Saturday morning, we brought the Princess to have her ears pierced. She had requested for it since last year but we procrastinated for few reasons, chief of it was the fear of infection if we did not administer the proper after-care and also, we wanted to search for a place whose staff are trained to work specifically with young children and whose equipment are properly sanitized. With the advice of some Mommy friends who have daughters, I booked an appointment with a lady paediatrician who provides ear-piercing service for kids at her clinic. And so history was made on 26 January 2013 where we witnessed a rite of passage (of sorts)…from our precious baby to a pretty young lady!

In an upbeat mood on a Saturday morning!

We arrived at 11.40am to a busy clinic filled with many families waiting in line to see Dr. Oh. ‘She must be a popular doctor’, we thought and the moment we stepped into her consultation room, we understood why. We were won over by her warm smile and sincere personality.  She explained the procedure to us briefly, made the Princess feel at ease before applying a numbing cream on her ear lobe. As we had to wait about half an hour for the cream to take effect, we went to explore the nearby town centre.  Within 5 minutes, Dana reported that her ear lobes felt cold…’Great’ we thought, the cream’s working!

Step 1 – Apply the Numbing Cream…

Step 2 – Grab a cold drink and wait for the cream to work…

We returned to the clinic at about 12.30pm and Dana was asked to pick her preferred colour of ear studs (made in the USA). There were pink, light green, light blue but she picked red as it was the boldest colour of them all (Mommy actually preferred pink but oh well, it’s her ears so she gets to choose). Five minutes later, we were ushered back into the consultation room.  Dr. Oh cleansed away the numbing cream with an antiseptic liquid, then used a marker to indicate the position of the ear hole. She requested that parents check the alignment to ensure we are satisfied with the positioning before she proceeded to pierce them.

Step 3 – Dot the hole…

Dr. Oh assured Dana that there will be a loud sound but it will not hurt. Before she finished her sentence, she had speedily pierced the ear with a pair of steady hands! First on the left, then the right. I was a little surprised that both ears were not pierced simultaneously (I had assumed her clinic assistant would come in to lend a hand!) but gosh were we relieved that it’s all over in a matter of seconds.  I can’t tell you how proud we were to see her go through the piercing without any tears or struggles!

Step 4 – Let’s Pierce!

Step 5 – Smile a smile of relief, it’s not as painful as we thought! 🙂

Dr. Oh praised and rewarded Dana with an organic Gummy Bear supplement and even very graciously obliged with a photograph (even though there was a long queue outside). Before we left, she gave Dana a tight hug and even kissed her goodbye on the cheeks! We have seen many docs but never met one as warm and caring as her. We also have to mention Dr. Oh’s fees are not exorbitant (merely a fraction of another well-known ear-piecing shop in downtown Orchard).  We truly thank God for leading us to this wonderful doctor!

Thank you Dr. Oh!

Later at night, after we reached home, I posted an update on Facebook to share our bittersweet feelings. We are happy that our daughter is ‘feminized’, she had her wish of wearing earrings granted (and Mommy can start buying more pretty stuff to accessorize her). But deep within, there’s a sense of reluctance in seeing our girl reach yet another rite of passage…We want her to remain our cute,  adorable, huggable little baby for as long as possible. We don’t wish to see her grow up too quickly for soon, she’ll prefer the company of her peers over ours. Perhaps because she’s our only child, we feel it more acutely that time is stealing her away from us with every ticking of its hands…We can only pray for wisdom to make each moment we spend with our Princess count, make it last and make it worthwhile.

The Princess and her first pair of ear studs with red gem stones. She chose Red, just in time for CNY!

If you are looking for a good pediatrician or a reliable ear-piercing service, we highly recommend Dr. Oh Meng Choo of Kids Clinic@Bishan (Tel: 6536-8909).  Do check out her clinic’s website here. 

A great doctor makes all the difference!