One afternoon late November, we spoke with our patient Elena.
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She came to the clinic with one of her babies. “Do you have an appointment?” asked Stephen, one of our receptionists. “Yes, I do,” came the reply. “I came to see Dr. Venkat and do a pregnancy test”.
Everyone at the reception looks at the baby, cooing over his beauty as he smiles back to them. The baby resembles his mother, who is also smiling. Her short blonde hair frames her beautiful face which simply lights up when she tells us her story. From time to time, Elena giggles and sometimes laughs. She is the absolute picture of happiness.
“I initially went to another clinic to have some tests and they simply informed me I cannot have babies. They informed me over the phone which was unacceptable, especially because I have been trying for so many years,” remembers Elena.
Some friends gave Elena and her husband the details of the clinic. “I saw Dr. Venkat and, after having tests done, she told me I cannot get pregnant naturally because I don’t have too many eggs, I may be menopausal. I was upset and angry.”
After Dr Venkat gave her the heart-breaking news, Elena and her husband started to look at other options. One of them was using donor eggs, which Elena and her husband considered and decided to go ahead with.
“My body was ready in July and Dr Venkat said we can start the process. We postponed it because we wanted to travel in Europe. We came back in September and in October I was pregnant. Then I was bleeding and had an emergency appointment,” recalls Elena. “Dr Venkat told me that it’s either bad news or it’s twins. And…it was twins.”
Because of complications, Elena was looked after by the clinic until she was 6 months pregnant.
“The whole team was always very nice and supportive and nurse Marion was one of them,” says Elena. “I wasn’t exactly a calm patient,” continues Elena, “but Marion was great. She is mature and she can calm people down when they are a bit over the top, hormonal.”
Elena shares fun memories about our healthcare assistant/nurse Marion.
“I remember I called the clinic and I asked if I could dye my hair, and Marion’s reply was ‘Oh my darling, you cannot dye your hair. The peroxide will harm the baby.’ I told her I would just shave my head and she laughed so hard and told me I am funny, I told her I am not feeling funny, I feel like wanting to dye my hair.”
Elena has special words about Dr. Venkat, the one who helped her have her precious babies. “Dr. Venkat is great. From day 1, she has always been honest, never hid anything from me, always very supportive.”
If she can describe in one word what she feels towards Dr. Venkat is “Gratitude”.
“Thank you! She gave us a miracle and there is another miracle in me…what can you say to a person who does this to you?”
Elena strongly believes that the treatment she followed to have her twins, helped her become pregnant with her own eggs. “My husband and I haven’t expected this to happen, we didn’t use any protection for 5 years. I was happy with 3 kids. This pregnancy gives me mixed feelings- will I have time for 4 kids?” worries for a second Elena. Then her smile comes back, and her natural beauty shines again.
We are wishing Elena a healthy and happy pregnancy, and we are looking forward to seeing her at the clinic soon. With all her 4 babies, smiling and happy, just like her. The perfect picture of happiness.
