"Chuck, what's wrong?" Sarah asked as nurses and doctors came racing into the room toward their baby.
"Chuck!" Sarah yelled at his blank face
"Ma'am we're going to need to take your baby now." one of the doctors said
"What's wrong with him, why do you need to take him!?" Sarah asked in an apprehensive tone
"Doctor we need an EF stat!"
"We have a possible HFpEF possibly an HFrEF!"
"I think it's a VSD!"
"We need to get him to the ICU!"
"Get and ACE inhibitor ready!"
The doctors and nurses rushed around the room left and right checking monitors and gathering supplies before rushing the infant out of the room. Sarah was screaming wanting to know what was wrong and trying to get up while Chuck was holding her back.
"Ahh!" Sarah screamed while clutching her stomach and fell back onto the pillow
Chuck lifted up the sheet and pulled Sarah's shirt up to see her stomach.
"Sarah you ripped three staples out you need to be more careful." Chuck said
"Chuck, where's my baby? Where did they take him!" Sarah asked while crying
"They took him to the intensive care unit something is wrong with his heart I think." Chuck stated barely above a whisper
Sarah stood blank faced for a moment before turning to Chuck.
"Be honest with me, no sugar coating it." Sarah took a breath before continuing, "Do you think he'll be okay?"
Chuck stared at the floor for a while twiddling his thumbs before looking at Sarah. Her face was stained with tears, her eyes were heavy and had seemed to have lost all life.
"I don't know Sarah, part of me wants to believe he is but the other-
"Chuck-
"No, I don't think he's going to make it Sarah."
Sarah tried to hold back the tears. She couldn't understand why this was happening to her. Why did she have to suffer. She has already lost so many people she loves, why another, why her own baby. She couldn't fight it any more. She cried for everything. For taking the shortcut home instead of her regular path. For working late when she knew she shouldn't have. For not seeing the car on her right. She cried for her son. Chuck held her in his arms while she cried into his chest not saying a word. They both knew the truth, they just didn't want to say it. They knew they would be leaving the hospital without their baby, their son.
"Sarah, your stomach, it's bleeding we need to get a doctor in here. The staples need to be put back in." Chuck said slowly releasing Sarah from his arms
Chuck turned around and hit the emergency button and called for a nurse.
THREE HOURS LATER
Chuck and Sarah were both laying on the bed in the hospital room, Sarah asleep on his chest. Neither one of them moved, neither one of them talked about what they both knew was coming. A doctor then entered the room with a solemn face. He approached the couple slowly trying not to make eye contact.
"How is he." Sarah asked sitting up with the smallest gleam of hope in her eyes
"I'm sorry to tell you; but, your son did not make it." The doctor stated with a melancholy face
Sarah fell back down on her pillow burying her face in Chuck's chest and silently sobbed. Chuck rubbed her back and smoothed out her hair while her tears stained his shirt.
"What happened?" Chuck
"He had a Ventricular Septal Defect. It's when there is an abnormal connection between the lower chambers of the heart. That was the main cause. He was also extremely premature and his lungs were not strong enough. I'm sorry, we did all we could. A nurse will be in to see you soon." With that the doctor got up and left
1 HOUR LATER
"Hello, I'm Dr. Hendershot, I'm just here to check up on Sarah and read some reports to you." The doctor said as she walked into the room. "I'm just going to check your blood pressure."
Dr. Hendershot wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Sarah's upper arm and it began its process.
"All right it's 121/80, you're perfectly fine." The doctor said, "Okay I'm just going to lift up your shirt to check the wound."
The doctor lifted up Sarah's hospital gown and lowered the blanket down just below her abdomen. She then placed her hands on different parts of Sarah's stomach and applied pressure to different parts of the abdomen.
"Hmm, you're stomach is quite bloated in the lower midsection." The doctor said, a look of confusion spread across his face
"Is that bad?" Chuck asked sounding apprehensive
"I'm not sure, I'm going to have to run some tests." The doctor replied
5 hours later
Sarah was once again asleep while Chuck held her hand. The test results still hadn't come back yet and Chuck couldn't sleep. He was worried. He was worried about everything. His wife had just been in a traumatic car accident, has had multiple surgeries and tests, and lost her child all in just a couple days. He knew she was tough but he was worried that this might break her. Chuck's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
A doctor Chuck hadn't seen before entered the room with a clipboard in his hand and a look of worry etched on his face. Chuck's face dropped as he now feared the worst.
"Hello, I'm doctor Grandstaff, I'm going to be taking over for a bit. Do you mind waking your wife up for a bit, this is important."
Chuck gently shook his wife and Sarah's eyes quickly fluttered open. Chuck nudged his head toward the doctor and Sarah sat up, apprehension written all over her face.
"Your test results have come back. Sarah, you haveAsherman's Syndrome. Meaning, you have a few Intrauterine adhesions. They form when scar tissue builds up between the inner walls of the uterus causing the walls to bind together. I believe they have formed from previous surgeries or injuries that you have had. I looked at your medical record and it's quite extensive. You have even had procedures in 3rd world countries and I believe this is was caused this, considering medical technology and cleaning procedures are not good."
"Well, what does this mean? Is she really sick or what?" Chuck asked sounding scared
"Adhesions like this can result in infertility or increased miscarriages, meaning-
"I can't have children." Sarah interrupted, barely above a whisper. Tears were streaming down her face
"Essentially yes." The doctor solemnly replied
"Well, isn't there anything you can do?" Chuck cried
"We can perform a hysteroscope to remove them, however there it may not help the miscarriages or infertility." The doctor said
"So I can't ever get pregnant or give birth?" Sarah said trying to stay strong
"Not necessarily, there is always a chance you can have children, it's just low; but, not impossible. You would have carried your son full term if you hadn't gone into early labor due to the accident. So you never know, miracles happen everyday. We will perform the procedure tomorrow and send you home in 2 days. You can always try again in about 4 months."
With that said the doctor stood up and left the room.
