Pregnant woman with a huge belly: this is what the newborn looked like
Cardiff (United Kingdom) - A young woman from the United Kingdom attracted everyone's attention during her pregnancy: due to a rare condition, the 22-year-old's belly developed into a huge ball that looked almost fake. After the birth of her daughter, the belly is gone, but the worries about the baby are all the greater ...
Lauren Draper from Cardiff didn't have it easy during her pregnancy in several respects: the British woman was diagnosed with polyhydramnios at 24 weeks' gestation. This is when an excessive amount of amniotic fluid accumulates in the uterus.
However, the mother of four only found out what this meant for her everyday life in the weeks that followed: her baby bump grew so much that Lauren soon had problems walking and sleeping. She also suffered painful bruising on her ribs.
According to the Daily Mail , while her condition was being closely monitored, an umbilical cord prolapse was suspected in the 31st week of pregnancy and Lauren was admitted to hospital as a precaution.
Meanwhile, the young mother also had to listen to constant silly comments about her belly. These ranged from speculation that Lauren might be expecting quadruplets after all, to nasty comments that there was a three-bedroom apartment inside the ball.
Pregnant woman with mega baby bump goes viral on the internet
Baby is born by emergency caesarean section
Shortly after the 34th week of pregnancy, Lauren went into labor and the young woman began to bleed heavily. The doctors then diagnosed a placental abruption and performed an emergency C-section on January 6.
It was not until five hours later that the British woman was able to hold her little daughter Olyve in her arms for the first time. The baby girl was born weighing around 2.8 kilograms - an average weight for an infant.
But the bad news didn't stop there: "They said she wasn't breathing at birth. She was blue. It was horrible to hear that," Lauren recalls to Daily Mail.
The tiny girl had to be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, where, among other things, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition that affects Olyve's breathing and feeding.
"Her illness is limiting her life and no one knows what will happen next," writes mother Lauren on a GoFundMe page on which she is collecting donations for the baby 's treatment.
The British woman hopes that her daughter can still have a long life despite all the horror diagnoses. "Little Olyve is only 3 months old and has already had such a difficult time in her life. Every day is a struggle for her."