Being pregnant is a meaningful journey. I have a normal menstruation cycle, upon expected date of next period which is every 28 of the month, no any trace of blood. Waiting for about 5 days, I decided to check using pregnancy test kit which can be bought in drugstore. Anxiously, I carefully read and follow all the instructions. After 5 minutes, the results were 2 lines….POSITIVE!!!! Mixed emotions, I cried. I felt happiness knowing a new life stirring inside me…my 1st baby. On the other hand, feeling bothered on a big responsibilities coming…being a mother.
On the next two days, I decided to see an Obstetrician at Calamba Doctors Hospital. The first prenatal visit includes physical examination, medical history, laboratory, risk assessment, due dates and nutritional counseling. The doctor counted my pregnancy as 5 weeks and 2 days. Feeling stunned, I curiously asked her, how she comes up on that number? She explains well that health professionals traditionally start to count the weeks of pregnancy from the last menstruation period (LMP). This is a holdover from the days when there were no other ways to assess fetal age. When you think about this, it’s a bit misleading when the doctor says that you are 4 weeks along, when the embryo is actually 2 weeks old only since the conception took place around the middle of the month. She also advises me to take folic acid for the good development of baby. Eat lots of fruits, vegetables and meat. Drink about 2 liters of water in a day. No heavy exercise. I told her that I have history of Urinary tract infections (UTI) which I normally take Co-Amoxiclav as antibiotic. Though this medicine doesn’t have harmful effects on pregnant women, she asks me to be careful on every medicine that I would take from this period. Some laboratory test was advised such as Urinalysis, blood count (CBC) and Trans-vaginal Ultrasound.
Pregnant women are prone to UTI, I have experienced this… frequent needs to urinate, pain while urinating and even blood in the urine. My urinalysis result turns 8-10 PUS cells an indications of UTI. After drinking a lot of water and natural buko juice, my next laboratory results decreased the PUS cells to 4-6 and the pain during urination definitely gone. The doctor advise me to continue the natural way of treating this infection, she doesn’t recommended any antibiotics. Total blood count results are all okay. On the following week, I have my very first trans-vaginal ultrasound at Wellcare Clinic and Labs Inc. Before the procedure the assistant ask me to urinate in order to empty out my bladder. The radiologist tells me that the egg cell comes from the right ovary, she showed me the flickering light on the monitor that indicates the heartbeat of my baby… what a great feeling. The embryo now measures 1.1cm equivalent to 7weeks and 2days old. Unexpectedly, there is a minimal subchorionic hemorrhage found out. The doctor asks me to take a Dydrogesterone (Duphaston) for about 1 week, 3 times a day for treatment. The next visit to my Obstetrician was good. This time Doppler instruments were used by the doctor to hear the heartbeat of my baby….more loud clear I feel so delighted.
As of now I am 13 weeks in this journey….looking forward for a healthy baby to be born by September.
