In The Beginning

Do I say it often enough? That I consider my three sons a real blessing? This is particularly so because at one point in time, I thought my hubby and I were going to be childless.

Rewind to 1992. After one blissful year of marriage, my hubby and I thought it was time to try for a baby. Easier said than done. We tried for six months or so and nothing happened. We began consultations with my gynae and during the subsequent two years, we tried everything to conceive, well, almost everything, at our disposal, save IVF.

A battery of tests had revealed that all was fine with both our reproductive systems. Nevertheless, the gynae persuaded me to have a laporoscopy done to clean up my tubes, take ovulation pills and chart my basal body temperature (BMT) - that meant taking my body temperature every morning at the point of waking up and recording it on a piece of graph paper. And every month, my temperature chart would show that characteristic dip about 10 days after ovulation. That dip showed the failure of conception and mirrored our emotions. This meant we needed to go through the hope-and-dash cycle for another month.

We even took a “baby-making” holiday to the States because many of our colleagues then conceived their babies overseas when they were away from their stressful jobs. But all to no avail. At the verge of giving up, a mini miracle happened. One morning my temperature chart failed to show that hope-shattering dip. Our hopes soared and like they say, the rest was history. We were finally rewarded for our faith with our firstborn son.

We thought our second child would be smooth-sailing thereafter but we were wrong. The same agony and wait. Month after month, year after year. The same consultations with the gynae and the same BMT chart routine.

Then one day, my mom managed to get hold of a recipe for a traditional chinese medicine brew that was supposed to strengthen the chi or energy in the lower half of the female body. I took three brews of the chinese medicine and at the same time, watched my diet to avoid "cooling" food. Believe it or not, this proved to be a successful two-pronged formula that worked - Son No 2 was finally conceived. He is five years younger than his elder brother.

We were in a way nonchalant after the second child. Heck, we were older now and our fertility must be even lower. We were busy with two children, thus family planning was far from our minds. But there were unseen forces that worked in mysterious ways. Son No 3 was born a mere 22 months after my second son.

So that’s the story of my three sons. I hope it is a story of hope for those who are trying to have a baby. Children are really little miracles. They are worth waiting for.