Chapter 22 Prenatal Visit
CAITLYN'S POV
I sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office flipping through a magazine without really reading it. Collin was next to me scrolling through his phone and occasionally stopping to answer emails. This was my second prenatal appointment since the first one where Collin had questioned whether I should keep working.
"Mrs Hayes?" the nurse called from the doorway.
Collin stood up first and took my arm to help me up even though I did not need help. I was only four months pregnant and perfectly capable of standing on my own but he insisted on treating me like I was made of glass or maybe like I was his property that might break if he was not careful with it.
We followed the nurse back to the exam room and she took my weight and blood pressure. Collin watched everything she did like he was making sure she was doing it right.
The nurse kept glancing at him nervously and I felt embarrassed by his presence.
"The doctor will be in shortly," she said and left quickly.
I sat on the exam table and Collin took the chair next to it. He was still on his phone typing something. I wondered what was so important that he could not put it down for five minutes.
"You should tell the doctor about the headaches you have been having," Collin said without looking up from his phone.
"What headaches?" I asked.
"The ones you mentioned last week," he said. "Remember? You said you had a headache after work."
I did remember mentioning it once but it was not a big deal. Just a normal headache from being tired. But now Collin was going to make it into something the doctor needed to know about.
"It was just one headache," I said. "It is not a pattern or anything."
"Still," Collin said. "We should mention it; it's better to be safe."
The doctor came in before I could argue. She was a woman in her fifties named Dr Palmer, and I liked her because she was straightforward and did not treat me like a child, but I could tell she was not thrilled about Collin being in the room.
"How are you feeling Caitlyn?" she asked and sat down on her rolling stool.
"I am fine," I started to say but Collin interrupted.
"She has been having headaches," he said. "And she seems more tired than usual."
Dr Palmer looked at me not at Collin. "Is that true?"
"I had one headache," I said. "And yes, I am tired, but I thought that was normal for pregnancy."
"It is normal," Dr Palmer said. "But let me check a few things just to be safe."
She did the usual exam checking my belly and listening to the baby's heartbeat. Everything sounded good and healthy. The baby was growing right on schedule and there were no signs of problems.
"Your blood pressure is a little elevated," Dr Palmer said. "Nothing dangerous but something to keep an eye on. Are you under a lot of stress?"
"No more than usual," I said.
"She worries a lot," Collin said before
I could say anything else. "About the baby and making sure everything is perfect."
That was not true. I was stressed but not because I was worried about the baby. I was stressed because of Collin and his constant control and the way he monitored everything I did. But I could not say that with him sitting right there.
"Stress can affect your blood pressure," Dr Palmer said gently.
"Try to find ways to relax. Take walks. Read a book, do things that make you happy."
"I will," I said even though I did not know what made me happy anymore.
"And make sure you are eating enough," Dr Palmer continued. "You have only gained ten pounds, and at this stage, I would like to see you closer to fifteen."
"She does not eat breakfast most mornings," Collin said. "I keep telling her she needs to eat more but she says she is not hungry."
I wanted to tell him to stop talking but Dr Palmer was already looking concerned. "Morning sickness should be mostly gone by now. Are you still feeling nauseous?"
"Sometimes," I admitted. "But mostly I am just not hungry in the mornings."
"You need to eat something even if it is just toast or crackers," Dr Palmer said. "The baby needs nutrition and so do you."
"I will try," I said.
Dr Palmer did a few more checks and then told us everything looked good overall. She wanted to see me back in a month for another checkup. As we were leaving she touched my arm gently.
"If you ever need to talk about anything you can call me," she said quietly. "About the pregnancy or anything else."
I nodded and wondered if she could tell something was wrong. Maybe she had seen enough pregnant women with controlling husbands to recognize the signs but I could not talk to her about it with Collin standing right there.
We got in the car and Collin immediately started talking. "See, I told you we should mention the headaches, and you really do need to eat more, Caitlyn. I do not want anything to happen to the baby because you are not taking care of yourself."
"I am taking care of myself," I said and tried not to sound as frustrated as I felt. "One headache does not mean something is wrong."
"Dr Palmer said your blood pressure was elevated," Collin pointed out.
"That is a sign of stress. Maybe you should stop working after all. That would reduce your stress levels."
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. We had been through this so many times already and I was tired of arguing about it. "The doctor said I could keep working."
"The doctor said you need to reduce stress," Collin corrected. "And working with a bunch of loud kids all day is stressful."
"It is the only thing that makes me happy," I said before I could stop myself.
Collin went quiet and I knew I had said the wrong thing. He pulled into a parking lot and turned off the car. Then he turned to look at me with that cold expression he got sometimes.
"What do you mean it is the only thing that makes you happy?" he asked slowly.
"I just meant," I tried to backtrack. "I meant that I enjoy teaching. It gives me something to do."
"You said it is the only thing that makes you happy," he repeated. "Are you saying that being my wife does not make you happy? Does carrying our child not make you happy?"
"That is not what I meant," I said quietly.
"Then what did you mean?" he pressed.
I did not know what to say. The truth was that being his wife did not make me happy. Living in his house under his constant watch did not make me happy, pretending the baby was his when it was not did not make me happy but I could not tell him any of that.
"I am just tired," I said. "I did not mean anything by it."
Collin stared at me for a long moment and I held my breath waiting to see what he would do. Final
He started the car again.
"We will talk about this later," he said. When you are thinking more clearly