Baby Comes First by Beverly Farr Read Free Book Online

He
stood quietly by her side as she lay on the examination table.
    The doctor undid the zipper to her skirt and
pushed the waistband down and rolled her blouse up to expose her
stomach. As the technician guided the ultrasound wand over her bare
skin, Hannah and her doctor watched the results on a large black
and white monitor.
    Dr. Armanzo pressed her lips together. “Hmm.
Just what I suspected. You have placenta previa.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “The placenta is growing over the cervix.
This occurs in about one in every 200 births. The risks are that
the baby might not get sufficient blood, or that the mother might
hemorrhage – especially during delivery.”
    Luke’s fingers tightened on hers.
“Hemorrhage?”
    “Yes, but with careful monitoring, it rarely
rises to a serious level.” She addressed Hannah. “You’re fortunate
that you only have partial, instead of full placenta previa. And it
appears that you have stopped bleeding. But we will still need to
be careful.”
    “And what exactly does ‘being careful’
involve?” Hannah asked.
    “First of all, I want you to stay at the
hospital for a few hours, for observation, to make sure you are
okay. Then you get to go home and lie down.”
    “For how long?”
    “Until the baby’s born.” Dr. Armanzo smiled
at her look of astonishment. “That’s right. I’m putting you on
complete bed rest. You can get up for no more than five minutes
every hour. The rest of the time, I want you flat in bed. Not even
sitting up. You are to stay horizontal.”
    “But what about my job? I can’t –” Hannah
stopped when she realized what she was saying. “Of course I can.
I’ll do whatever is necessary.”
    “Don’t worry about your work,” Luke added.
“That’s not important.”
    She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“But what will you do?”
    “I’ll get a floater.”
    Hannah knew how he hated working with the
floaters, but she knew he was right. Work didn’t matter right now –
the baby came first. She let her breath out slowly. “Complete bed
rest,” she said weakly. “Wow.”
    “From what I hear, the first week is rather
relaxing,” Dr. Armanzo said kindly. “Many women find it is a good
time to catch up on all their reading and take extra naps. You can
think of it as a vacation.”
    “But after the first week?”
    “It’s more difficult,” the doctor admitted.
“You’ll need to find something to do to keep from going stir crazy.
Many women knit or start a needlework project.”
    “What about meals and things like that?” Luke
asked.
    He was a logical man, Hannah thought, asking
the practical questions.
    “Do you have someone who could come in to
clean and make meals for you?” Dr. Armanzo asked. “Some women make
do with a microwave and a freezer full of frozen dinners, but
nutritionally, that isn’t the best option.”
    Hannah thought of her friends. She knew some
of them would be happy to help, going shopping for her, or running
an occasional load of laundry, but they had busy lives and she
didn’t want to be a burden to them. “I’ll be okay,” she said
quietly, wondering how she was going to make this work.
    Dr. Armanzo smiled. “Good. I want this baby
to stay inside you as long as possible, at least to 36 weeks.”
    “Four more weeks.”
    “That’s right. At that point, we’ll check to
see how the baby is developing and schedule a c-section.”
    “C-section? I’d hoped to have a more natural
birth.”
    Dr. Armanzo said, “I know. So did I, but with
the placenta previa, that would be too risky.” The doctor spent a
few more minutes with her, talking about the warning signs and
explaining when she’d need to contact the hospital. “I’ll be back
to check on you in a few hours before you’re released,” she said.
“I have two more babies to deliver this afternoon. In the meantime,
nurses will monitor you, and if you need help, there’s a call
button to push.” She turned to Luke. “Nice to meet