KKIA vs GH vs Private hospital

Ever since I got high BP measurement, I was referred to the government hospital (GH) and now, I have a file opened there. A record - a bad record I would say.

Anyway, all these 3 places has a slight different procedure. I'll do a simple routine comparison in this post.

KKIA(Gombak):

• Come on the appointment date and time (earlier is preferable)
• Put the pink book into basket that indicates the appointment time respectively
• Wait for nurse to call your name
• Pay RM1 and wait for your number to be called
• Meanwhile, get your urine tested. Container will be provided.
• Place the urine sample on a laboratory window and wait for nurse on duty to get to the lab
• Once the nurse tested the urine, collect the bottle yourself and dispose both urine and bottle
• Get the piece of paper from the nurse on duty to indicate if the test is positive or negative
• Continue to wait for your number to be called to nurse's room
• At nurse's room, weigh, measure blood pressure, check hemoglobin level, check baby's heart rate, womb measurement, get vitamins and listen to nurse's advice. Done.

GH (HKL):
- Wasn't able to do a routine kind of checkup here since I was there most likely to see specialist. Let's see how it goes in my next appointment. But as far as I can tell, the procedure are:

•  Come on the appointment date and time (way earlier is preferable)
• With your pink book,put it into basket provided and wait for your name to be called
• You will be given ticket number, then directed for urine testing then BP testing
• Then make payment at cashier counter
• See doctor

- that's as far as I can tell since after that, I'm only seeing doctor. But I feel the routine in GH is a little messy especially for first timers. While in KKIA, it's all organised by number system.
But I guess if you're not at risk of anything, you probably won't be referred to GH. Maybe.

Private hospital (Columbia Asia Hospital):

• Register yourself at administration counter
• Wait for nurses to call for weight and urine test.
• Wait for nurse to call to see doctor. - done.

Process is much shorter and you'll be able to do scan at most of the time so you got to see the baby's development. Also, you'll be able to speak directly to doctors to voice your concern or ask for advises.

There you go. This routine, however, is location specific. I do not know what other hospitals or clinic routine may be. So this is only based on my experiences. Feel free to share your routine at the places you do your check ups!

What to pack into maternity bag

Once you hit the 8th month of your pregnancy, tt's any time now for delivery. You have to be ready by now. You'll never know when your baby decides to greet the world! Start packing your maternity bag for preparation. But how big should you pack your maternity bag? I have that question running in my head few weeks back and I've been reading guide on what to pack. I'm the kind of person who like to pack minimal but enough of needs in one bag.

First, choose a bag. I was thinking just to bring a bagpack initially but I manage to get a free maternity bag from diapers purchase on the last baby fair (hooray), so I use that bag instead.

Essentials to put in. What I have in my bag are:

For mother (me) :
- Maternity pad
- Disposable panties
- Toiletries & towel
- After delivery (discharge) clothes. (Pack maternity clothes instead. The bump may still be there but smaller.)
- Phone charger - I have yet to pack this since I'm still using it at home. Will probably pack my spare powerbank instead of charger)

For baby:
- Newborn diapers
- Towel
- One or two sets of newborn clothes (also mittens, booties and cap)
- Baby shampoo
- Baby wipes 
- Swaddle

These are the few minimal items that I can think of to pack into the bag. IF I google online, there are tonnes of things to be packed, that includes chapstick, mask sheet, book, camera, etc.

Of course, if you want to, you can also pack these into the bag although it depends on the hospital if the items are allowed, especially camera.

Once you got these items packed into your bag, make sure to put it aside at somewhere visible or somewhere you could remember. Or better yet, my nurse advise me to put it straight into the car. But I don't feel comfortable to put my bag into the car just in case the heat of the sun may damage them. In any case, I've also informed my husband where it is placed, so if we really forgot about it when we heading towards the hospital in a rush, he can return and grab them quickly.