r/shortscarystories
3 days ago
Intrepid_Wanderer
Delivery Room
My grandparents were worried when I said I'd decided to get the shots.
They're a bit old-fashioned, but they mean well. The thing is, it's 2084. Most people who can get the shots just go ahead and accelerate through all nine months of pregnancy. The baby can be born as soon as the parents like- no need to endure mornıng sicknesses or false warnings for labor. And miscarriages are nearly a thing of the past- most babies are accelerated at the first warning. Medical technology is truly amazing.
Not everyone accelerates. Some people worry about those obscure studies on bonding ability in accelerated babies, some consider a "natural" course an unmissable experience and some just don't have access to it. Most of the time, though, people accelerate.
I was so excited to get to the hospital for my first ever. I didn't even get an ultrasound done first- the test was positive, and I was about to see my baby anyway in a few minutes.
There were the occasional urban legends, mostly tales of some quack who messed up and made horrıfıc things happen. Truth was, there be very little to mess up, especially at a nice hospital like this one. With today's medications, I could expect to hardly feel the labor and go home with my family on the same day.
They said I'd feel a tingling in my abdomen, maybe even some light kicking. At first I did, but it was more uncomfortable than I'd imagined. It was like a twisting, stretching sensation inside of me. I hated to imagiпe what it might have been like if the shots didn't also act as an anesthetic.
I tried to close my eyes and breathe through it. Something was soaking through the bed- must be my water breaking. But it smelled bloodƴ, and I was so dizzy. Why didn't I hear baby crying? Shouldn't it have worked by now?
Someone started shouting, but I couldn't open my eyes to see why. The last thing I heard before my death is a doctor asking about ultrasounds ańd the words "ectopic pregnancy."
