The Consequences of Forever (1) (18 page)

Chapter Fifteen

              “You’re not getting a job, Lainey,” Adam said, barely giving me a chance to finish my sentence.

             
“Why not?” I asked. “The baby supply story I went to today is looking for workers. That would be perfect, because I’d probably get a discount.”

             
Adam shook his head, unconvinced. “Yeah, a discount would be nice but when are you going to find time to work? You still have to go to school seven hours a day, and aren’t pregnant people supposed to rest?”

             
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But either way, walking around a store helping customers isn’t going to break me. And besides, I wasn’t asking for your permission.”

             
Adam sat forward in his chair, leaning closer to me. “I’m not saying you need my permission, but I really don’t want you to do this. I’m getting a job right after graduation, and I’ll take care of all of us. All you need to worry about is yourself and the baby.”

             
“What job, Adam?” I persisted. “And what about before you graduate? The baby could be here by then, and we’re going to need money to buy things before he or she gets here.”

             
“Lainey, people are starting to look at us. Can we please talk about this later?”

I glanced around and noticed that people were, in fact, starting to look at us. I blushed and rested back in my seat, covering my stomach with my arms. I was pretty sure I still wasn’t showing, but being in a room with women who were clearly pregnant made me feel a little more self-conscious.

              We were at the birthing center, in the section where appointments were held, waiting to be called. We’d gotten there early at Adam’s insistence, which only made me feel more and more nervous as time passed. I had no idea what to expect. Hannah had suggested looking up twelve week appointments online, but I’d decided I was better off not knowing.

             
“Winslow?” Finally. I stood up, and Adam stood up with me. I turned to him in surprise.

             
“You’re coming with me?”

             
“Aren’t I supposed to?”

             
“Winslow?” The woman repeated. I hurried towards her, Adam close behind.

             
She led us a little ways down a hallway and then into a room that looked very similar to every examination room I’d ever been in. The familiar sense of dread fell over me.

             
“Thea will be in shortly,” the woman informed me, offering a quick smile before disappeared.

             
“Thea?” I repeated, but the woman was already gone.

             
“Apparently midwives prefer to be called by their first names,” Adam informed me with confidence, taking a seat.

             
I stood in the center of the room, arms protecting my stomach. “How do you know?”

             
He shrugged. “My mom probably told me. Why don’t you sit down?”

I shook my head. The sooner I sat down, the sooner I was going to be examined. No thank you.

              The door opened seconds later, and a woman who looked to be somewhere in her mid-twenties entered. She had light brown hair, left loose around her shoulders, and big brown eyes. Instead of the traditional white doctor’s coat, she was dressed normally in a t-shirt and jeans.

             
“Hi?” I said. It came out sounding more like a question than a greeting.

             
The woman extended her hand. “Hi,” she said warmly. “I’m Thea. You must be Lainey, and you are?”

             
“Adam,” he said, standing up.

             
“You’re the doctor?” I asked, trying to get over my shock. I’d been picturing someone old, who resembled maybe Albert Einstein, and dressed in all white with scary medical instruments hanging from their necks.

             
Thea laughed, as if she knew exactly what I had been expecting. “Midwife,” she corrected me. “Not too big of a difference, but enough to land you here instead of over at the hospital, I can see.”

             
“His mom made the appointment,” I explained.

             
She motioned for me to sit down in one of the chairs, instead of the exam table. “Are you aware of any of the differences?”

             
“Some.”

             
“Okay. Well first things first – have you considered how you plan on giving birth when the time comes?”

             
I blinked at her. “I have a choice?”

             
Thea laughed good-naturedly. “Of course you have a choice. Some women prefer getting a cesarean section, some prefer to go a more natural route but with medication, and then others prefer to go completely natural, meaning no medication whatsoever. Women who prefer the latter typically come to midwives, because that’s what we offer.”

             
“None of it sounds too appealing,” I admitted.

             
Thea smiled. “No, but there are some definite pros to going the natural route, and I’m not just saying that because it’s my job. Some women may argue that it’s simply too painful, but I always remind them that our bodies are designed to give birth.”

             
“I don’t like medicine,” I told her. “I don’t even take it for headaches. It’s a phobia, I guess. That’s why Julia wanted me to come here.”

             
Thea nodded, understanding. “Well, nothing is set in stone. I always recommend my patients to set up a backup doctor, in case they change their minds or God forbid, something happens last minute that makes you unable to deliver naturally.”

             
“Like what?” I asked anxiously.

             
“Like a breached birth, or if your pregnancy becomes high risk later on for whatever reason. Nothing you need to necessarily worry about right now. I want to give you an exam today, since all I have on you is that you’re about twelve weeks along.”

             
She picked up a chart that had been left on her desk for her. “How would you describe your symptoms so far? Have you been experiencing morning sickness, heartburn, food aversions, anything?”

             
“I had morning sickness for a while, but it wasn’t that bad. I mean, I wasn’t puking constantly, so I survived. And I’ve had food aversions on and off. And cravings. I’ve actually eaten a few cheeseburgers and I haven’t had red meat in years.”

             
Thea laughed. “Well, pregnancy will do that to you. Have you had any cramping or anything?”

             
I shook my head. “Maybe a little at first, in the very beginning. I thought I was getting my period for a while, and then I missed it.”

             
“That’s pretty common,” she assured me. “No bleeding?”

             
“No, not at all.”

             
“Okay, good. And you’re sixteen?”

             
“Yeah, but I was fifteen when I got pregnant. Is that bad?”

             
She smiled and looked up at me. “Not as long as you’re healthy. Have you been eating enough?”

             
“How much is enough?”

             
“Are you going without food or allowing yourself to feel hungry?”

             
I shook my head. I’d ended up eating more than my share of the food Hannah had gotten for us earlier, and still didn’t feel completely full.

             
“Alright, good. That’s one of the most common concerns in teen pregnancies. Girls not gaining enough weight either because they simply can’t or in some cases, don’t want to, and the babies being born with a low birth weight. It doesn’t appear as if you’ve put on some significant weight yet, which is normal for the first pregnancy, so we’ll worry more about that a little later. This is your first pregnancy, right?”

             
“Yeah, of course.” I frowned slightly.

             
“I didn’t mean anything by that; it’s just a question I have to ask.” She wrote something down on her chart and then smiled at me. “Today is going to be a pretty painless appointment,” she promised. “All I really need to do is get a urine sample, a blood sample, go over any questions you might have, and then we’re going to see if we can hear a heartbeat for you. I’d also like to an ultrasound, just to make sure everything looks alright, and to make sure the dating is correct.”

             
“Okay,” I agreed, feeling my nervousness come back. “Do I need to put one of those weird robes on?”

             
“Nope, nothing like that. Do you think you could get the urine sample for me first?”

I thought of the two water bottles I’d had at lunch and nodded. Thea removed a cup from one of the cabinets and handed it to me, giving me directions to the closest bathroom. “While you’re gone I’ll grill Adam,” she said with a wink.

              I headed down the hallway and after getting lost momentarily, found the bathroom. It felt like ages before I was capable of doing what I needed to do, and when I made it back to the room, Adam and Thea were still there, waiting patiently.

             
I handed the cup to Thea and she placed it on her table, and then put a small strip in it. She removed the strip, studied it, and smiled. “Everything looks good there. I’ll be right back.”

             
She left the room, and I turned to Adam, feeling a bit self-conscious. “This is weird,” I said.

             
“How?”

             
“It doesn’t feel weird for you?”

             
“Not really.”

I sighed and hoisted myself back up onto the table. Thea returned and went back to the cabinet, this time removing a syringe. My eyes widened.

              “Don’t look so scared, Lainey,” she advised. “I just need to draw a little bit of blood for some more tests. Nothing major.”

I closed my eyes while she did it. I remembered when I was little, and had to get blood taken for some reason I couldn’t remember now. I’d been so scared, I thought I was going to pass out. The feeling hadn’t changed at all, more than ten years later.

              “All done,” she announced seconds later. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

I looked away while she packaged and labeled my blood. “You don’t get queasy at the sight of blood, do you?” She asked.

              “I don’t know. I always try not to look.”

             
She laughed. “Once you survive another six months of pregnancy, none of this is going to feel too major. Once you survive labor, you’ll be able to survive anything at all, trust me.”

             
“Do you have kids?” I asked.

             
“I do. Two boys. One is eleven, and the other is two.”

I looked at her, surprised. She was so young.

              “My first was born when I was seventeen,” she explained. “So you can believe me when I say that I know a little of what you’re going through. Although, I didn’t have an Adam standing by my side throughout all of it.”

             
I looked over at Adam, sitting in his chair, looking far more comfortable than I felt, and realized that despite all the negatives of our situation, I was actually pretty lucky. He smiled at me.

             
“How long have you been a midwife?” I asked.

             
“About six years. My birthing experience with my first son wasn’t very pleasant, and when I did research, I regretting not going the natural route. Then I realized I needed a job that paid more than waitressing, so I put myself through school and ended up here.” She smiled. “One of the best decisions I’ve ever made, too.”

             
“Why was your experience bad?” I asked nervously, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

             
“I’m not going to answer that, because you don’t need to be worrying about what can go wrong and how scary labor is. All you need to remember is, if your body couldn’t handle giving birth, it wouldn’t have allowed you to get pregnant in the first place.”

             
“I guess.”

             
“Do you have any questions?”

             
“No.”

             
“You’re a sixteen year old girl dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, and you can’t think of a single question to ask your midwife?”

             
“Nope.”

             
“Alright. Well in case you change your mind, I’m going to give you my personal numbers so you can reach me anytime. I’d recommend calling my cell first, but if I don’t answer, I can guarantee someone at my house will and they’ll be able to find me for you. Okay?”