Big Bertha the speculum jumped
onto the desk
counter of the hospital room and began to rummage through various
drawers and cabinets.
"I found it!" she exclaimed.
Big Bertha jumped back down,
handed over the paper to Dr. Aryan, and advised him to take a look.
Caesar began to read....
Triplets? Octuplets? How about One Hundred and One
Hastinapur Times, 16 March 2009
Written by Reema Patel
Gandhari
Bhandhari of Hastinapur has been ecstatic throughout her pregnancy
until today when she was surprised to find that she had given birth to
not one, not three, not eight, but one hundred and one children.
"I
never imagined that I would be blessed with so many children. The Gods
must surely be in Hastinapur's favor today," she stated while lying in
her hospital bed.
Bhandhari had arrived at the emergency room
at around 1:52 AM. She was quickly rushed to a birthing suite and plans
were made for what appeared to be a normal delivery. However, when Dr.
Rangareddy, one of the hospital's new interns, placed the ultrasound to
Bhandhari's belly, new arrangements needed to be made.
"I
panicked," stated Rangareddy. "You expect to see the unexpected when
you begin your training, but this was something entirely out of my
league. The moment I looked at the ultrasound I was shocked, because I
realized that rather than a baby's head, there was a giant flesh ball
in its place!"
That's right, you haven't read wrong, a flesh ball.
World-renowned Obstetrician, Dr. Imaka Babees
was consulted by Hastinapur Times for some insight.
"Giving birth to a flesh ball is an extremely rare condition," stated
Dr. Babees.
"I have only heard of one other case prior to this and neither the
mother or the children survived. With our newer technology and skill in
obstetricians, women giving birth to a flesh ball have a better chance
of survival today."
After discovering the flesh ball on the ultrasound, Dr. Rangareddy
immediately called for help.
"I knew that this would require the use of one of our best and oldest
doctors, Dr. Vyasa." Rangareddy stated.
Dr.
Vyasa was flown in by helicopter from across the state. Initially, many
physicians were hesitant to allow Dr. Vyasa to perform the delivery.
"He may be an amazing physician, but his methods are extremely
unorthodox," an anonymous physician stated.
However
unorthodox his methods may have been, Dr. Vyasa performed a medical
miracle this morning. Upon arriving to the birthing suite and
evaluating the situation, Dr. Vyasa immediately called for one hundred
and one jars of butter to be brought to the room. Then using extreme
precision and caution, Vyasa carved the flesh ball into one hundred and
one pieces and carefully placed each piece into its own respective jar.
"The butter will serve to nourish and to aid the healing process for
these babies,
"
Dr. Vyasa told our team. "The babies will need to be monitored
for at
least two years in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. After that, Ms.
Bhandhari should be free to open each jar and allow her babies to
re-enter our world."
While the children remain in critical
condition, they are doing well and thriving. Gandhari Bhandhari, while
exhausted from her endeavor, was also relieved. After one hundred and
one children she has decided to step out of the baby-making
business. Bhandhari is scheduled for tubal ligation tomorrow morning.
"Wow, that story is amazing!"
proclaimed Dr. Aryan.
"Yeah,
I am telling you, you have to be prepared for the worst. However, you
have to make sure you can still distinguish the possible from the
impossible," replied Big Bertha.
"What do you mean? After that
story, it seems like nothing would be impossible!" Caesar
exclaimed.
"That's what you think. If you
think that way, your patients will try to take advantage of you. You
never heard about Janaka? He was this crazy guy who tried to
falsify a birth certificate...."
Dr. Vyasa and the Flesh Ball. Web Source. Digger's
Realm
Author's
Note: I chose this story because of a few reasons. First, I felt the
story was very interesting because I had not seen another story where
babies were born out of a giant ball of flesh. Second, I felt that the
story fit well within my storybook. I felt that it was the perfect
transition point between my two birth stories. I did try a different
style for this story and I hope it worked out well. I had seen someone
use a newspaper style in their storybook and I wanted to try and
use that for my own as well. I did not change too much from the
original story. In the original story in the Mahabharata, Queen
Gandhari gave birth to a giant flesh ball. Sage Vyasa was called and he
carefully carved the ball into one hundred and one pieces. He then
placed each piece into a jar and told the Queen that she could not open
the jars for two years. After that, she opened one jar every day and
gave birth to her hundred sons and one daughter. I changed the setting
of the story to a hospital and added a few extra characters that were
not in the original story. I had this story transition into the next
story as well as my hope is to have my entire storybook flow well. I
enjoyed writing this story and I hope you all enjoy reading it.
Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.
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