Confused -- Pregnant or Prancing?

Dear Doctor, I feel at home the way you answer people's questions and decided to write you a personal one. I am a 32 year old man married for two years now with no issue to show for it. Our problem now is that of confusion. When my wife and I decided to really start a search for a child, we went for various tests which showed that my wife was alright but with slight fibroid, which the doctors said would not hinder her from conceiving. I was found to have a low sperm count problem and was placed on treatment. This greatly improved to up to 74 million, and was given a clean bill of health as able to impregnate my wife. My wife took in twice and it all went out after the first month. We continued until we decided to try herbs to fight the fibroid. The herb woman told my wife the very first time, that she was one month pregnant. We rejoiced and started thinking of our baby. However lately, she went to hospital for scan after three months, and was told that there was no child in her womb. Meanwhile, her tummy is protruding, breasts enlarging; she feels very heavy, experiences sleepiness and drowsiness in the early mornings, and once or twice has almost thrown up in the morning. The problem is that with all these signs, is it possible that she is not pregnant? And if not, what could be growing in her tummy, since it is not fibroid? Please, advice us before we do something stupid. Please, do reply through this mail address while sharing same in the papers for those facing the same kind of confusion. Thanks again for your interest. Yours truly, David Emeka Dear Emeka, Let me first of all commend your public spiritedness that is willing to let others benefit from your experiences. This attitude of wanting to give to others always pays in the long run. It is also godly, having originated with Christ who said, "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom; for with what measure ye give shall it be given back unto you". In medical science, your wife is not pregnant but has a condition called Pseudocyesis or false pregnancy which manifests in women who are too anxious to have babies (which is the funny thing about this diagnosis) although it can also occur in women who are too anxious not to have a pregnancy. The important issue is the over anxiety or what we, in psychological medicine, call an anxiety state that is the underlying problem manifesting in bodily symptoms of pregnancy that truly cannot be physically demonstrated by any medical or non medical means. What the medical doctor will usually do is tell the woman she is not pregnant and get her to accept this. The condition resolves after that. The woman's body system comes back to normal. And she now continues to look to God for another pregnancy. Now --and this is the very interesting part-- some health practitioners --- some orthodox, some traditional, others religious --- who solve problems with an understanding of the spiritual basis of human troubles may tell a woman like your wife not to lose heart -- that she is pregnant! They will then go ahead to treat her and, if the appropriate treatment can be followed, can reverse the case to normal-- so that the baby can now be seen by ultrasound, X rays, physical examination etc, and what is more, the woman can now continues her pregnancy normally until delivery and delivers a normal baby in every way. These spiritual practitioners insist the baby was all the time present with the woman but that certain negative forces were responsible for wanting to hide, steal, oppress or kidnap the pregnancy with the possibility of permanent loss or disappearance of the pregnancy if care is not taken! If you ask me what do I believe or what would I tell my patient, I will reply -- "It depends on the patient's belief and her state of mind." If she were the type that has no belief in such things and is more comfortable with a mind-set that denies the spiritual, I would just tell her she has no problem -- that she is not pregnant but has a pseudocyesis – false pregnancy; that's all. If, on the other hand, she can believe or does believe -- then, I tell you nothing is impossible to them that believe!! I would start by impressing her that I really know about these things, having written a book titled "Destroying the Strongholds of Witchcraft and other Human Agents of Satan". I would share with her stories of such cases we have handled in the past. I would admit her and begin to investigate her along the lines of an unstable pregnancy (maybe with lower than normal hormones) while I mount a very strong, severe and strident counter-offensive or attack in the spirit realm through prayers with fasting, deliverance and appropriate intensive follow-up to retrieve, retain, and preserve the pregnancy and make it stable till delivery. Then we shall "Praise the Lord" or "Alhamdulilahi" as the case may be and as we have done, many times before. Cheers