A journey through hope: my unexpected pregnancy

I HAD imagined a sophisticated baby shower, surrounded by my dearest friends and family. I pictured endless shopping trips for baby clothes, a dreamy maternity photoshoot and quiet afternoons with my feet up, flipping through pregnancy magazines. I imagined a perfect pregnancy. After all, I had eight years to think about it.

- NIVASHNI NAIR SUKDHEV

That's how long it took for my husband and I to finally conceive — eight years of fighting polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), multiple surgeries, five failed IUIs, and a failed round of IVF. Our final IVF cycle worked.

In June 2016, I finally saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test. I thought the hard part was over. I was wrong. What began as a routine checkup with my gynaecologist turned into nearly three months in hospital. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. At first, I thought I’d be admitted for a few days. I never expected to spend an entire trimester there.

I didn’t even have a visible baby bump when | arrived.

A scan showed the baby was measuring small and that the amniotic fluid was low due to restricted blood flow through the uterine arteries.

The term written in my hospital file was intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Our baby was not growing. The only hope was an experimental treatment. I was also diagnosed with low amniotic fluid, which meant strict bed rest.