Melissa Stovall quietly tapped her fingers on the arm rests of the chair in the waiting room of the gynecology area of Moon Lake's hospital. It wasn't too far away from the maternity ward and wasn't uncomfortable, though it also wasn't particularly large. Melissa had calmly sat down in the chair and glanced around the room, noting a couple of other women there, one Normal and one a Weredog, but they were watching what looked like some daytime Soap Opera on the television that hung on the wall. They didn't pay Melissa that much attention.
Though she expected this. Some might expect that given were's very healthy libidos that both the gynecology and maternity wards would be massive, as they would be needed for both women's health and caring for newborns, which on some level made sense. As were reproduction was a complex thing that could cause some problems if not managed carefully. Female weres didn't ovulate once a month the way normal human women did, and would actually require sexual stimulation just to get a female were to ovulate. However, unlike mundane animals that their breeding seasons only during one period of the year or at specific points of the year, female weres came into heat once every month, and given their high level of fertility, that could well mean without careful attention, and especially before the were-birth control pill was developed, that could well mean that weres HAD to be extremely careful in order to avoid unplanned pregnancies...
And in theory, that sort of thing WOULD make both gynecology and maternity rather important for were health, but Melissa had joined were society AFTER the were birth control pill had been developed and made for the specific hormonal patterns of EVERY specific were species, which had essentially lowered the were birth rate in Moon Lake, and likely other places where weres were and knew about the pill, and lowered the needs in the maternity ward... And while there were plenty of Normals in Moon Lake, their shorter life spans and lower libidos meant that the number of them that needed to be there for pregnancies was lower than weres and from what general information Melissa had been told when the hospital updated its computers that their ability to care for other women's health issues were doing rather well. Moon Lake's weres tended to be rather healthy in the sense that all but the most serious diseases proved to be a threat to them and that many of the concerns that most would think about at first weren't as big of a problem for Moon Lake. The needs were still there, but not quite as big as what some might think.
Though, Melissa was there for a potential pregnancy diagnosis. It'd only been a couple of days since she'd come into heat and found herself in her pool with her husband before she could take her pill, and then followed by another day of passionate love making with Martin, but for while this might be "too early" for Normals, the high fertility levels in weres meant that some blood and urine tests could well determine as to whether or not Julie would have a baby brother or sister. And that was what Melissa had come for, though she did still have to wait for her appointment.
"So, how are you doing?" came a male voice from the doorway to the waiting room, making Melissa look up.
She turned her head and couldn't help but smile as she saw her husband, Martin Stovall, standing in the doorway. He was in a more informal outfit, but one that did still fit within his role as Moon Lake's Mayor, though Melissa really couldn't care on that. The thing she valued was that he was there and that he was supportive. The two of them had agreed that Julie wouldn't be their only child, though much of their own family planning had been more that they would wait until Julie grew up and moved out before having another child. That was sort of dashed by the Halloween Dance. Something had really gotten into Martin in that they arrived after Julie and Eric had and they didn't stay long, as Martin was soon incredibly aroused and the two of them spent the night in their pool, which of course lead to the potential that Melissa was now pregnant. The timing was unplanned, but a younger brother or sister for Julie was not unwanted.
As such, Melissa stopped taking her pill deliberately after that point and they enjoyed some more time together just to make sure. And if she wasn't pregnant now, her heat cycle would last a week before running out for the month, though typically, given the high fertility level weres had, when they decided to have children, it wouldn't take the full "cycle" to accomplish that mission. In this, Melissa was happy with Martin's acceptance of maybe having a younger sibling for Julie earlier and was even eager to have another baby with Martin. He was smart, kind, and above all patient, which she continued to hold as his best quality given her early fears and worries while they were dating.
"I'm doing well... though just waiting," Melissa answered with a small smile, "I thought you'd be busy?"
"Thankfully today has been quiet," Martin assured her with a smile of his own and he sat beside her, "there have been some meetings and so on, but nothing beyond normal mayoral worries... For the moment we don't even have any major "were" crisis going on today."
"Well... THAT'S good news," Melissa commented, thinking on what had happened so far that fall. The biggest thing had related to the Anderson family moving in and their daughter Julie declaring that their youngest son glowed to her, the sign of a weremer's "love at first sight" ability working. It'd been a surprise, but something that Melissa had been determined to make sure that Julie wouldn't have to wait as long as she made Martin wait to be happy. There would be no forcing Eric to be a weremer, but he would be made aware that Julie knew that HE was HER one true love, and Melissa was happy that he responded with love for Julie as well.
She was happy for Julie, and while there were some worries over how young they were, that didn't alter her happiness at her daughter being happy. And Eric seemed to be a nice boy, which would make for a nice addition to the extended family, especially since his parents ultimately accepted their earlier than expected joining of were society as well as they did. Though, that sort of thing was something that she knew Martin had worried over while Yvette Smith was on the loose, and had been made even more worrisome when a terrified Eric managed to call Julie but couldn't say anything during the final battle with Yvette in the Anderson living room. That things quieted down from there was a good thing, and soon let Melissa's mind wander on the prospect of Julie and Eric babysitting the new Stovall baby in the future.
"And so you came to my appointment?" Melissa asked to Martin as she reached over to touch his hand.
"To be with my wife and congratulate her when the doctor tells her she's pregnant," Martin smiled and kissed Melissa's cheek.
"I might not be pregnant," Melissa reminded him.
"Then we can keep trying," Martin promised and squeezed her hand, "if that's what you want."
Melissa wanted to smile and respond when a voice called for her and she noted a nurse standing in the doorway that lead into some of the interior hallways of the hospital that would allow access to specific physician's rooms and so on. Melissa stood up and took her husband's arm as she approached. The nurse nodded to both of them as they made their way in. They then followed with the fairly typical process of going through what would be part of a normal checkup, which double checked Melissa's height and weight, those these generally remained relatively stable, but it was fairly standard procedure. From there they made their way to an examination room where Melissa took a seat on the examination table with Martin doing what he could to comfort Melissa while they waited.
It didn't take too long before Melissa's normal OB/GYN, Doctor Harris Jones came in. Some might consider it "odd" that a Normal male would be involved in potentially treating Were pregnancies, but Doctor Jones was professional and clean, and any sort of "physical" work with Were patients would be handled by a nurse that was also a were or with collaborative work with one of the other OB/GYNs that the hospital had on staff, and with as smart as Doctor Jones had been, Melissa had no reason to complain.
"So... I'm told you're looking into having a baby," Doctor Jones said politely with a small smile and trying to break the ice.
"Yes..." Melissa said slowly, "Martin and I got a little carried away and I forgot to take my pill... though we are okay with a younger sibling for Julie."
Doctor Jones nodded, checking a few notes that the nurses had left for him, "and when did your present heat cycle start?"
"On Halloween night... maybe the night before," Melissa explained, "though it was on Halloween night that I didn't take my pill."
"And once we agreed to have a baby," Martin said from behind Melissa, his hands wresting on her shoulders, "well... we kept on going."
Doctor Jones nodded again with a small chuckle, though he didn't ask on any details on that. He knew what sex was and didn't need his patients to describe it to him. The one thing that he could ask had more to do with ovulation, which some weres could detect during their period in heat, but that wasn't something that was uniform.
"Did you feel any odd sensation that would go beyond what you and your husband felt together?" Doctor Jones asked, "any slight tingle? Or pain, particularly in the midsection area that might have indicated ovulation?"
Melissa absentmindedly ran her hand along the front of her shirt and primarily here her stomach and womb was. On some level it generated memories form when she was pregnant with Julie, though that was still more something with her subconscious as she tried to think over things. Doctor Jones didn't need to know how much pleasure Martin had given her and technically hadn't asked for that.
"There might have been," Melissa spoke as she glanced to Martin and then back to Doctor Jones, "though to be honest... I wasn't paying attention."
"Have you had any morning sickness?" Doctor Jones asked, "many of those pregnancy symptoms do happen sooner with were females than with normal humans sometimes..."
"Not really... or... at least I don't think so," Melissa said slowly.
Doctor Jones slowly nodded, "I see... well... based on what you've said, I can say it is possible, though if you can't confirm any sensation that would indicate ovulation, I can't give you any calculation based on the data we here at the hospital have regarding were fertility. And with no other sign of pregnancy, the only thing that I'd have to speculate on is that you did admit to not taking your birth control pill. You are healthy, Mrs. Stovall, so I don't think you should have any reason to worry, but at present without some lab work, we cannot confirm that you are pregnant at this time."
"But it is at least possible, right?" Martin asked, his grip on Melissa's shoulders tightening with a bit of worry.
"Given your wife's health and what I'm sure was a very active couple of days, yes," Doctor Jones spoke, "but even with what we know about were fertility, two days would STILL be a bit too early to be able to say with any certainty that your wife is pregnant. You cannot confirm any signal of ovulation or noticed any signs of morning sickness. Now... the high fertility levels in weres can mean that we can do the standard blood and urine tests for the hormones related to both ovulation and pregnancy now and based on previous data we can consider them definitive, BUT that will still require lab work... that so soon after noticing that you'd come into heat, Mrs. Stovall, by hospital procedure, I'd need your confirmation to go through with it... Otherwise, we'd have to wait a few days to see if signs of morning sickness set in..."
"You can do the tests now," Melissa cut him off, "I'd like to know..."
"Okay..." Doctor Jones said slowly and turned to the iPad he had with him and began tapping a few things on it, "If you can go down to the lab they'll run the blood tests and a urine test... if you don't have to go right now, that test can wait... as it's often used as a back up."
Martin and Melissa both nodded. Martin helped her up and they began to follow him out and into the main hallways in the hospital on the floor they were on.
"The lab should have your order," Doctor Jones spoke, "come on back to the waiting room here. It shouldn't take too long for the results to come back and when they do... if you're pregnant, we'll have a few reminders to go over with regard to pregnancy health and obviously warnings about getting lots of hugs from friends."
"But those hugs are always nice," Melissa smiled as she cuddled up to Martin as they began to make their way to the lab.