I guess you can say we first suspected it when rie felt nauseous and vomited on the plane on our flight to BKK on 23rd December. Her period was not yet due then but conception typically occurs 1 week before next period (You can go read up more on all the timings related to conceiving a baby, i.e ovulation, implantation etc). We were not sure then as it was really still too early for detection but maybe you can say a mother's six sense is pretty accurate. Detection by pregnancy kit (detection of HCG) is most effective about 1 week after missing of period but some more sensitive ones can detect even a couple of days before missing of period.
So after this suspicion and us being anxious, we started to use the pregnancy strips after we got back from BKK. We started testing on 28th Dec, and as we bought a whole bunch of pregnancy strips online at very cheap prices, we used it every day, once in the morning and then once at night. HCG levels doubles around every 2 days, meaning 50% more every 12 hours. The double line indication was very very faint on the first try, but it seemed to get darker and darker each time, but still very faint and not counted as pregnant yet. We were not sure whether was it just us or if it meant something. I guess we were just too anxious. haha. On the 30th night, we got a double line which looked much more convincing and it felt like a positive to us.
Now that it is more convincing, though still not very very certain, we decided to do the test again the next day morning, 31st Dec morning, with a pregnancy kit we bought from Watsons to double check. I know by now we sound very kiasu and ganchiong spider; we could have waited for a week to get a better result if any. So we woke up on the 31st Dec morning and were again very anxious to take the urine test. The result was as shown in the picture below.
Watson Pregnancy Test Result
It clearly showed 2 lines even though the 2nd was light, but clearly visible and according to the usage instructions it is a positive. Our joy was building after this result, but me being me, liked things to be absolute certain hence I was still trying to be reserved about it. We cannot forget this day, 31st Dec as it was the last day of the year 2016. The best thing to happen in 2016 had to wait till the last day; good things must wait. If confirmed, this would be the best thing to happen to us in 2016 and the most important thing we wished for in 2016 realized.
We welcomed year 2017 with joy and excitement. The first thing we did was to book an appointment with a gynae to confirm our joy. On the first working day of 2017, Tuesday 3rd Jan, I called up Edinburgh Clinic at Choa Chu Kang to schedule an appointment with Dr Chia Yee Tien. To our delight, we managed to book an appointment for that week Friday, 6th Jan in the evening 630pm. To put it simply, there are a few reasons we chose to schedule an appointment with Dr Chia; she consults at a clinic in Choa Chu Kang too which is near our house, she consults at night which means we do not have to take leave to go, She was a female (rie was not sure if she prefers a female or male gynae yet so we chose a female one first), and she had many positive reviews online.
The next few days we continued to test with pregnancy kit from different brands. Now all kits showed double lines and its getting darker by the day. We even "spent a bomb" (very expensive relative to the strips) and went to get a digital one from Clearblue, as we read that it is supposedly the best and most accurate pregnancy test on the market. Every test turned out positive and we can be 99% sure now, just need the visit to the gynae to 100% confirm with ultrasound.
Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test Result
All the test kits we used
Friday came in a flash. For the few days waiting to visit the gynae, I experienced a feeling I never felt before, a mixture of joy, anticipation, anxiety, pressure and lots of different scenarios playing out in my mind. I guess one may only get to experience it when they become a father to be. During these days I also did a lot of read up on early pregnancy, about the dos and don’ts, like what food to eat or not, what things to do to not and too many information for me to sum it up here. As a first time father to be, the worry is damn real. Maybe it’s just me, different people will feel differently but this was how I felt.
The visit to Dr Chia Yee Tien was very pleasant. She was very patient when she spoke with us. After getting a few information from us, she started with the ultrasound and it was the first time we saw rieby, as we affectionately calls it. Rieby was still an embryo looking like just a tiny bean on the ultrasound screen. It was very small but definitely there and positioned properly in the womb. Rieby was dated to be 5 weeks old and did not show a heartbeat yet. We will have to wait for the next visit at week 7 to see the heartbeat. They counted the weeks starting from the 1st day of the last period hence 5 weeks; don’t ask me why but that’s just how they date. Now even though it is 100% confirmed, it does not end here, there will be so much more to come; the long 9 months journey had only just began. At least we can store away the pregnancy kits for some time now.
First look at Rieby
So yeah! again. We are going to be parents!
