This was our first official appointment within our package and we couldn’t have been more excited. Due to our anticipation and the fact that I was required to fast we made a very early start with an eight o’clock appointment on a Saturday morning.
We were greeted with the usual cheery welcome, despite our translator not being in sight. We were checked in and I received my hospital issue wristband which they use to scan me into each area of the hospital. Vital signs were taken right away, as well as a urine sample and we were left to wait in the cafe area. We could sense a bit of worry amongst the staff members, and it looked as if they were typing away into their phone translators. I was impressed when someone came over with a preprinted form with Mandarin and English and pointed to the line that said, “May I take a blood sample?”
The nurse taking my blood worked quickly and steadily as they took more blood than I had imagined they could take at one time. I believe about seven different vials! Next to even out my blood sugar I was given a boiled egg, a piece of cake and some warm milk.
Our translator arrived just in time to join us for the ultra sound, this was the bit we were most excited for and it met our expectations fully. It was an amazing moment to see the actual shape of a baby on the big screen and to hear the heart beat for the first time. Any worries were washed away and I enjoyed watching Mr T’s excitement and our translator’s amazement of a husband so eager and interested.
We met with our Dr who examined me and took a pap smear for a few tests. She did have a go at using the doppler to hear the baby’s heart beat but she couldn’t get it. We didn’t worry much as we had just heard it in the ultra sound.
She gave a few instructions to eat healthily and take pre-natal vitamins and that was it! We scheduled our next appointment four weeks from then and left the hospital feeling so pleased and excited about the future.
-Mrs T
Turners Abroad 