Hello, my name is Mounia. I am French of Beninese origin. I am 30 years old, and I have a fibroid uterus.

It all started a year and a half ago when I suddenly started having dizziness, menorrhagia (abnormally abundant and longer periods) and dysmenorrhea (pain during menstruation) more severe than during puberty. So I consulted a gynecologist and the diagnosis of uterine fibroid was made. The gynecologist prescribed me iron tablets to prevent anemia and I continued to ease my menstrual pain with a hot water bottle, because I am an “anti-med”.

A moment of respite: short-lived

Over the months, I almost forgot about my fibroids. Another pain came to disturb my daily life: a lumbar sprain. This caused unbearable sharp pains which prevented me from walking properly and from sleeping, and which, morally, wore me out. So I had to consult a GP in private who referred me to a gynecologist. This one, after several examinations, pointed out my fibroids and explained that it would be difficult for me to procreate (although not impossible) and that it was important to follow up on me to check their evolution.

My miracle

A month later, during an indoor training session, I suffer from violent vertigo that makes me lose my balance. Worried (my period being close), I wonder if I have anemia. As a result, I wait a few days to observe what will happen, but it doesn’t come…

Ten days after the expected date of my menstrual cycle, I decide to take a pregnancy test: it is positive.

I am regnant.

My pregnancy

I get back in touch with the gynecologist in private practice. Surprised, she explains to me that this is good news but that there is no guarantee that I will spend the first 12 weeks without losing the baby.

I am then referred to a gynecologist close to my home who, 12 weeks later, explains to me that the pregnancy is at risk because my fibroids have grown. I have six, one of which is the size of my uterus: there’s an 80% chance that I will give birth by caesarean section. It is disconcerting to receive all this information at the same time while carrying the miracle of life within us. But I cling to my faith and above all, I completely get out of my routine: I stop all my sports activities, I

don’t go out anymore, I watch what I eat so as not to gain excess weight. And the days are reduced to going to work and coming home to sleep. I sleep a lot, I eat healthy, and I drink a huge amount of water.

During my fifth month, I see my gynecologist again to plan a trip to Paris. After an improvised ultrasound, he tells me that my baby is in the breech position but is doing very well, and that my large fibroid has grown but does not affect my pregnancy in any way. I am recommended compression stockings, nothing more. I have the right to fly. My stay goes well. Back ten days later, I plan a new meeting with my gynecologist where we determine our next meetings and the date of the cesarean section: June 18, 2019.

The eighth month begins. My mother has arrived, I start my last days at work, and I feel that my “petit loup” is descending, my belly is big, heavy, it’s hard to sleep, but I maintain my good mood. New twist: trying to turn Kiyam so that his head faces down… Failure. The dominant fibroid is preventing my son’s head from going through.

June 15, 2019: I wake up at the end of a normal night of end of pregnancy, a planned day spent with mom, my spouse arrives from Paris in the evening, the day begins. Around 1 p.m., I feel an intense pain which shakes my body violently, but which, according to my mother, does not mean I am ready to give birth. An hour later, another back pain in the shower and mom tells me to hurry so my water doesn’t break if the process starts. Finally, during our errands, my contractions begin and accelerate. At 5:30 p.m. I find myself at the maternity ward of St-Mary’s Hospital Center; I’m 4 centimeters dilated. The team prepares me for the operating room, my partner has just landed and arrives around 6 p.m., I am 6 centimeters away, we enter the operating room…

Kiyam is born at 7:45 p.m. this June 15, 2019.

I am grateful and blessed.

There is the strength of medicine, personal strength, but above all, Divine strength.

 

Mounia