proof

we'd been told to be at chong hua's ultrasound unit by 8am. OB didn't show til almost 10am as she was "doing the rounds" and i only hoped that i would get as much due attention from her when it was my turn. we live in the Pila-ppines after all*.


despite the number of people sat in rows in the waiting area, chong hua's women's unit hummed with efficiency and the newness of it all. a kick ass flat screen tv was showing 300 but we weren't there to watch a film, and truth be told, we had an office to run. 

so finally it was my turn. we saw a vague shape on the screen where the head was supposed to be. and the first thing you hear is a rapid thadudthadudthadudthadudthadud. "that's the baby's heartbeat she said." 

so we had proof. i was inhabited.   

(cost: trans-vaginal sonography Php700.00) 

*an old joke every time i have to line up for anything. a pun on Philippines. pila means to line up.

my doctor is peachy

becoming a stranger in a strange land meant leaving behind comfort zone connections like doctors, dermatologists and dentists. and while i gladly shared those connections with my friends back in manila, being in cebu and being pregnant were not conducive to the same set up. 


so i looked for my OB online. www.istorya.net/forums clued me in on some things cebu, and it was not a bad place to go looking. i went for the one that was happily recommended by quite a number of forum members. 


but that meant the waiting room at her medical arts clinic at Chong Hua Hospital was full to the brim and in fact spilling over into the hallway. never mind that i rang ahead to check on when was a good time to go. after lunch crawled to 4pm and i left, unsure if i was willing to go back. pregnant or not, i had other things to deal with that didn't involve enduring wowowee, a foley-quality squeaking hinge, and a claustrophobic waiting room of women, children, yayas & helpers and a hallway clacking with the heels of med reps (the clinic was shared with two pediatricians). 


the following week, with BBB in tow, the wait was for over an hour. 


and as the days and weeks and months marched on, i'm glad to report the initial effort and the waiting were worth it. 


(cost: consultation fee was Php300 per visit)

yes we are

my body was almost too fast in clearing depo provera. so sometime in december, i did wonder if the hint of nausea and overwhelming mid-afternoon fatigue meant anything (and i didn't tell anyone). still, i had scheduled the december holidays for a trip to baguio and sagada, and being pregnant or not wasn't going to change that. so we froze our noses and toes off in baguio and huddled under the covers on new year's eve in sagada (it was cold and drizzling and we were tired from white water rafting). to me it was a vital trip to close 2008. 

first chance i got when we got back to cebu, i headed for watson's in ayala to get a kit. two kits in fact, and that was good (because i screwed up the first kit).  

hello 2009.


(can't remember the brands and actual costs but for sure both were not over Php300)