Minke: “When I received the results of the growth ultrasound, the gynecologist said that my husband had to come immediately”
I decided to stop taking the pill
It's June 2019. We have been married for eight months and together for over 10 years, we decide to stop taking the pill. After 12 years of taking it, we realize that we first need to 'detox' from it. But we didn't have the patience and the desire was so strong that we went for it right away. After three months, I started using ovulation tests, but this had the opposite effect and put even more pressure on us. So, we got rid of them and let go. A busy period at work was coming up, so I had given up hope that it would happen that year.
Despite our agreement, I secretly did a test anyway
Then Christmas was approaching and I realized that it had been a while since I had my last period... I had agreed with my husband to test only after the New Year, but of course, I ran out of patience once the idea got into my head. On Christmas Day, I was going to bake a cake and needed to print something. That morning we had clearly agreed not to test yet. I had to go to the bathroom and thought, why not? So I secretly took the test and immediately saw two lines appear. I couldn't believe it, it couldn't be that quick, could it? I waited another five minutes. Then I called my husband upstairs. Since our printer often doesn't work when I want to print, he assumed I needed help with printing... Until I stood at the top of the stairs crying, he looked at me questioningly. He followed me to the bathroom and there we stood; together with the test in our hands. We had succeeded in one year after all.
I was incredibly nervous for the first ultrasound
The first ultrasound. Gosh, I was so nervous. So nervous that I parked against the neighbor's bus. We could see the embryo but no heartbeat yet. I had just passed five weeks, so we were allowed to come back five days later to see if there was a heartbeat by then. Everything else looked good, so we didn't have to worry yet, she said. Five days later, there was immediately a heartbeat visible and the embryo had also grown well. I would now be exactly six weeks.
The weeks flew by
From that moment on, all I could do was laugh. The weeks flew by and the 12-week ultrasound was also good. August 29, 2020, would be the date we were looking forward to and everything was fine. Everyone could know and at the 20-week ultrasound, we wanted to find out the gender. It quickly became clear, we were having a daughter. We were so happy and everything was still fine. The weeks flew by, the belly grew well and I was proud to show it off.
Our girl turned out to be on the small side
Until it was the day before Mother's Day and I felt less movement. I called the midwife somewhat uncertainly and mentioned that it was probably nothing, but I was still quite worried. The midwife came over immediately. We heard a heartbeat and my blood pressure was good. I was only 24 weeks along, so it's more common for them to be a bit quieter or positioned differently at that stage. As a precaution, we were still sent to the hospital for a CTG and an ultrasound. Once at the hospital, we were no longer worried, because we had heard a heartbeat after all. The CTG was fine, although the baby had a high heart rate, and then came the ultrasound. During the ultrasound, we heard that there were good fetal movements, so once again we were no longer worried. However, it was mentioned that she was on the small side, her leg was on the P6 line and P50 would be average. This was not good and I had to come back the following Friday for a check-up with the gynecologist. Due to Corona, I had to come alone and unfortunately, my husband could not accompany me.
The gynecologist said that my husband needed to come
It was Friday, May 15, 2020, and I went for a check-up with the gynecologist at the hospital. Full of hope, I went there because I am also short, so I was no longer worried. "We're just going to have a baby that isn't very tall," I told myself. A new growth ultrasound was performed. It was revealed that she was three weeks behind in growth. And this was strange because until the 20-week ultrasound, she was growing at an average rate. My heart sank and I slowly started to panic. A Doppler measurement was also performed (this measures the blood flow of the umbilical cord). I was told to sit down again and that she would enter everything into the computer. It felt like a very long time... Then the gynecologist said that the Doppler measurement was not good and that it would be wise for my husband to come immediately. I was referred to the department and there was a chance that I would be admitted.
Panic overwhelmed me at home
With this information, I left the gynecologist's office. I called my husband crying, and he immediately came to the hospital. Both of us with a lump in our throat and very tense, we went to the department where we were expected. There we got another ultrasound, but this time with the message that the ultrasound was good for now, but that we had to come back to the gynecologist on Monday. At home, panic overwhelmed me and I asked my husband if he knew what it all meant and what had just happened to us? He indicated that he didn't know either and that we should call the midwife. Fortunately, the midwife gave us clarity. And she also instructed me to rest and therefore to stop working. This hit me like a bolt out of the blue! Was our little girl in danger?
TO BE CONTINUED
MINKE
