Prince Court Part 2

I feel so awful, I just threw up ... yet again! :( 

I went to Coffee Bean @ Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) after my appointment with my ObGyn, Dr Paul Tay.

Ever since the start of my pregnancy, I haven't been able to have a decent meal without it ending up in the toilet.

Naturally, I was hungry BUT my mouth feels like lead and my tummy feels gassy all the time (burping seems to be my 'best friend').

At that exact moment when I saw Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, I knew that I HAD to get a slice of chocolate cake and ice-blended Mocha to satisfy my coffee & cake craving (heaven!). 

After walloping the chocolate cake and happily slurping the ice-blended drink, hubby booked movie tickets to watch 'Pirates'.

The movie was AWESOME! 

The final scene which lasted less than a minute, was showed after the credits rolled ... it only left us wanting MORE!

Can't wait for the next installment!

On the way home, I was already feeling queasy in the car.

I told hubby that I would NOT want another chocolate cake nor ice-blended cake anywhere in the near future.

Once home, I literally RAN to the bathroom & threw up everything in my tummy :( a not-so-pleasant experience for this preggy mommy ... 

On a more POSITIVE note, our consultation fee at PCMC came up to LESS than RM 100!!! 

Honestly, you ain't gonna get this amount from Ampang Puteri, ever!

Dr Paul also clarified to me that even if I don't experience the Braxton Hicks pain, it should be fine as long as both mom and baby are healthy.

After our consultation, Dr Paul encouraged hubby & me to visit the labor room. 

He wanted us to see the labor room, the nursery and the hospital room so that we would have a feel of how it would be like when the time comes.

Being first-time parents, it helps us to be mentally prepared ... like, really.

It's daunting, especially for me as a first-time mom, as I wouldn't know what to expect and have no inkling as to how the birth experience feels like.

So we went our merry way to the labor room which was situated on the same floor, 6th, nervous at the same time ... as if I was going to deliver that day!

Upon reaching the labor ward, we were immediately greeted by one of the nurses, Jamuna.

Jamuna was really friendly and always had a smile on her face.

I was thinking to myself, if I have this nurse beside me during labor, it would be a breeze!

So Jamuna brought us around, showing us the labor room and the nursery whilst fielding all sorts of questions both hubby and I threw at her. 

She explained clearly and ensured we fully understood.

One good thing was ... the labor room didn't look daunting at all!

It looked just like a hotel room (minus the carpet) complete with a sofa, flat-screen TV, a desk, WiFi, a bathroom (with a shower) and a huge cupboard.

Of course, there were some machines and other equipments used to facilitate the baby delivery process.

Jamuna then brought us to see the baby nursery.

There were only 2 babies inside since the rest were rooming-in with their mothers.

The mothers have the option to leave their babies in the nursery where the babies would be taken care of by the nurses ... fed, bathed, cleaned.

Alternatively, mothers can have their babies stay in the room with them.

Delivery room (Ignore the messy bed ... post-baby delivery)

Spacious bathroom here

Looks cosy, isn't it? The curtain covers the main entrance into the room. The door on the right leads to the bathroom.

Jamuna then escorted us to the ward and introduced us to another nurse by the name of Riza before leaving the both of us with Riza to enquire about the rooms.

Actual picture of the room! :D

When Riza showed us the room, it was like a hotel ... no hospital feel whatsoever!

Riza was equally friendly and offered as much information as possible.

She assured us that should we have any queries at all, just call the hospital and request to be connected to the maternity section.

This was important, particularly for me since I'm a first-time mother and won't be able to identify actual labor pains.

It was also good to know that they were available 24/7 to answer calls.

Picture credit to PCMC FB page

I've never felt so confident in delivering my baby here after speaking to both nurses and for the fact that I would be well-taken care of by PCMC. :)

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Pregnancy Week 38: Rest Rest Rest!

For my fellow gorgeous ladies who are in their 38th week & still able to pull yourselves out of bed to brave through traffic and spend long hours at work or you're a stay-at-home mom who's expecting a baby but need to manage your other kids ... I salute you!

I'm pooped!

So I'm grateful that I listened to hubby to take leave from work earlier!

Woke up this morning (feeling half-awake) with pain in the ribs (both ribs!) and then I could actually see the shape Lil' Jr's feet! 

Jr was doing a split in the belly and when I felt my way around it, I found BOTH feet sticking out!

Of course, it was painful so I had to give it a slight push (go back in my tummy, feet!) and spoke to my belly, "Jr, mommy is in pain... I know it's a tight space for you in there but it's really painful. Why don't you come out earlier?" 

Honestly, I can't wait to see Jr do the split ... in the flesh! :D

When Jr finally slowed down the gymnastic act, I glanced over at the clock and saw that it was 8am, where I would normally still be on the road heading to work. 

My work starts from the moment I step into the office. 

My phone will be ringing first thing in the morning (I wonder if they have a CCTV somewhere to track when I reach the office?), I'll have to sort through like a gazillion emails and there will ALWAYS be some form of problem which I'll need to immediately manage ... if it's too late, it's always ME who'll need to do the damage control ... 

Under normal circumstances I won't vent about work but when I compare my workload with my peers, I am the ONLY person with a list of action items after EVERY meeting. 

I'm the ONLY female in the group ... maybe that's the reason why? Only God knows.

Though it's a collective effort where all of us need to achieve the same goals, my team and I have been appointed as the unofficial Damage Control Team who are answerable to any form of failures and we'll proceed with the service recovery, which takes a lot of time and effort.

However, when things go well or when the department displays stellar performance, acknowledgement is given to others.

I never seem to receive any positive feedback from my immediate manager (which is weird as I constantly receive acknowledgement from other people whom I don't report directly to and they seem to understand the vast portfolio I'm overseeing). 

My line manager never fails to make me feel inadequate, to the extent that I feel as if I'm underperforming, despite me being in her department for only 7 months.

I'm glued to my desk the whole day and people look for me at every single hour of the day, yup, even AFTER 7pm when others would have normally gone home!

When I compare myself to my peers, I just can't help but wonder, is it because I'm the only female in the team and they're dumping things on me? 

Despite my short tenure with the team, my learning curve is steep and the experience & knowledge gained does not reflect me being there for 7 months. 

Our counterparts and business partners come looking for me instead of my peers who are more senior. 

Not bragging but that's why I'm feeling overwhelmed (with the workload and the constant attention I need to give others) at the same time confused with my boss (who keeps telling me I'm not doing enough yet everyone else is telling me otherwise!). 

How can a girl NOT get confused in this predicament? 

The only consolation I have is when my team members would tell me how appreciative they are of me and that they learnt a lot from me.

The confessed that prior to me joining the team, there was NO structure so all of them were scrambling to complete tasks which weren't even theirs to begin with!

Thankfully, the structure had helped my team work efficiently and relieve some of the burden ... they're not too stressed out nowadays in comparison to before.

Oh yeah, they told me that I'm their 'shield' ... protect them against 'evil' ... against people who used to ask them to do all sorts of work.

THIS REPRESENTS MY TEAM'S BOND WITH EACH OTHER ... I LOVE MY TEAM!

You can imagine how worried I am not what I'm not going to be there for quite some time ... I just hope and pray that my team would be alright.

So in preparation of my maternity leave, I prepared a hand-over checklist to my replacement which I started over a month ago. 

He came in 2 weeks ago and started shadowing me around; attended meetings, conference calls, copied him in my email responses and ran through the oh-so-many reports which my team had to consolidate and produce. 

My team's portfolio is not THAT huge (sarcasm intended): 

handling complaints & service recovery

diairizing marketing campaigns

update manuals

send communication cascades to the entire department about anything & everything under the sun!

perform audits

complete systems testing & produce reports

manage staff members who failed audit or received customer complaints (despite them having their own reporting managers but my boss says she wants to CENTRALIZE everything under MY team since she believes that these managers aren't providing timely feedback nor taking appropriate action.)

and some other mumbo jumbo ... 

Anyway, back to my replacement, he told me that there were SOOOO many things to look at that he didn't know WHERE to start.  

Ok, fine ... I understand, it could be overwhelming ... it still is for me.

The best part, he feels lost as he is assuming that it would be difficult for him to organize & manage his work. 

I was like, "Ok, but that's what the checklist is for". 

I had even gone to the extent of detailing a DAILY checklist where all he needs to do is tick complete/pending. 

That's it!

I also linked ALL the relevant files to this checklist so it's in ONE view and he does not need to scramble around looking for the files in our department's shared drive (that has like a gazillion files in there!)

I was trying to make the transition as smooth as possible for this guy, I tell you!

*Sigh*

Work aside, I'm just enjoying the final weeks of pregnancy as I've read that you need all the energy possible to prepare you for labor ... they say it's HARD WORK.

Honestly, I can't wait to meet my bundle of joy! :)

It's awesome now that I get to sleep more and have proper meals at home (unlike when I'm in the office where I only munch on biscuits / buns and the non-pregnant clan seem to be more hungry than I am!!).

Best part is not thinking about work at all! 

So I'm enjoying this while it lasts...

Pregnancy Week 38: Babies Hiccup Even in the Womb!

Betcha never knew that baby's hiccup in the womb, right?

Yeah, makes you and me both. :)

It all started when I felt Lil' Jr giving me consistent 'kicks' every 3 seconds for a certain duration (at times lasting between 10 to 20 minutes ... yeah, THAT long!).

So I thought that the lil' one was doing some sort of karate or exercise or tumbling around doing somersaults ... ok, a bit far-fetched there ... 

I'd feel it when I'm in meetings or driving or even sleeping (or trying to sleep in the middle of the night after going to the bathroom for the umpteenth time!)

As it was my first pregnancy, I thought nothing of it until I read this up on the Internet ... 

And found out that ... baby hiccups even in the womb!

Not to worry, they say it's extremely normal and it's a sign that your Jr is a healthy baby! :D *Happy mommy!*

They will continue to hiccup even after delivery.

Apart from Lil' Jr's hiccup episodes, the lil' one's feet are also consistently pushing itself upwards and going into my left ribs!!! (ouch!) 

My lower back is always feeling uncomfortable and all I want is a back massage EVERY single day ... not to mention that I'm having a tough time walking too whenever baby starts kicking and pushing ... as if wanting to make it's way out of the tummy!

Hubby asked me to take leave from work a 1-week earlier as our Lil' Jr is due on 8 June 2011.

Thank goodness I started my leave today! 

Trust me, I've been extremely busy at work, as if other people are pregnant and NOT ME! 

I also have to drive for an hour or so to work and another hour or so to go home ... it'll be a longer journey if it rains. 

Wouldn't want to have contractions on the road now, do we?

Now, the only thing I haven't been able to recognize is the Braxton Hicks pain.

Not sure if it's the feeling of having your tummy tense suddenly but I've been reading a lot on other mothers / mothers-to-be experiencing this.

Let me just Google that ... 

Ampang Puteri vs Prince Court

I decided to blog this since I couldn't find sufficient details on PCMC and the fact that I received a lot of recommendation to deliver at Ampang Puteri with Dr Fauziah.

Check-up fees:
Ampang Puteri MYR 250 - 300 (with or without medication)
- sometimes they would provide an itemized bill, sometimes they won't

Prince Court MYR 194 (my first visit, in my 37th week, this was without medication as I still had my supply of Obimin Pluz)
- they provided an itemized bill and even explained on each item


Consultation experience:

Ampang Puteri - Dr Fauziah

KPJ Ampang Puteri main entrance

- She's always on emergency leave. 

- Her replacement doesn't furnish your visitation details in your record book so Dr Fauziah will have no idea what had transpired during your visit.

- Front desk won't call you to advise that she's on emergency. They will say that patients should be calling in to confirm the appointment. (like .... What???)

1) You go in, she'll ask how are things, she scans and says that baby is healthy.

2) You ask questions and she gives general responses (which you can read off the Internet).

3) Conversations NEVER revolve around you so you're left wondering ... am I doing ok?

- Waiting time may last up to 3 hours as she's the most sought after doctor.

- You would need to check with the front desk for future appointments and the cost of delivery at the hospital.

- She advised that if she's not around when you're due for delivery, someone will replace her.
 


Prince Court - Dr Paul Tay

Prince Court Medical Centre view from Jalan Bukit Bintang

Picture credit to PCMC FB page

- The hospital sends SMS confirmation on the appointment 2 days prior to your visit.

- Waiting time approximately an hour or so

- He welcomes you with a huge smile on his face and instantly you feel ... Much better.

- He opens up the conversation by asking how you're doing and to ask him any questions. He will definitely take his time in explaining and making sure we understood, etc. Hubby was extremely happy with Dr Paul.

- During the baby scan, he took his time to check on the baby and field more questions from us, giving reassurance etc.

- He provided the breakdown of the fees to expect (normal vs C-section). He was even able to confirm the date of our next visit!

- He provided assurance that he will personally be available during delivery.

- Added that we could request to visit the maternity ward and labour room.

- Before I stepped out the door, he told me to come in to the hospital if I feel any pain at all.

- You can call Prince Court Medical 24 hours hotline +603 2160 0000 to set an appointment or to check for an estimate charges for specific procedure. (For the record, the call centre agents are professional and very helpful, it's really pleasant to liaise with them).


Dr. Paul Tay Yee Siang
Speciality: Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Location: Women and Children Level 6
Nationality: Malaysian
Languages spoken: Mandarin, English, Bahasa Malaysia
Medical School: MB, BCh, BAO (UK), MD (UK), MRCOG (UK)
Member of the Royal College of Obstetrics and GynaecologyConsultant Obstetrician & GynaecologistPost Graduate Clinical TrainingMD (UK) MRCOG (UK)Diploma in Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare (UK) 

Why I Switched Hospitals

After being with Dr Fauziah and the experience encountered, I wasn't that confident to deliver in Ampang Puteri.

I went for my monthly check-up in Jan 2011 and upon arriving, was told that she was not in. 

I asked them why they didn't call us. They said that patients should be the ones calling in to confirm and besides, they have a replacement doctor available. 

On top of that, they asked if I wanted to reschedule. I told them that since I was already there AND for the fact that I had to take leave for this, might as well I stayed. I had blood spots and was concerned, told this to the replacement. 

She assured me that it was normal but will swab me, just incase. 

Replacement asked me questions which were already available in my file and the visit was quite short. 

A week later, my results came back, it was negative for any disease etc yet, they gave details of the medication required. Thinking it's nothing, we didn't purchase the medication.

My next visit, Dr Fauziah was checking my file and noticed information on the medication. She asked me why I didn't take it. I told her that the doctor didn't explain anything and said it was normal, plus, my results came back negative. 

She was not happy and said that I was diagnosed with Group B Strep, which can harm the baby during delivery ( read: death). 

Picture credit to Giglig.com

I was shocked and hubby told off the doctor, diplomatically of course, saying that it should have been explained to us during the swab ie the possibilities of having this disease even before the swab was done, to set the parent's expectations. 

Dr Fauziah knew the hospital was at fault and tried to explain calmly to us, minus the dissatisfied expression she had earlier on. She even forgot who took the swab ... And I told her it was her replacement. 

She checked my record book and said, "I don't see any records here but it's in our file... It's ok, the doctor may have overlooked".

Overlooked??? 

What is that supposed to mean and if it would potentially cause my baby's death during delivery, I won't let it go...I felt so upset and unimportant ....

Hence, now we've changed to Prince Court since it's our first baby and would want everything to go well, hopefully.

Picture credit to PCMC FB page

So for first time parents out there who are as clueless as I am, hope this information may help ... in a way.

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