The five minutes Santana and Sam waited for Dr. Wu to return to his office were the longest five minutes of either of their lives. The moment he returned, Santana could tell by the look on his face that something was very wrong.
"I'm afraid I've got some bad news", he said as he sat down across the desk from the scared teenagers, and pulled out the scans. "We detected what is referred to as a lemon sign on the ultrasound."
Santana and Sam just stared at him blankly, not knowing what that meant.
"It means that there is an abnormality with the way your baby's head is shaped. Occasionally at this stage it's nothing, but usually it's a sign of a condition called Hydrocephalus which usually goes along with Spina Bifida," he continued.
Sam was still confused, but Santana burst into tears. She had been volunteering as a Candy Striper in her dad's hospital since she was in middle school. She didn't know a lot about Spina Bifida but she knew it was bad. As a volunteer, she didn't always know what the patients she brought flowers to were in for, but sometimes they, or their parents, would volunteer information or speak about things while she was in the room. She remembered one little girl who received gifts and flowers regularly, who was eight years old who died of kidney failure related to Spina Bifida last summer. Now they found out their little girl was likely to have it too. They were barely listening as Dr. Wu explained all the horrible problems that can accompany both conditions; Paralysis, brain damage, loss of bladder and bowel control, infections, kidney failure, and shunt malfunctions. They had no idea what a shunt was, but a malfunction with it didn't sound good at all.
"Was it something I did?" Santana managed to ask in between sobs."I mean I haven't had a drink since I found out I was pregnant, but I was definitely drunk when she was conceived, and I did drink a lot that first week. Did I cause this?" She was almost hysterical with fear and guilt, and Sam, who was just as scared as she was, pulled her closer to him and planted a reassuring kiss on the side of her head.
"While I don't condone teenage drinking, I can assure you it was nothing you did," Dr. Wu explained, passing her a box of tissues. "Trust me, most of the babies I deliver are the result of over indulgence in alcohol, and they're usually fine. We don't know what exactly causes Spina Bifida, but we believe it has something to do with a lack of Folic Acid in the mother's diet. We usually recommend that a woman who wants a baby takes a supplement for three months before trying to conceive, and that does reduce the risk of a baby being born with it. However, considering your age, I am going to go out on a limb and guess that this pregnancy wasn't exactly planned. We also don't know the reason for this but studies show that Latina mothers do have the highest rates of babies born with the condition. But like I said, sometimes the 'Lemon Sign', as we refer to it, doesn't mean anything."
"Well I have been feeling her kick; that has to be a good sign, right?" She asked, trying to be cautiously optimistic.
"It might be. At this stage though, the movements are still very light, and it's often hart do tell if you're feeling arms or legs, or just general movement. Unfortunately, it doesn't always mean that the baby won't have some form of paralysis in its lower extremities."
"How do we know for sure?" Sam asked, squeezing his girlfriend's hand.
"I'd like you to get a 3D or 4D ultrasound, in a few weeks. That'll give us a much clearer picture and we should be able to know for sure what is going on by then. And then we can proceed from there. You would be able to get a late term abortion in a case like this…"
"This isn't a case, this is my daughter we're talking about," Santana cried, she may have been a bitch, but she wasn't that cruel. She had grown attached to the baby, and although she'd only known for about an hour that it was going to be a girl, the fact that they now knew made it seem even more real. It wasn't a case, or a blob of cells, or even a fetus to her. It was her baby, her daughter. She wasn't going to have an abortion because it may have been more convenient. It was possible that their baby may have more struggles than the average baby would have, but a life with struggles was better than no chance at life at all.
"I'm sorry Miss Lopez, I didn't mean it like that," he tried assuring her. "If she does indeed have Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, we can also plan for the best course of action. Usually, we would schedule a c-section, as it seems to cause less damage to the spine, and we would arrange for a team of specialists to be present at the birth to assist the baby right away. It's best if they perform the spinal surgery as soon as possible after birth."
They talked to Dr. Wu for a few more minutes, but most of it was a blur for them. Upon leaving, they scheduled appointment for a 4D ultrasound that was to take place in a few weeks, and knew they'd have to figure out a way to come up with the money to pay for it. They walked out to Sam's truck where they just sat for a while. Santana cried hysterically for a good twenty minutes, while Sam held her. Eventually he couldn't be strong, and he broke down too.
"I'm sorry I'm such a bitch." She sobbed.
"What? You're not a bitch, you're feisty, and fiery and sexy," he reassured her.
"No, I'm a bitch. I make fun of everyone, including Artie, and this is obviously Karma, or God punishing me or something."
"Hey, it doesn't work like that. God doesn't punish people for making jokes, especially babies. And you're not mean, you're just honest, and funny. I know most of what you say isn't really serious. I know you like Artie, I've seen you have fun with him."
"I do, and I feel bad for him too. God, Sam, what if our baby can't walk? What if she has difficulties like Becky does?" She cried.
"Becky has Down's Syndrome. That's completely different. And our baby may not be able to walk, that's a possibility, but we'll love her and she'll have a good life."
"But Dr. Wu said she may have brain damage," Santana sobbed.
"Babe, he also said she may be just fine. Let's try not to worry until we know for sure. " He said, kissing her head.
"I'll try." She sighed.
"Good girl." Let's go home," he suggested, and they rode the rest of the way in silence.
a/n: okay, so this is sad, and I feel bad for coming up with this after most of you guessed it would be something pretty minor. But, I came up with this idea almost as soon as I started to write this story. I've read lots of teen pregnancy stories, but I don't think I've ever read one where teen parents deal with a special needs child. So, I thought it would be interesting. I thought about giving the baby Down's Syndrome, but that's already been done on the show twice, and then I read that Spina Bifida is the most common birth defect. So I'm going with that. I'll admit, I do know a bit about pregnancy/birth/and babies, but I don't know a lot about Spina Bifida. I used to know one person that had it but we were never really close and it was a while ago, so all my info, I got from the internet! I've been reading about it for a while and just waiting until Santana was far enough along to go with this storyline. I hope I am being accurate and doing this story justice. So if anyone reading this happens to know a little about it and wants to make corrections, please let me know! And please review! :)