KEEPING THE FAITH
I married my ex-boyfriend, who happened to break my heart in high school. We reconnected almost 10 years later and got married on 6 August 2016. We immediately adopted the all-too-common stance that we would enjoy the time together with each other for at least a year before expanding our family of 3, which consisted of Hubby, myself and our furbaby, Koda. Fast forward to 2018. We anticipated that when we finally made the decision to include a little one in our lives, that everything would fall into place. There is an expectation that women are able to conceive easily. My first gynae visit at 28 years old revealed a string of pearls on my ovaries, clearly depicting polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). I have a collection of pearl jewellery in my vanity drawer; I never thought that I would add to my collection in this fashion. We were devastated. What followed was my Google obsession of gaining knowledge on how to combat PCOS. In addition, the common fertility medication Clomid increased my risk of developing ovarian cysts, and I was unable to continue with this treatment. I visited a highly recommended endocrinologist, and I heard the dreaded three-letter word, IVF. This is far too costly for us, and we decide to get another opinion. Infertility treatment procedures are physically and psychologically intrusive. It put an emotional strain on the relationship with my husband. After several visits to fertility specialists, blood tests, pregnancy tests, prodding and poking, I finally got my big fat positive on 1 April 2020. I am currently 26 weeks pregnant, eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby girl in December 2020, a true Christmas miracle.
DURBAN, KWAZULU-NATAL PRESHANTHI SEWPAUL-SOOKRAJ