The One, The Baby and The Blood Test

The One
I've finally found the one. The reliable/confident/professional ob/gyn I've been searching for - Dato Dr Nor Asyikin. A lovely lady who got me at 'hello' :) I was impressed at how thorough she was at our 1st meeting (she took note of everything from both our parents' medical histories and my present condition carrying our first child) and how completely bubbly she was (considering this lady has her own medical centre to run, delivers babies at Pantai, a well known speaker in the medical field and somehow manages to give medical related interviews to countless magazines - where does all the energy come from?? She looks ultra polished at all times too btw). Love her!

The Baby
Ahhhh... I've got a feeling my baby will be a naughty one this one. From our latest ultra sound scan, my baby was actively punching his/her fists in all directions and his/her tiny legs were kicking away like there's no tmrw. He/she was happily letting us view and scrutinise his/her tiny frame. But the moment Dr Nora wanted to snap a still shot of him/her wriggling around my tummy, lil one turned his/her back on us! So here you go, a peek at my baby's back :)




The Blood Test
Done with the ultra sound, back to more baby talk with Dr Nora. I was all ears until suddenly she announced, "OK I'm arranging a blood test to be done shortly..." My brain froze, sounds around me were muffled, my blood curdled. My whole body deceased from functioning. I could not focus on a single word she was saying anymore. Everything sort of trailed of.....

Just to briefly explain why the drastic change of attitude - I am terrified of needles. Petrified. The last time I had a blood test was when I was no more than 5 perhaps?

So when I was face to face with the nurse who will be puncturing my delicate skin with a freaking needle, I warned her of my fear. It took me a while to get me seated, and god knows how long it took to get that strap around my arm. By the time she was swabbing my arm with alcohol, my eyes were welling up... Yes I was that scared. Honestly 'welling up' is an understatement lah. My husband then quickly buried my head in his chest and blurted out calming words to me while the nurse was busy drawing blood from my poor vein (I bet he was thinking "Habis lah I (Hanif) during the delivery.....").

In all honestly, it did not sting so much. What hurt more was my upper arm - I had my finger nails jammed into it to kononnya divert the sensation of the needle piercing my skin to the grip of my nails. I believed Hanif when he said it will not hurt. But it wasn't the pain that I feared. It was the thought of a needle puncturing my skin that horrified me. Poor me. What an ordeal. Macamana nak beranak ni? Some more berangan nak epidural ;p Good luck Hanif! And meeeeeeeeeee...!