Sarah Maria Griffin — The last thing you want is to be a medical mystery when you’re 30 weeks pregnant

Author Sarah Maria Griffin describes the tense weeks before her firstborn’s early arrival — and how the miracle of life and birth has made her a much more optimistic person

Sarah Maria Griffin: 'I went to the Rotunda every second day. I’d listen to the baby’s heart. She had a pulse, and there was a pulse coming from the placenta. The sound of the uterus is like a whooshing sound, like the ocean, like the sound you make when you soothe a baby — hush, hush – it comes from that internal landscape. I heard that every second day for a good few weeks.' Photo: Moya Nolan

I loved being pregnant — really, really enjoyed it, I felt amazing.

One Tuesday, at 30 weeks, I was in for a routine scan, and the doctor, her head tilted, said: "What’s going on here?"