Hi, gang.
It's been quite a while since the last part was up, but I'm finally here with more. I hope you can stand more.
Thanks so much for the support. I hope you'll enjoy the new part.
Take care.
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(Part 25)
As soon as Michael told Dee Dee to make herself comfortable, he turned to call Celise. Before he had the chance, she was rushing down the stairs.
“Is that Dee Dee?” She called to Michael on the way down. “Oh, please tell me it’s her.” When she rounded the corner she sighed with great relief. “Thank God! I’ve been so worried about you. Are you okay?” She threw her arms around her friend. “You did leave Alex, didn’t you? You’re here to stay, right; not just a visit?”
“Yes, I left him.” Before Dee Dee could answer another question, she broke down in a flood of tears.
Celise pulled her in closer. “It’ll be okay. We’ll help you get through this.”
“Did he hurt you?” Michael asked; sitting on the sofa’s arm rest.
“He shoved me against the wall a couple of times; banged my head against it.” Dee Dee’s lip quivered. “And he hit me; slapped me so hard that I fell to the floor.”
Celise gasped at the horrific news. “Oh, my God! I can’t believe him!” She sighed with sorrow for her friend. “We should take you to the hospital and make sure you and the baby are okay.”
Dee Dee raised her head and nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I fell on my side, and it hurts a little.”
Michael immediately jumped up. “Let me get my shoes on, and we’ll go.” As he walked up to the bedroom, his face grew warm with anger toward Alex, and he caught a glimpse of his grimaced expression in the hall mirror. As he prepared to leave the house, he cursed Alexander Turnan under his breath, but by the time he was back downstairs he’d managed to hold back the emotions to keep from upsetting their guest even more. “Are you two ready to go?”
“I need to call Dr. Cameron before we go.” Dee Dee said. “She wanted me to call her as soon as I left the house, and maybe she’ll be able to see me at the hospital.”
After the call, Celise and Dee Dee stood, and as soon as Celise grabbed her jacket, they were out the door and into Michael’s car.
As Dee Dee sat in the front passenger seat, she gazed quietly out the window scanning the scenery as the car moved ahead. Millions of thoughts ran through her mind, and replays of what happed before leaving her home…Alex’s house, went on and on.
She was suddenly distracted for a moment by a voice.
“I’m so glad you’re out of there, Dee Dee.” Celise pulled herself up and placed her hand on Dee Dee’s shoulder. “I was about to lose my mind worrying about you.”
“Yeah, she was.” Michael added. “And I was right along with her. We planned to come check on you if you hadn’t shown up within the next few minutes.”
“I’m sorry, guys.” Dee Dee sighed with guilt. “I hate that I’ve worried you. I tried to leave sooner; bags packed, ready to go, but I started to feel sick and had to sit down. That’s when he caught me.”
“I’m sorry you had to endure such hell. But you’ll be okay, now.” Celise assured her. “We’re both just glad…no, relieved that you’re with us.”
Dee Dee sighed with relief and patted Celise’s hand over her shoulder. “Thanks. I’m glad to be with you guys, too.”
Within a few moments the car pulled into the emergency entrance parking lot and Michael let the ladies step out in front of the door, and then found a spot a few yards away.
When Dee Dee told the nurse at the registration desk that she was pregnant and had fallen, she was quickly seated in a wheelchair and taken to an examination cubical. Celise stayed behind and filled out what she could on the form, and then went to join her friend. When the got there, the technician had already begun using the Doppler to listen for the fetal heartbeat, while a nurse was attaching the blood pressure cuff to Dee Dee’s left arm. When Dee Dee looked up, she saw Celise standing off to the left.
“This is my friend, Celise.” Dee Dee told them. “She and her husband brought me here, and I want her with me.”
“That’s fine.” The nurse said with a smile. “My name is Shannon, and that’s Janae with the Doppler.”
“Hi.” Janae said in a quick but friendly tone.
Celise took a seat in the chair beside the examination table. “This is great, Dee Dee. I get to see your baby.” She was smiling broadly. “I’m so excited. How are you feeling?”
“I’m nervous.” She turned her attention to the technician on her right. “Is my baby okay?”
“It seems to be.” Janae smiled. “The heartbeat is strong. We have more tests to do, but so far, everything looks fine.”
“Thank God.” Dee Dee and Celise replied in unison. For a few moments more, they happily listened to the baby’s beating heart.
“Isn’t that a beautiful sound?” Dee Dee remarked with a beaming smile.
“Absolutely.” Celise replied in awe.
When Janae lifted the wand to apply more gel and to have Dee Dee change positions, Celise took the opportunity to check on her husband. “I’m going out to see if Michael’s in the waiting room yet. I want to tell him the good news.” She smiled and squeezed Dee Dee’s hand. “I’ll be right back.”
While Celise was gone, Shannon asked some general questions for the circumstances.
“Are you having any pain; cramping?”
“No. Just the pain in my side.”
“Any bleeding; spotting at all?”
“No, not that I can tell.”
“Okay. One of our obstetricians on call will do a quick exam to make sure. Dr. Cameron’s in the hospital and she’ll be here to examine you more thoroughly in a few minutes. Have you felt any dizziness?”
“No.”
“Did you hit your head when you fell?”
“No”
“I’m back.” Celise announced. “Michael’s watching a game on television, so he’ll be fine. He’s glad the baby’s doing well.” Celise smiled while taking a seat.
After a few adjustments to the blood pressure cuff and a temperature reading, the nurse was ready to continue the questioning. “Now I need to know; you did land on your left side, correct?
“Yes.”
“You didn’t land on your stomach at all?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Good. Now, how did you fall? Did you trip on something? And if not; how far of a fall was it? Were you standing on something like a chair or a ladder?”
Dee Dee hadn’t thought about this line of questioning. She knew they had to be asked, but during all of the excitement and the rush to the hospital she didn’t have time to mentally prepare for them.
“I tripped over my shoelace.” The wrong answer came too easily for her. As Dee Dee watched the nurse begin to write down the information, she felt the pang of guilt combined with courage. “No, wait. That’s not true.” She looked at Celise who had an encouraging look about her.
“Okay. How did you fall?” The nurse asked politely.
Dee Dee knew she had to break the habit of covering Alex’s abuse with lies. It would all be the start of her healing process to be truthful, and she was ready to heal. “I was knocked down.” She choked up a bit at the thought, pushed continued. “It was my husband; he backhanded me so hard across my face that I fell to the floor.”
The nurse expressed sympathy. “I’m so sorry to hear that. And I know it must have been really difficult for you to be honest with me. I really appreciate you doing so, and you should be proud of yourself.”
“I know I’m proud of her.” Celise added.
“I guess I am. And thank you both.” Dee Dee replied; almost in a bashful way.
“Well, I hope you’ll never have to go through anything like it again.” Shannon added.
“No. I won’t.” Dee Dee stated. “I finally got enough courage to leave him today.” She sighed with a fair amount of contentment with herself.
“Good for you. I hope more women in your position will be as courageous.” Shannon said with a smile. “I’ve got to step out for a while, but if you need me, just press the call button.”
Janae continued the sonogram testing; guiding the wand over the cool gel on Dee Dee’s stomach. She led the wand to more areas of the stomach and stopped at one point to type in more data. She made some adjustments to the machine by clicking switches and rolling the little ball. After a few moments she moved the wand to a previous area and then quickly back to the one she’d just left. She sat up closer to the screen and studied it, and clicked the mouse to zoom in on a larger picture. Once more she moved the wand and made more adjustement to the machine.
“What is it?” Dee Dee’s curiosity was piqued. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing’s wrong.” Janae turned to Dee Dee. “It’s just something I didn’t see in your chart. I’ve made a note of it for the doctor, but there’s nothing wrong.” She tried to offer a reassuring smile.
Dee Dee didn’t feel complete honesty within the reply, and she tensed up. “Please tell me if something is wrong with my baby.”
“I promise you, I didn’t see anything wrong on the monitor. It’s just a little lack of information in the file. That’s all.”
Dee Dee tried to relax, but wanted more answers and found it hard to lose the tension.
Celise saw the distressed look on her friend’s face. “Try not to worry.”
“Something could be wrong, Celise.” Dee Dee tensed up even more and her facial expression and the firm grip on Celise’s hand made it evident.
“No, there’s nothing to worry about.” Janae said again; regrettting she’d even mentioned anything in the first place. “If something was wrong, I would have alerted the nurse or doctor immediately. So, please don’t worry.” She smiled and hoped she’d been able to put Dee Dee’s mind at ease, even if only a little. “I’m all done here.” She said as she began wiping the gel from Dee Dee’s stomach. “I’ll leave this machine here for Dr. Cameron. She’ll go over what I have, but of course will do her own scan. You should go ahead and change into this gown, and use the call button if you need anything.” With that said, Janae left Mrs. Turnan and her friend alone.
As Dee Dee changed behind the screen, various ideas for worry came to mind. “Celise. I’m scared.What if the fall did harm the baby?” Her eyes filled with water as she stepped away from the screen.
“The tech said the heartbeat’s strong, and everything looks fine. Don’t jump to any conclusions, okay?” Celise pulled her chair closer to the exam table as Dee Dee lay back down.
“I know what she said, but…”
“Don’t, Dee Dee. Don’t put yourself through any more than you have to go through. Whatever was missing from the file could be as simple as the date.” Celise took her friend’s hand in hers again. “Let’s just pray while we wait for the doctor, okay? Maybe that’ll help ease your mind.” Dee Dee nodded in agreement.
Within two minutes a tall thin man in a white jacket entered the room. “Mrs Turnan?”
“Yes.” Dee Dee replied quietly, as he scanned the thirty-something year old with the sandy brown hair and brown eyes.
“Hello, I’m doctor Hall.” He said with a bright smile and then shook her hand. “I heard that you had a bit of an accident. How are you feeling?”
She immediately tensed up at the idea of a male OB/GYN, but tried not to be obvious. “My side hurts. It’s where I landed when I fell. Otherwise, I guess I’m okay. I’m just concerned about the baby.”
“That’s understandable. So far everything looks fine, but I’ll need to perform a pelvic exam to rule out anything else definitely.” He saw the uneasy look on Dee Dee’s face. “Have you ever been examined by a male OB/GYN?”
“No, I haven’t. It’s that obvious, huh?” She blushed.
“Yeah, I picked up on that. But it’s okay. You’re not the first woman to feel this way. I hope you’re not too uncomfortable with me. Dr. Cameron can tell you that I’m not all that bad.” He smiled broadly. “You can have your friend stay here, and there will also be a nurse…a female nurse here too. It’ll be fine.” He called for a nurse and reached for a box of latex gloves.
“I’m here.”
Dee Dee heard a familiar voice say. She turned her head slightly to the left and saw a welcomed face. It was Dr. Nina Cameron.
“Dee Dee, are you okay?”
“I’m so glad you’re here.” Dee Dee replied in relief.
“I told you I’d be here.” Nina smiled. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t get downstairs sooner. Have they taken good care of you?”
“Yes, everyone’s been really nice. It’s just that the tech noticed something odd, I guess, about my chart but wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. I can promise you that. You do still trust me, don’t you?” The doctor, with a crinkled brow, awaited a reply.
“Yes, I do.”
“Good. Then you know I’m not lying if I say there’s nothing to worry about.” She smiled and squeezed Dee Dee’s hand in comfort. “I can take it from here, Gary.” She said to Dr. Hall. “And I really appreciate you covering for me.”
“No problem, Nina. I think Mrs. Turnan is relieved to be spared of my examination.” He chuckled. “Mrs. Turnan, I wish you all the best with your baby.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hall.” Dee Dee replied. “I hope I didn’t offend you.”
“No, not at all. This procedure is much more than listening for a cough. Obviously I’m not a woman, but I think I’d be a little nervous with a doctor I’m not familiar with when it comes to something so personal. It takes some getting used to.”
“I’m glad I didn’t offend.” Dee Dee smiled with relief.
Hall smiled again, excused himself and then made his exit.
Dee Dee explained to Nina that she’d like Celise to stay. The doctor agreed that having her for support was just what Dee Dee needed. Once the nurse came into the room, Dr. Cameron slipped on a pair of latex gloves and had Dee Dee position herself for the pelvic exam. The nurse set up the paper division screen to allow Dee Dee privacy from the waist down, while Celise maintained her place in the chair near the head of the exam; holding Dee Dee’s hand.
Nina was ready to examine her patient. “Are you ready, Dee Dee?”
“Yeah.” She sighed deeply in an effort to release the stress. I’m ready.”
The doctor was very thorough with the exam and was pleased to inform Dee Dee that everything was fine. With this exam, along with the Doppler, there was no sign that the placenta had ruptured or that the baby was in any distress. Dee Dee was able to exhale with a large amount of tension release, but knew she still had to hear the final report of another Doppler scan. The doctor put the bottom of the table back to the level position, which allowed Dee Dee to straighten her legs and lie flat on her back.
As Dr. Cameron guided the wand across Dee Dee’s belly, she came across what the technician had discovered. “Dee Dee, see that little area? That’s the baby all safe and sound; just perfect.”
“That’s great news. I was so worried.” Dee Dee closed her eyes and said a quick and silent prayer of thanks, as Celise sighed with much contentment.
Dr. Cameron moved the wand to another area of Dee Dee’s stomach. “Now, you see this here?” She pointed to the image on the screen.
“Yes.” Dee Dee felt a slight amount of tension growing again. “What is it? It isn’t a tumor is it? I’ve heard of fibroids growing during pregnancy. Even if you have a tiny one, it can grow really fast along with the baby. It can be dangerous, can’t it?”
“Slow down, okay?” The doctor said. “It’s not a tumor. It’s nothing of that nature at all.
I want you to take a closer look as I move the wand. Here’s your baby; just a little bit larger than when I showed you a few weeks ago and this…”
“Oh, my God.” It was beginning to register with Dee Dee. “Is that… are you saying I’m… having twins?”
Celise who had been clueless was also catching on. “Oh!”
“Yes, Dee Dee. You’re having twins.” The doctor said with a grin. “There isn’t one, but two babies growing inside of you.”
Dee Dee felt an extreme amount of surprise, and joy. “Oh, I can’t believe it. This is…it’s…oh, I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, I think it’s wonderful.” Celise said. “Dee Dee…twins.”
“I hope this is good news to you.” Dr. Cameron said.
“Oh, yes, this is fantastic news! I’ve always wanted twins!” Dee Dee sat up closer to the screen. “Why is it we’re only seeing the other baby for the first time today?”
“Well, sometimes with identical twins, it can take up to the twelfth week or later until the second is visible and the heartbeat is detected. But there’s no doubt that there are two babies, and by the looks of the sacs, they appear to be identical.”
Dee Dee placed her hand over her forehead and laughed at the idea of her baby hiding. “Identical twins. I’m carrying identical twins. Oh, this is too much. It’s amazing.”
“It is, isn’t?” The doctor said. “Janae was pretty sure she’d found a second baby, and when she didn’t see any information of it in your chart, she had to be more thorough with the exam and made a note of it.”
“Oh, so that’s what she was talking about; the something that wasn’t in my chart.” Dee Dee said with relief.
“Exactly. It wasn’t her place to tell you that she saw, or thought she saw a twin. She had to report to me first, then I’d take a look to make sure, and then I could tell you.”
“Twins.” That’s all Dee Dee could say with a bright smile and a gentle hand on her belly.
“Dee Dee, I’m so happy for you.” Celise added with a smile of her own. “I was already excited about buying baby clothes for you, and now I get to have twice as much fun.”
“Me, too.” Dee Dee laughed. It’d been such a long time since she’d laughed. It was such a great feeling that she’d missed. “Oh, just look at them; my two precious angels.” For a moment Dee Dee was so transfixed by the view of her two miracles, that she barely heard the doctor speaking to her.
“As for the minor bruising and soreness in your side; a warm shower should help with the soreness, and just take it a little easy until it goes away.” Nina helped Dee Dee to sit up. “However, you’re quite a bit underweight, especially for someone carrying twins, and I’d like to see that change. I can give you something to increase your appetite, but I think that being away from Alex and the stressful situation might be enough to bring your appetite up.”
“Yes, I believe that too. I tried to eat as well as I should, but with my nerves being on edge all the time, it was really hard. Sometimes I just didn’t feel hungry at all, and when I did eat, it wasn’t easy to keep it down.”
“I’m sure it was tough.”
“She’ll be staying with me and my husband, and we’ll make sure she eats healthy and often.” Celise added. “I’m not a great cook, but I think between the three of us we’ll do fine.”
“Good. I’m sure she’ll do much better within a few days. But if not, one of you give me a call and I’ll write a prescription to help out.”
“Okay.” Dee Dee replied.
“Now, although you’re staying with Celise and her husband, you’ll still have to deal with the emotional stress Alex left you with. That, combined with pregnancy hormonal changes might be pretty tough at times. There are going to be days when you feel just fine about everything and others when you may not know what to do, and just feel lost. I want you to talk to your friends about anything that’s troubling you because you and these babies don’t need the stress. Let it out any way you can, Dee Dee. Cry, curse, go for a walk, throw a pillow, scream; anything that will help. I have a friend who specializes in helping abused women get their lives back in order.” Nina wrote down the doctor’s name and number on a slip of paper. “Here. If you feel you need her, just call her anytime. And when you’re ready to remove all of your things from the house, don’t you dare go alone. I don’t care if you have a dozen moving men there, be sure to contact the police so they can escort you.”
“I will.”
“Good. I want to see you back in one month, unless you have any problems before then, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I may be able to tell you the sex of the babies by then, if you’d like. You’ll be just about the right stage; eighteen weeks or four and a half months, for me to tell.”
“That’d be great.” Dee Dee beamed. “I’ve always said I wanted to be surprised and not find out until the birth, unless it was twins. I don’t know the reasoning behind that, but that’s how I feel.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll try to find out during your next visit.” Nina moved in to hug her patient. “I’m so very proud of you for getting away from Alex today. Very proud.”
“Thank you. You’ve been a great help to me, Nina. And you truly are becoming more of a friend than a doctor.”
“I’m glad. And it looks like Celise and her husband will be there to support you too.”
“Yeah, she’s a great friend.”
Once all three women wiped away their tears from the emotional moment, Dee Dee was told she could change back into her clothes and as soon as the final paperwork was done, she was able to go home.
Nina printed copies of the sonogram images and handed them to do Dee Dee. “Take care of yourself and those twins.” The doctor said; just before leaving.
“Twins.” Dee Dee repeated to Celise. “I’m pregnant with twins. This is definitely another dream come true.”
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