My mother prayed for safe pregnancy and delivery during her time. Then she prayed again to keep her children safe from harm.

I visited this temple when I was young with my mum and I still visit every year with my family during Chinese New Year for prayers.

Call it keeping the traditions alive.

I finally visited in 2019 after admitting I do have fertility challenges after I left my last banking job without another job and after all the injections for my second IVF cycle and before the next egg retrieval.

Pray. Just sincerely and silently. Girl or boy doesn’t matter. As long as the embryo latches this time, and as long as the pregnancy is smooth and as long as the child is healthy.

Maybe I was too sensitive but I sure thought she was smiling back at me at that time. Nonetheless, I took a couple of red eggs home to eat on my bed with my husband.

Fast forward a few months later, I gave birth to my precious at 32 weeks. He was a premie with no health problems. He was placed in special care only because he hadn’t reached full term. Baby was safe but the mummy wasn’t (I had loads of complications accompanied with other struggles).

I could have lost him if I didn’t felt paranoid and checked myself into the hospital in the middle of the night and subsequently placed in the delivery ward.

I could have lost him as my placenta had detached which resulted in the emergency caesarean. He could be a stillborn if there were no oxygen from the placenta.

I could be brain dead if I hadn’t asked a nurse to help me to the toilet who then administered CPR on me for more than two minutes after I collapsed because little did I know blood clots stopped oxygen into my lungs.

I think I was lucky. Extremely thankful that both of us are alive. Hence, I patiently waited until Covid restrictions were relaxed and returned 200 red eggs to give thanks and also to share the blessing with other couples.

What is 200 eggs and some incense for my life, my joy and happiness?

As long as my child is still young, seems like I will be visiting this temple for a long long time.

On a side note, in the IVF Facebook group I am in, people kept mentioning this temple and returning eggs here and encouraging others to visit. I guess it didn’t only work for me…

More on Keeping the Faith.

Read the history of the deity here.

Read on how to pray here.