bills on the same day of discharge, the bill was send to us about 5 days later. If any mummy-to-be want to get a rough gauge of the estimation of the overall bill.

I will be stating the breakdown of the fees that you will incurred if you are the same case as me, doing a planned c section, not breastfeeding and booking the 1 bedded ward staying for 3d2n.

There are two type of bill, one is for the mummy and one is for the baby.
For mummy, the total bill for mine BEFORE medisave deduction was about $12k.
After the medisave deduction it was $8.1k.

The charges included the epidural spinal jab during the operation, accommodation charges, ,medications, operating theatre, daily treatment fees, companion charges, mothercare services, medical supplies, doctor fees.
For doctor fees, there are two doctor, one if my gynae for doing the operation for me, while the other doctor is the one that help me to administer the epidural jab before the op. 

For baby bill, before medisave was $1.8k+
after medisave deduction it was about $986.
The charges indicate on the bill is, baby package, babycare services, medications, medical supplies, medical lab fee, procedure and doctor fees.

Yes there is another doctor to check on his well being upon birth and she will update us during my stay on baby overall health condition etc.

So in total our bill amount to about $9kplus below $10k. Do take note this is all paid in cash. I heard from my friends that if you opt for KKH which is the government public hospital, it will be cheaper, as most are claimable from medisave and no upfront cash needed, for KKH private, probably just need to top up abit, however because i prefer this gynae that have delivered for my baby so likely i will still choose him the next time when i decided to have my second kid! Especially because my overall experience was good so i think this $ is well spent. I heard more scary birth stories that happen in KKH, but i will think it depends on your luck, there are people who have good experience too in KKH while there are those who didn't have it. However i get to know from some friends if you have some complications during your pregnancy, it will be better to go to KKH since private hospital might still refer to KKH if they can't handle the rare cases. Hopefully this post will be useful to mummies that want to have a rough gauge of the bill.

Shall end this post for now.
Till then!














Friday, September 25, 2020

My Birth Experience via C section @ Thomson Medical Centre

Hello readers! By the time i am writing this post, it's already in November but i back dated this date of this post as i give birth to my baby on this date.

Before i continue, this is purely my sharing on my own experience and every women's birth experience might be different. As much as i like to keep this precious memories on my blog, i would also like to share my experience with other first time mum-to-be that wanted to know how it is like during the actual day of delivery. Especially if you opt to have a planned c section delivery like me.

My EDD was 1 Oct 2020, however i decided to deliver one week early since my husband, Jeremy is going to start his course on 29 Sep 2020 so by delivering 25 Sep he will be able to accompany me throughout my stay at Thomson Medical centre. If i choose to deliver on 25 Sep, i will be 39 week day 1, however some of my friends told me there is also chances baby will be arriving on week 38, so everyday i would be talking to my baby, bribing him to come out only on 25 Sep because as long as he is in my tummy, he will get to eat all sort of foods/drinks, but once he is out, he is going to drink milk for a very long time. Boring. Hahahaha, maybe he is a glutton because he really didnt come out early but on my planned date. hee.

Anyway so my last gynae review was on 18 Sep 2020, on this same day, we went to the hospital counter to do a pre-admission too. The nurse has informed me if i have spotting or any signs of labor, i will have to come to the hospital and to the labour ward immediately. During the pre-admission, the staff will settle all the paperworks, providing us an overview of the estimated hospital bill, confirming the ward that i am booking and we can choose to make partial payment of the additional deposit require or to pay full so we decided to pay in full. The staff told us that we can come in anytime after 12am, so eventually we decided to come in after 12.30am on the actual day. They will also ask if we are opting for express checkout upon discharge, for express checkout they will send the bill to your designated email within 3 days after your discharge so if there is no discrepancies, they will charge to your creditcard directly.

This was pretty straightforward. After we were done, the staff give me my pre-admission card that i only need to scan during my admission day. A day before my operation day, i am thankful to receive many messages from my friends for their well wishes and smooth delivery. At this stage, i am ready to unload the baby off my body because i am getting heavier and it was harder for me to turn around during my sleep.

We choose a one bedded ward in Thomson medical centre for privacy purposes. The operation will start early morning so we decided to check in early since we need to reach the hospital latest by 530am if we are not staying over. This was the lobby area and we was waiting for our number to be called, my tummy is too big by now so Jeremy told me to sit down while he will go to the counter when they called.


For planned c section, I will have to fast after 12am, we waited pretty long because there were like 2 person in front of us, we reached about 12.30am but all the waiting, by the time they was ready to bring us up to my ward, it was already 1am. I was feeling very sleepy by then. Jeremy then told me they told us the one bedder ward was not available so they put me in 2 bedder ward first, will try to change our ward once the one bedded ward is available.

This is how a 2 bedder ward looks like for Thomson medical centre in the photo below you can refer to their website for the different type of wards available. Usually they do conduct the room tours, however due to covid, they couldn't conduct the tours of the different wards so i decided based on the picture on their website. As long as i have my own space, i am perfectly fine even if they gave us a 2 bedder ward temporarily.



At that moment, i was just wondering how Jeremy is going to sleep because for 1 bedder ward, they have at least a couch but for this 2 bedder ward, except the other bed that is empty, there is no suitable place for him to rest. Thankfully, the nurse told him that he can use the bed beside mine to rest for the night. Lucky!

I will write in another post on the hospital bag checklist as i feel there are alot of things that i do not need to bring actually. When we check in to my ward, they have the following item on the table, maternity sanitary pads, operation gown, a bowl, shower cap.
Basically, the hospital do provide the maternity pads so you only need to bring some extra, i thought the hospital won't provide so i actually brought lots of maternity pads. They told me to change into the gown after i remove all the bra & panties. Initially i thought we could rest for the night but Jeremy told me the nurse said she will be coming back to do a briefing. 

During the start of the briefing, she will verify my identification by asking me my IC number and name, getting information such as my height and weight and the other required information.

For eg, asking if i have any drug allergy, existing health conditions, there is a checklist which they need to ask me before they put a tick, whether i am breastfeeding or not, since i am not breastfeeding, they ask me my preferred choice of milk formula for the baby, there were so many brands so mummy do not need to worry if you are choosing formula milk for your baby. They also asked if there is any reason for c-section but i answered "Personal choice" They will also ask if i would like to give my baby the BCG vaccine while handing me the brochure because apparently some parents do not want to give their baby. I think if this is something that doesn't harm my baby but providing more protection for him, why not? Anyway the vaccine is free, if i didn't remember wrongly.

During the briefing, they will also ask if i have shaved on the vagina area, anyway they will checked, if not, shaving is required before the operation, for me i have the habit of shaving so there wasn't any issue with that. I think shaving is required to prevent any infection after the operation, despite not delivering via vagina.

After the briefing, the nurse ask when was my last bowel movement before telling me she will be inserting a medicine, which is the fleet enama inside my ass so i can clear my bowel before the op as she said sometimes during op might have uncontrollable bowel movement, i was kinda shocked when she insert because i could feel the discomfort and pain.
Thank god i only need to do 1 time. 
After that, i began to pass out gas and was having a stomachache so i went to the toilet to clear. The nurse came back shortly and use a machine to check for baby heartbeat before i can finally rest.

The night was long and i knew i have to be awake by 6am since the op was 7plus in the morning so i set alarm clock so that i can wake up at least to brush my teeth, face before the nurse will come for me to send me to the operating theatre. However i realise i do not need the alarm clock because it was so hard for me to fall asleep!

I am not sure if my baby know he is going to arrive to this world in the morning but that night, i could feel my stomach tightening and i was told to inform the nurse by pressing a button in the toilet after i have urinate inside a cup they gave me for some test. In total i probably have 3 hour of sleep only. I remember Jeremy was still sleeping soundly but i manage to get up before my alarm clock ring, wash my face, brush my teeth and the timing was just right before the nurse came in and told me she is going to push me to the holding area.

It was getting so real by then, so i lie on the bed they push in, and it was the first time i experienced lying down on a bed while taking the lift, haha. Jeremy can only send me off until the lift area as he can't enter the lift since i will be shifted to the holding area. He will have to go down to the lobby before entering the delivery suite.

As the nurse push me to the holding area, she asked if this is my first time, i say yes, so she explained to me that she will be pushing me to the waiting area first and explained during the operation, the nurse will give me two injection, one on my hand, and one more on my spine which is the epidural jab, so this provide me some idea on what to expect during the operation. 

It was early morning, i think it was only 6.30am by then so there was no other patient except me in the holding area, after settling me down, the nurse told me to wait awhile as the doctor will come later. So during this waiting period, i was really nervous but i couldn't do anything, i have so many questions on my mind that i want to ask when i see my doctor or even my anesthesiologist.

When my doctor arrived, i feel relieved to see at least a familiar face since i can't see anyone as they closed the curtain arounds me. He started by asking me how am i, before looking at me and ask if i didnt sleep well last night which i say "yes" and he ask "why". When i say stressed. And he could still joke w me by answering me, "stressed uh? Ok lets cancel this op and go natural!!" With my immediate reply, "no! I get even more stressed if i go natural". And he was chuckling loudly before telling me ok he shall see me later. 

Not long after, the nurse came and they didn't really tell me the operation is starting, i only remember them asking me several times if i have any specific timing for the bb to be born and i say no. So the next moment i know, they started to push me to another area, and when they told me to move over to transfer to another bed, that's when i realise the operation is starting!

But everything happens so quickly, the moment i shifted myself to the operation bed, they ask me to lie sideways, curled up, one of the nurse started the injection on my left hand, while another one asking me to curl as much as i can with my knee trying to touch my stomach as the anesthesiologist is going to inject the epidural jab on my spine. I didn't even have the chance to speak, i was only able to follow the instructions given, at the same time, another nurse was holding the laughing gas and ask me to inhale deeply as much as possible. This all happen almost the same time so when the epidural jab on my spine is completed, i could experienced instant numbness on my lower part of body so they quickly shifted me back lying flat on the bed, i could still feel my legs being laid in a position for them to insert the catheter, that is when i started experiencing discomfort on my shoulders, It just feel like sudden soreness on my shoulders and i couldn't really concentrate by then, even though the dr ask if im ok, but i really couldn't even speak a single word because i am feeling so uncomfortable, i am not even sure if i was shivering, i have to wear the mask due to covid so at one point i told the nurse i can't breathe so they try to lower down my mask for me.

Then i saw the nurse laying the cover so i cant see anything from my eye level. I was conscious throughout the whole op just that  i couldn't feel anything during the op. So i could hear the conversation between the doctor and the anesthesiologist. The sound wasnt that scary, i could smell the burning smell which i think is still acceptable to me because i used to assist doctor doing laser procedure when i work in a clinic so this smell is not unfamiliar to me. I only remember closing my eyes tightly because i was so scared and nervous!

After awhile i heard my gynae told the nurse to call the daddy to come in as the baby is coming out. At that time even when jeremy is beside me holding my hands, but i am too scared to even talk to him, i was just praying it to be over soon. 

The nurse told me that i would experience some heavy tugging as they are going to take out the baby, indeed i could feel the pressure they apply but its not painful at all. Within few seconds, our baby is out! I was really relieved when i heard our baby making his first loud cry to this world. They started cleaning him before passing it to me by placing my baby near my chest. I remember the doctor saying that he need to change his machine because the weight of the baby is different from the estimate weight that he said during our scan. Hahaha, during the last scan, he told me my baby should be around 3.1kg, can try natural, luckily i didnt because my baby came out weighing at 3.54kg! Haha

Aftertat, i think the anesthesiologist was very enthusiastic and suggest to take photo, so here a photo of us when the baby is out! 

The feeling is just so surreal when they cleaned my baby and place him on my chest. This is the first time i get to see him in real after carrying him for the past 10months. Look at that chubby cheeks! Haha


After that they pass the baby for the pediatrician to check while my gynae stitched up my wound and the whole operation has ended! I was feeling groggy as they shift me to the waiting area for observation. I think i manage to sleep awhile before a nurse came in and help me to put on my binder as well as the compression socks.

After the observation has ended, they move me back to my ward. I was feeling very sleepy and i remember looking at the clock, it was about 9plus in the morning. Not long after, there was a nurse that push my baby in expecting me to breastfeeding but i was still feeling very drowsy. I manage to tell her that i am not breastfeeding. I have requested the medicine to stop breast milk production so when they ask me why i am not breastfeeding, i will tell them i took the medicine so i can't breastfeed anymore. In fact i think I repeat myself lots of time since my admission that i am not breastfeeding, the nurse was understanding so she say ok she will go feed the baby before passing the baby back to me later. 

Initially Jeremy went to ask the nurse when they will be shifting me to my 1 bedder ward but the ward was still not available after my op, the nurse explained that the 1 bedder ward bed is different from the bed that i am resting so when they are going to change my ward, they will have to change my bed too, taking into consideration of my wound, Jeremy ask if we can remain in this 2 bedder ward but it will be just us and no other patient as we will be still paying for the 1 bedder ward price, the nurse went to check and say it can be done so we decided not to change. Since this 2 bedder ward come with 2 bed so Jeremy could sleep on another bed too while accompanying me throughout the whole stay. To me i think it was a pretty good deal since if i shift to 1 bedder ward, Jeremy won't even have a proper bed for him to rest. By staying in this ward save the hassle to change me and he get to rest properly too.

I was sleeping most of the times and while i don't get it why there was a white bowl on the table, but i knew the purpose after that when i couldn't help but to vomit several time which is probably the side effect after the op and i had to call the nurse to come and change my pillow and bedsheet.

By the time i was awake it was already afternoon so the nurse pass me a cup of milo and they told me to drink and if i don't vomit then they will be able to serve me my lunch. Eventually i was only able to eat a few mouthful of porridge when my mum and sis came to visit me.

 
Some of the foods i had during my hospital stay.
The amount of medications i have to take because i request for painkiller to ensure i have a painless experience. Haha





Due to the covid, there were restrictions to visitor limit so each time there can only be 2 visitors, i can only pre-register up to 4 visitors and they cannot be changed during my stay. By late afternoon, 3plus i was feeling ok, the drowsy effect gone off and i was able to reply to messages etc. My mum and sis wanted to look at the baby so we went to call to get the nurse to push the baby in. 






They told me the mark on his left side of face will disappear, this was cause as the doctor had to use the forcep to grab him out, getting too comfy inside my stomach and doesn't want to come out huh. Hahaha







This pretty up summarise my entire birth experience via c secton at Thomson Medical Centre.

I shall write in my next post about the hospital bag checklist! Till then!























Wednesday, September 23, 2020

My overall Pregnancy Experience as i am nearing my EDD

Hello readers! I am writing this post for sharing as well as to document my first pregnancy experience for this past 10 months. As of to-date, i am in my 3rd trimester, week 38 day 6, my original EDD is on 1 Oct 2020, however my birth plan is via elective c section so i decided to have my c section date on 25 Sep 2020 which is only 2 days more to go!

Do take note my sharing is based on my own, every women's pregnancy is unique and different so do not be afraid if you do have fears towards childbirth like i do! For my case, i think it is only tough during the first trimester for me.

As i am nearing the end of my pregnancy, i am just amazed how times really flies, in this year 2020, as much as covid has affected everyone's life and everyone is confined in Singapore without being able to travel, i think this is a timely period for me to be pregnant and giving birth to my baby. Haha, mainly because for the first trimester, i still goes to work, but the rest of the second and third trimester, i have been working from home due to covid and i think this is a privilege that i really cherished because pregnancy is tough but because i was working from home, i  have enough rest since i don't have to wake up early to travel to my workplace and because i moved back to my mum house, my meals are also well taken care of, and as my stomach get bigger and bigger i do not need to buy more maternity dress since i am usually in my home wear while working from home. :)

During my 1st trimester, when i found out i am pregnant, my morning sickness has been very consistent and it is a terrible feeling for me waking up every morning gagging but still having to prepare to go for work. My morning sickness lasted until the start of my second trimester, but luckily i was working from home by then so it's still ok because nobody will see me gagging most of the time. I was feeling very tired most of the time and i remember there were days my morning sickness got so bad that i vomitted when i haven't even had any breakfast and this was twice during public places! Once in the train and worse when i didn't even prepare any vomit bag because i thought i wouldn't really vomit anything since most of the times it's just nauseous and gagging. Second time i prepare a vomit bag but it's overflow and i feel so bad for making a mess of the place. At times i vomit but there was nothing and this feeling sucks too. 

My 2nd trimester was by far the best part of the pregnancy that i enjoyed throughout the entire pregnancy as my morning sickness went off, i become more energetic and i feel normal like pre-pregnancy, no mood swings, stomach was not too big so i was able to sleep well, rest well. So far i didn't have any headache, water retention, cramps during this pregnancy. I didn't have any strong cravings too but i do eat alot until the doctor is asking me to stop eating so much. I love sweet stuffs and bubble tea, i think i drink bubble tea alot during this pregnancy. Hahaha. 

I had heartburn for few times as i feel the burning pain at my lower chest, initially i didn't even know it was heartburn until i google it. Most terrible feeling ever. Beside heartburn, there was another incident i feel it was gastric pain but the doctor told me it's probably something that i eat wrong, the kind of pain that stirred up every few sec is really no joke, it hurt so bad i was just rolling on my bed, even if i don't move, the pain persist, and i ended up crying so hard and telling myself i am definitely not opting for natural birth since i can't even tolerate such pain. This pain lasted for several hours and i only become better after i vomit, and this happen in the middle of the night zz. 

Throughout the whole pregnancy, i don't think i have a sensitive smell too which some women might have which i think i am still lucky so i won't feel nauseous if i happen to smell anything that is smell bad to me. Everything was pretty normal. 

But after i am nearing the end of my 2nd trimester and reaching the 3rd trimester, this is the anxiety period when i started to think of the actual day and i couldn't really sleep well. I was growing bigger, it was getting difficult for me to move and turn when i am sleeping, i can't get up immediately whenever i am getting up from my bed every morning due to the big tummy. 

There were many thoughts, even though each gynae reviews shows baby are healthy, so i didn't have to think so much on his health but there were other concerns which scan might not shows, for eg, birthmark, what if the baby has birthmark on his face? what if he is not cute at all? This might sound silly but this was my exact feeling all the way to the actual day of birth. I am also worried on the actual day how it is going to be like, whether there might be complications during the operation, and what if the anesthesiologist didn't inject enough dosage of the anesthesia and i feel the pain during the operation? or what if the doctor didn't manage to reach on time and the anesthesia wears off? Death is my biggest fear so i really hope everything can goes well smoothly but it's hard not to think about it despite assurance from many of my friends. Haha

I didn't went to watch the natural birth or c sec videos to avoid having fear on the actual birth day, but i do lots of research and checked with some of my friends that had delivered via c section of how it is like, for eg. many say the operation is super fast, it takes only about 30min for the operation to end, they also told me i will feel tugging on my tummy when the doctor is getting the baby out as well as because i am conscious since they will only numb my lower part of the body, so i will be able to hear all the sounds going on in the operation. By understanding all this makes me less scared of the actual day and have some rough idea of how it is going to be like.

But for me, i do know that natural birth delivery is definitely out of the question for me, even though i didn't watch the actual footage video of how the baby arrived to this world, but i watched video of women going through natural birth delivery and it is too tough for me to handle. They are just so brave to tolerate hours of the contractions and i don't think i can do it, so even though the doctor told me my body is able to deliver naturally, but no thanks!

My gynae is a cute man when he always pretend he didn't know i want to deliver via c section when i have been telling him during my 1st trimester because he is a pro-natural doctor. Haha he will always ask me why and try to bluff me! Haha for eg, the long hours of waiting and contractions before the actual pushing. I have never seen any women delivering via natural birth get the baby out in 30mins, it is usually long hours of waiting for the dilation, even though every women varies, but during this long hours of waiting comes with contraction, as much as they mentioned there is epidural available, but i just don't want my vagina to expand up to 10cm because the post birth pain will be terrible even though many mentioned the recovery is faster than c section. The pushing part probably will takes 10min but i am referring to the moment waiting for the cervix to open, it is just too long!

In Singapore, if you opt for natural delivery but imagine waiting for so many hours but the baby still doesn't want to come out and you eventually have to go for c section, it's pretty much waste of time isn't it?  Especially they will charge you twice as well, one for natural birth and one more due to emergency C-section. I doesn't want to take this risk. Even though many are always pro towards natural birth, but i think birth plan is personal for every mummy, you have the choice to decide which is more comfortable for you and not be swayed by just because everyone is going natural, or hearsay natural is good for baby and you want to do the same. Many baby that are delivered through c section are living healthy too, i am a true case as i am also delivered via c section.

Thus i will prefer planned c section and choose it to be my birth plan because it's fast, less worrying compare to natural birth on when your water bag is going to break, and what to do if it really do and wondering which day is your baby coming to this world. If you are a first time mummy going for the planned c section, you probably will only be worrying the actual thing on the actual day.

 I shall share in another post my birth experience after that!

Till then.