Chapter 2 Recap He took down the number of the clinic to make an appointment in the morning and closed his laptop. As he put it away and got ready to sleep, she pulled him into a grateful hug. He tightened their hug knowing she was happy and gotten a ray of hope with this step of his.
Now all he wished for was that this new found hope of theirs wouldn't be shattered...
Chapter 3
A Week Later
He stopped the car jerking her out of her thoughts and breaking the silence they had been in for the last few minutes. She looked over at him and then the building in front of them. There was a huge board with the name of the clinic written on it. The place made her clasp onto his hand making him look at her.
It had been a week since he told her about their appointment and they both couldn't deny that even though they tried to act normal and go on with their everyday routines that this appointment was continuously on their minds. Especially hers.
All her hopes were placed on this place and she was scared. She was scared of that new excitement she had in her worried that it would return back to the disappointment she had felt for the past 2 years. She loved him for doing this and was happy on seeing all the expectations he had attached to what they were about to do, but that fear of shattering his dreams lingered in her mind all the time. He had told her that it would be fine if they couldn't be blessed with a baby after all this and they would be happy together, but she couldn't stop a small fear from lingering her in mind thinking about all the negative that this could lead to.
"Should we go?" His voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked at him.
He gave her a smile and soon it faded seeing her disturbed face. He held her hand and asked what was wrong with his eyes.
"Ishita, I'm here with you. Don't be scared of anything baba."
Shaking her head positively, she tried to smile at him hiding her fear and nervousness while he gave her a side hug like he always did to tell her he was there and things were okay. Taking a deep breath and sending out a small prayer, she got out of the car and walked by his side holding his hand for support as they entered.
Soon they were seated in the waiting room and she kept on looking around the place taking in her surroundings. Seeing the doctors walk by talking to couples, she wondered how their doctor would be like. Then she saw numerous other couples around the place. Some were waiting like them, others were looking over papers either excited while others cried. She wondered what their fate would be like after they left this place today...
He also noticed the numerous things that caught his eyes, including the other couples in the room with them. Seeing the many other people, he felt like they weren't so alone that there were others who faced difficulties like he and Ishita did. There weren't many people who ever tried to think from his perspective or understood what he and his wife were going through, but here it felt different. He looked in front of him and got a smile from the couple sitting in front of them and he returned the same, feeling like someone had just tried to understand his nervousness and situation giving him a silent assurance.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bhalla!" They were brought out of their thoughts hearing their name.
Following the receptionist, they were brought to a cabin where they were seated until the doctor came. After a few minutes of waiting and Ishita looking around the posters and equipment around the room along with the thought of what would happen suddenly become really nervous and queasy.
"Raman...this place..." She clutched onto his hand while he looked over at what happened to her.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm scared." She quietly told him.
"Ishita..."
"I don't want to be thrown back out of my dream world. The past week I've been getting my hopes up Raman and now I really don't want to disappoint you or myself." She looked down at the ground not wanting to meet his eyes. He cupped her face making her face him as he asked...
"You love me?"
"Of course."
"You trust me and my love?"
"Completely."
"Then trust me, my love for you will never be affected because of a baby. And you need to believe this will never change because I know you love me as much as I love you and in case it's because of me we can't conceive, then you won't stop loving me. Right?"
He accidently slipped out his worry of him being the cause of their unsuccessful attempts to conceive making her looked up at him shocked. For a moment it was as if he was asking her if anything would change instead of assuring her making her realize that her husband was in the same state as her and equally nervous & vulnerable.
"Of course." She wiped off the tears forming in his eyes and he wiped off hers as the doctor walked in making them move apart. The woman in her late thirties adjusted her glasses as she sat down in her chair smiling at the couple in front of them.
"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Bhalla. I'm Dr. Roshni Sharma."
"So should we get started?"
"Of course." Raman started talking knowing Ishita wasn't fully in the state to be answering anything.
"So what bring you here? Troubles conceiving?"
"Yes, we've been trying to have children for quite a while and it's getting us nowhere. And though it took us a few years to realize, we know we need help to do that. That's why we came to consult with you."
"That's what I'm here for. Now..." Roshni noticed the look on Ishita's face and having worked with so many couples, she knew somewhat about what could be going on in Ishita's mind.
"Nervous Mrs. Bhalla?"
"A little." Ishita managed to look at her and give a smile while Raman held her hand firmly.
"It happens. But don't worry, nothing major will happen today. Nothing huge will be happening. I'm just going to ask you two a few questions to know you and your husband a bit better and then I'll just send you two for a quick examination. Sounds good?" Ishita started to feel slightly better after knowing their doctor was quite friendly and was trying to understand her state. She nodded positively making Raman happy she was feeling more comfortable with this now.
"Okay so let's start easy, your ages?"
"I'm 34 and she's 33." He answered.
"Do any of you currently have or ever any health conditions?"
"No." She replied.
"Do any of you smoke or drink or do drugs?"
"I occasionally drink." He earned a glare from Ishita.
"Any medications you take regularly?"
"No."
"That's great. And now getting a bit more personal, Mrs. Bhalla have you ever been pregnant at all? Including any miscarriages."
"Never." She said after a moment of pause understood by Roshni and handled by Raman as he held her shoulder when she looked down at the ground.
"And you Mr. Bhalla have you ever fathered a child before?"
"No."
"So long have you two been having regular intercourse with each other?"
"5 years." He answered while Ishita felt slightly awkward sharing information about their intimacy.
"And how long has it been since you stopped using protection?"
"2 and a half years."
"2 and a half...okay. And there's never been a pregnancy at all?"
"Never."
"Any family history of infertility?"
"Nope."
"Have you ever tested for infertility?"
"Once. Here are the results." Ishita handed their medical file to the doctor who started to go through them. After reading them through for a few minutes while Ishita looked at Raman nervously, she finally placed the file down as she began to talk...
"So I just checked your previous tests and there seems to be signs of infertility in either one of you. However these were done 2 years ago, so I'm going to have you two retested just to have more recent results in case of any changes." She took out a form from her desk and filled out some information before she handed the papers to Raman beginning to explain what they were for.
"These are some of the tests you will need to get done in your own time after this appointment. You can get them right here in the clinic, but you'll need to make an appointment for these. Also if you have any questions feel free to call the clinic at any time."
"Thank you so much."
Okay so I'm done with my all questions. And I have to say one thing. I'm sorry, but it's definite that you two as a couple are infertile. There would have been one pregnancy, successful or unsuccessful in 2 and a half years of unprotected intercourse if there was no infertility. So now the tests I am asking you to do are the same as before, but they will help us see what it is that stopping you from having children and from there on we will see what we can do if something changes in these results. And from there on, we'll see what we should do next. For that we'll have to schedule you another appointment after the testing to talk once again."
"Now that I'm done all my questions, do you want to ask me anything before I send you two for an examination?"
"Umm, I'm...I..." Ishita started hesitantly.
"It's okay to ask anything at all. Any questions or concerns you have." Roshni smiled at her.
"I'm just confused. We got all these tests done that showed we are fertile, and then I don't understand why we aren't having children and you just said we're infertile. That doesn't make sense at all! How can you not be sure of what's happening with us?!"
Ishita couldn't control her tone and emotions making Raman take her into a side hug while she tried not to sob in front of the doctor. Covering her face with her hands, she tried to calm down. After crying for a minute and then composing herself, she looked at the two concerned faces...
"Sorry." She apologized quietly,
"It's perfectly alright. And Mrs. Bhalla can I call you Ishita?" She nodded positively.
"I know it's overwhelming for the both of you, it is for anyone to be told this much. However Ishita as much as we are able to see some key places in the entire process of having a baby, we can't test everything. There are many things that happen biologically in a man and a woman when they have a child, and we can only assess a few of those things. So it is possibly that we can go for a test, get the same results as someone who is complete fertile, but still not have children. That means that there is something missing or something going wrong in the entire process. Something that isn't there on the tests, something we can't explain. That's why I suspect that this might be a case of unexplained infertility since 2 and a half years without one pregnancy for a couple that should be fertile is extremely rare, almost impossible."
Both of them had tears in their eyes, but listened hiding their emotions until the last sentence pricked Ishita's heart making her look up sighing. Roshni continued to smile at them as she spoke on...
"I understand it's frustrating and heartbreaking to go through something like this, but I will just say don't lose your hope. There are so many different treatments for a couple like you. And that's where I'm going to come in and do my best to give you the chance to become parents. And there is good news, and that is you are still under 35 which means more chances, and you two are very healthy people."
"Have you ever dealt with this type of thing before?" Raman asked seriously.
"A few times, and that's why I'm saying keep your hopes because you can get pregnant. It will just take some time and patience, but I think that we can make it work!" Hearing the same, Raman reminded himself that this was what he needed to assure Ishita of and so he pressed her hand smiling so she could be more positive to help him get through this as well.
After bidding good bye to the doctor, they were introduced to two nurses who would take them to an examination room to do the needed there. As she was going in, he kissed her forehead telling her to take it as a normal checkup to make it easier on her emotionally. She simply nodded and quietly walked off to where the nurse took her while he went off to the room where he was led to...
There they began their journey bring their unfulfilled dream to reality...
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That's all for now! Please do like and leave your feedback! I really do want to read what you all think of the story and how it's going so far! Thanks again!
Chapter 4 - Page 25
Edited by Prabh. - 9 years ago
Cricket
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