Chasing the Fantasy ||Completed

CHAPTER 10: Bubble gum and roses

At 32 weeks gestation, Nancy started experiencing persistent throbbing left- sided headace which was temporarily relieved by paracetamol. She assumed that it was due to over thinking,  but when she began vomiting, she sensed that it spelt something worse.  The bubble gums and roses kind of pregnancy,  she dreamt of, had changed. 

As tradition demands, any decision to go to the hospital was to be made by the husband. Sounds bizarre,  right? In this society, men were held to a higher standard,  they were breadwinners and decision makers. This had on so many occasions adversely affected the reproductive health of women. If not for the recent rise in female education and empowerment,  maternal mortality would have gone through the roof.

Her tummy was churning and rotating on repeat. Sweat trickled down and she felt dizzy. There was no way she was waiting for Pastor Joe before going to the hospital. With the little time on her hands, she dolled up and wore her favourite maternity dress.

Shouting the name of the househelp even escalated the pain in her abdomen,  it was as if her liver was being shredded in to pieces. The house boy in his brown khaki shorts and white singlets appeared holding a napkin in his hand.

"Madam, here I am", he said.

"Get me a taxi right now,  I am going to the hospital", Nancy ordered. This houseboy, Manuel was the best Nancy had had in ages. He did not gossip about her or her family to others or at least,  if he did, she did not know. He was going out with the housemaid next door, but so far as he did his work well, she stayed out of his personal business.

When they got to the hospital, she was groggy and could barely stand. Her OBGYN came, took comprehensive history and performed the leopold's maneuver. The SFH was 31cm, the lie was longitudinal,  the presentation was cephalic, the back was to the left and descent was 5/5.  The fetal heart sound was a regular 136bpm. He picked up the mercury sphygmomanometer, wrapped it around her left arm and with the disappeance of the fifth korotkof sound, she read the Bp and it was on the high side. He assumed that there was something wrong with the device. Two more devices were brought. Her blood pressure was checked 3 more times, yet it remained sky high, the latest being 220/ 110mmHg and there was protein in her urine. The doctor had that worried look on her face that announced doom. Nancy was told that she had pre-eclampsia and was immediately admitted.

While all this was happening,  a group of women at the Joe's church were plotting to start spreading a nasty rumour that Nancy was cheating on her husband. This was a direct result of people knowing of the fight between Kevin and Joe.

The doctor applied a tourniquet, palpated a vein, cleaned the skin, inserted a cannula, then removed the tourniquet and needle. Soon she was hooked up to a Magnesium IV to prevent a seizure or stroke due to pre-eclampsia. Antihypertensive medications were administered.

"I am scared. Will my child be okay?", Nancy asked with tears in her eyes. There was a pregnant pause.
"In such cases like this one, the aim is to save the mother first.", the doctor said.

Her stomach remained tensed in knots, her hands were pulsating, her fingerd trembled, she felt paralyzed and blood drained from her face. 

She was wondering what evil she had ever done to merit such an burdensome pregnancy. Was it the fact that she did not wait till marriage, or the fact the she lied to her husband, or yet still due to explosive fight she had with the head chef where he spoke of handing her over to the gods.

Despite all efforts, her blood pressure remained high, so an emergency C- section had to be done.  Joe arrived at the delivery ward but was not allowed into the theatre because it was against the hospital's policy. He walked to and fro, wondering,  praying then wondering again. His chest was beating as hard as a drum. Of course, he wanted to burst into the theatre like a superhero and miraculously save his wife and child, but there he was, helpless.

Junior Joe was so tiny. Due to his prematurity, his lungs were underdeveloped and there was risk of infection.  Nancy barely had time to hold her baby before he was rushed to the Neo- natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Joe caught only a glimpse of his baby boy.

Immediately,  attention was briefly shifted off Nancy, she began bleeding and the bed was soaked in an instant.  She became unconscious. 

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