The viable pregnancy that no one expected

At 26 weeks, the gynae was in totally different mode to our meeting 4 weeks before. Having crossed the 26-week mark, the pregnancy was now considered viable and issues such as birth plans and care plans were totally on the table for discussion. I had hardly sat down when she started firing away with questions about monitoring the baby during birth and whether we’d go for intervention or supportive care after birth. She suggested no monitoring and supportive care, and that natural labour could continue, possibly with draining fluid if necessary to get the baby out. I told the gynae that we had arranged to have another thorough scan with the sonographer at 28 weeks. And that depending on how things were looking, we would start to put our plans together. She performed an ultrasound scan – there seemed to be less fluid in the heart and lungs and the heart was beating strong, so we were all interested to see what the detailed 28 week scan would reveal.

The 28 week scan indicated that the heartbeat was strong and organs were in a pretty good shape. There was no improvement in limbs or worsening of swelling, and the placenta and amniotic fluid looked normal and stable. The sonographer explained that this meant that there was a greater chance of getting to full term. Because the risks we faced with fluid build-up could be either heart failure for the baby or maternal health complications, we were glad the swelling wasn’t getting worse. On a superficial level, we were quite relieved that it didn’t look like anything would happen soon as we both had so much work in the following two months! But on a more serious note, it was very challenging emotionally with the pregnancy reaching viability and what that could mean for us. That weekend we asked some friends to come over to pray for us and the baby. We shared honestly about where we were at, and so appreciated them taking the time out to lead us into a time in the presence of God.