“Ok…., but is there anything else you want other than just doughnut?”
My dad big deep voice was from outside the bathroom. Two seconds later, he popped his head in the bathroom and repeated his question.
“Yes of course…, get me also the same breakfast set you got me yesterday, but no chilly sauce for me, please” my mother answered.
“Are you sure you don’t want something else different today?” “You have nasi lemak for three days in a row now, plus half a dozen of J-Co each day? “Maybe some fruits…?” My dad tried suggesting some choices.
Apparently my mother had not changed her selection of foods in the last three days. And the doughnut thing? Goodness me, she could finish half a dozen of them in one go. What was up with that sweet stuff anyway?! I could not imagine that it was good for her. And for sure if they were not good for her, it would not be good for me and my two other companion either. Unfortunately, I had to eat them. I would not want to get hungry. I would need any food source I could get at this stage of development. I would like to stay alive.
“Nope, I don’t want anything else. Don’t forget the J-Co doughnut, please” my mother’s final word, and then she got out of the bathroom poked her head towards my dad with a big smile on her face. My dad could not argue any further.
“You have to hurry, hon!. We have to be at the doctor’s clinic at 10:00 am” continued my mother when my dad was about to get out of the hotel room.
“I am on it, and will be back in a sec” shouted my dad and closed the door behind him.
My mother sat down in bed facing the hotel windows. It was still drizzling a little bit outside the hotel, but slowly I could see the shade of the sun shone replacing the grey clouds in the sky. Her feet as usual were supported by some pillows again. She reached out to the book near the night stand by the bed. She had been reading it yesterday, and this one was called “Pregnancy week by week”. As usual I got very excited every time my mother was reading a book on pregnancy. I would also attentively peek through my mother’s eyes for all the information related to my existence.
This time it was about Human Chorionic Gonadoptropin. The book explained that this so called HCG level would indicate the presence or absence of an implanted embryo. For a second, my mind flashed back to the two weeks ago when I was implanted in my mother’s womb. My mother went on to read the text in the book. It continued to explain that the HCG would interact with the LHCG receptor and would promotes the maintenance of the corpus luteum during the beginning of pregnancy, and causing it to secrete the hormone progesterone. The progesterone then would enrich the uterus with a thick lining of blood vessels and capillaries so that it could sustain the growing fetus.
Phew…that was a very lengthy unfamiliar explanation. I looked at my mother’s face and weigh what she comprehended out of that information. Judging by her expression I could tell that she was a little bit nervous. I didn’t know what the information would mean to her though. For me, I was not sure what would they mean either, but at least I gathered that I and my two other companion were called embryos in these last few days. I would also guess that soon enough the three of us would be called fetuses.
I wondered why there were so many changes of name in yet such a short time of our existence. Why would not we have just one name to make it simple? Luckily those names all sounded very interesting to my ears to be. I was interested to know how many more names we would be getting until we were out of my mother’s womb, until we were finally delivered to the world. Curiosity crept into my mind, and with the corner of my eyes to be, I gazed at my two companions. I could see that they were both smiled at me with the same expression. I smiled back at them with a relief feeling that I was not alone interested in the evolution.
My dad came back with my mother’s food request. My mother put down the book, sat up right, and went to inspect the bag of food. She started with the nasi lemak. I noticed my dad had a cup of Starbucks Grande Macchiato and a couple of chocolate muffins for himself. My dad was no difference after all. He was a chocoholic to my opinion because he was also eating the same thing for breakfast in almost every day we stayed in this hotel. So there they were both my parents consumed the full calories and fatty breakfast contents in the last week we stayed in this hotel. I could just imagine what they would look like if they continued their eating menus like that for ever.
I turned my eyes back and forth to my mother and my dad. Unlike my mother who looked bigger by the day, my dad posture actually looked quite slim. And unlike my mother who didn’t like to walk much, my dad was quite a keen walker. He would walk to almost every where he wanted to go within a 5 miles radius. He also did some exercise on a daily basis. In the last couple of weeks alone, he had run twice a day at the KL Convention Center jogging tract. So he seemed pretty fit and healthy to me. I started to speculate if my mother would at least do some leisurely walk outside the hotel room in the near future. That would be fun. Somehow I would like to see some places in KL before we go back to Jakarta
My dad ordered a taxi from the concierge while my mother got ready to go out of the hotel room for the first time in two weeks. We would have to see the doctor this morning to get me and my two companions a check-up. This would be the first check up after the doctor implanted us in my mother’s womb. I was a bit nervous, and I reckoned the other twos felt the same. My mother was still combing her hairs again and again for already almost 10 minutes. I bet she was more nervous than all of us, including my dad. My dad looked at his wrist watch a third time and then he started to get to the door.
“Ok honey, we have to get going. It is 09:00 am already” my dad pointed to his watch when he said that. “We don’t want to make the doctor waiting for us, do we?”
“Okay…okay, I am coming” said my mother. Her voice a little bit irritated.
“Let me go to the toilet one more time” she continued still with the comb in her hand. My dad grabbed my mother’s purse and stood by the door waiting for my mother finishing up her final grooming.
The taxi ride to the hospital felt like ages, though it was only taken more or less 15 minutes. There was no traffic this morning, which was unusual for KL. As soon as we arrived, my mother got off the taxi very carefully and walked to the hospital door entrance slowly. She really took her time. My dad walked slightly ahead of my mother, but his hand was holding my mother’s hand. I noticed my mother’s free hand was placed on her womb. It blocked my few of a morning sun a little bit. They walked in silence. I could only hear my mother’s heart beat.
At the registration counter in the main hall, we were greeted by few nurses. The nurses at this hospital were not only friendly, but they were also very attentive and helpful. My parents liked them very much. After assisted by one of the nurse, my dad and my mother’s were ushered to the doctor’s office. It was very quite in there. There was a bed not far from the doctor’s desk, and there were various appliances and hanging from the post at the head of the bed. The nurse said that we were the first in the list that morning and that the doctor will be in soon. My dad placed his hand on my mother’s right shoulder and stroked it gently. She leaned towards my dad and laid her head at my dad’s shoulder. Her eyes closed.
It was nearly 09:30 am. The nurse came back again with a plastic cup and something else I could not see clearly. Then my mother was asked to go to the toilet which adjacent to the doctor’s waiting room, and told her to pee in the cup she just handed out to her. My mother refused when my dad offer her to accompany her to the toilet. My mother came out of the toilet with the cup almost full with a yellowish liquid and gave it to the nurse. And then the nurse asked my mother to sit on the bed not far from the doctor’s table. I was not sure what the nurse was doing, but I could hear my mother said “Ouch!” Five second later, I could see a tube with a dark red liquid on her hand. That surely was my mother’s blood. Then the nurse left us again alone in the doctor’s office.
“Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Childs!” a fresh friendly greetings burst through the door. Ah…Dr. Wong was here. He was cheerful and full of smile. It was exactly 10:00 am sharp. He was very punctual.
“Good morning doctor Wong!” my dad and my mother greeted back in unison. My dad extended his arm to shake hand with the doctor. My mother was just smiled at the doctor.
“Okay, let us have you checked now. If you don’t mind, lay down in bed and the nurse will help you with your clothes” said the doctor. “Are you nervous?” the doctor again but the question was address to my dad.
“Very much!” said my dad with a smile on his face. I looked at my mother being undressed by the nurse and then laid down in bed. I could feel her heart beat a little bit faster than usual.
The doctor pulled something from the head of the bed and greased it with some liquid gel, greased my mother's belly and then he placed the thing at my mother’s belly. He also turned on a knob and suddenly the screen on the wall next to the bed was on. He asked my mother and my dad to look at the screen while the thing in his hand was still on top of my mother’s belly. He circled and circled around the slippery thing on my mother’s belly and then stopped.
“You see that spot inside your womb there…, that was the three embryos that we planted two weeks ago” the doctor pointed to the screen. My dad and my mother tried hard to focus and look at what the doctor’s pointing out what seemed to be as a small dot in the screen. They didn’t say anything but a quick “Oh”
“Well, we can not see much at the moment, it’s still too early and very small to be captured into any form” the doctor again.
“But rest assured, at the moment they were right there and correctly placed in your uterus wall lining” the doctor continued and lifted the jelly cooled apparatus from my mother’s belly and wiped it with a tissue paper. He asked the nurse to help cleaned my mother’s belly too.
“Now let us see what the urine and blood test result says” said the doctor after my dad and my mother sat on the chair at the doctor’s desk.
Again, I could feel my mother’s heart beat thumping faster. My dad was tried to be calm but I saw his fingers twined closely with my mother’s. No doubt he was as nervous as my mother. I was trying to communicate with my mother but it was just not possible at the moment. I really wish I could tell my mother and my dad too, that I and my other two companions were fine inside her womb. I wish I could tell her that she didn’t have to worry. At least she didn’t have to, not for now.
“Let’s see.., your HCG level is 1026 mIU/mL, that is very high than a normal pregnancy” the doctor explained. “So…a Big Yes, you are positively pregnant!” exclaimed the doctor.
“Really doc?” my mother’s face still looked puzzled. “I am now pregnant for sure!” my mother’s voice a little bit in disbelief, but her face was suddenly glowing and her eyes gleamed.
“Wow! “Thank you doctor….thank you….thank you! I heard my dad murmuring, not able to say anything else, but thanking the doctor. His face was so happy and slowly tears filled his blue eyes. His fingers were still inter-twined with my mothers.
“Yes, you are pregnant, and judging by the high of your HCG level, it is possible that you will have multiple babies” the doctors looked at my mother and my dad alternately. My mother still could not say much, as she was still trying to absorb the overwhelming good news.
“So, when you get back in Jakarta
“Congratulation!" said the doctor to my mother. "And to you too Mr. Childs" the doctor turned to my dad.
“And for you Mr. Childs, you should help her during this pregnancy and make sure she is happy and away from stress, Ok?” he looked at my dad who was still busy wiping his eyes. He couldn’t help shedding tears, but he surely very happy man now.
“Remember in your case, and at your age, this will be a high risk pregnancy Mrs. Childs. So you should really make all the effort to get a lot of rest and eat healthy” the doctors turned to my mother again.
Wow…a high risk pregnancy!? What would that mean? Why would it high risk? I was ok so far, and so did my other two companions. We would not cause my mother any problem I hope. I wish the doctor explained more about it. I tried to look at the doctor’s face, and then turned to my mother’s, then to my dad’s. But there were no clear answers in their faces. So, I guessed I have to wait and try to find out about it next time my mother read that book on pregnancy again.
“Yes doctor, I will, we will do anything to keep this pregnancy as healthy as possible” said my mother with a firm voice. Her voice gave me a calm reassurance that the high risk pregnancy the doctor said was not to something for me to worry about.
“Thank you doctor, thank you” my dad said again and then he stood up, extend his arm and shook hand with the doctor. My mother followed the same, thanking the doctor repeatedly with a very big relief smile on her face.
“Already then, keep me posted on the development, and do not hesitate to contact me if you need my advise anytime” said Doctor Wong. He handed out some paperwork to my dad and then walked us out to the door.
For my mother and my dad the morning and the rest of the day were filled with smile of happiness. And I was sure as the sun rises, that their hearts will be happy for ever and after from now onward. The HCG level mystery was answered. Yes, there was indeed more than one occupant in my mother’s womb at the moment. I took a deep sight, feeling very happy for both my parents. The other two companions of mine were also seemed to be relief with the finding. We gazed at each others with the feeling of contentment, but I could still sense a presence of doubt in the corner of their eyes to be. For the three of us, from now onward it would be a serial of survival to the next chapter of our existence. At this stage, as fetuses.
