When her first scan revealed she had early-stage bladder cancer, a soon-to-be mother claims her unborn child "saved her life.".
With her partner Michael Johnson, Megan McQuade, 29, from Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, had been trying to conceive for two years.
They were warned they might need to decide whether to continue with the pregnancy after receiving the heartbreaking news just before Christmas.
She claimed that it was the worst choice anyone had ever had to make.
Ms. McQuade, a primary school teacher, noticed some spotting, or light bleeding, around six weeks into her pregnancy, so she went in for a checkup.
She admitted to BBC Radio Tees that she "panicked" as a new mother.
She was advised to get her bladder checked after the sonographer at the hospital noticed what appeared to be a shadow on it.
The warning, according to Ms. McQuade, completely escaped her attention because the couple was "overjoyed" after seeing their baby for the first time.
However, she realized there was a more serious problem when she came back two weeks later.
The woman's tone completely altered. "Please schedule an appointment with your GP," she pleaded, "because I really think you need to have it looked into.".
"It hit me then all of a sudden; I almost felt a turn in my stomach that something wasn't right. '.
The couple met with a consultant at North Tees University Hospital in December who cautioned them that it might be cancer.
"We had this wonderful plan for Christmas Day to tell our families for real. The consultant sat there telling me essentially that I might have cancer, but none of them knew because we wanted to let them know with this lovely video for everyone.
"My partner just wrapped his arm around me and asked, "Are you okay? " as soon as I walked out of the room, and I immediately started crying.
"It was terrible. I was thinking about everything, including whether I would survive and what would happen to the baby. ".
She learned she would have a procedure with a camera to take a closer look at the beginning of January.
The only good news she had at the time was the size of the tumor, which was so small that doctors could remove it and perform a biopsy all at once.
"After the surgery, the consultant visited me and told me everything had gone really well; we were just awaiting the results to decide what would happen to the baby.
"The next step was to see if I needed chemotherapy or not, and if I did, it was explained to me that we would essentially have to choose between taking the baby out, treating it with chemotherapy, or keeping it. ".
They received their outcomes two weeks later.
"As we sat down, the consultant said, "Everything has gone really well; we were able to remove everything, and we removed some extra cells around it to make sure there was no chance of it coming back. There is no need for additional treatment, in our opinion.
The best news I could have received still makes me a little teary-eyed. " .
In July, the couple's child is due. After that, Ms. McQuade will undergo two more camera-based procedures, and if all goes well, she will be released.
I think everything happens for a reason, she continued.
"Michael and I have waited for exactly that time to arrive for two years so that they could alert us that something isn't right - it has all worked out. ".
She now cautions others about the condition of their bladders.
The most frightening aspect, she said, was that she had no symptoms at all.
"I am doing great right now, and the baby is doing great. We are looking forward to seeing the baby again at the 20-week scan coming up in a few weeks.
. "
