The Experiment 2: The Journey

For Better or For Worse

"Babe..." RJ squeezed Dei's hand softly, calling her attention.

She had already stopped crying but her eyes were fixed on the floor of the reception area at her doctor's clinic. He noticed that she had been avoiding his gaze since they got off the cab and sat on one of the couches there.

"Babe, please don't forget that I'm here. It's gonna be okay," he said.

"What if it's not?" she whispered, still not looking at him.

RJ sighed and just wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Honestly, he didn't know how to answer that.

"Dei Faulkerson?" the doctor's secretary called from her desk and both RJ and Dei looked at her. "Dr. Hessel is ready for you," she said with a smile.

"Dei, honey, what's wrong?" the doctor asked as soon as they walked in and she saw Dei's tear stained face.

Dei went on to tell her what happened while the doctor took notes. RJ, on the other hand, just stood behind Dei's chair, listening quietly.

"Well I have to say, cramping and spotting, even mild bleeding, is actually common in the first trimester of pregnancy," Dr. Hessel told them. "In fact 1 out of 5 pregnant women have reported experiencing this during their first three months, particularly in the first few weeks. Although bleeding could be a sign of complication, that is not always the case.

Let's find that out now, shall we? Get on the bed, dear, and we'll do an ultrasound," she said, before standing up and getting her equipment ready.

Dei grabbed RJ's hand that was on her shoulder and looked at him. He gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

He helped her up the bed and held her hand as they waited for the doctor to set up everything. After close to a minute, the doctor began the transvaginal ultrasound as both Dei and RJ fixed their eyes on the monitor. They were both holding their breaths as they waited.

"Hmmm... hmmm... based on the measurement of the gestational sac, you should be at your 6th week of gestation now," Dr. Hessel murmured. She continued silently exploring Dei's womb while the couple watched, holding each other's hands tight. After a few minutes, the doctor sighed. "Okay guys, I do see the sac... it's this mass right here," she said. "But right now I am not seeing a fetal pole... nor any cardiac activity. There's no heartbeat."

RJ closed his eyes and dropped his face on their hands.

Dei just stared at the doctor.

"Let me talk to you guys," Dr. Hessel sighed as she walked back to her desk. "It is possible that the baby is just developing slowly, or that our numbers are incorrect and it's just actually too early to detect the heartbeat, so I am going to schedule another ultrasound in two weeks. At 8-9 weeks we should certainly be seeing the heartbeats already so that will determine if we have a problem or not," Dr. Hessel told them.

"What percentage are we looking at about the possibility of me having a miscarriage?" Dei asked from the bed.

"40-50%," the doctor replied. "But there's also a big chance that you're not. We are going to monitor the bleeding Dei, if that and the cramping gets worse, you have to come back right away. I'm going to ask you to take 1-2 weeks of bed rest and you'll be taking progesterone supplements to prevent your progesterone level from dropping. I will see you again in two weeks for another scan, ok, Dei? Don't lose hope, both of you."