Page 177 of Unspoken Words
I held on to his hand until they slipped apart, our arms dropping by our sides, and then he was gone.
*
Roughly an hour later,Dr Goodmanentered my room, her eyes wide as she took in the surroundings. “Wow! It looks like a florist in here.”
“I know!” I stepped away from the window, reached into one of many bouquets, and sniffed a rose. “Maybe someone got married or something.”
“Congratulations, once again.”
“Thank you.”
She picked up my chart and took a seat on the edge of my bed.
“Sooo,” she drawled, tapping her pen on the clipboard. “I think it’s best we schedule a Caesarean for as soon as possible.”
“Best for me, or best for Christina?”
“Best for you, keeping in mind Christina is currently an extension of you.”
“You’re mincing words, Dr Goodman.”
“Look. Ideally, the longer the baby can stay within the womb to reach full gestation, the better. That said, born at thirty-one to thirty-two weeks, Christina will be classed as a moderate preterm and will require many weeks in NICU.”
“Nope. Uh ah. I’m not risking it then.”
“Ellie, most thirty-one and thirty-two weekers quickly catch up to their peers and have few long-term effects of prematurity.”
“What if we wait till thirty-three weeks, or even thirty-four?”
“If you were a healthy mother, yes, that would be better. But you’re not, Ellie.”
“I feel fine.”
“That may be the case now, tomorrow, or the next day, but if you take a turn for the worse, so, too, does your baby. Are you willing to riskthat?”
Taking a seat on the couch Connor had tried to sleep on, I dropped my head to my hands and closed my eyes. “What would you do if you were in my position?”
“I can’t answer that. Your situation is different from most expectant mothers. But your wellbeing is just as important as your daughter’s. The longer you stay pregnant, the greater your risk of heart failure. And if your heart fails, so can your daughter’s.”
I looked up. “So you’re saying I’ve now become a ticking time bomb?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“And it’s best to give birth prematurely before I blow?”
She nodded.
Sucking in a deep breath, I blinked back my tears just as Connor walked through the door, holding a brown paper McDonald’s bag. “Okay. Schedule the C-Section then.”
Dr Goodman stood up. “Good choice.”
I sniffed. “I hope so.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Connor
Iheld up a tinypink onesie. “Tomorrow, we get to meet our princess.”
