Expat mum beats Covid in fifth month, delivers triplets
FIRST-TIME MUM INFECTED IN FIFTH MONTH OF PREGNANCY
Overcoming Covid-19 and a high-risk pregnancy, a Pakistani couple in the UAE has become first-time parents to triplets.
The babies — two girls and a boy — turned three months in April. Spontaneous triplet pregnancies are rare, and only one in 4,000 couples experiences one.
Iqra Nasim, 28, and her husband Sarmad, who have been married for three years, only found out that they were expecting triplets when she was about two months along.
The couple prepared for what could be a high-risk pregnancy, but never expected to battle Covid-19 too. It all began when Iqra had to be hospitalised for five days for dehydration during the first trimester.
“I was alone in the hospital because of Covid-19 restrictions,” Iqra said. “Even my husband could not stay with me. It was surreal.”
‘We were very afraid’
A few weeks into the fifth month of her pregnancy, some members of Iqra’s extended family tested positive for Covid-19, and she began experiencing symptoms herself.
“I had a cough and severe body ache. I had been in contact with some of those relatives a few days earlier so I got a PCR test, and it confirmed what was our worst fear — I had Covid-19. I soon began developing a fever at night, and we were very, very afraid,” Iqra recalled.
She isolated herself at home, and her husband, who had tested negative and was working from home, nursed her keeping in mind Covid-19 guidelines.
Iqra began feeling better after two weeks and PCR test came out negative. “My cough lasted for two to three more weeks, but I was relieved to have beaten Covid-19,” she said.
Iqra and Sarmad now began preparing for the babies’ arrival in earnest. The average gestational age for triplets is about 32 weeks, and the obstetrician had told Iqra that she could expect to delivery any time after the 28th week. But the young mother-to-be got up to 34 weeks without much trouble.
Emergency C-section
On January 7, Iqra went into labour and was rushed to hospital. “My doctors decided it was safest to get the babies out. My target had been 35 weeks, and since I was at 34 weeks and four days, it seemed right,” she said.
An emergency C-section was performed and at around midday, the healthy triplets, each weighing about 2kg, were born. The overjoyed firsttime parents named their two daughters Zynah and Zimmal, and their son Ibrahim.
When the babies were about two months, Iqra bravely travelled to Pakistan with them for her younger sister’s wedding. Her father and brother accompanied her. Once there, she had to be extra careful.
“I rarely allow anyone to carry or touch them, and keep them away from all gatherings. In essence, they are hidden away in a room, but it is the only way to protect them,” she said.
But their Covid battle was not over. Sarmad contracted Covid-19 when Iqra was in Pakistan. “He was all alone, but thankfully, he has tested negative and is recovering now,” she said.
The babies are growing quickly and the young mother said she hasn’t got a good night’s sleep for more than six months. “Then again, we look at our babies and feel so very blessed. Praise be to God,” she said.