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Her lips twitched. “I'm not here to lecture you on any of your choices. I asked because if you decide to keep this baby, you might want to talk to the father. It's been my experience, not as a therapist or a lawyer, but as a doctor who hears lots of stories, that things can get complicated when parents aren't kept in the loop about what's happening. It's your body and your choice. I’m 100 percent on your side with that. But communicating with him may be a way to head off any future complications.”
I felt emotionally and mentally bombarded with issues I hadn’t ever planned to contemplate. I swallowed. “Okay, what do I do?” I asked again.
She smiled softly. “For now, you start taking prenatal vitamins. We have samples here that you can leave with. Beyond that, let's schedule your next appointment. While you're pregnant, I’ll need to see you regularly for monitoring and so on. It's six months out, but some of the surgical decisions we were waiting on could be handled immediately following delivery.”
“You mean right after I have a baby?” I yelped.
She nodded, all cool and calm. “It's less traumatic for the body than another procedure. Many women get their tubes tied and even have a hysterectomy immediately after birth.”
“Will the endometriosis come back?”
“You have a severe case, so that would be my assumption. On the upside, the recovery won't seem like a separate event.”
“Really?”
“You'll be recovering from labor. What we would do surgically is less invasive than vaginal delivery or a C-section.”
Everything she said was completely matter-of-fact. Meanwhile, my internal state was in emotional chaos. “Oh!” I started laughing. “That's hysterical.”
She smiled. The intercom in her office sounded, indicating her next appointment had arrived.
“I have lots of questions,” I said.
“I know you do. Let's make an appointment in two weeks. In the meantime, pick up the sample prenatal vitamins on the way out. Write down all your questions, so we can cover everything at your next appointment. In the meantime, congratulations,” she said softly as she stood. “I know you wanted this possibility.”
After Dr. Williams left, I sat on the table for a few more minutes, trying to absorb this insane information. I was pregnant. I felt like I should’ve known, except my reproductive system was so out of whack. I dealt with cramping, periodic bleeding, no periods, feeling sick, and intense pain so often that I had simply overlooked the symptoms, chalking them up to endometriosis. Ihadfelt a fullness. However, I'd also had a seven-pound cervical cyst removed two years prior. So fullness was no big deal. That cyst had been the weight of a freaking baby.
As I got dressed, I contemplated my doctor’s comments about discussing my choice with the father. There wasonlyone person who could be the father. All I knew was his first name, his job, and the town he lived in forty-five minutes away.
