Magic of Sickbay

Posted on Fri Sep 15th, 2023 @ 6:29pm by Lieutenant Commander Rikka Takanashi M.D.

1,329 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Deck 12 Sickbay
Timeline: MD 28

It was a slow day in Sickbay, which was fairly typical for this early after launch. Lissa ordered an iced green tea from the replicator and sat next to Dr. Takanashi at a break table.

"So will this be your first child, Doctor?" Lissa asked politely as she sat down with her drink. The first couple of weeks were busy with onboarding physicals, the staff hadn't had much time to get to know one another.

Rikka nodded as she looked through several PADDs she had stacked on the table. "Yeah, this is my first. Although I will admit I'm a little nervous about him or her arriving."

"Aww," Lissa responded sweetly. "I'm sure most new parents feel that way at first. It will be an adjustment, but moms and dads have been figuring it out for centuries. I'm sure you guys are going to be great parents," Lissa said nodding encouragingly.

Rikka blushed a little. "I hope do. I've not spent much time with Yuuta recently since I came aboard. He's in the Operations department," she said. She then clicked her fingers. "Say, we've been busy doing everyone's physicals. But I've kind if neglected my own. I've been putting up checking up on the baby recently. The tricorders have a bad habit of displaying the babies gender. I don't want to know until the day he/she arrives." She paused with a slight sigh. "Plus, even if I disabled it I'd have to download the data into the computer and I can't disable the function there either." She paused again for a moment. "However, do you know how an old fashioned ultrasound works?" She asked.

"Sure, we studied them in nursing school, but I actually got to use one when I was doing my internship with the interspecies medical exchange," Lissa responded. She looked around as if she might have missed one sitting out somewhere. "Do we have one?" she asked.

Rikka nodded. "Yeah we do. It's in medical storage unit thirty three in the back," she replied indicating with her thumb to the door to the medical storage lockers that were behind the sickbay. "Would you mind if you did one on me? It's about time for one anyways," she asked.

Lissa's eyes widened. "Would I mind?" she asked incredulously. "It would be an absolute honor. Oh my gosh, thank you for asking. Do you want me to go get the equipment now?" she asked.

"Yeah... sure..." Rikka replied a little surprised at her enthusiasm. "I'll go prepare one of the biobeds and replicate the gel you'll be needing," she replied as she slowly pushed herself out of the chair.

Lissa walked along the medical lockers until she found unit 33. Opening it she found the ultrasound machine that Dr. Takanashi had mentioned. It was portable, and Lissa pushed it back toward the main medical bay area.

"This is pretty cool that we have one of these on board," Lissa said walking up to the biobed. "Are you ready for this?" she asked the doctor. Do you think we should call Yuuta?"

"He's likely busy. He was at the last one though." Rikka replied. "I think he's on duty right now."

Nodding Rikka laid down on the biobed. She unzipped her tunic and rolled up her undershirt. Her belly was smooth, with no visible stretchmarks. In the center her belly button had begun to stick out as was common in human pregnancies. "I'm ready," she stated.

Lissa turned on the machine, and placed the gel inside the lubrication tool. "It'll just take a few seconds for the gel to warm up." She familiarized herself with the controls, and when she was ready called out, "Computer dim the lights by 25%."

"Alright, Doctor. You know how this works, this shouldn't be pretty comfortable," she said, applying the now warm gel to Takanashi's swollen belly. "I should probably have the screen facing me first, since you don't want to know the sex. Just in case the baby is in a position that makes it impossible for you to miss seeing it accidentally. Once it's safe, I'll spin the screen for you to see," Lissa said with a warm smile.

Rikka nodded. The gel felt weird on her belly. "The baby should be easy to find..." she joked with a smile.

"Alright, here we go," Lissa said calmly as she placed the scanner on the doctor's stomach and activated the screen. Lissa moved the scanner until she got an adequate image, and then turned the screen around. "Here's your baby!" Lissa said warmly. "The baby is cooperating for you, no gender reveal today." Lissa peaked out from behind the screen to watch the doctor's reaction.

The doctor blushed a little upon seeing the baby on the screen. "It looks... beautiful..." she said quietly. "Oh, he/she knows your here. They're kicking." Rikka's belly shook a little as the baby kicked against the scanner.

"The baby looks healthy, strong heartbeat, everything is right on track," Lissa said, holding the scanner. "Pretty exciting isn't it?"

"Uh huh..." Rikka replied, it almost sounded like she wasn't too sure about it all.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Lissa asked reading into her uncertainty. "Do you want to keep watching... or should I...." Lissa trailed off.

"Yeah." Rikka smiled. "Its just that having a baby is a big thing. I have no idea how to be a mother, I can't lie. I'm scared a little."

"I know you'll be a great mom," Lissa said confidently. "Think of all the women who managed back before there were books and classes to teach you all the things. I'm sure that once your little one arrives, it will all come together."

Rikka smiled a little. "Thanks I guess..." she said blushing slightly. "So, how does the baby look in your opinion?" She asked as if testing her knowledge.

"Healthy as can be, Doctor," Lissa responded. "From what this machine can tell us, I'd say the baby appears to be close to 28 cm long, and approximately 430 grams. I think the machines are only moderately accurate, I'm happy to use a tricorder and get more accurate measurements for you," she offered. "The heart rate when we started was around 153, but has settled into around 140 now - both well inside the healthy range, as you know. Gestational age around 22 weeks?" she looked to the doctor for affirmation.

Rikka nodded. "23 weeks actually, but close enough," she replied. "Good assessment."

"Ah," Lissa sighed, swinging her arm as if she'd just lost a bet. "Well fetal positioning looks good. No issues with the umbilical cord or amniotic fluid. You and your baby look amazing, Doctor," Lissa said with an encouraging smile.

"Is this your first time doing this?" Rikka asked sensing the enthusiasm and excitement in the young officers voice.

"No, it's one of the first things they let us do in nursing school, why did I do something wrong?" she asked sheepishly.

"The opposite. You did this perfectly, its why I asked," Rikka smiled. "And you seem excited about doing it..."

"Well it's an exciting time for new mothers. And one of the few times people come to see us when they aren't sick or injured, so yeah," Lissa said smiling as she shrugged.

Rikka nodded. "I can understand that. Do you want to examine the baby more, or would now be a good time to file the results?"

"I'm good if you are, Doctor," Lissa said, waiting for her nod before uploading the scans and turning the machine off. "I can take care of all of this," she offered.

Slowly the doctor sat up and gave the nurse a small smile. "Good work Ensign." She smiled. "I'm going to borrow the sickbay shower to get this gel off my belly. Can you hold the Fort for a few minutes?"

"Of course, Doctor," Lissa replied confidently.

Lt. Commander Rikka Takanashi, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Daisheliss Kerr
Nurse, First Year Medical Student
USS Columbia

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