Don't Judge: A Teen Pregnancy

Part 15

The next few days pass by slowly. I am in constant pain, and I simply lay in my babies. I have not showered, and I have barely eaten. For the first time, Jay comes to my room and picks me up. As he carries me to the car, he says, " We have to go to your appointment. Have you decided yet?"

I don't answer him, so he asks," Why aren't you talking to me. Just please answer me."

"You don't understand! She is dying inside of me, and I don't know what to do. I know you love her, but the love  I feel for her is like no other. A mother and child's bond is so different from a father and child's bond. She is literally being made inside of me. You don't understand that. You don't understand anything I am going through," I scream. He looks at me in pity and rubs my back.

"Please do not touch me right now!" I yell. I love him, but I am in no mood at all. I just want me and my baby. That's it. Once we arrive at the doctor's office, I really start to break down.

"I am sorry I have to ask you this," the doctor says.

"I have mad my decision. I sound terribly selfish, but I want to keep her for as long as possible. And I want to give her a chance even if it is small," I respond.

"Okay. Well, you will have to be switching doctor, for this is far beyond my expertise." She walks me and Jay to meet my new doctor.

"Hello," he greets me with a smile.

I know I sound unbelievably rude, but I ask, " Are you the best? This case needs the best."

"I am one of the best in the country," he replies.

"Okay, thank you," I reply.

"And you are a surgeon," Jay asks.

"Yes," the doctor answers. "Now I am jut going to get right to the point. I have a plan to insert the rest of her heart into her chest. A small flap of skin will be covering her heart for a couple of weeks until I can make her a 3D printed sternum using her own stem cells. It will grow with her over time. Hopefully, she will only have wo surgeries."

"I am sorry," I say. "It is just this is all a lot to process. Can you walk me though it again?"

He responds," Yes, we will probably have you come in for a C-section around thirty-nine weeks unless you go into labor earlier than that. Immediately after she is born, we will take her to operating room if she is strong enough. It will be about a ten hour surgery to see place her heat back into her chest and harvest stem cells. After the surgery, she ill be in an incubator for a few weeks, so I can print her a 3D printed sternum that will grow with her over time. After we insert the 3D printed bone, she will hopefully be done with surgery, and you can hold her for the first time. After another week or so, you can take her home on some oxygen. "

"And how long will we be here?" I ask.

"Hopefully around than two months. You just have to hope that she is a fighter. The odds are not that great, but I have seen it done."

I leave the hospital still feeling depressed and weak. I resume my schoolwork and the rest of my normal life knowing I will have to take a break around April, a month before my due date, to the last week of school. I explain to my teachers that I need to get a lot done, and Christmas break is heading up. Luckily, they tell me that I can take my finals and SAT's now if I really wanted. I am a nervous wreak about them. I have been studying them day and night as well as my baby's condition.

The morning of the SAT's I wake up early to do some yoga and eat breakfast. I jump into the shower and quickly wash my body with cold water to wake me up. Then, I roll out my yoga mat on the patio in front of the river. After that, I eat a nice light breakfast. Jay takes me to school.

My teachers could not really care less. They hand me finals and SAT's like they are nothing. It takes me until seven o'clock to finish everything. They were a lot easier than I thought, but I am really smart. Jay picks me up and asks, " How was it?"

"Great," I respond exhausted. "Now all I have to do is wait for the scores."

"So you are basically done with high school," he ask.

"Yeah, I guess," I say. I never really though of that before. I don't technically have to come back until the last week of school.

"Yay! I am so proud of you," he squeals. It is really funny to hear him the a high pitched voice because he usually has a really low, husky voice. Jay drives me home, and we have a celebratory dinner with his mom.

"So... done with high school," Elle says as we sit down at the massively long dinner table.

"Yup. I probably will not go until the last week of school," I answer.

"Well, I think that we should go shopping at the mall afterwards. I need to get some Christmas shopping done now that you kids are on break. And I am sure you guys need to buy some stuff as well. Hint,  Hint. For my granddaughter."

"About that Elle," I say my eyes watering up. "I don't think we should buy anything for her. She probably wont make it."

"What do you mean?" Elle asks.

"She has a life threatening disease that kills ninety percent of babies who are born with it in the first three days of life," Jay chimes in.

A tears rolls don Elle's cheek as she says, " You can still buy stuff for her. Embrace your pregnancy. You may not have her for long, and don't just assume she wont make it."

On the way to the mall, we explain to Elle the condition of our baby. Once we pull up at one of the really high end malls, I see some of the kids from my school outside...