Disclaimer: Not mine, wish they were, blah, blah, blah...
A/N: Sweet, sweet drama - where would a story about these two be without it? I'm getting excited about the direction things are heading as we get closer to the birth - I honestly can't say what may happen between there and now because I'm just letting the plot go where it chooses. When I began writing, I envisioned maybe a 15 chapter story, and here's chapter 30 - wow! I'm having alot of fun, though, I hope everyone continues enjoying it. :)
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Chapter 30:
"I understand we're not having a good afternoon" said Dr. Mianni as she entered the exam room where Harm and Mac were waiting.
"We've had better" said Harm.
"How are you feeling right now, Sarah?" she asked as she looked at the printout from the fetal monitor that the nurse had put on Mac as soon as she arrived.
"Better than I was an hour ago" replied Mac as she laid on her left side on the exam table, "but still not good."
"What specifically is bothering you right now?" asked Dr. Mianni, "still your stomach?"
"Yeah" said Mac, "and my back hurts a little."
"I see" replied the doctor. "Well, the readings from the fetal monitor aren't causing me too much concern, and your blood pressure has gone down a few points since you first arrived, which is good, but I want to do an internal exam and an ultrasound, just to be on the safe side."
"OK" said Mac.
"I'll step out for a minute and let you get undressed" said the doctor. "Here's a sheet."
"Thanks" said Mac as she reached out for Harm's hand to pull herself up off the table.
"I'm glad she's not too worried about anything" said Harm as Mac slowly undressed from the waist down and covered up with the sheet. She'd done that so many times throughout the course of their fertility treatments and then the pregnancy, too many times really.
"Me too" replied Mac, laying back down on the table. "I'm glad my pressures weren't too high. As much pain as I was in at the house, I was afraid they'd be off the charts and uncontrollable and we'd be spending this afternoon having a baby."
"Well, it doesn't look like that'll be the case" said Harm as he sat back down beside the exam table. "I've got a good feeling about everything, I really think it'll all be fine."
"Knock, knock" said Dr. Mianni as she opened the door a bit to see if Mac was ready.
"Come in, I'm ready" said Mac. The doctor entered and closed the door behind herself, grabbed a pair of gloves and a tube of water-based gel. She put the gloves on and squeezed a small amount of the gel onto the fingers of her right hand.
Mac held onto Harm's hand tightly.
"I'll be as gentle as possible, Sarah" she said as she began the exam.
"Please do" replied Mac, staring straight up at the ceiling. She retained her grip on Harm's hand and made a conscious effort not to hold her breath.
"Ow, ow, ow" she said. "That hurt a little!"
"I'm sorry" replied the doctor. "I'm feeling your cervix to see if it's dilated at all, I know that can be really uncomfortable."
"I'd take it step further and say it just plain hurts!" replied Mac. Harm leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Ok, all finished with that" said Dr. Mianni. "Your cervix isn'tdilated at all, which is good since you're not due for over another month yet."
"So the pains I was having weren't contractions?" asked Mac.
"I'm 99 percent certain they weren't" replied the doctor. "Since you've been on the monitor here, you've had a couple of mild ones, and you may have had similar ones at home, but even if you did they wouldn't account for the kind of pain you described. They would have gotten your attention for sure, but they wouldn't have incapacitated you."
"What are we looking for in the ultrasound?" asked Harm.
"I just want to take a quick look and make sure nothing's out of the ordinary" said the doctor. "Since the internal exam didn't reveal anything wrong and the fetal monitor readings and mother's blood pressure are OK, we could skip the ultrasound if you wanted to, but somehow I think you'd like to do it."
"You know us well, doctor!" said Mac, slightly smiling for the first time all afternoon. The doctor hit a few keys on the ultrasound keyboard, brought up the proper screen and entered Mac's name.
"Harm, would you get the lights, please?" she asked. He reached around and flipped the switch, and the room was illuminated only by the machine. The doctor squeezed the ultrasound gel onto Mac's tummy, and moved it around with the wand until she got a good view of the baby.
"The little one is growing well" said the doctor. "Still don't want to know the sex, huh?"
"NO!" they both said at the same time.
Dr. Mianni laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding! I've never told parents the sex against their will, and I don't plan to start with you two."
"That's good" chuckled Harm, "because we've made it this far without knowing, and we're really looking forward to the surprise."
The doctor smiled as she continued looking at the baby on the screen. She turned a dial on the machine and the baby's heartbeat echoed against the walls. Harm and Mac looked into one another's eyes and smiled, as they did each time they got to hear that breathtaking sound.
"Well" said the doctor as she put the wand down and reached for a towel to dry Mac's tummy off, "everything looks fantastic. I feel confident that what happened was indeed a nasty bout of indigestion, so I'm going to let you go home and get some rest."
Mac let out an audible sigh of relief. "I guess I need to lay off the burrito's, huh?" she said with a laugh.
"That'd probably be wise" agreed the doctor. "At least until after you deliver."
"Anything else we should steer clear of, doc?" asked Harm.
"Not specifically" she replied. "Anything you've eaten to this point is fine as long as it still agrees with you, Sarah."
"Ok" said Mac. "Well, I'm sorry to have caused such trouble, but I'm glad we know what happened and how to hopefully not have it happen again."
"It's no trouble" said the doctor. "I'm glad you called and I'm glad I had you come in - some things just aren't worth taking chances on."
"Definitely not" agreed Harm.
"Here's a picture from today, and unless you have any problems between now and next Thursday" said the doctor, "I'll see you at your next appointment, OK?"
"Sounds great" said Mac as she took the picture and looked at it lovingly, "thank you so much." With that, Dr. Mianni left the room, and Mac carefully got dressed.
"See, babe" said Harm, "everything is just fine."
"Yeah" she said, "I feel stupid for getting so worked up over indigestion."
"Hey, nothing you did was stupid" said Harm in as reassuring a voice as he had. "This is all totally new to us, completely uncharted territory, and when something has you hurting so badly you can't move or even speak, having it checked is anything but stupid!"
"I know" said Mac. "I'm just so tried of all these scares and near-misses. I just want the baby to be here so we can hold him or her and know that they're alright, you know?"
"I know, my love" he said. "It'll happen soon. I know for you it must seem like September will never get here, but it will and we're gonna have this baby and it's gonna be the best thing that's ever happened to us."
"Well, second best maybe" said Mac.
Harm looked at her quizzically."The best has to be the day we finally got together" said Mac."Without that, there'd be no baby, so I think we have to give recognition where it's called for."
Harm took Mac's face in his hands and kissed her lips tenderly.
"I love you more than you could ever know, Mac."
"I think I know" she replied. "I really think I know."