Richelle:
...positive.
"You must be mistaken!" I said. "I can't be pregnant! You said yourself that I'm still a virgin!"
"I can do the test again to be sure" Dr. Meyer said. "Though I think it will come out the same."
"Do it again!" I said.
"Alright, I will" Dr. Meyer said.
The second test came back positive also. I insisted on a third test and that one came back positive also. By this time it was sinking in that I was pregnant.
"But how can I be pregnant!?!" I asked. "I'm still a virgin!"
"More then likely you were artificially inseminated" Dr. Meyer said.
"What?" I asked.
"They inserted sperm into you with some type of syringe" Dr. Meyer said. "That left your virginity intact but the end result is the same."
"Why would the aliens do that?" I asked.
"I don't know" Dr. Meyer asked. "All I know is that you're pregnant. Now, you have a couple options open to you."
"I'm not going to have an abortion" I interrupted. "I didn't believe in that before and I don't believe in it now."
"Ok" Dr. Meyer said. "So you have a couple of options after you give birth. You can either keep the baby or give it up for adoption. That is assuming that you carry to term."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"These pregnancies can be problematic" Dr. Meyer said. "There have been instances where the baby was a threat to the mother's life. If that becomes the case here I will terminate your pregnancy regardless of your wishes."
"As long as my baby lives I don't care what happens to me" I said.
"Well I do" Dr. Meyer said. "I understand your position on abortion. Hopefully it won't come down to a decision like that."
"So what now?" I asked.
"You'll need to come in here at least twice a week to start with" Dr. Meyer said. "As your pregnancy progresses I'll need to see you more often. I want to make sure that you and your baby are doing ok."
"I hope that my baby is healthy" I said.
"Time will tell" Dr. Meyer said.
"I've heard that pregnant women tend to crave odd things" I said. "Will I have odd cravings?"
"I can't answer that" Dr. Meyer said. "Each woman is different and their pregnancies are different. Some women don't have any odd cravings. Some may have odd cravings with one child and not another. There's no way to say for sure if you will have odd cravings. Just know that if you do that it's perfectly natural."
"Thanks" I said.
"I have to ask this question" Dr. Meyer said. "Do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?"
"I sleep on my back" I said. "Why did you want to know that?"
"Because later on in your pregnancy laying on your stomach or back can restrict your air intake" Dr. Meyer said. "This can seriously restrict oxygen flow to the baby. To avoid this you should sleep on your side. You can get more comfortable by putting pillows between your legs."
"So I should train myself to sleep on my side" I said.
"That would be best" Dr. Meyer said. "Later on you will be short of breath to begin with."
"Pregnancy isn't all it's cracked up to be then" I joked.
"I think you'll find that it's worth the morning sickness, backaches, odd cravings, shortness of breath, and the general growth" Dr. Meyer said. "I know that it was for me."
"You have children?" I asked.
"Yes I do" Dr. Meyer said. "Two wonderful daughters and a newborn son."
"Congratulations" I said.
"Thank you" Dr. Meyer said. "Now, get dressed. I'll see you on Thursday after lunch."
"Ok" I said as I got dressed.
"Just remember that you're not the first one to be in this situation" Dr. Meyer said.
"I'll try" I said as I finished getting dressed. I left with a mixture of emotions. I was happy that I was going to have a baby. I was also scared of what was going to happen. I was worried about the health of my baby. I was sad that I was pregnant and didn't have the fun of having sex.
I saw Angelica comforting Stephanie and I knew that she was also pregnant. I went over and said "I'm pregnant too."
Stephanie looked up at me and asked "What are we going to do Richelle!?! What are our babies going to look like!?!"
"I don't know Steph" I said.
"I'm here for both of you" Angelica said. "There are a couple of single rooms right next to mine that are available. There is a double room right across from mine that is also available. That is if you two decide to stay here at school. I would suggest that you do. That way you can get help soon if something happens. Right now though, Professor McDoohan wanted to see you after you saw the
doctors."
"Ok" I said.
"Alright" Stephanie said.
We followed Angelica to Professor McDoohan's office wondering what we were going to do and what we were going to tell our parents.