Page 37 of His to Love
Chapter Seventeen
Patton
The doorbell rang. “That must be Doctor Barclay now.”
After the follow-up appointment with our regular doctor, Alexa had been told to stay home and off her feet as much as possible. That meant the doc had to make house calls, and had been doing so for the last few months. I opened the door, welcoming her in. “Afternoon, doc. The little lady is on the sofa.”
“Afternoon, Patton.” She came in and walked straight to the living room. “So, this is the sixth-month checkup, and I am going to need you to take her in for a sonogram later this week. As long as there’s been no more bleeding.” The hematoma hadn’t yet reabsorbed into the placenta as the doctors had hoped, so we were being very careful about monitoring Alexa.
“She’s done really well this month. I don’t think we’ll have a problem taking her in for that.” I went to stand next to Alexa as she sat on the sofa. “You ready?”
Nodding, she smiled at the doctor. “I’ve been doing well this last month. No bleeding at all, and only a little cramping.”
“And how about staying off your feet?” She pulled a stethoscope from her bag.
“I’ve been doing pretty good with that. Only walking to the kitchen now and then when I don’t know exactly what I want to eat and have to stare into the fridge to make up my mind.” She laughed as she looked up at me. “Other than that, Patton has made sure I don’t need to get up for much at all.”
“Good to hear.” The doctor listened to Alexa’s heart then her lungs, then checked all her other vitals before listening to her tummy. “Sounds good here. A steady heartbeat is always good to hear. So, what’s it going to be with the sonogram? Do you want to know the sex of the baby, or is it going to be a surprise?”
Alexa and I had been waiting on getting the nursery painted until we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. “We do want to know what we’re having.”
“Great. I’ll put that in the notes.” She put away her things then asked, “Any questions for me, Alexa?”
“I’d like to know if you think I’ll carry the baby to full term.” She’d been having bad dreams about the baby coming early. In the dreams, it was always covered in blood and screaming, she told me, and it was tiny as could be.
“I understand why you might be worried about that. Now that you’re twenty-four weeks, the baby has developed its lungs and vital organs. Now, of course, this doesn’t mean that these organs are fully developed, so the baby would need to be in the NICU if you were to deliver it any time soon. Each week that you go without delivering a preterm baby from here on out is even better. So, don’t be in a hurry to have this baby. The longer it bakes in your oven, the better.”
“So, if I had this baby right now, it would survive?” Alexa asked, looking relieved.
“I didn’t say that,” the doctor let her know. “There are no guarantees. Not even with a baby that is born at full term. I’m sorry to have to say that to you, and I know it’s never easy for a mother to hear. But it has to be said. That little baby inside of you needs you to take the best care of yourself that you possibly can. But sometimes, that doesn’t change what happens in the delivery room. I don’t want you to dwell on that. Please, don’t. Focus on having a healthy baby. If, for some reason, you do have the baby early, every week you can keep it inside of you gives it that much of a higher survival rate.”
Though I knew she was just trying to keep us informed, I didn’t like what I was hearing at all. I didn’t think Alexa did either when all she said was a soft, “Oh.”
I ran my hand over her head. “Don’t think about that, babe. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
Alexa took my hand, holding it to her heart. “Feel that?”
It was beating like crazy. “Calm down. Everything is going to be fine.”
The doctor headed for the door. “I’m optimistic that the hematoma has finally cleared itself, so get your check-up and that sonogram done within the week and they’ll send it to me. I’ll discuss it with you over a video call later that same day.”
I went to show her out. As I opened the door, I found Luciano standing there, about to press the doorbell. “Well, hello,” he said to the doctor, taking her hand then kissing the top of it instead of shaking it.
“Um,” the doctor muttered as she looked at me. “A friend of yours, Patton?”
“Our baby’s uncle,” I told her. “Alexa’s brother.”
Luciano let go of her hand. “Luciano De La Cruz, Doctor Barclay. It’s a pleasure to meet the lady who has been keeping my sister healthy.”
“Thanks.” She stepped back to let him come in. “I was just on my way out.”
Luciano came inside, eyeing the woman. “You’re rather young to be a doctor, aren’t you?”
“Last I checked thirty wasn’t that young.” She smiled at him. “But flattery will get you everywhere.” She walked out the door, shaking her head as she went.
After closing the door, I had to laugh. “Do you ever meet a woman that you don’t hit on?”
“Once in a while. But not often, no.” He joined his sister in the living room. “And how are we doing today, my little princesa?”
