When You Are Finally Expecting

The day has come that I can freely announce to the world my greatest joy to date!

It is now official. Yes folks, I am finally… PREGNANT!!!!! I am now 6 weeks on the way to motherhood. Woohooo!



Remember my post last January 7? It was the day I found out a friend (who got married a month after me) was pregnant. It was I guess the fourth announcement I got of the same type for the year, and it made me really depressed… and envious. I spent the whole weekend whining and moping over it. Why is it so hard for me to have the same blessing as they have? But as I whine, I prayed hard as well.

And God, as usual, was very quick to answer my prayers. As Riki used to say, “In God’s good time baby…in God’s good time".

In God’s good time indeed! The following week, Monday to be exact, I was supposed to get my monthly period. And it didn’t came. And I WAS NEVER LATE. I was so regular I know exactly the day when the next visit will come. That night, I bought my very first PREGNANCY TEST KIT.

Tuesday, Jan 11.
Early that morning, Riki woke me up bugging me to take the test already (they say it is advisable to take such test early in the morning over any other time of the day for best results). I told him it was my first day of missed period so maybe we should wait one or two more days just to be sure. And besides, I have an early and important telecon meeting at 8 am. I might not be able to concentrate on it depending on the results. But my dear husband was so persistent. So still-sleepy me took the test, and whoa! The results were TWO PURPLE LINES. Yes, you read it right. PURPLE lines. Nope, I didn’t choose the specific kit brand, I just bought it OTC at Mercury Drug and they gave me that brand. Call that destiny.

When I saw the lines, I read the instructions in the box again:

STANDARD OF INTERPRETATION:
1. If only the purple band is visible in the upper part of the control region and no clear band on the test region, the result is negative (not pregnant).
2. If two distinct purple bands appear on the control and test region, the result is positive (pregnant).
3. If no visible lines appear, the test should be repeated using a fresh new device.

There it is. TWO PURPLE BANDS = POSITIVE (PREGNANT).
Thank you Lord for answering our prayers!!!!!!!!!

Riki and I were so happy and excited we called our mothers and Riki’s Dad right then and there. Yes, early that very morning. They all advised us to go see a doctor for confirmation.

So, after going about our normal work requirements that morning, we can’t wait any longer so we both took the afternoon off work and went to Medical City for consultation (let me just say that hospital is so beautiful compared to the others I have been to before! There is even a Starbucks at the ground floor!). At this point, we don’t have our own OB-GYNE yet so just did a walk-in to anyone who is available that moment. I just have one requirement to the hospital staff arranging our appointment, I want a LADY doctor.

The lady doctor we consulted asked me the standard questions at first (i.e when was my last visit, medical history, allergies, etc.) and then performed an IE (Internal Examination) on me. I have never in my life consulted an OB before so I thought an IE was just like the normal physical examination. But I was so wrong! Shocked I may be at what this procedure required, I obediently followed the doctor’s instructions and submitted myself to her examination. Afterwards, she declared my ovary’s position ok. Whew. I was so weak after that procedure.

Wrapping up our consultation, she said it was too early still (I was declared only four weeks pregnant that time) to do an ultrasound to check if the baby has a heartbeat. So she instructed us to come back on the second week of February. What!??!!? I have to wait that long to confirm if my pregnancy is indeed viable or not? So I asked her directly if I can safely assume that I am already and indeed pregnant, and she said, results of pregnancy tests are normally considered 99% accurate (and since I bought my kit for a price higher than a hundred bucks), yes I can safely assume I am pregnant already.

We left the hospital BITIN. We went there hoping for a confirmation on our initial findings and all we got is an instruction to return four weeks later to get that confirmation. We didn’t even get a pep talk on what to do or expect during pregnancy! Well, she just advised me to start taking folic acid already for the “neural tube development something” of my baby.

So we decided to get a second opinion and went straight to Clinica Manila. The lady doctor who attended to us was more accommodating and friendlier than the first. However, she told us the same things (that the ultrasound to determine the heartbeat and viability of the pregnancy can only be done when I’m six weeks or later already). Nevertheless, she was able to answer all our queries and gave us preliminary tips on how to make sure this pregnancy will be safe and viable.

We still went home bitin, but at least pacified and better informed about this great development in our family life.


Wednesday, Jan 12.
Remember the friend who I learned was pregnant last Friday? It turned out it was a false alarm. I immediately contacted her via email (she is out-of-the-country) and asked what happened. She told me the same things I just detailed above. Positive pregnancy test, initial tests and advise by the doctor to come back two weeks after for the ultrasound, and assurance that pregnancy test results are almost accurate. She had spotting and heavy bleeding afterwards the day after they went to the doctor. It turned out to be her monthly period.

Now I am totally paranoid. Aside from the pregnancy results, I have no other evidence that I am indeed pregnant! Well, based on my research, I have all the symptoms of a pregnant woman. Tenderness/soreness of a certain body part, gagging, bloating (yes, I know this can be occurring even to non-pregnant women!), headaches and fevers, and most important of all, missed period.

But until I see the baby inside my womb via an ultrasound, I cannot be one hundred percent sure! This is torture.

So, Riki and I decided that we should just limit this good news to our family and close friends for the meantime, until we get the final confirmation.

Saturday, Jan 15.
While waiting for my ultrasound schedule, I have already started looking for my prospective OB-GYNE. I’ve asked my mother friends for referrals and advise.

One of them referred a resident doctor in Makati Med, which is near my office. So we went to check her out that Saturday morning. But before even reaching her room, we went through a lot of stress already – full parking, maze of dark halls with no clear signs on what sections are being housed there, slow elevators servicing selected floors. Everyone and everything seems to be in chaos. The ambiance is indeed very hospital-like, a place for sick people. Unlike in the new Medical City where you won’t feel you are inside a hospital.

But since we are there already, we still tried to find the doctor. When we finally reached her room, there was a very long queue of patients waiting outside. She must be really good. But we were advised by the assistant that we might not be able to make it inside till the end of consultation time due to the long queue.

So we left without even seeing the doctor. Oh well, everything happens for a reason. Maybe we are destined to find our OB-GYNE in Medical City after all.


Tuesday, Jan 25.
I am attending a workshop in Singapore for the week. After our session on this day, I went back to my hotel room to rest for a while before I meet a friend for dinner. It was then that I discovered I was bleeding. It was not that heavy but still I got scared. First of all, I was in a foreign land, it was already nighttime so most clinics might be closed already, and most importantly, Riki was not there with me. I don’t know what to do next. Good thing my friend Lisa was there so I called her up and she persuaded me to go see a doctor. She was able to find a 24-hour Women’s Clinic in one of the local hospitals and brought me there.

All these times, I haven’t called Riki yet to tell him what happened. I was so scared he will get mad at me. He was having second thoughts about me traveling in the first place given my present condition.

The specialist in the clinic was a pleasant young lady doctor, thank God. (On the way to the hospital, Lisa was telling me her experience with a male OB-GYNE there.) She initially asked me about my pregnancy history and the bleeding incident. Afterwards, she said I need to undergo the ultrasound so that she can check if the baby is ok and what caused the bleeding.

Riki had been very excited and is eagerly waiting for this ultrasound schedule. He said last week that I should not do it without him by my side. He wanted that we see our baby for the first time together. So when the doctor told me that we have to do it now, I felt sad and guilty. I wanted Riki to be there during the first ultrasound as we planned, but this is a critical moment. If I don’t do it now, I might be in bigger trouble.

So the doctor proceeded with the ultrasound procedure. You might be thinking this very moment that the ultrasound I am talking about is the normal one where the physician places the device on top of the woman’s belly. You’re wrong. For the first trimester of pregnancy, the ultrasound being performed is transvaginal. I don’t need to explain further.

And there it was. Right in front of me, in the screen, is the image of my baby with a heartbeat! I AM INDEED PREGNANT!!! And most importantly, the baby is ok. I cried alone silently, out of great joy of seeing her/him for the first time, that she/he is indeed growing inside me. I cried alone silently, out of sadness, that I can’t share this moment with Riki as we planned.

I didn’t get the printed copy of the ultrasound. When I fly back to Manila, Riki and I will do this procedure again, and we will see our baby with a heartbeat already, moving inside my womb, together. Then we will get the printed copy.

The doctor said the spotting was normal for some pregnant women. There was nothing wrong with me nor the baby. She just gave me medicine to help stop the bleeding and help the baby grow healthier. The spotting stopped the next day.

I called Riki and told him everything that happened when we were already out of the hospital. He was worried of course, and sad that he wasn’t there beside me, but I think the joy of finally confirming that we will be parents soon overshadowed the former. He can’t wait for me and our baby to be back home.

This incident was indeed scary, but I guess my baby just wanted to expedite her/his first appearance to Mom, to cast away all my doubts and to assure me that she/he is indeed growing inside, so that I can take care of her/him better now.

What a bright kid! Love you baby.