Had a high fever yesterday, brought about by my sore throat. And I had a sore throat because I was so emotional (I blame it on the pregnancy hormones) and was yelling at my hubby. So whose fault?
Then, I started mild spotting/having brown discharge the next day. Of course I gan jiong la, I thought my fever is harming my fetus. I have been doing my research on OB/GYN reviews, so I decided to visit one of the gynaes that I shortlisted- Dr Adrian B. Woodworth’s clinic at Seng Kang MRT, Thomson Women’s Clinic. Do note the opening hours of his clinic since it is different every day. This gynae has so many degrees, like quite pro.
They don’t do appointments, so it is basically like normal clinic where you walk-in and register on the spot. I waited for almost an hour, and the clinic was so cramped there is no place to sit. So kinda a bad experience. Can’t imagine when I’m in my third trimester, have to visit the gynae every 1-2 weeks, so much time is wasted on waiting right… 😦
Finally its my turn to see the gynae. I waited for an hour for a consultation that lasts 10 minutes. He did a quick ultrasound and confirmed everything was fine with the baby, then prescribed 2 boxes of Duphaston, which is a progesterone pill. Also reminded me to refrain from tea/coffee, intercourse and have as much bed rest as possible. Since having spotting could be a sign of miscarriage or unstable pregnancy. *Now I’m worried*
And the bill for that consultation was about $260 (for consultation, scan and medicine). Quite expensive in my opinion, but at least I had a peace of mind that my baby is ok. Actually I was a little apprehensive about taking the pills, since there is a warning sign saying ‘poison’.
So, I did some reading on Duphaston, and this was what I found:
Progesterone is a vital hormone to maintain a pregnancy, and if the mother is producing low levels of it, the womb cannot maintain the fetus. So, in cases of threatened miscarriage or previous miscarriage experience, doctors would prescribe this synthetic progesterone pill to keep the pregnancy viable.
I followed his instructions, and my spotting stopped after 2 days. Later, when I mentioned to my colleague, who is a mother of 1 and currently also pregnant with #2, she told me that spotting is common during pregnancy as long as no bright red bleeding and sharp pains. Anyways.
One side effect from these pills though is that my morning sickness got worst. But I read online that it is common, and will go away once I’m off medication. So, I actually only took half a box and stopped.
Anyways, I decided not to continue seeing this gynae for the following personal reasons:
-Long waiting time
-He speaks too fast, I feel like I am missing out some information esp with my pregnancy brain
-This is my first pregnancy, was looking at a more detailed gynae who would give advice and encouragement
xoxo,
singaporenoobmum 