Konstantinos Sfakianoudis is a doctor in a class of his own. Deeply knowledgeable about the subject he clearly loves, with vast experience, low-key with an ethic that is rare these days and noble by nature. He lives to create life and give women and couples what they desire. He is the doctor for the difficult, the impossible tasks.
One of these difficult tasks was the case with my own pregnancy, which had risks and difficulties from the beginning . But also me as a case, I had a tragic issue that I wish no woman or couple would ever experience.
2 years ago I had lost the child I was carrying 10 days before giving birth, completely suddenly and without any official reason. It was a devastating loss. After that I had 2 more unsuccessful attempts. So when I went to his office I had already decided that this would be my last attempt. After seeing all my history and clinical condition he gave me a clear answer why I was not getting pregnant.
I followed the treatment he suggested, a treatment that bears his signature, and I was ready to try again. The positive result came but the pregnancy ended with a missed abortion. Frustration, tears. I thought I would never make it. He told me it was an unfortunate parenthesis and we should move on. I was losing hope, but he wasn’t.
So a few months later I was pregnant with twins! A boy and a girl. I couldn’t believe it and the truth is, that I was so scared. In the 3rd month the bleeding started and a hematoma formed in the uterus. The pregnancy was in danger at any moment. I didn’t know if the next moment I would be pregnant or not. The doctor explained all the possibilities to me clearly, calmly and with few words. That’s all I needed. He’s not the kind of doctor who will rant and rave and over-analyze. He’s retained and confident in whatever he will pass onto you. For me, that made me feel calm, gave me confidence.
After the hematoma was over and everything was going well, one night at 22 weeks the waters broke in my sleep. The boy’s sac had ruptured. I thought it was all over again, but he said that we can fight it and that he was optimistic. Then, I realised the doctor’s experience and the cases he has handled. I had to stay in the hospital bedridden and battle with time to gain as much time as possible. Time for my babies. For our baby boy to survive with minimal amniotic fluid and not drag his sister down too. I was in the hospital for 2.5 months. I spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve inside counting every day. I woke up and prayed that the 24 hours would go well. I felt in my skin the value of every moment and I was being thankful for every extra day. My doctor was there all the time, almost every day he would come to see me and give me instructions. So was his midwife, my midwife, Dionysia Bikou. The best midwife you may find. Always there, very experienced, optimistic and with a smile on her face. Whenever I saw them, I gained strength. In their hands I felt safe in a situation full of insecurity.
The contractions started to get more intense and we all felt that the big moment was nearby. On the day I turned 32 weeks, I had a scheduled ultrasound. The time had come. Everything happened very quickly, the doctor who understood my anxiety enlisted his jokes and told me stories before I lost myself into the anesthesia. Everyone’s worry was our little boy who had been struggling for months without much amniotic fluid.
I didn’t hold him in my arms, he left immediately for intubation, but I heard him crying. I held his sister. Both babies remained in the ICU for quite some time. All this time my doctor and my midwife were there. Next to our babies. The little fighters came to the house and filled it with happiness. Fighters in a battle that we all fought in a different way, and just a few believed in it.
My doctor, with deep faith, found solutions where others found problems. We are grateful to him and he now has a place in our hearts.
