He had worked on his outfit carefully because he wanted to be beyond reproach as a professional. The full suit with tie was finished by brown Italian loafers. Anyone looking closer would recognize the fabric as very soft and refined. The white coat thrown over made him a bit hot but also labeled him as a medical provider even though he didn't have a degree or license. Dressed so upscale, he looked like an expensive psychiatrist or other medical professional who doesn't get in touch with the messiness of the body.
Leaning back in the couch with a reserved but attentive face, he allowed Doctor Clarence to lead the consult. Doctor Clarence was an actual doctor with a light nationwide fame to it. She was also dressed in expensive office clothing instead of scrubs. As the delivery coordinator, she was more of a manager with expert medical knowledge. She would coordinate the delivery and pull in specialists and experts as needed. The full weight of medical success rested on her shoulders. She was excellent at it. The hospital had built her her own conference room to meet with couples. The contract signing here was very important to the hospital because her deliveries weren't covered by insurance and ran in the tens of thousands of dollars. That's why the couple had expensive flutes of champagne on the coffee table in front of them - real one for the husband and bubbly apple juice for her. The artwork on the wall was real, a loan from a museum.
The couple was dressed very clean and conservative. A big gold cross hung on their chests against a plain unicolor to make their conviction prominent. Even if they hadn't put the sign so obvious, their faces were so composed and held together that they appeared very Christian. He was dressed in office casual - nothing fancy but the cut was very neatly trimmed to his body. The shirt was tugged in and buttoned up all the way to the top. Even if he wasn't holding a bible the energetic imprint of him walking around with a bible in his hand was so strong that anyone in the room could sense it.
She was also dressed in a demure dress, a beige one that ran down the whole length to her ankles and neatly circled her leg. However, the fabric was very thin and supple, creating a contrast to the conservative appearance by revealing her body shape. She wore it like the stretch in the fabric was simply for the convenience of the pregnant belly, but one could help but get a sort of sexual feel from how she allowed the shape of her body to be seen. The belly was huge against her frame. While many pregnant bellies appear simply as big bellies, her belly was so big that it felt too large for her frame. It appeared rather like a big sack of skin that was hanging outside of her body. The elbows and every sharp angle of the baby poked out through her skin and the thin dress. It was like an alien was in her belly very ready to come out.
"Your last pregnancy was problematic as well. The baby was very late to come out. It wouldn't have come out on its own. So, this time, we want to be proactive in inducing labor without giving your body every last chance because it's really unlikely to happen on its own. We rather want to pick the best timing. You both decided to have a completely natural birth, which is my field of expertise. I have delivered many extremely problematic pregnancies successfully with natural methods."
Doctor Clarence explained the couple, while here knees were crossed to express a bit of boredom, delivering the pitch that she had to develop many times before. She preferred to be in the heat of an emergency over the sales-type meetings. Having a little blood and puke over her scrubs was more her natural habitat than sitting in this meeting. Her hair was nicely done by a stylist the hospital had hired for her. An expensive gold brooch pinned the swirl in her hair in place. The couple listened intently with faces that tried to look plain and full of interest to hide the worry that they had. They seemed to feel safe about the pregnancy itself, but the meetings, hospital procedures, and forms seemed to stress them out.
"This is Mister Abrams. He is the prostaglandin provider. You know we can simply give you a prostaglandin pill to hasten cervical ripening and intensify contractions. If you want to do the birth completely, Mister Abrams is a professional who can insert a naturally produced dose of prostaglandin directly to the cervix. Obviously, this isn't covered by insurance and in a gray zone of medical practice. You'll have to sign paperwork for the lawyers. I can't advice you to do it. I can simply offer you the option."
Doctor Clarence gave the couple her worried look that told the patients that there was more implied than was said. They both nodded their heads calmly and affirmatively like they had talked it over before.
"We understand what you are talking about. We would like this option very much. We want to keep it pure. All these medications and chemicals are really damaging to young babies. We want the best for our Lydia."
These meetings went pretty easily. All he had to do was show up, shake hands, and smile. The couple busied themselves with the heaps of forms to sign which were spread out in different piles on the table. In the old days, babies simply popped out of bellies. Nowadays, one had to have an advanced degree to simply fill out the paperwork. The couple got more chatty with each other as they neared the end of filling out the forms. They had a tender and very polite way of talking with each other, pointing at different words and boxes in the form. Such a simple meeting would cost the couple about a thousand dollars for fifteen minutes. The husband seemed to be upper management for a manufacturing company. He mentioned some things and the way how he had studious glasses on suggested so.
The next meeting was only the three of them. The room wasn't as posh. He had simply used a small administrative office. He was sitting behind the desk. They were in front of him on cheaper chairs like pleading petitioners. They were quiet as he studied the form in front of him carefully. The sun was shining into the room from outside. When he took a mental pause, he could look outside the window and watch the ducks walk around the little pond that gave patients a nice space to sit for visits. With a very serious face he studied her questionnaire answers.
"You know that today is the first day of your target delivery window. The obstetrician would like your baby to come out any time between today and a week. At the end of the week, your team is going to move to induce labor. Of course, they will only use natural methods and means as you asked for. My services are part of the second-line offense. If things go well, you might not need me at all. However, we want to prepare for my procedure so that everything is going to be ready to go."
They both had a light flush of red on their face. They were holding hands with a tight squeeze to reassure each other. They could tell that this meeting wasn't going to be as polished veneer as the last one but that we would get to the nuts and bolts of it. The immediacy of what had seemed like a distant, logical decision became clear to them. The tension in their breathing gave it away. This reaction among couples was common. He found the best way to deal with it was to move swiftly and professionally forward.
"The good news is that the way how I administer the prostaglandin is absolutely natural. However, for the best reception, we have to talk a little bit about anatomy and biology. (He paused to give the couple a moment to get ready for how explicit he would get.) The prostaglandin will be absorbed through the internal mucous membrane of your vagina. The more blood flow you have, the higher dosage the body cells will pull in. You know that when you are aroused, your vaginal tissue fills with blood like a sponge and your uterus pulls up. All these things help with prostaglandins absorption and absorption in the right place to dilate you."
He paused again, this time more for him to gather his own nerves. The couple's eyes avoided him and came back smitten to look into his eyes. This couple didn't seem to talk about sex with each other. The mere mention of the sexual zones and them having to picture it in their minds made them very uncomfortable, but they listened quiet and eager to comply.
"In essence, the more aroused you are, the more successful the procedure is. And that leads us to the questionnaire that you filled out. What you filled out is the 'Hobbson Inventory Of Turn-Ons, Kinks, And Fetishes.' It helps us communicate how we can arouse you more during the procedure. I understand that this can be very uncomfortable and unusual for patients. However, having looked through your answers, there is nothing unusual. I've had many women in my practice. They often worry about some of the things they checked, but I see them checked lots of times."
