Take My Hand pt 1

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through his window. It was after all his window. The two of them shared one room but he was the larger of the two, he was who they were ready to receive into their world, and she wondered if they even knew she was there. It was his window in his room. She felt as dissociative inside as she felt to their outside, she was just lucky enough that he stopped absorbing her before she had to wait in line for a new room with a new window to look through, maybe next time one of her own.

It is a curious thing the loss of a child before it is born, a horrible thing, but none the less a curious thing. Parents will do whatever they can for their unborn children, they prepare tirelessly to bring them into a safe and loving environment, true labors of love, and to lose that child before birth is as devastating as well as it is existential. Why? Why did we lose it? They ask the same questions doctors ask but sometimes more profound. Did we do something wrong? Is this part of God's plan? The fact is we may never know why these tragedies occur but in 2022 an author asked a creative idea that ended up changing pediatrics forever. If he had a window to see how amazing things could have been, would things have ended up differently?

It is now 2071 and pre-natal windows, or PNW's, are the new standard practice in pediatrics and on the eve of its semicentennial anniversary. PNW surgeries are low risk, reversible, and can be operated months and even years before pregnancy. A healing period is required to allow the mother to maintain a healthy womb in the event of pregnancy, this must be taken seriously, or life-threatening risks have been known to occur. The risks have been proven minimal. Statistically it's been heavily praised and labeled as eye opening not only to the medical community and parents, but also to their unborn children. When will a child first open its sleepy eyes and see the outside world? A simple search online will tell you a newborn will open its eyes within a few minutes of birth. PNW babies are given the distinct opportunity to see their outside environment as early as week 27 of pregnancy, the moment they are able to open their eyelids, a 13 week advantage over nonwindowed babies, or NWB's.

The outside world was becoming known to him, and boy was he excited, with every chance he could he was staring out their window. It looked huge and full of wonder. Inside was his home and he shared it with his beautiful sister. Sometimes the light would shine in, and he could see her picturesque little face sleeping beside him. He would wonder what she was dreaming. He often dreamed of things he had seen outside the window; they always included his sister. She was always there even in his darkest nightmares where he would engorge himself on her until he became trapped, too big to be born with no option but to smash his tiny fists on the window until it would crack open to the outside world. He hated this dream and promised to do anything he could for his sister. When it was time to be born, she didn't share the same enthusiasm for the outside world and refused to go until her brother reached out. "Take my hand," he seemed to call out to her in that moment, she took his hand and knew it would be alright.