Cost of 2nd Trimester - About TCM

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was an important part of our journey into parenthood. In our preparation to conceive, we went to Ban Choon Medical to seek TCM aid and hopefully increase our chances to conceive.

This was a recommendation from my wife's good friend, and since she was successful, we decided why not give it a try. I admit I rolled my eyes when we first saw him (I know my swimmer is a sprinter and didn't yet have the marathon stamina, that's why i am here since 7am. I am not expecting you to say he is a gold medalist.). But from hindsight, it seems like he know what he is talking. After his 'it was implanted but didn’t survive long enough' diagnosis and the subsequent 'just drink this medicine and the next one should work', we strike jackpot. His medicine though bitter and takes effort to prepare(you need to brew it. Not capsules), were meant to help increase the level of progesterone for mummy. Drinking chicken essence (from boiling chicken) will aid in that as well and was recommended.

With that, we were religious in going to him to 'an tai' (care for the fetus). The 2nd trimester medicine's primary purpose was to strengthen the mother's constitution and help the infant grow. There were specific herbs to be taken during the first 2 trimesters. No herbs should be consumed in the 3rd trimester. To promote development of baby's bones, certain food were recommended. Fishes such as Salmon and Cod are in the list. Threadfin is a highly recommended source of protein and apparently, the baby will have beautiful skin and strong bones. Bird nest are taken to improve the baby's lungs. However, it should only be taken after the 1st trimester (we took it from week 18 onwards) when the baby's lung is more developed. Taking it before that will cause asthma later in his life. Throughout the pregnancy, herbs like dang gui should also be avoided, along with cooling food like chin chow. We were also told to avoid fruits like mango.

PS: I lost some of the receipts for Ban Choong, but we were there around 6 times; at least 3 times before and 3 times after we conceived. Each visit costed around $150.