Running Out of Time

I'm at my 29 weeks now and time is running out for us, in term of settling the obstetrician. We regarded Dr Tan Hang Yang highly and when he announced his retirement, we were left in a dazed. So finding another obstetrician as great as Dr Tan is not as easy as ABC.

In summary, we visited not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 obstetrician.

We started with Dr Seng Shay Way. He practices at Gleneagles. I was being looked after by him in my 1st trimester. But unfortunately, I had 3 spotting episodes which one of the times, he was not in town. His clinic staff was not willing to reveal the standing in obstetrician. So after a few phone calls on the same day, his clinic staff finally made an appointment for me to see the stand in obstetrician, who is Dr John Yam. There's nothing wrong with Dr Seng, but he's not going to be around for my delivery at end of December. This made us reconsider.

Dr John Yam delivers at Gleaneagles and Mount Alvernia, if I'm not wrong. He's polite but his ultrasound machine seems a little behind times. Anyway because of my placenta previa, I decided a more experienced obstetrician is what I need.

So following my friend's recommendation and also a lot of good reviews online, I managed to secure an appointment with Dr Ho Hon Kwok. He's really detailed and experienced. I agreed with what online reviews  got to say about him. He's totally a zero risk takers. By this time, I was in my 2nd trimester. Throughout my 2n trimester, I had to go for check up every 2 weeks. The medications cost a lot and I was given a vaginal scope to check my cervical length and placenta position at each visit. His clinic waiting time was very very long. We often had to wait 1-2 hours before my turn. I guess he's too busy, some of my questions he didn't really answer me.

The renovation at Mount Alvernia is also driving me crazy. Car park is a problem and the renovation will only finish early next year. Dr Ho only delivers at Mount Alvernia which leads me to reconsider again.

With me approaching 3rd trimester, I decided to make one last switch. I called up Dr Irene Chua's clinic. Surprisingly, I am given a time slot to see her quite soon. Actually, when I was deciding to switch away from Dr Seng, I called up both Dr Ho and Dr Chua's clinic. I don't know why at that time, Dr Chua's clinic phone was engaged perpetually. So I ended up with Dr Ho.

Back to Dr Irene Chua... she was recommended by this female GP that I went to for female problem. Her website showed a very young doctor and in reality, Dr Irene Chua is really slim and pretty, not to mention, she looks young.

I had 2 appointments with Dr Irene Chua by now and have kind of decided that we will settle for her. She's very relaxed which for the 1st time in my pregnancy, makes me feel so at ease and lightened up. While my cervical length is not really long compared to normal (still hovering 2.5cm to 3cm), she said I can actually stop my medication. Also, she only did ultrasound scan on me to check on my placenta and cervix length. What good news is that! However, at the last check, my placenta is still covering my cervix opening and XP2 is at transverse-lie position. Totally no good for natural birth.

I'm to see her again 2 weeks later to see if XP2 heads down and manages to push the placenta away for a good chance for natural birth. She did warned me about the complications of placenta previa (which I mentioned before in my blog).

As I'm in my 3rd trimester now, her staff wants us to decide by next visit, which hospital I want to deliver. Dr Irene Chua delivers at Gleneagles, Mount Alvernia, Mount Elizabeth and Thomson Medical Centre. Dilemma sets me. I need a single bedded room. I need good and friendly nurses and mid wives. I need good Lactation Consultant. I guess... I will blog about my choice of hospital in my next post.