Abu Dhabi: Merinamma George finds it impossible to believe that she is today a mother of a healthy two-month-old.
“This is simply a miracle from God, and without the help I received from all my doctors, motherhood would never have become a reality for me,” the 33-year-old nurse from India told Gulf News.
Suffering from multiple medicinal allergies, George faced three miscarriages before finally delivering a healthy baby boy in the capital in May.
Her journey, though inspiring, has been a long one.
Married in 2010 to Sinoj Thomas, 37, George first became pregnant in 2015. But after five months, she suffered a miscarriage. Doctors told her then that she had a weak cervix that could not sustain the pregnancy.
The following year, she became pregnant two more times, but the symptoms disappeared after about a month.
“I basically had two more chemical pregnancies but my body did not sustain them. I wondered then if I would ever carry a child to term,” George said.
To her surprise, she was pregnant again in September 2017, and when the foetus was about 16 weeks, she underwent cervical cerclage, a surgery in which the cervix is sewn shut to prevent premature labour. Unfortunately, the administration of drugs during the procedure meant that George was hospitalised for more than a week.
“[George] suffers from a number of health issues [including drug allergies], so it was imperative that we monitored her closely and recognised the advanced level of care that would be required to ensure her pregnancy went smoothly,” said Dr Toshi Agarwal, obstetrics and gynaecology specialist at Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi.
After she had recovered sufficiently, doctors at the hospital, which is incidentally also where George works, recommended complete bed rest for her till 26 weeks of pregnancy so that the foetus would at least become viable.
“I returned to work after 26 weeks, hoping to continue working till the end of the pregnancy. But on my second day back, the contractions started,” she recalled.
She was then taken to the labour ward and kept under observation, but to her relief, the contractions subsided after two days.
“I also have severe Type 2 diabetes and my blood sugar kept fluctuating throughout the pregnancy, so I was advised bed rest once more,” George said.
She returned home after a week at the hospital, only to come back after another week with the same contractions. Already taking a high dose of insulin, George became more concerned about her baby when she couldn’t feel foetal movements anymore.
Finally, after 34 weeks’ gestation, the team at the hospital delivered baby boy weighing a 2.8kg by caesarean section.
The couple lovingly named their son Immanuel.
“I myself cannot believe my story, and I am so grateful that we have been blessed with a healthy boy after all this suffering. The medical and nursing staff at Burjeel Hospital have been fantastic throughout and I feel so happy to welcome the new addition to our family,” she said.
Immanuel is now a happy baby and George is back to work, leaving her baby at home with her mother. Thomas, who works in Kerala, has also travelled back after spending a month with his newborn.
“I pray that my baby stays healthy, and I hope to take him for a visit to India in winter,” George said.
