Icing on the Cake

~170~

The doctors tended to Julia, and after about an hour, they stabilized her.

Dr. Hanlder was there, and once Julia was stabilized, Calum and I were called into her hospital room to tell us what was happening.

“Julia has a condition,” Handler explained to us, “Where one of the babies is consuming the vast majority of the nutrients, leaving the other one to be dangerously malnourished.”

A tear rolled down Julia’s eye.

“When this happens, the malnourished baby desperately reacts by sending waves of hormones.” Handler further explained. “This would cause mom to feel extremely hungry. Julia, this is why you were feeling so hungry. I found that unusual this late in pregnancy, but now it makes sense why that was happening.”

Calum and I grabbed hands, and we both grabbed one of Julia’s hand with our other free hand.

“But, even with mom eating more, the malnourished baby remained malnourished because the other still consumed the majority of the nutrients.”

This sounded like one of the most horrifically tragic things I’d ever known.

“After the malnourished baby didn’t get the nutrients it needed, the hormones it started sending to mom became more aggressive. This is what caused the intense pain in your abdomen, and it was so intense that you fell to the ground.”

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“These hormones will continue to get more intense,” Handler continued, “And it will result in a few possible different outcomes. The baby could miscarry soon, and when one baby miscarries this late, we would have to do an emergency C-Section to give premature birth to the other.”

I gasped with puffy eyes, hearing about one of our babies dying.

“We could do an emergency C-Section right now,” Handler told us, “But in my professional opinion, that is not the best option. Premature births increase the chance of birth defects, and it increase the chance of the death. And premature birthing a baby that is malnourished, there’s not much of a survival chance.”

“What do you recommend?” Julia asked.

“The malnourished baby’s hormones will only get stronger, and that’s going to put you in danger. It can cause hormone imbalances, nerve damage, and in extreme cases, it can even lead to your death.” Handler explained.

Julia looked worried before Handler continued.

“Julia, to avoid any permanent damage to your body or even your death, I recommend an immediate emergency abortion.”

Notes

HOLY SHIT WHHHYYYY
Should Julia get the abortion?