Maxerica

Oligohydramnios

"I think we need to do an ultrasound," the doctor suggests.
"Why?" I ask, worried.
"Just to be safe."
I know that's not why the doctor wants to do the ultrasound, but I comply.
Maxon helps me up and takes my hand.
The doctor leads us to the infirmary.
I get comfy on the bed and let him move my shirt off of my bump.
He rubs the cold gel on my stomach, then begins the ultrasound.
We watch the screen as he does it.
I squeeze Maxon's hand the minute I see our little baby on the screen.
I don't notice anything that could be bad, but I'm still on edge.
The doctor puts the scanner down and grabs his clipboard.
I look at him and ask, "Is everything alright?"
"Well, I'm trying to figure that out. Please give me a moment," he requests.
I look at Maxon.
He squeezes my hand and smiles a bit.
The doctor continues the check up, occasionally writing things down, as Maxon and I wait impatiently.
"Alright," the doctor starts. "I'm first going to explain to you how we do this. You have amniotic fluid surrounding your baby. This gives your baby things like nutrients and hormones. It helps the baby fight infections, it protects the baby, and it's a major part of development. Now there are conditions when the fluid is too high or too low.
"To figure this out we measure the two largest pockets of fluid and add them together. A normal measure during the third trimester is between 5 and 25."
"What's mine?" I ask nervously.
"It's a 2," he answers.
My heart immediately drops.
"What does that mean? What can we do?" Maxon starts to freak out.
"The condition is called Oligohydramnios. During the third trimester we would often put her on bedrest in the infirmary and keep doing checkups. But hers is already very low, she's already on bedrest, and I think the baby is developed enough to induce labor. The only con to that is that we can't be sure the baby is one hundred percent ready and it will be a lot harder on Queen America," the doctor explains.
Maxon looks at me then to the doctor.
"What should we do?" Maxon questions.
"It's really up to you. But if you want to save the baby I think the best thing to do is to induce labor. That does put the Queen at risk though."
Maxon and I look at each other, not sure what to do.
"I'll give you some privacy to discuss this," the doctor says while getting up.
He goes to the hallway, leaving us in silence.
I eventually ask, "What are we going to do?"
Maxon hesitates before answering, "I don't know."
We sit in silence for another moment before I state, "We have to do what's best for the baby. You know that."
"America," Maxon sighs. "We have to do what's best for you first."
"You're kidding."
"I'm not."
"Maxon. Our baby deserves a chance."
"We're giving it a chance. You can stay on bedrest and they can monitor you and the baby."
"That's a worse chance than just inducing labor."
He takes my hand and looks into my eyes while saying, "I need you."
"And our baby needs you. You can't just give up on it because there's a chance that something will happen."
"But America. We have three kids already who need you too. I think it's more than worth the chance to wait until your water breaks."
I shake my head.
"It's not just about you and the baby. You have a family to take care of. You have a husband and three beautiful kids. You can't just leave us."
"I'm not going to."
"You could."
"And we have to take that risk for the baby."
"I don't know America. I don't like the risk."
"I don't either. But it's worth it. We have to try to do our best for the baby. We don't even know how high the risk will be."
"I can't lose you America. I can't. I can't handle that. I couldn't live with myself if I let you die."
"I love you so much Maxon. But if something happens to our baby and I could've prevented it or it's my fault...I couldn't live with myself either."
He squeezes my hand.
After a long, hard discussion, we make our decision.