THIRTY-FOUR
Emily was beside herself with excitement when she rushed out of the toilet to shake a still sleeping Ethan out of bed to give him the news. “We’re pregnant E! We’re pregnant!!”
Ethan looked at her with blurry irritated eyes before understanding and a lopsided grin appeared on his face. He pulled her into an embrace and kissed her tenderly. He was happier than he thought he would be and in all sincerity said, “That’s the kind of news I needed to hear at the start of an extremely hectic morning Emmy. It’s what will keep me going through the day. But,” he added, “Perhaps you should see Dr. Rao and make sure that you are pregnant before we spread the word?”
Emily who had been scrolling through her contacts to find her mother’s number, which she had forgotten for some reason at that moment, paused and looked up at Ethan. “Hmm…I suppose that makes sense. I’ll make an appointment right away!”
Emily was lying on the doctor’s table wondering why the air conditioner in Dr. Rao’s consultation room was always set at a temperature so low it caused the hair on her body to stand up when the nurse came in to get the equipment ready.
The nurse noticed her goose bumps and smiled, “Don’t be nervous Ma’am. All is well. The doctor is running late because he is finishing an unscheduled emergency caesarean section. He’ll be with you in a few minutes.”
Emily nodded and thought about how she could possibly be that woman in the operation theatre a few months from then. Hopefully, there would be no emergency surgery and she would be waiting for the baby to crown. She squirmed in excitement, a grin spreading across her face.
“Ah! Mrs. Mendonca, how late did you say you were?” asked Dr. Rao, coming straight to the point as he drew the screen around her bed, probably more out of habit than out of the need for privacy since there was only one bed in the room.
“About ten days. I’m usually very regular. I’ve never been this late before.”
“Let’s have a look-see then.” He said, running the ultrasound transducer right below Emily’s belly searching for the amniotic sac. “There. Can you see it?” Dr. Rao was pointing at a tiny blob on the screen.
Emily looked at him and said, “That? That’s the baby? You’re sure, aren’t you, doctor?”
Dr. Rao laughed. “Well, not the baby per se, it’s the amniotic sac. The fetus is a little too tiny to make out just yet, plus, it’s not like it has tiny arms and legs for you to see. On this old machine, you can’t even hear its heartbeat yet. But,” he finished hastily as Emily began to look worried, “to answer your more important question, yes, I’m sure you’re about six weeks along.”
Emily felt tears well up. She was crying again. This journey of pregnancy which she seemed to be only beginning at last, had already left her in tears so many times. At least these weren’t tears of frustration and disappointment anymore.
As he wrote out a prescription for standard supplements, Dr. Rao added, “You’ll be given no end of advice from all the well-meaning women you know who have had children before you. Other than refraining from alcohol consumption, smoking and drugs there is nothing you must or cannot do at this time. Some women work in the fields till they go into labour and usually if they’re not teenagers, these are the women who have the easiest deliveries. Pregnancy is not a disease. It is part of routine life and unless you are advised by me, don’t give up on anything that you’ve been doing so far. Also, don’t suddenly shock your body and do something absolutely new, no matter what you read on the internet. I hate to say it but, the internet is full of idiots leading idiots. Don’t take anything you read about medical issues on the internet seriously. Come straight to me if you have any fears or doubts and take these tablets. I’ll see you back here in a few days for your next appointment.”
As Emily was getting up to go, Dr. Rao turned to her and said, “One more thing Mrs. Mendonca. Congratulations!”
Emily felt her eyes become wet again and was walking on air when she met Ethan outside the clinic. “Thirty-four weeks till baby time E.”
He looked at Emily, the woman who was going to be the mother of his child and in excitement repeated, “Thirty-four weeks…” before bursting into loud laughter.
******
Post 20!
Catch up on the previous chapters here.
Filed under: Fiction, novella, UBC October, Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged: Emily, expecting, fiction, joy, novella, pregnant, story, thirty-four weeks, UBC, UBC October 
