A Bump in the Road -- Watty Awards 2011 --

Chapter 5: Bye Bye Baby?/ Miracles Happen

Drip, drip, drip, beep, beep, whiirr. drip, beep, whir – this sound pattern had drummed a tattoo into her brain as sure as her dry contacts burned into her eye sockets as the comfort of the blackness receded, leaving only the sight of a drab room and an iv taped to her arm dripping fluids into her veins. Machines were constantly reading her vital statistics and spitting out the graphs on hospital film.

Seeing a buzzer at her bedside, Nicole manoeuvred her arm through the tangle of wires and tubes and sent the silent signal that would instantly summon a nurse. But instead of a nurse Dr. Bruckerman walked in. This time he didn’t waste time with small talk.

He scanned the most recent several feet of notes the beeping machine was spouting and came to sit beside her – not an easy feat considering the jungle of tape and tubes circling her wrists reaching down to the base of her stomach where there was another monitoring device.

She felt the monitoring node and looked up anxiously at the doctor. "Nicole, after your collapse, she flinched at the word – it made her sound so weak, and the results of your test it has become apparent that you have Diminutive Step Glucose Disorder. DSGD for short, it’s a disorder that affects 1 out of every 10 000 pregnant women.

As of yet, we don’t know what causes this disorder but recent evidence has shown that excessive stress in the mother over a long period of time even beginning before conception heightens the risk of contracting the disorder upon becoming pregnant".

Still covering the fetal monitor strapped to her abdomen Nicole opened her mouth to speak but the doctor held up his hand and continued.

"It can also be treated along the same lines as gestational diabetes with doses of insulin. Now you cannot be safely delivered at not even 5 months but with luck if you respond well to the treatment we will be able to avoid hospitalization for the duration of your pregnancy.

But you must follow this set of rules and attend a weekly doctors appointment to monitor your condition as long as the baby isn’t showing significant stress.

Once you have finished the hydrating drip you can discharge yourself, do you have anyone to drive you home and check in on you?" Nicole nodded and 3 hours later had arrived home and sent out an order for more groceries and retired to the couch with her feet up sipping the drink she had been sent home with that was supposed to stabilize her insulin levels.

She remembered the warning of the doctor as she had left and shivered, subconsciously rubbing the bruise left on her belly by the monitoring device. I look like I’ve been fighting an octopus she thought looking at the marks left by the IV’s – I think the octopus won too.

Nicole heard the heavy shuffle of footsteps coming up the stairs and for a fleeting moment she thought it was joseph – but the door opened and her hopes fizzled and fled out the open door as a pile of brown paper bags topped with a pile of blond curls came in through it.

"Make way girlfriend, Sherri’s voice could be heard coming over the top of the bags which were now walking over to the kitchen counter. I am not letting you move Nic do you understand me?"

The blonde pile of curls was now visible as the bags were unpacked and Nicole watched amusedly as her petite friend flit around her apartment, filling her cupboards with soy nut granola and carob bars.

She finally spoke up as sherri was excitedly showing her a thick green mixture that her friend was trying to convince her to drink. Sherri, really, I’ll be ok I promise – I’m going to keep my baby safe. Sherri kneeled on the carpet beside the couch and looked up at Nicole, her normally bright and scrappy disposition dropping as she propped herself up to nicole’s eye level.