My Miracle Baby Came A Little Too SoonNovember 19, 2018

The second story in our Little Miracles series is a beautiful story. It comes from a special mother who is very close to the Life Maid Easy family. Upon her request, it comes with anonymity.

Hello Everyone.

My husband and I were married in Feb 2010. We decided to have a family immediately. But things were not happening as we planned. He went back to work abroad and I joined him soon after. After one year of trying, we still didn’t have kids and everyone was asking questions (We Indians can be pretty nosey about other’s lives). We came for our annual vacation to India and checked with infertility specialists. I remember the doctor looking into my eyes and telling me, “It’s OK. You both are fine. Sometimes, you just have to keep trying and wait”. To me, it made no sense. My friends were having kids like bunnies and here we were childless. Then the miracle happened.

I had to come to Ernakulam on a family emergency 2 weeks before Christmas 2011. My husband couldn’t be there with me. What was planned to be a short stay, lasted over an year. When I missed my period, I wasn’t really surprised. I was obese and my periods often moved up or down by a week. But when nothing happened in two weeks, I got a few pregnancy test kits. First one; no result. 2 days later I tested again. Positive! I was sceptical since we had a few false starts with home tests, I didn’t want to believe this one. So on Christmas morning, I checked again. Positive. The situation around me wasn’t really hopeful, so decided to tell hubby first. He didn’t pick up. So I had to text him. Grrr! Not exactly the way I planned to tell him. I had always imagined I would have my husband near me and me showing him the test results as in the movies. He too didn’t want to believe the home test. So I discreetly met my Gyno and a blood test confirmed it. I was 6 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I told hubby first. When I came home, there were a gaggle of aunties discussing the home situation with my mother. I dragged my mother from there and showed her the results. She told my dad. Just then my in laws called. Hubby told them. They came over later in the evening. My father in law is not an emotive person. And when he came to know that his first grandchild was on the way, he asked me to sit next to him and kissed my forehead. That moment was truly unforgettable.

The doctor said I was due on September 1st. Since I am obese, I would need a C-section 2 weeks before that. At 12 weeks, the doctor had said I would need full bed rest because I had a low lying placenta. She asked me to wait till I was 7 months pregnant. There was a chance the placenta would move into place and I could give birth normally. I wanted to know everything and depended on the Internet for everything about pregnancy and after pregnancy care in Ernakulam. At 20 weeks, I was asked to do the triple marker test. It shows if the unborn child has the risk of having Down’s Syndrome or has Trisonomy 13/18. Before the scan, my doc said its routine and I should be fine. Unfortunately when the bloodwork came in, it said, my baby might have problems. The next step was to meet a perinatologist. She suggested an Amniocentesis. They would draw a sample of fluid and from my womb and test it for chromosome disorders. They said the results would take upto a week. I was hopeful nothing would be wrong but was still nervous. Finally the results came. My baby was A-Ok. The scans and visits went on as usual.

Conditions at home had improved and everyone kept saying hope the baby comes soon. And my baby did. I was in my 34th week and it was July. My husband was having the busiest time at work and had planned to come a week before my scheduled C-section. I had a pain that I thought my waters broke. I was rushed to the hospital. Turned out, I was leaking the waters. The pain came because my water had reached a little lower than it should. It meant I had been leaking for atleast 3-5 days. The doctor said I was going to have my c-section immediately. I was to give birth on 21st July.

I was operated under general anaesthesia so I don’t remember much what happened after it. I only remember signalling to my husband from the recovery room window if he saw the baby. He signalled back that the baby was fine. Later the Doctor told me that I had a baby boy who was just under 2 KG. He was in the NICU and was going to be there for a while. What hurt me was, everyone had seen him or held him, but as his mother, it was 3 days till I saw him for the first time. When I did, I could see him with tubes all over him. I gingerly placed my palm on his tiny arm. As if to say I love you, his fingers found mine and he held my finger tightly. At that moment I felt complete. It took us another 15 days in the NICU before we could go home. Even at the time, if I held his head in my palm, his feet wouldn’t reach my elbow. He was so tiny.

Since my baby was premature, his lungs had not fully developed and his immunity was low. On top of this no matter how hard I tried he wouldn’t latch on to breastfeed. I was struggling, he was always hungry despite the formula milk. He was gaining weight but was spitting up milk as well. Burping my new born was hard. I was sleepless. One of my stitches came off. I was in pain. I was a first time mom and no one around me knew what to expect from a premmie or how to care for a premature baby. He was so small and looked so fragile.

Being premature, we had challenges all the way. The neonatologist told me to be prepared for coughs, colds and fevers more often than other kids his age. He might take time reaching his milestones. I would have to keep him warm because he didn’t have time to build up fat in his body. His forehead would always be a little warm till he was about 5. I had to be on constant watch for allergies, because in premmies fevers came suddenly and quickly shot up to 101 degrees C. He would not have proper eating habits. She said that even when I go through all this, I had to keep calm and let my instinct take over. I happy I followed her advice. Today he’s 6 and half, healthy, happy and active.