Page 103 of Cross My Heart
“Yes,” she says skeptically, “are you sure everything is alright?”
“I believe so, just let me have a minute so I can get a feel for what kind of internal damage you have.” Lanie nods her head, but I am so confused.
“Why do you need to check her internal damage for the flu? Is this something we should be worried about?” I ask him, sweat dotting my brow. I only just got Lanie, I can’t lose her now.
“Are you the husband?” Dr. Price asks.
“Boyfriend,” I reply.
Putting his gloves on, he tells me, “I think after I look, I’ll be able to answer all of your questions. Just give me a few minutes.”
He drops a big glob of blue goo onto Lanie’s stomach, I immediately have flashbacks to doing this with Anna, what a different feeling it was with her.
“Okay, let's get my bearings…and ri-ight here I think,” he doesn’t get to finish.
I’ve seen that before, then he twists the angle of the ultrasound wand, and my vision goes blurry.
“Holy shit,” I say.
Julia starts screeching in the background. “What, what is wrong? Dexter, answer me, damn it.”
Lanie is silent, she doesn’t know what I just saw. The doctor looks up to her and smiles.“Lanie, congratulations. You’re pregnant, with twins.”
My world does go black then. Luckily, I was sitting against a wall because I came to with a nurse scowling at me, waving a smelling salt stick in front of my face.”
“I swear, in this day and age, you would think you men would have learned to compose yourselves.” I immediately sit up straighter, staring at Lanie, who is white as a ghost.
“But-but the doctor’s told me the chances of pregnancy were so small there wasn’t even a point in putting a number to it, this can’t be right,” she says, but I’ve seen those blips three times before, they don’t lie.
“Having seen your initial reports after the attack, Lanie, I would have agreed with your Dartmouth team, I don’t think they gave you false information there.These really are miracle babies. There is no medical evidence as to why they should have been able to implant, but they did.”
Hardly able to hear the doctor, I finally come to my senses. Placing the screeching Julia on mute, waving the nurse away, I climb into the bed next to Lanie, balancing so I don’t fall off the edge. I need to be close to her.
Clearing his throat, unhappy it seems with our new seating arrangements, he begins talking to Lanie again. “Now, Lanie, I have to be honest, this is going to be a high-risk pregnancy due to the internal damage and scarring that you have.However, after reviewing all of your records and seeing for myself, I don’t see any reason that you won’t be able to carry the babies close to full term. That also means you will have to adhere to all our guidelines correctly and commit one-hundred percent to bed-rest when the time comes.Unfortunately for you, bedrest will arrive much earlier than it would have under normal circumstances. I know this is a lot to process, but I want to let you know, I am happy to be your doctor if you are comfortable, I’ll get you through this pregnancy.”
Dr. Bailey speaks next, “Lanie, Dr. Price is one of the top doctors in this field. I firmly believe in sticking with him to offer you the best chance at a happy, healthy pregnancy, resulting in two healthy babies. Of course, you are welcome to get second opinions or go to another practice if you are more comfortable,”
Lanie and I cut her off at the same time, so I tell Lanie to go first.
“I-I think we would like to stay with Dr. Price, right?” She says, looking at me.
“Absolutely,” I reply, kissing her forehead because I need to connect to her. Internally, I am so happy I could burst. Externally, I curb my reaction, unsure of how Lanie feels about all of this yet.
“That’s great to hear,” Dr. Price responds. “As I said, this is going to be a rather tricky pregnancy, so starting now, I don’t want you lifting anything heavier than twenty pounds. No strenuous workouts,” he raises his head, “sexual activity is fine at this stage, I just wouldn’t suggest anything crazy.”
Lanie blushes as red as I have ever seen her.
“I would also like to see you every two weeks to start, but know that it will become weekly in a month or two. Do you have any questions for me?” Lanie shakes her head, still in shock.
“Ah, how far along is she? When are the babies due?” I ask, Lanie whipping her head up, realizing she wanted those answers too.
“I would say, judging from the ultrasound, you are about ten weeks along, Lanie. Making your due date around September 17th, however, we will not let you go past 38 weeks. You will likely go into labor much earlier than that, though. Also, something to be aware of, with all the internal scarring, you will not be able to deliver naturally, you will need to have a C-section. The good news with that is, if you wish, our plastic surgeon may be able to lessen some of the scarring around your lower abdomen. That is nothing that needs to be decided any time soon, I just wanted to make you aware. Do you have any other questions?” He asks us.
“Dr.,” I begin, “I know you said this is a high-risk pregnancy, but will these complications put Lanie’s life in danger?”
Placing a hand on my shoulder, he says, “Lanie is a fortunate woman, I can honestly say I don’t anticipate her risk to be much higher than a comparable pregnancy of multiples. With her scarring, I would just like to err on the side of caution. I know this is scary, but I do have confidence in a positive outcome for you all.” After shaking his hand, then Dr. Bailey’s, they leave the room.
“Lanie? Sweetheart, how do you feel about all this?” I ask her, unmuting Julia at the same time.
