It’s Mother’s Day today and I can’t help but recall how my journey as a mother began. I, being the only child of my parents, am the most pampered child in the family. My childhood memories, though blurred, consist of small acts of love and kindness that my mother taught me. Whenever I would get a chance, I would wear my mother’s shawl, take my doll in my arms and pamper her just the way my mother used to pamper me. At that time, I hardly understood what it meant to be a mother but as time passed by, I understood the beautiful emotions that defined a mother-child relationship. Soon after marriage, I got busy with my job and my priorities somewhat diverted. It wasn’t like I didn’t want a child, but I wasn’t prepared yet. Even Rajeev was busy with his start-up.
One fine evening, some three years back, my mother called me and as we were having a beautiful mother-daughter conversation, she popped up the question “Don’t you think its too late?”. I couldn’t help but stop thinking. Maybe it was really late, maybe we should start family planning, maybe it was the right time to step into the world of parenthood. I talked to Rajeev and we finally decided to have a baby. We tried for a year but there was no good news. Something was definitely wrong and we both could sense it.
Amidst all the despair my cousin came to visit us. After hesitating a little, I discussed my problem with her. She suggested that we should go and see a doctor. We met Dr. Shweta at ZEEVA Clinic, at my cousin’s recommendation. After a brief consultation and some questions, she asked for some tests. When I saw the reports, my worst nightmare was right in front of me. Rajeev’s reports were completely normal, but mine showed the signs of endometriosis. I used to experience chronic pelvic pain occasionally but always took them for normal period cramps.
After going through my reports, Dr. Shweta suggested that we should opt for IVF. I had heard the word before and knew it had got to do something with infertility, but never really paid much heed to it. She explained how they would be taking my eggs and place them in a pool of sperm taken from my husband to induce fertilization outside my body. The whole idea seemed fascinating yet we had some doubts regarding the success rate and how everything was going to turn out.
Would the baby be normal? Will there be any complications in the pregnancy?
Questions like these kept popping in my mind and I couldn’t help but share my concern with Dr. Shweta. She made me understand that once the fertilization takes place, the embryo, thus formed, will be placed inside my womb where it will grow on its own just like in case of normal pregnancy. Also, the babies born using IVF procedures are completely normal and the chances of complications are no more than those in case of normal pregnancy.
Everything went smooth and we followed all the guidelines. The team supported us at every step and we finally received the good news. We were pregnant. The first thing I did was to call my mother and tell her “I thought I was late but I guess I wasn’t. You will soon have someone to call you Nani”.
The pregnancy was normal and I carried Eshaan to term. Dreams do come true if you have people like Dr. Shweta to help and guide you. IVF has proved to be a boon for me and my family and given me a reason to celebrate Mother’s Day.
