Why would such a thing happen to a healthy 28 year old

Being positive, eating healthy and taking ample rest are the three things that would ensure a safe pregnancy, take any one thing away and you might be in trouble.

Sometime during March/ April a lot many things happened in my life all at once, at home my father retired, my parents bid adieu and moved to Bangalore, this meant that my husband and I had to look for a different accommodation, settle down. Seems easy on paper but it was physical strain, imagine puking and moving houses together, not a pleasant picture and certainly not a pleasant experience.

So while on one hand, there was a new home to get used to, controlling nausea while cooking and cleaning, the other hand was another story altogether.

At office, due to various reasons we had to close shop and that meant letting go of many of my team members, who at that time were working day and night to make this project come true for our clients. Now imagine pouring all your energies into something and then being rewarded with a line - "Thanks for your services, you are the best but we don't want you anymore, see you bbye". It broke my heart to know that I would have to use that ungrateful line in a few weeks time, not exactly the best motivational pitch :( So, while I was managing the on-goings bravely behind the scenes I was trying my level best so see if anyone can be retained.

By the way it didn't help that even I had completed my tenure and had to look for new opportunities, though I had offers and projects to chose from no prospective senior would hire me just to let me go on long leave again :(

Not all was bad though, I did manage to find a project that would be keep me busy till I started my Maternity Leave, gave me hope that being pregnant doesn't make you a liability.

It was under these circumstances that I underwent the scan on April 20th, and all the stress in the preceding weeks had taken it's toll after all, fluid levels in the womb are controlled by Placenta, which works well with correct hormonal balance, the balance that went out of the window and ultimately resulted in the complication.

The biggest silver lining was the fact that, much before all this on Mar 24th I felt my baby kick :) and she was kicking even during those complicated times, reassuring me that even though world may have fallen apart on the outside, deep within life was just kick starting !

Next time will tell you how I uncomplicated my life ! Cheers everyone !

Second Trimester - Doc said " I am sorry, but, I can NOT see the baby"

Before I start retelling my story, I would really like to thank everyone who took some time out to read what I had to say, it's a definite confidence booster and an instant pick-me up! 

Now back to the story, I have been drafting this post for a while now and it has made me realize that the events of my 2nd Trimester can not be told in a single post, there is far too much to write about, hence this one is going to be a served in several courses :)

April 20th 2013 : Probably one of the longest days of my life and also the scariest, I had my 3rd Ultra Sound scan and the doctor said " I am sorry, but, I can NOT see the baby", all hell broke lose, you see the baby is surrounded by life protecting Amniotic Fluid, which is rich in proteins and acts as shock absorber for the baby, it also facilitates an Ultra Sound, if this fluid level comes low, a scan would yield nothing as it happened in my case but the main question was why would such a thing happen to a healthy 28 year old?

The answer to that question my friends is not that straightforward but it's loosely related to the point two of my previous post. I shall continue after a short break, hang in there, the next post would deal with the sequence of events leading to this bombshell and then what happened later. Got to go now, baby is crying.

  

T minus 9 months - The first Trimester

Motherhood, a life changing event that does just that, it changes you, your life, everything about you physically, mentally and emotionally.

December 2012 was when my pregnancy was confirmed, yeah!  The journey to welcome a tiny, ugly, stinky baby ( read Cute, Cuddly and Life's Miracle ) had begun. It obviously raised some basic questions, Is it safe to eat outside food, can I travel by Chennai's infamous share autos? What to expect?

First thing first, we decided to have the baby in Bangalore, in the comfort of known doctors and known hospitals, Dr. One even suggested a colleague to follow up with in Chennai.

So we were all set, or so it seemed, the first trimester is a rude wake-up call, if you ever question your ability to have the baby it's these three months, forget outside food, I couldn't even digest water, I was puking 17-18 times a day and sleeping like a hog ! Any little smell would trigger the puke cycle again and again.. Sadly I lost 4 kilos when I should have been gaining..Usually, the nausea and morning sickness ( misnomer it's all day sickness) resides by 3 month or 12th week, mine went on for more than 15 weeks!
I was a text book case on Pregnancy, any symptoms or side effects ( if I can call them that) which could come up for the week, did.

Not all is bad though, an Ultra Sound was the highlight of these months to see a 1.56 cm baby ( who looked like an Amoeba then) was truly a magical moment and suddenly I had courage, the ability to nurture this tiny little creature whose beating heart was and is a reminder that I made it :) 

First Trimester Lessons learnt  :

1.  Not all women develop nausea and not everyone has it as severe as me, how to beat the feeling is challenging, I had to resort to medication. ( Sadly whenever someone pointed out this fact, I felt like punching them is their faces. )

2. If you are a working woman as I am, you would need to take it easy a bit, body commands rest at this point, trust me your body isn't yours anymore, it belongs to the baby, who ensures that you sleep as much as possible so there is little chance of extra physical activity and even less of a miscarriage. Don't fight the feeling, go with it.

3. Yes, you have to avoid outside food ( for almost another year )

4. Zero in on your doctor and hospital ( We thought this was sealed deal but God had other plans)

I wish I could rush to the end, the story shall continue, when my baby sleeps next, till then take care and have fun!