Baby's first...physical!

Posted on Sat Apr 6th, 2019 @ 4:49am by Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD & Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne

2,057 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 97 - Cultural Exchange
Location: Sickbay, USS Sutherland
Timeline: MD7, 0900 hours

Ensuring everything was prepared, Doctor Corrigan had nothing to do but wait for her patient to arrive. After checking in with the counsellor to ensure she was up to the trip, Carolyn had arranged for her to come to Sickbay for a more detailed medical exam. While still far from the facilities back on the base, she hoped it would allow Monroe some extra peace of mind for the time being.

Configuring the scans for the fourth time, she decided instead to do something a little more productive. Accessing the medical records on her PADD, she reviewed the details from the last detailed examination of the counsellor. All the while singing quietly along to a song which had been stuck in her head all morning. Stupid Rolling Stones.

Ariana walked along the corridor to Sickbay uncertain whether she was looking forward to a more detailed scan or not. Her own abilities were still only half what they were and she couldn’t help but be concerned what effect it could have had on her baby. Walking in Sickbay she couldn’t help but smile as she walked into Sickbay to find Carolyn completely oblivious to her approach. She politely cleared her throat in order to alert Carolyn to her presence.

"Oh, hi!" Carolyn said quickly, flushing a little red as she jumped to her feet and set the PADD aside. With a hopeful look she asked, "I Don't suppose you've developed a hearing problem since yesterday?"

“Actually no” Ariana grinned. “I won’t say a word to anyone about you singing I promise!”

“To be fair, around here it wouldn’t matter,” Carolyn said with a sigh. “Come on in. Get as comfortable as you can and we will see how the baby is doing today.”

“Oh I’d say she’s doing just fine” Ariana smiled. “She’s been kicking the hells bells out of me three quarters of the morning! She’ll make one hell of a footballer if she ever decides she wants to play it!”

"So baby is a she?" Carolyn asked.

“I think so I never asked the sex of the baby.” Ariana smiled at Carolyn. “Part of the sense I’ve had of my baby tells me that I’m carrying a girl. It’s kind of hard to explain but my mother always told me that when I had children of my own I’d instinctively know and be able to share the experience of pregnancy with my baby. I wasn’t sure what she meant until recently.” She made herself comfortable on the biobed and looked at Carolyn. “I guess I’m about as ready for this as I’m going to be. Can you confirm the sex of the baby while you’re doing this please?”

Initiating the scans, Carolyn listened patiently while Ariana talked, her own focus on the readings. Her photographic memory allowed her to make an instant comparison without waiting for the computer to do it for her. "You don't want it to be a surprise?" she asked.

Ariana shook her head. "I've had enough surprises with this pregnancy so far, both good and bad I'd prefer to know please."

"Fair enough," the doctor grinned. "How have you been feeling today? I can give you some more medication if you don't feel completely better yet."

"No it's fine thank you" Ariana smiled. "I try not to rely on medication if I can help it, plus I do feel better than I did. With the exception of my abilities, I'm nowhere near back to full strength I'd say more like half strength."

"Any improvement on yesterday or the day before though?" Carolyn asked.

"That's a good question" Ariana paused. "Tiredness wise I'd say not a lot, but that could be my pregnancy, my cough...is about the same. I do feel better in myself as a whole though."

"While you are here we can work some magic to help get rid of that cough," Carolyn assured her. "Your airways are just a little tender from the combination of the fever and then the medicine. No reason we cannot help it along."

Ariana nodded. “If you think it’s best then I will agree to whatever is needed.” She smiled warmly as she looked at Carolyn curiously. “So how are the tests coming along?”

“Slowly,” Carolyn admitted with a rueful smile. “But so far nothing of concern has shown up.”

Leaving the scan to run she moved to the workstation, preparing a hypospray. “Once we are back on the station we can do a more detailed neurological scan on you and the baby.”

“That’s What Doctor Hades told me too.” She grinned. “I feel like I’m being a pest having you do all these tests.”

“Absolutely not,” Carolyn told her. “Even on a good day an expectant mother has worries. It’s natural. We can run hundreds of these if you need us to.”

“Thank you” Ariana smiled. “I guess after losing my baby’s twin I am more worried than I probably would have been. I appreciate you all being so understanding. The strange thing for me is I was born with my abilities, I’ve never been able to block out the excess noise in my mind. Now a lot of that noise is quieter and I’m finding it...hard to accept.”

Carolyn raised an eyebrow, administering the hypo. “Well, from what I understand, a newborn is anything but quiet.”

Her conversation with James came to mind and she turned away, focusing instead on the scans. She had been to hard on him. But things like this? They could probably never have a moment like this. Pushing the thought away, she made some adjustments as she initiated the final series of scans. “Still want to know if it is a boy or girl?”

“Yes please” Ariana smiled. “And I didn’t mean about the baby being quiet I meant my abilities.”

“I know,” Carolyn assured her. “Okay, there is a slight drop in some your neurotransmitter levels since your last physical... not massive but certainly a contributing factor for your current difficulties.”

“You remember that from my last physical?” Ariana looked at Carolyn curiously.

“The benefits of a photographic memory,” Carolyn explained with a grin. “I don’t want to throw more medication into the mix today. I’ll leave a note for Dr Hades to follow up tomorrow if that is okay.”

“That’s fine.” She nodded. “I don’t want to be loading my body with medication especially while I’m pregnant.”

“Always a good philosophy,” Carolyn commended as one of the nurses appeared, “everything okay?”

“We need a doctor and the EMH is still offline for maintenance ...” the woman explained, directing a small smile at Monroe. “I wouldn’t ask but -“

“I will be right back,” Carolyn told Monroe before gesturing for the nurse to come over, “You will need to stay here. I’ll be back in a second.”

She disappeared out of sight as the nurse stood, watching the readings and offering the occasional polite smile until she was sure they were alone. She had a bet to try and win after all. “Exciting times, hmm? I have three myself, most are grown up now. Youngest is a right - well, he’s difficult sometimes. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about though.”

"Well all children are different" Ariana smiled.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Dr Hades lately?”

"Not lately No" she shook her head. "Any particular reason why?"

“No reason,” she answere quickly. “Forget I mentioned it. So, have you considered baby names yet? Partial to Jennifer myself!”

"Not yet" Ariana smiled. "I'm struggling with choosing one at the moment."

“Plenty of time and not to worry, you are in good hands. Dr Hades and Dr Corrigan make quite a team. Although..." she lowered her voice a little, as if about to divulge the greatest story ever told. "I do think to really understand the trials of motherhood it helps to be a mother, to have gone through it. Dr Fernandez, did you ever meet her? Lovely woman but she went back to Earth. Not that I'm saying they aren't great at what they do!

And, I suppose, you can't fault Dr Corrigan for not being a mother. Gossip is that she was engaged to that lovely Dr Adams! I met him on the Pegasus. Handsome with eyes you could stare into all day long. And the accent! If he was my man I'd never dream of leaving that. Can you imagine? But if the stories are true they -“

“Out. Now!”

Spinning around, the nurse at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “I...”

“Hand off your patients and go home,” Carolyn told her, not even looking at her again as she crossed the small space to Monroe. “I am so sorry. One of the other nurses decided to make Dr Hades the subject of a bet and it is like most of the nurses have gone insane. Jennifer included.”

"It's okay not to worry!" Ariana looked at Carolyn. "I knew you were trying to hide away from something but I'm not going to pry. Feel free to come and see me when you're ready to talk about it."

“Maybe,” she said, trying not to be rude and opting for diplomatic. She walked over to the terminal. Picking up a PADD she downloaded some of the data, “all done.”

"So do the tests confirm my suspicions? Am I carrying a girl?"

Handing over the PADD, Carolyn smiled, “your baby’s first mini physical. May she enjoy many more.”

Ariana's smile beamed as she looked at the PADD. She looked up at Corrigan with tears of sheer joy in her eyes. "Thank you so much Carolyn!" Her eyes were transfixed on the image of the tiny baby growing inside her. "Can I...have a copy of this please?" She wiped her eyes. "I will never doubt what my mother tells me again!"

"That one is all yours to keep," Carolyn told her with a warm smile, crossing the room to fetch her a tissue.

"Then I will treasure it!" Ariana grinned feeling silly for blubbering in the first place. "I know I'm around five months, when I was carrying twins they said I might have to deliver a few weeks early but I take it now I'm only carrying one baby that I'll be due sometime between my ninth and tenth month?"

"Your case is a little unusual but I would estimate closer to your tenth; however, with the more regular checkups we can revise that down. The most important thing is that we want to be sure all of her vital organs, respiratory system etc are all fully developed before she tries to say hello to the world. But from today's scans, everything is progressing as we would expect. Neurological scans are too inconclusive for me to tell if the fever has had an impact but again, as she grows and develops, we should be able to get a better picture."

She paused, realising it had turned into a bit of a speech. "In short, all looks good so far."

Ariana grinned. "Thank you and I'd rather hear the full speech than the shortened version so I get the full picture." She slid herself down off the biobed. "You have made me feel the happiest woman on this ship I appreciate everything you've done for me so far. No doubt there's plenty more to go yet!"

"Pleased to hear it," Carolyn grinned, enjoying the moment of sharing good news and not the more difficult sides of her work. "You can call me, or Dr Hades, anytime. He has this insane idea that I'm going to take some time off but that is not in my plans at all so call me if anything comes up. Running a scan doesn't take long and if it puts your mind at rest, its worth it."

Ariana nodded. "I'll remember that, my only plan now is to go home and grab something to eat I'm starving!!" She grinned before turning and heading on her way.

"Enjoy," Carolyn told her as she looked around the room. "Guess I better go find myself another nurse..."

OFF

RSS Feed

Comments (1)