Babycenter’s email newsletter had this to say about the progress of our pregnancy:

27 Weeks Pregnant!

You’re in the home stretch … two trimesters down, one more to go. Your baby is growing steadily as he prepares for delivery day. He will gain weight rapidly over the next weeks and, as the size of your bump increases, you may feel more breathless and tired… Your baby will also respond to loud sounds or music by kicking or moving about vigorously…

“Home stretch”, this hardly was.  We’d spent the past seven days in a hospital.  The reason?  This baby seemed to wanted to come out sooner than planned!  The cervical os had opened up prematurely, and the hyperactive baby’s foot was already in the funnelled space, stomping away to glory.  Well, at least, the “kicking vigorously” part was true! 

On a serious note, we were very fortunate to have caught it in time.  It was just sheer vigilance on the part of the Mrs. that led to a telephonic consultation with the Gynaecologist, which led to an immediate sonography, and eventually, hospitalisation.  A day late in realizing the early signs, and the risk was no less than a miscarriage.

A few days of head-low bed rest, and several doses of uterine-relaxants later, it was time for a surgical procedure to stitch up the opening, so that the “internal os” remains closed till we reach 32-34 weeks of gestation. 

That’s the entire game, by the way.  Since the baby’s development is entirely dependant on the mother carrying the baby successfully to term, every day spent inside the mother’s womb, helps its development.  In the last trimester, the baby goes from being about 1 kg in weight to between 2.5 and 4 kg in weight.  This is the time of exponential growth in size, weight, volume and key physiological functions of the baby.  In short, each day inside, matters.

Thankfully, the procedure was performed successfully.  And, there were no more complications in the days to come.  All we needed to ensure was that the wife is on complete bed-rest (in a head-low position) for 6-8 weeks more.

Being in those circumstances, we realized even more, just how much we take Life for granted.   If we had not realized in time, there would be little a doctor or a hospital could do to help.  If, in spite of the procedure, there was bleeding or leaking, there would be no respite from pre-term labour.  And, that’s just the medical part.  There were dinners to attend, and junk to clear out from the store room, and so many other things that we tend to procrastinate on… always thinking that we will get to it tomorrow…  Now, it would all have to wait until after the delivery.

The good news is that the family is back home again, and we’re following all the instructions of the doctor, and keeping our fingers crossed.  Hopefully, this baby will reach full-term without incident.