Hello Everybody!
This is what I am calling the pregnancy chapter, I am going to try and fit all of the pregnancy into one chapter if possible. So strap in and enjoy the ride.
Bit of a time jump again but nothing serious. Also I have not had a child therefore, the stages in Emily's pregnancy might be off. I have done countless hours of research and that included asking my aunt whose a surgeon some very odd questions. Sorry in advance.
Bumpy ride ahead!
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1st Trimester Months 1 - 3
Emily was teaching her class when suddenly she was out of breath and had to sit down for a few minutes.
"Mrs. Reid, are you okay?" a student asked
"Just a little winded. Ill be okay just give me a second." Emily said
Once Emily had regained her breath she went to stand but she felt very tired as if she had just run a marathon. So instead of standing she stat in her chair and taught like that for the remainder of her class.
Spencer had just finished his last class of the day and was looking forward to going home and having a nice warm shower with Emily. A knock came at the door and Emily came in holding an envelope.
"Nice to finally see you today. God class was running long." Spencer said
"I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" Emily asked
"Bad." Reid said grabbing Emily's hands
"I have Preeclampsia." Emily said
"High blood pressure and protein in the urine that afflicts up to 8% of pregnant women. It can cause blood clotting and impaired kidney and liver function." Reid said
"Now for the good news. We are having twins!" Emily said excitedly.
"Oh Emily! This is amazing news!" Reid said kissing Emily
"I am glad I could cheer you up." Emily said
"Luckily preeclampsia is relatively easy to manage." Reid said
"No strenuous work is going to be so hard on me." Emily said jokingly
"Why don't we order in Indian while I finish up marking and then we can go home and have a nice warm shower together. How does that sound?" Reid asked
"Sounds peachy." Emily said
"Do you need anything from your office? I need to go to the lounge to grab a few things." Reid asked
"There is a pile of file folders in my office with a class list on top, if you could grab that it'd be great." Emily said
"Sounds good. I'll be right back." Spencer said
Spencer left the room and made his was over to the lounge and had the biggest smile on his face, when he got into the lounge he was confronted with his old team. Something he didn't want to do for a very, very long time.
"Hey Reid." JJ said
"I can't, bye." Reid said turning around
Spencer didn't even bother grabbing his things before going to Emily's office and grabbing her things. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Rossi.
"Hey Dave." Spencer said
"Hi Spencer. How's married life going?" Rossi asked
"So far so good. I know I shouldn't be telling anyone this yet but I trust you wont tell anyone. Emily is pregnant with twins." Reid said
"È fantastico! (That's amazing!)" Rossi said giving Reid a hug
"Why don't you come back to my lecture hall, I am sure Emily would be pleased to see you." Reid said
"Right behind you." Rossi said
"I just have to grab Emily's things and then Ill be on my way." Reid said
"I wont be able to stay for long, we are technically on a case." Rossi said
"I will make it quick don't worry." Reid said
Rossi and Reid were walking down the hall towards Reid's lecture hall where Emily was patiently waiting.
"Emily look who I ran into." Reid said
"Dave!" Emily said
But as fast as Emily was getting up she fell down and started motioning to her neck.
"Ca-n-t b-r—eathe." Emily motioned
"I am calling 911." Dave said
Reid ran over with tears running down his face and put his ear to Emily's chest trying to figure out what was wrong with her. That's when he remembered he had an oxygen tank and mask in his office when he was doing a first aid class a few weeks back. Reid ran as fast as he could into his office and gabbed the tank and mask before running at top speed back to his ailing wife.
Reid turned the dial and held the mask over Emily's mouth and nose, this helped a little but no where near enough that she stopped clawing at her throat. As each minute passed she was getting more and more tired and was beginning to fade in and out of consciousness.
"Emily! I need you to stay awake. Please stay awake for me. Stay awake for the twins. Oh Emily please, I can't do this without you. I don't know how to do this. You are my sun, my everything. Please, please, please be okay." Reid said between sobs
Before Reid was able to say anything else the paramedics arrived and pushed Reid out of the way so they could assess Emily.
"Sir is there anything we should know?" the paramedic asked
"She is pregnant with twins and she has preeclampsia." Reid said wiping his tears
"We need to do a tracheotomy." The paramedic said to her colleague
The paramedic did the tracheotomy but it didn't solve the problem.
"Sir are you riding along?" the paramedic asked
"Yes." Reid said running along side the paramedics
The one paramedic grabbed her radio and started telling what was going on to the local hospital.
"We have a middle aged female, pregnant with preeclampsia. Sudden trouble breathing that the trach didn't fix. ETA is 5 minutes. Husband and friend are riding along with us." She said
As they were running out of the University they passed the team and Reid didn't even give a glance as his sole attention was on his wife.
*Team*
"Oh my god. Is that Emily?" JJ asked
"Yes it was. You guys continue on the case I am going with Spencer. I will keep you updated." Rossi said
"Let's go back to the BAU and see if what we have is enough for a profile." Hotch said
*Ambulance*
Reid and Rossi were sitting on the bench trying to stay out of the way as the ambulance attendant did her job trying to save Emily. Within 5 minutes they arrived at the hospital, Reid and Rossi were shoved into the waiting room and were told to wait until a nurse came and got them. Reid and Rossi were left with no information for three hours before a nurse came and brought them to a private room so they could talk to the doctor.
"Hello Dr. Reid and David Rossi. I am Dr. Nicole and I am in change of Emily's care." Dr. Nicole said
"How is she?" Rossi asked
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Emily came in with the inability to breathe that the trach didn't fix. We went and did an ultrasound on the lungs once we got her stabilized and found she had a pulmonary edema. So once we got all of the fluid build up out of her lungs we went to see if we could find a cause. We started with the heart and found that Emily has congestive heart failure. The congestive heart failure caused the pressure in the blood vessels in the lungs to rise and thus caused a build up of blood in the vessels and as the pressure built in the vessels fluid from the blood was pushed into the lungs causing the respiratory distress." Dr. Nicole explained
"So is she going to be okay?" Reid asked
"Because this was not found earlier in life the medication we would normally give in this case would not work. The only viable option in this case is a heart transplant. The bad news about the heart transplant is that most often take 6 months before we get a donor heart. Since Emily also has preeclampsia bed rest is the best thing for that. So by my recommendation she is to stay at the hospital until she receives her donor heart." Dr. Nicole said
"Can we see her?" Reid asked
"Yes, she is awake but I want to prepare you for what you are going to see. Emily is hooked up to an external heart pump to take the pressure off of the blood vessels and she has tubes coming out of both lungs." Dr. Nicole said
"Before I go I just have one question. What are the chances the twins are going to survive without deficits?" Reid asked
"At this point in time we will not know we have the fetal monitor on constantly so we can make sure they are okay. But as time goes on we will be able to determine more, sorry I don't have more information for you now." Dr. Nicole said
"If you will follow me I will take you to the ICU so you can see Emily." Dr. Nicole said
Reid and Rossi got up from where they were standing and followed Dr. Nicole to the ICU on the 12th floor so they could see Emily. When they arrived on the 12th floor they got out and Reid could already see his wife.
"I am going to need you to put shoe covers, a gown, gloves and a cap on before you can go into her room. This is only because we can't risk infection to her heart." Dr. Nicole said before going to the desk and filling in some paperwork
"She really knows her stuff." Rossi said
"Better hope so." Reid said flatly
Reid went over to Emily's room and opened the door so he and Rossi could go in and see how she is doing.
"Hey guys. Sorry for the scare." Emily said
"Well it wasn't your fault; you didn't know you had congestive heart failure that caused a pulmonary edema." Reid said
"So I take it were not ordering in Indian food?" Emily said
"I don't think so Em." Reid said
"Did she tell you how long it's going to take for a heart transplant?" Emily asked
"Yep, up to 6 months." Reid said
"Well then that's 6 months of resting, which I am not opposed to. I will miss teaching though." Emily said
"I could take over the classes you teach while I am on prep, but the rest will have to be handled by your assistant teacher." Reid said
"I would love nothing more." Emily said
"So how's being married?" Rossi asked
"It's amazing, I am still getting used to the ring on my finger though." Emily said
"It took me about a year to get used to mine, I kept dinging it on things." Rossi said
"I am so worried about it falling off or me running the engravings." Emily said
"That's understandable, I would be too. I wish with one of my marriages I would have thought of doing themed rings. It's a really cool idea." Rossi said
"Well I can't take all the credit, Ethan was the one who had the idea of engravings and I just suggested Doctor Who." Reid said
"Well I love it either way." Emily said
"Thanks hun." Reid said
"Visiting hours are over." A nurse came in and said
"Am I able to get a sleeping chair?" Reid asked
"Sorry, nobody is allowed to stay with patients in ICU. It's against policy. I am really quite sorry." The nurse said
"That's okay, no worries. I am sure you will spend time here and at the university. Just come when you can, don't let me hinder your classes." Emily said
"If I was allowed to give you a kiss I would but sadly I am not allowed. I will see you tomorrow, I took a day of leave tomorrow." Reid said
"Well in that case I will see you tomorrow." Emily said
"I love you soo much Em." Reid said a single tear running down his face.
"Please don't cry Spence." Emily said
"Sorry." Reid said wiping the tear away.
"Have a good night Rossi." Emily said
"You the same." Rossi said
Reid and Rossi then made their way out of Emily's room and over to the garbage bin so they could deposit the protective coverings they had to wear. Rossi turned to Reid when he heard sniffling, he grabbed Reid's shoulders and turned him so he was facing him. He then enveloped him in a huge hug.
"She is going to pull through. Just remember she survived Doyle." Rossi said
"I know, but I don't know how to do this. I cannot be here every second. What if something goes wrong here and I am not here to comfort her. I would be letting her down." Reid said
"She understands that you cant be here all the time. She just needs you to understand that she is in the best possible hands now." Rossi said
Reid wiped his tears and made his way out of the hospital and out to the sidewalk so he could walk home.
"The team is still here if you want a ride home." Rossi offered
"I am going to walk. Thanks though." Reid said
"Anytime. I will see you later." Rossi said waving
Reid had just closed the door to their apartment when an idea struck him. Wouldn't it be an amazing surprise for Emily to come home to a nursery? Reid immediately went online and started looking at nursery room ideas. Since they didn't know the genders yet he decided on unisex.
Once Reid had the basic ideas of what he wanted he went online to ikea and started to look at the cribs. Reid went on a buying spree that ended with cribs, textiles, paint, toys and anything else he though would cheer up Emily when she was allowed to come home.
When he was done he decided that he should try and get some sleep so he wasn't the walking dead for Emily tomorrow. That's when he realized he needed to finish grading the papers for his class that he wanted to get back. Instead he stayed up and marked essay upon essay until he was done, at which point he looked down at his watch and saw that the time was 6:00 am. If he got into the shower and ate he could get to the hospital in time for visiting hours. Reid was now walking out the door and making his way down to the hospital to see Emily with a big smile on his face. Keep her morale up he thought to himself.
When he got to the hospital however it was a different story. He came into the ICU and saw that Emily now had a tube down her throat, he went over to the information desk to ask Dr. Nicole what had happened.
"Can you tell me what happened to my wife please?" Reid asked
"Sure Mr. Reid. She went into respiratory distress during the night and we couldn't get control of it so we had to intubate. I am so sorry but only primary care givers are allowed in." Dr. Nicole explained
"Oh…okay." Reid said turning around
At this point tears were running down his face and he was making his way out of the hospital as fast as he could. Right now he needed some control and the went straight for the university so he could be in his office away from the world which was what he needed right now. But again this didn't go to plan either. He was walking through the halls of the University and he started to feel a weird sensation in his legs, almost like both of his legs had just suddenly fallen asleep. Before Reid was able to comprehend what was happening he fell over and was unable to gather any feeling in either of his legs.
That exact moment the team happened to come around the corner.
"Reid!" Rossi yelled running over
"Reid, hey you okay?" Rossi asked
"Just lost feeling in my legs. My chair is in my office would you be able to grab it?" Reid asked
"Sure thing." Rossi said getting up and running to Reid's office
The team stood in shock, staring at Reid.
"Did nobody ever tell you people staring is rude?" Reid asked rhetorically
"Well it's not like you want to converse with us anyways." Morgan said
"That would be correct Derek. In any other circumstance. I assume Dave has told you about Emily?" Reid asked
"Yes." Hotch said
"She took a turn for the worse last night. I cannot see her. That is why I am here." Reid said
"Sorry to hear that Reid." JJ said
"About as sorry as you were when you didn't bother to answer my doctor's calls?" Reid asked anger growing
Nobody said anything because neither party wanted to get onto that topic because it never ended good. 2 minutes later Rossi came running around the corner with Reid's chair.
"I hate to ask this Dave but could you help me up?" Reid asked
"No problem." Rossi said
"You good from here?" Rossi asked
"Yes I think so. Thanks Rossi." Reid said
"Prego. (You're welcome.)" Rossi said
Reid began wheeling away towards his office, he was feeling a range of different emotions none of which were good. When Reid got to his lecture hall he opened the door and then slammed it behind him before doing the same with his office door.
"THIS ISNT FAIR!" Reid yelled to an empty office
Once Reid had calmed himself down he got back to work and began grading the online assignments and creating lesson plans and exams for later on in the term.
*2 Wees Later (1-month marker) *
Reid was going in to check on Emily and see how the babies were doing, it was time for the twin's weekly checkup and Reid liked to be there since Emily couldn't. Reid had started taking training at the hospital so he could be in the room with Emily and keep an eye on her and the growing children inside.
"I just wish she would wake up." Reid said looking dejected
"Spencer I wish I could give you some insight. Sadly, I majored in the tiny humans." Rebecca
"Thanks Rebecca." Reid said
"So shall we get to the twins then?" Rebecca asked
"Id, love to." Reid said
"Okay so here on the left here is little Ethan and on the right is Madison." Rebecca said
"I wish I knew the sexes, I might be calling Ethan Madison." Reid said with a laugh
"Well generally at 18 – 20 weeks' gender can be determined. So hopefully by then we are able to tell." Rebecca said
"I have been counting down the days." Reid said
*1-month Later (2-month marker) *
Reid was strolling into the hospital completely oblivious to the fact a big surprise was waiting in Emily's room. When Reid got to the ICU Dr. Nicole came over and blocked his view of Emily's room.
"Good morning Spencer." Dr. Nicole said
"Good morning doctor." Reid said
"I have a big surprise for you, but I am going to have to blindfold you." Dr. Nicole said with a grin on her face
"Alright." Reid said confused
Dr. Nicole put the blindfold on Reid and then started directing him towards Emily's room. Once Dr. Nicole had gotten Reid into Emily's room he pulled over a chair and got Reid to sit down and wait a minute.
"Okay take the blindfold off." Dr. Nicole said
Reid slowly took off his blindfold and the sight in front of him brought him to tears, sitting up was his amazingly beautiful wife Emily.
Emily extended her arm and started rubbing circles on his back to try and calm him down.
"Spence if you don't stop crying I am going to start and I am never going to stop." Emily said
"S-s-sorry." Reid said
"Deep breaths." Emily said
When Reid had finally gotten his breath back and had stopped crying he went to give Emily a hug since it had been forever since he was last allowed to touch her.
"Oh it's been so long Emily." Reid
"Sorry about that." Emily said
"It wasn't your fault, nothing could have been done to prevent it." Reid said
"Anything interesting happen while I was out?" Emily said
"Well actually yes. I started work on the nursery. Dave has been helping me when he isn't busy." Reid said
"Do I get pictures?" Emily asked
"They are all in your bedside table. I take pictures everyday to show the progress. FYI its not finished yet." Reid said
Reid opened the top drawer and grabbed a pastel green photobook. Around half of the pages were filled with pictures. Reid handed Emily the book and waited until she was finished looking through them.
"Spence this is amazing. I didn't know you were this handy." Emily said
"Well I wasn't before, I looked up a lot on YouTube and Rossi helped me with the things I couldn't get from YouTube." Reid explained
"This is absolutely amazing!" Emily said
"Well I would love to stay longer but I have to get to the University. Your students are taking the midterm today." Reid said
"Have fun." Emily said
"Loads." Reid said kissing Emily before walking out
*1-month later (3-month marker) *
Reid was at home after a very long day at work. Turns out taking a class of university students on a field trip is quite exhausting. Reid's dinner was reheating in the oven and all he wanted to do was eat and go to bed. But he knew he had to do some more work on the nursery. Once Reid heard the timer go off in the kitchen he grabbed plates and utensils and set the table. He went to the oven to grab his dinner and went back out to the dining room. When he set down his dinner he then realized he had set a place for Emily as well. This had been happening more and more often and it was staring to take its tole on Reid. Not being able to eat dinner with his wife and not being able to see her other than at the hospital was getting Reid down.
"Why do things like this only happen to me?" Reid talking to himself
"Nothing can ever go right can it?"
"What did I do in a past life to bring this upon me? There was nothing I could have done to prevent this and I am no use to her or the doctors since I cannot fix anything!"
After a lengthy fight with himself he went straight to bed and didn't bother working on the nursery that night.
2nd Trimester Months 4 – 6
*1st Month*
Reid was on his way in to see Emily since it was time for another checkup on the twins. Reid brought in a few cards from Emily's students because they were missing her and many of them had already come into the hospital to say hello to her and wish her all the best.
"Hey Em." Reid said
"Hey Spence." Emily said
"I have a few more cards from your students." Reid said
"I'd say they liked me." Emily said laughing
"Couldn't agree more." Reid said
"We ready to begin?" Rebecca asked
"I love seeing them." Emily said
"Then lets started!" Rebecca said joyfully
"So here is Ethan on the left and Madison on the right. What I am beginning to be concerned with is how much smaller Madison is than Ethan." Rebecca said
"Umm Rebecca can I ask a question?" Emily asked
"Sure thing." Rebecca said
"I feel like I'm bleeding." Emily said worry evident in her voice
Rebecca lifted up the bottom half of Emily's blanket to reveal blood.
"Okay Emily I am going to get you to the operating room and we are going to take a look and see what's going on." Rebecca said trying to remain calm
"I love you." Reid said to Emily
"I love you too." Emily said
Rebecca wheeled Emily out of her room and was then accompanied by Dr. Nicole to the operating rooms.
*Operating Room*
"Do you have an idea about the bleeding?" Dr. Nicole asked
"I think I know exactly what it is and I am seriously hoping that I am wrong." Rebecca said
"Extremely preterm birth?" Dr. Nicole asked
"Yes and for the sake of the parents after everything they have gone through I honestly hope it isn't." Rebecca said
"I hope so too." Dr. Nicole said
"Oh for fuck sakes." Rebecca said
"What?" Dr. Nicole said
"I am going to have to preform a C-section. I don't have a choice. They are both coming out now and I can't do anything about it." Rebecca said
"Scalpel." Rebecca said
"Get the incubators in here stat!" Dr. Nicole yelled
"Once the incubators were brought into the room and Emily was fully prepped Rebecca and Dr. Nicole started the procedure.
"Okay here comes Ethan." Rebecca said
Dr. Nicole grabbed the tiny 1-pound baby and brought him over to the incubator and he was rushed up to the NICU.
"Here is Madison." Rebecca said
The same was done to Madison and she was rushed up to the NICU.
Rebecca began closing and once she was done she made sure to wheel Emily back to Spencer herself and give Spencer the news that he had 2 babies.
"Spencer can I speak with you please?" Rebecca asked
"Sure." Reid said
Rebecca and Spencer walked out into the hall as they were wheeling Emily back inside.
"So I had to deliver Ethan and Madison. They are now in level 3 NICU and are getting constant round the clock care. Emily pregnancy wise is completely fine. She did amazing during the delivery and there were no complications from the preeclampsia." Rebecca said
"What is the odds that they will die." Reid asked
"They have about 5% chance of survival at this moment in time. But we are doing everything in our power to help them. When you go and see them I want you to be prepared. They are both hooked up to breathing machines so they have tubes down their throats. They are being fed intravenously. The skin will have a purplely blueish tinge and the skin is so thin that you will be able to see the veins underneath. They will also have lanugo which is the thin layer of hair covering their bodies. They are very thin because they did not have time to put fat on. They will not open their eyes and they will not have eyelashes." Rebecca explained
Reid decided that Emily needed her time to rest so he went upstairs to take his first look at his children.