Scans and Sympathy

Posted on Fri Mar 31st, 2017 @ 8:53pm by Lieutenant Commander Marit Lantry M.D., Ph.D. & Samanthia Akiashiro

Mission: Indomitable Will
Location: Main Infirmary, Starbase 332

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Doctor Marit Lantry was grateful for days like today when she not only had the opportunity to keep her medical skills sharp, but she could do so while practicing one of her favorite areas of medicine beyond psychiatry: Obstetrics. Today was a unique opportunity indeed, because not only did she get the opportunity to oversee a woman's prenatal care, she had been entrusted with providing care for a somewhat unique and higher risk pregnancy.

Lantry didn't take such responsibilities lightly. As she'd made clear to the medical staff of 332 and every medical staff she'd worked with previously, she wasn't just interested in moonlighting as a physician to foster goodwill and keep up appearances, she was genuinely dedicated to continuing to be a well-rounded physician who could offer both medical and mental health care. Next to psychiatry, obstetrics was her favorite area of medicine to practice, and although starships weren't completely devoid of opportunities to practice, starbases offered considerably more diverse opportunities in many cases, given the transient and diverse nature of the population.

Currently, Marit was in the process of reviewing every detail she could find in her patient's medical record as well as her records overall. Considering the mother to be was a civilian businesswoman, there wasn't much in the way of detail, but Marit had been at 332 long enough to know the mother in question wasn't entirely associated with legal business. That mattered little to Lantry who believed everyone deserved quality medical care regardless of their histories. In the case of this hybrid pregnancy, conception had taken a bit of time and medical intervention. From what she'd read, a nurse had overseen the preliminaries, but given the nature of the pregnancy, it was recommended a doctor be read into the situation as soon as possible, and Lantry had happily volunteered. The psychiatrist believed, particularly in the case of prenatal care, it was especially important to provide emotional support as much as medical intervention, a belief only strengthened given the circumstances of this particular pregnancy. She had no idea how her patient would receive her, but she could only hope they could get off on a reasonably good foot. Trust was important when it came to the provision of any sort of healthcare, something Lantry knew better than most as a therapist.

Samanthia came rushing into the medical facilities. She headed down the corridor to the Obstetrics for a routine check-up. And to make matters worse, her body was still going through the process of adjusting to the life forming within her womb. She hoped it would be a simple routine 15 minute check-up and her on her way to one of the major cargo holds to receive a shipment of produce from the far reaches of space for her establishment on the Promenade.

"Samanthia Akiashiro. Here for pregnancy check-up." She told the Nurse at the Check In desk, with a quick glance at the time. She was running just a minute or two ahead of schedule. She was looking the part of a successful business woman in a skirt style suit with high heels. Her hair tied back into a ponytail. She was just starting her third week of pregnancy.

While Samanthia waited for the Nurse to look up her name and appointment and alert the available Doctor that she was there, activated a Datapad and looked at it, reading what was being brought in via commercial fleet other than Akiashiro Merchant Consortium fleet, even though she has majority of her liquors shipped by Akiashiro fleet.

Spotting Samanthia Akiashiro at the check-in desk, Marit approached and gestured to the nurse she would take care of things. "Ms. Akiashiro? I'm Doctor Marit Lantry. I'll be handling your prenatal appointment today, and if you're comfortable, I will be overseeing your pregnancy and delivery. Will you please follow me?"

Samanthia looked at Marit, giving her the once over as she shut off the pad she had in her hands. "Sure one doctor is good as any." Sounding a bit skeptic. yet willing to give the benefit of the doubt. "Hope you know I'm having interspecies birthing." As she got ready to follow Marit back into the examining rooms. "What happened to the other Doctor I was suppose to see?"

Marit frowned, stopping to take a moment to review her PADD. "My notes indicate you saw a nurse previously. I am the doctor assigned to your case. Were you supposed to see someone else?"

"Oh.. I must've mistaken the nurse for a doctor." Samanthia smiled sheepishly at Marit. "Show how much I hang out in hospitals and infirmaries. I knew I was scheduled at this time for the check up. But they didn't say who."

Marit smiled as she resumed her journey to a private exam room. "That's okay. From here on out, I'll make sure you know who will be involved in your care. At this point, that will just be myself and the nurse you saw, but then after you deliver, at least one pediatric specialist will be in charge of assessments for your offspring. To answer your other question, I am aware of the interspecies nature of your pregnancy and I am fully versed in maternal-fetal medicine. In addition to psychiatry, it was my other focus. However, most places don't need an obstetrician/gynecologist unless it's a Starbase like this, so most postings select me for my psychiatry expertise. In any case, all of us work as a team in the infirmary, so I hope you'll believe me when I say you're in good hands."

Samanthia followed Marit as she listened. She entered the private exam room. "You served on ships before coming here?" Settling on the bed as directed and smoothing out her dress she was wearing.

Marit nodded as she took a moment to calibrate the bio bed properly. "Before I came here I served aboard the USS Resolute and I was aboard the Clayton before that. I've also served as a psychiatric consultant for Starfleet JAG," Lantry added, happy to make friendly conversation. "Any distressing or new symptoms to report?"

"Just finding myself nibbling on food a bit more." Then Samanthia wrinkled her nose a bit. "Raw fish and other meat products." Falling quiet for a bit or two, watching Marit set up the bio-bed for her readings. "I used to be councilor in the medical department for fleet. Did my time, then got married. Had children. Then came here after moving around a bit." It was obvious she was just hitting the highlights for a bit of background info.

"That's interesting," Lantry replied, genuinely surprised. Of course, she knew better than to mention it here or anywhere out loud really, but if the rumors were true, she knew the other woman was associated with less than legal dealings and had made quite a lot of money in the process. That didn't matter to Lantry, as she believed everyone deserved quality medical care, but she couldn't deny she was also curious. "What made you leave counseling?" As she waited for her reply, Marit confirmed the bio bed was properly calibrated and offering required readings.

"Majority of the real problems happen after hours. Or very suddenly out of the blue. I began to moonlight in running a bar or lounge on another starbase. To be there, not stuck in a office running on a schedule. Alcohol is a great way to lower one reluctance to talk about their deeper feelings. But once drunk.. you learn a lot about a person when they speak to the bartenders... a perfect stranger you may see once in passing through. Or no affiliation with the establishment that what you say whont end up on record to haunt you later. Plausible deniability of being intoxicated. As most courts whont allow evidence from an intoxicated person be used whether for the person or not." Samanthia looked at Marit with a soft knowing smile. "I'm sure you've spent some time revealing intimate stuff to a random bartender someplace in the galaxy."

Marit smiled and shook her head. "Drowning my sorrows in alcohol isn't really my style. I'd much rather reach out to close friends or family if I didn't feel like talking to a counselor. I can appreciate people are more forthcoming with their feelings while under the influence and serving as a bartender certainly comes with much less responsibility, but I didn't mind having such responsibility on my shoulders. For so many people I encountered, counseling wasn't just about expressing feelings freely, but actually learning specific skills to help them cope better with whatever challenges they faced so they didn't have to continue to live in denial or to suppress what was really going on by other means. I know a lot of people think counseling is about opening up an emotional vein and just releasing all sorts of feelings to feel better, but to me, it's so much more. Record-keeping and accountability are also a reality, of course, and sometimes having to report things for the safety of the individual or the group created its own stress. I take it you had to report more than you were comfortable with?"

As she waited for the other woman's response, the bio bed beeped and presented her with a series of readings.

"Pretty much. And the routine of it. Sometimes not being there for a patient when they need it cause you're stuck with another patient at the time." Samanthia spoke softly. Then heard the beeps and chirps. "So ... Am I still healthy to leave? Everything progressing nicely?"

Marit consulted the bio bed's readings and offered, "Everything looks great. I'm going to adjust your prenatal vitamins a bit as now that things are progressing, you could use a bit more folic acid to support their rapid development. In the coming weeks, I'd also like to schedule a routine ultrasound just so we can hear the heartbeats and continue to observe the development ourselves. You won't be able to see much, but we'll know generally how everything is developing, which is exciting in its own right," Lantry offered with a smile. "In the meantime, it's perfectly natural for you to experience a recurrence of nausea and fatigue as your body adjusts to the changing hormones and influx of vitamins. You may also experience some spotting in these early weeks, which is also completely normal. If, however, the bleeding doesn't stop, becomes heavier, or is accompanied by severe pain, don't hesitate to come back. A lot of women think about taking it easy in the later months of their pregnancies, but it's just as important for you to relax now. I know times have been stressful for you and the Colonel, so if you ever need to talk, I'm around."

"I definitely will. I hate pain. It interrupts having a good time." Samanthia gave a shy smile, eyes gleaming with pride. "That's if my business allows me to take things easy." Seeing the look the Doctor gave her, she smiled. "Just joking. Fortunately I'm the boss. I just hope I'm not showing till after the Ceremony."

Marit smiled. "I can't imagine anyone giving you a hard time even if you did. The most important thing, I think, is that you're happy. I know S'er'in'e is thrilled about becoming a father."

Samanthia smiled warmly, "If he had his way. I'd be carried around by him and locked in a gilded cage with all the creature comforts in the universe with him awaiting to fulfill every whim I so desired." She gave a little laugh. "I swear I've seen more of his crew where ever I go on this station. I've had babies before and survived to term." Her smile faded and voice losing some of its merriment. "It'll be no different. I'll be busy till at least few weeks... Or till my back begins to ache and feet go flat from the extra weight. Then I'll slow down to take it easy."

Marit noticed the other woman's expression falter slightly and she recalled the losses she'd already experienced. This pregnancy would come up with some emotional baggage considering those experiences. Lantry imagined it was a lot of weight on the expected mother's shoulders. "It would be perfectly understandable for this pregnancy to bring back a flood of memories from the past. If you need to talk, please know I'm here for you too. I know things haven't been easy for the Colonel, but you both need support right now."

"Just wish his home-world people would let him live his life as he saw fit. But then I guess that what makes us unique due to our diversity of cultures." Samanthia moved to the edge of the biobed and let her feet hang off the edge as she sat up. "We'll be fine. We've each weathered our hardships and this is just another obstacle to face and overcome." Samanthia gave Marit a smile that showed her determination to win at reasonable cost. "He's mine..." She whispered softly unaware of that she had done it. "Anyways... Are we done here? The verdict?" Aburptly changing the subject as she jumped off the bio-bed.

Taking one last look at the bio bed's readings and making sure they matched her tricorder, Marit looked up and smiled. "All done and all clear. I'll see you again soon and I'll make sure we have you on the schedule for your next appointment. As I said, don't hesitate to come in if you need anything." Marit deliberately refrained from commenting on what Samantha shared. She got the distinct impression the other woman was simply voicing things out loud just to see how they sounded to her own ear. Lantry had made the offer to be a sounding board and for now, she knew the best thing she could offer was discretion. Truth be told, she admired the other woman's determination and hoped for all of their sakes things with the Colonel worked out for the best.


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