December 14th

October 22, 2001 was a beautiful, sunny fall day. The air was comfortable and
crisp. I had picked up my morning coffee as I usually did and went into work. Youre
still limping? Elsie asked. Yeah, I rolled my eyes. Its actually gotten much worse
almost intolerable. The swelling comes right back as soon as I stand. Elsie, who
was the manager of the furniture store I worked at, looked concerned. You see, for the
past month or so, Id been having swelling in my left leg accompanied by sharp pain
in the calf area. The pain in my calf muscle is best described as being in the middle of
when

a basketball game and a cramp suddenly strikes, paralyzing to the point where you fall
to the floor. You need to go to the hospital, Ana. And since youre apparently too
stubborn to go, Im calling your aunt to come pick you up and take you, Elsie
scolded. She was right, I was stubborn. I knew deep down something was wrong. My
mentality was if I just waited long enough, it would go away. I had no choice but to
let her call my aunt. The pain was too excruciating to bear any longer it was time.
Since my aunt was the HR manager for the business, it made sense to call her
instead of my mother. She was fifteen minutes away, working at a different location. I
got a call from the receptionist at the front of the store to let me know my aunt was
coming to the back office to find me. As soon as she walked in, Elsie greeted her.
Sorry for having to call you, Rosa, but I had no other choice. Every day she comes
in, she looks worse. You were right to call me. I know how stubborn she can be.

Lily, are you ready to go? asked my aunt, calling me by the nickname used only by
my family. Yeah, lets go, I responded, defeated. On our way to the hospital my
myself

aunt lectured me about taking care of oneself. I told her she was right, but just didnt
think it was a big deal. When we dont think its a big deal is when it turns out that it
actually is, she said. Maybe she was right, but I thought I had it all figured out.
After registering at the hospital and giving my symptoms to the triage nurse, I
was escorted to my own bed in the ER. The nurse gave me a gown to change into
while another was prepping an IV to inject into my arm. Needles and mass amounts of
blood are my kryptonite. I begin to get clammy, my hands shake with nervousness,
and the closer the needle gets to me, the fainter I become. Is all this really necessary?
Its a pain Im feeling in my leg for Christs sake. Its not like its surgery or
anything, I declare. Before she can respond, a group of doctors walk in. Hi Ana.
Can you tell me when you started to notice any discomfort in your leg? As I did with
the triage nurse, I recounted exactly when I realized the pain. OK, so just to make
sure I have it all down you started to notice swelling in your leg about a month ago.
The pain started about a week after that. Gradually you started feeling the pain more
severe and the swelling to be more prominent. This has affected your walking as time
went by. Today was probably the worse pain you have felt to date. Your boss was
worried about you because she too noticed it wasnt getting better. She calls your
aunt, your aunt picks you up, and here you guys are. Does that sound right, Ana?

You got it, doc. Good. Im going to request for you to be off your feet. We are
going to put these boots on your legs to help circulate the blood since you wont be
getting up. Im also going to order an Ultrasound of your leg to see whats causing all
this discomfort. Its very important you stay off your feet until I have those results.
,"

Sound good? Yeah, I guess so, I replied, starting to get annoyed.

The Ultrasound room was so cold. I didnt understand that. I mean, sure its
viruses

kept like that to keep bacteria and virus from spreading, but a couple of notches up
on the thermostat couldnt have hurt. Once I was placed on the bed, the nurse dimmed
the lights which brought this sense of relaxation in the room. The technician, dressed
in light blue scrubs, came in. She couldnt have been older than twenty-five. How are
you doing, sweetie? Is this your first time getting an ultrasound? Yes, and Im a bit
nervous about it. I really dont know what these machines do or what their purpose is.
It doesnt hurt, does it? Of course not! I will put jelly on this camera and run it up
and down your leg and see if we can get some good pictures for the doctor. After a
few minutes, a cold feeling on my leg startles me. Thats colder than I thought it
would be, I said. Itll warm up as I continue. I tried to make out what was on the
screen, but all it looked like was a channel that couldnt get good reception. She ran
the camera from my hip all the way down to the ankle on the front side of my leg.
After snapping a few pictures, she proceeded to do the same to the back part of my
leg. Once she reached the calf area, she remained fixated. After about five minutes I

asked her if all looked okay. Nothing to worry about. Just taking the pictures the
doctor has requested. I wasnt buying it, though. Her face had concern written all
over it. After another ten minutes, I was done and taken back to the ER.
It wasnt long before the doctor came in and told me I had a blood clot in my
left calf that was six inches long. Over the course of the month, it had started traveling
towards my heart. Another two or three days and that clot couldve traveled to your
heart and killed you. Youre lucky you made it here today. Were going to put you on
blood thinners immediately to get that clot under control. Stunned, I began to cry. He
told me to calm down and not worry since I was already in the hospital. Wheres my
aunt? I asked. She came in with me. She had gone to call my father, it seemed, and
was now greeting him at the hospital entrance. The doctor then began to push on my
stomach, just like every other doctors appointment Ive ever had. Your stomach
seems pretty hard. Why is that? Abs of steel? I jokingly replied. We both knew
that was a lie a lie that he didnt find amusing. He asked when was my last
menstrual cycle. As I previously told the nurse, it was about two months ago. I was
irregular so it wasnt uncommon for me to miss every other month. Because your
stomach IS so hard, Id like to order up an ultrasound of your stomach. I just want to
make sure were not missing anything. I agreed. Hey, if theyre going to run all these
tests to eliminate whats wrong, do it today; that way I dont have to come back.
Instead of taking me back to the room where the initial ultrasound took place, I was

wheeled into a room that was fifteen feet away. I assumed that room was probably
busy before. The familiar cold sensation startled me just as it had before. Two doctors,
one nurse, and the technician were in this small room with me. It felt a bit cramped.
After running the camera for a few moments, the doctor says, there are the fingers.
Thats amazing!, I thought to myself. How can they see my fingers through my
,"

stomach? Theres the head. Lets measure it, the doctor says. At this point, Im in
utter shock. Has technology advanced so much that everything on the human body can
be viewed through the stomach, using a tool that resembles a television remote
control? December 14th. December 14th? Thats my mom and my brothers
birthday, I said, confused. I looked at all of them, they looked at each other, and then
looked at me, all of us with the same bewildered expression. Youre pregnant. Seven
and a half months, no less. Your baby is due on December 14th. All the blood in my
head left. For the first time in my life, I was speechless. My body felt like it was
buried in cement, and someone had just hit the off switch to my brain. All the sounds
I was

lying

escaped the room. It was the equivalent of laying in bed in dead silence, in total
darkness. The feeling that you get right before you pass out; the last anything you
remember seeing, hearing, or feeling thats what I was experiencing in that moment.
Once it registered, my immediate reaction was to cry; and cry I did. Ten minutes ago I
had just found out that I was a few days from death. Now Im being told that, not only
will I survive, but I will be welcoming a new life. Anxiety, apprehension, worry, and
nervousness hit me simultaneously like a brick wall.

If I wouldve gone to the doctor when I first felt the discomfort in my leg, the
outcome would have been the same. I still wouldve been diagnosed with a blood clot
in the left calf and I still wouldve been pregnant. Looking back on the months that
led

lead up to that hospital visit I never saw symptoms that would lead me to think that
anything was off. Morning sickness never happened, nor did weight gain. Contrary to
the belief, I lost weight. The doctors themselves even said I didnt look pregnant for
being as far along as I was. I went from being a regular nineteen-year-old to an
expecting mother experiencing a high risk pregnancy, and I only had a little more than
a month to prepare. Now to tell my boyfriend.