AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The nurse runs through my personal details before the sonographer walks into the room.
We say hello, and she looks at Dean, smiling over the rim of her glasses. Taking a seat, she rolls up my jumper, picks up a bottle of gel and gives it a shake. “Now this may feel a little bit cold.” She squirts the gel onto my tummy then picks up a hand-held probe attached to the machine.
My heart’s beating like a drum in my chest. I raise an arm behind my head, propping myself up so I can see the screen.
A black and white image appears. I can’t really make out what she’s looking at to start with, but as she slides the probe through the gel, our baby comes into view. “There we are,” she says to the machine.
My eyes are full of water. I turn and look at Dean. His eyes are fixed at the screen, a small smile spread across his face. I see him blink, then without looking away, his hand simply drops to my free hand, giving it a squeeze. He doesn’t have to say anything, I know.
The sonographer slides the slick probe over my tummy, clicking and pressing various buttons as she works. Neither me nor Dean have stopped smiling.
She talks us through how the baby’s heart, lungs and brain all look healthy before she starts to take measurements. I don’t know how long this part takes, but the stillness of the roomstarts to eat away at me, and my smile falters. Trying not to overthink why a silence has ensued, or the fact that the nurse is now watching the screen, I chance a look at Dean.
He winks at me before he mouths the words, ‘it’s okay’ to me.
“Okay,” the sonographer says, making me jump.
I turn to look at her, then the screen, then back to her. “Iseverything okay?” I ask.
“Yes, everything is fine,” I let go of the breath I held, “but,” I hold it again, “the baby is measuring in a little under where we’d expect to see them at this stage.”
I feel my face drop.
“Now this could be a number of things,” she starts. “The baby could be a little further back in your uterus, although your bladder is nice and full so we can rule that out. Or, what’s more likely, is that there’s a problem with the placenta, a condition commonly known as pre-eclampsia.”
My heart beats erratically. Dean’s hand on mine suddenly tightens.
There’s a problem?
“What does that mean?” Dean asks firmly.
“It means that there could be an insufficient blood supply to the placenta, which is restricting the growth of the foetus. Now, at this stage, the only way we can detect it for sure is to get a blood test.”
“Okay,” I say hesitantly.
“Lizzie,” the sonographer says, turning on her stool to the nurse. “Could you pass me Miss Reed’s file?” She holds out her hand as the nurse passes my file to her. Her eyes scan over my notes. “Okay, so I can see you have high blood-pressure, and protein was detected in your last urine sample. Did your GP explain what causes that to happen?”
“Yes,” I answer.
My GP explained that age, weight and your first pregnancy are all common reasons why my blood pressure could be higher than usual.
“Good. Have you experienced any headaches or had difficulty breathing? Any nausea or vomiting. Issues with your vision?”
I nod my head slightly. “I have headaches, and more recently I’ve had a pain in my chest. I broke two ribs not too long ago, I assumed it could just be that?” I look at Dean who sits forward in the chair.
The sonographer nods her head in agreement as though she’s heard what she needed to hear. She closes the file and requests I have a blood test.
The nurse leaves the room and closes the door behind her.
“And the baby? Is the baby okay?” Dean asks.
“The baby is fine; all the organs are functioning as they should be, I can assure you. With pre-eclampsia, we need to monitor the growth of the baby and ensure that the mother is well looked after.” She looks at me. “I don’t want you to worry.” She lifts her hands up in front of her apologetically. “I know that is easy for me to say given what I do, but I can assure you, if it is in fact pre-eclampsia that is causing the baby not to grow as we’d like, then there are many ways in which you’ll be looked after.”
I smile, deflated, but I can’t find any words.
“What about treatment?” Dean asks, standing by my side in my silence.
“Unfortunately, the only way totreatit, is to deliver the baby.”
