Doctors were convinced that I was expecting seven babies. In the delivery room, everyone didn\u2019t really breathe until they heard the seventh scream. We thought the hardest time was finally over.<\/p>\n
Suddenly the doctor stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait…<\/p>\n
Within seconds, the atmosphere changed. Something had just happened, something that no one in the room seemed to have been prepared for.<\/p>\n
During one of my usual checks, the doctor had stayed particularly in front of the screen for a long time. I looked at his face, trying to guess if he had noticed anything disturbing.<\/p>\n
Eventually, he turned to me.<\/p>\n
We see seven fetuses.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Seven?<\/p>\n
From that moment on, this number accompanied me every day.<\/p>\n
My life has completely changed. People looked at me in awe, worried and asked me questions. For my part, every night, I lie down paying attention to the movements of the \u00a0babies<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n I almost didn’t think of anything else. I asked him only one thing: that everyone comes into the living world.<\/p>\n The \u00a0pregnancy<\/span><\/a> It was extremely difficult. Each new exam was accompanied by enormous tension. Each step taken was like a goal that had to be achieved gradually, without knowing for sure what the next would be maintained.<\/p>\n The closer the birth, the more I also perceived the concern of the doctors. They tried to speak calmly, but I knew they were fully aware of the risks.<\/p>\n When the first contractions began, they immediately took me to the \u00a0hospital<\/span><\/a>. In the delivery room, everything was ready. The staff knew what to expect: seven newborns had to come into the world.<\/p>\n And then the moment he had feared for all the previous months began.<\/p>\n First I heard a first scream.<\/p>\n Then a second.<\/p>\n A third, a fourth, a fifth and then a sixth.<\/p>\n Finally, the seventh.<\/p>\n After this last cry, great relief seemed to be going through the whole room. I felt like I wasn’t the only one holding my breath. Doctors and nurses also seemed to have waited for this moment: confirmation that the seven babies were finally there.<\/p>\n \u201cSeven,\u201d someone said.<\/p>\n For a few seconds, I really thought it was all over.<\/p>\n Seven children were born. Seven screams had sounded in the room. I just wanted to close my eyes and cry with relief.<\/p>\n I was exhausted, but I felt the worst was now behind me.<\/p>\n It was precisely at this moment that one of the doctors suddenly stated:<\/p>\n \u201cWait…<\/p>\n After these words, everything seemed to freeze.<\/p>\n The sounds of the devices, which until then were confused in an indistinct background sound, suddenly seemed incredibly loud to me. He was lying down, without strength, trying to remain conscious, unable to understand what might still happen.<\/p>\n After all, the seven babies were born.<\/p>\n I turned my head to the teacher. Throughout my pregnancy, I had never seen him really confused. I had always given the impression of knowing exactly what I was doing and what the next step should be.<\/p>\n This time it was different.<\/p>\n His hands were immobilized. His face expressed something he hoped to see even less in such an experienced doctor: a real surprise mixed with worry.<\/p>\n \u2014 Professor? She asked a nurse slowly. What is it?<\/p>\n He did not respond immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the ultrasound, there were seven of them,\u201d she said, smothered. We all saw seven. The 30th week and just before the operation…<\/p>\n \u201cYes, seven heartbeats,\u201d someone from the team who was already taking care of the newborns replied. All the babies are here.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s when I understood the essentials.<\/p>\n The problem was not the seven children who had just been born.<\/p>\n It was something that was still in me.<\/p>\n Something no one had planned.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going on? I screamed. Doctor, tell me what’s going on!<\/p>\n No one answered me directly.<\/p>\n Doctors began to exchange short, quick prayers. Someone asked for instruments, while another person called the anesthesiologist. I didn\u2019t understand everything they said, but the tone of their voices was enough to make me understand that the situation was no longer going as planned.<\/p>\n All the fear accumulated over nine months has returned in an instant.<\/p>\n I remembered sleepless nights, stress-filled consultations, doctor\u2019s eyes and all the conversations about the risks. Only then did I realize that what I had taken for the end of our most difficult test might not be.<\/p>\n I thought I had just accomplished something unimaginably difficult. However, the faces of the people around me told me that an even more unexpected event was happening.<\/p>\n The teacher always looked forward. Finally, he spoke quietly, as if he himself had trouble believing what he had just discovered.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is still one…\u201d<\/p>\n Moments later, he repeated:<\/p>\n There is still one.<\/p>\n In his voice, he could not hear anything of concern alone. Now there was awe.<\/p>\n At first I didn\u2019t understand the meaning of his words. My thoughts mixed, my body was totally exhausted, and in my ears still echoed the seven screams that had filled the room a few moments before.<\/p>\n But I saw the staff reactions. A nurse had pale. The anesthesiologist had approached without a word. The teacher used an instrument.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the ultrasound,\u201d the midwife muttered. We had counted. We checked it seven times.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultrasound didn\u2019t see it,\u201d the professor replied, not looking the other way. It was placed in such a way that it was simply invisible. Behind the other seven. Hidden. As if he…<\/p>\n He hesitated for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs if I were waiting.<\/p>\n I screamed, but not pain. It was a scream of fear and a total misunderstanding.<\/p>\n During all these months, I had been convinced of how many children I had. I prayed for seven \u00a0babies<\/span><\/a>. I thought of seven babies. I had heard their movements and all my heartbeat preparing to welcome precisely seven children.<\/p>\n And now, I was learning that, throughout this long and difficult \u00a0pregnancy<\/span><\/a>, another \u00a0baby<\/span><\/a> I had been there. A child that the doctors had not seen and that I did not know existed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n The teacher looked me in the eye. The surprise visible a few moments earlier had disappeared from his face. He had given way to absolute concentration.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s possible,\u201d he replied firmly. You’ve just given birth to seven children. Now you’re gonna give birth to the eighth. Breathe. You must not lose consciousness. Can you hear me? Breathe, breathe!<\/p>\n <\/center><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Soon after, I felt the contractions again.<\/p>\n I was breathing when the voices of the doctors became louder. I breathed as the devices emitted increasingly frequent sounds. Everything around me seemed to accelerate, while I was just trying to follow the teacher\u2019s instructions.<\/p>\n Then another scream sounded.<\/p>\n He was weaker than the previous ones.<\/p>\n But this time, when that sound spread through the room, no one immediately gave a sigh of relief. They all looked frozen.<\/p>\n He’s alive.<\/p>\n I don’t remember what happened immediately after. What I remember above all is the immense wave of emotion that suddenly overwhelmed me.<\/p>\n It was no longer just pain or fear.<\/p>\n I saw my kids being settled in the incubators. I saw the doctors move from one to the other, focused on each of them.<\/p>\n The master himself still seemed upset about what had just happened.<\/p>\n I’ve been working for forty years. I’ve seen a lot of them. But something like that…<\/p>\n He shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething like that, I\u2019ve never seen it before. You know what you just did? You gave birth to eight children. Eight.<\/p>\nThe Day I Had Feared All My Pregnancy<\/h2>\n
Only one sentence changed the atmosphere of the room<\/h2>\n
\u201cThere is still one\u201d<\/h2>\n
An eighth scream in the room<\/h2>\n
Eight screams and eight little hearts beating<\/h2>\n