Chapter 34
No Eunchae was thirty-five years old.
She had been married for eight years and had undergone IVF three times.
The first attempt had failed before implantation.
The second pregnancy ended at six weeks.
When the third attempt finally worked, Eunchae held the pregnancy confirmation paper in her hands and still couldn't believe it.
She had quietly cried in the hospital bathroom.
The clock in the living room showed eleven at night.
Her husband, Jihoon, was still at a company dinner.
Eunchae turned off the television and sat in front of the computer.
While the Samsung monitor booted up, the younger versions of herself and her husband smiled from a framed wedding photo on the side table.
She opened the internet browser.
At the very top of her favorites list was the MomsDaum café.
Eunchae visited it every night.
It had been a week since she was told that her placenta was low and that she should go to a large hospital for another examination.
Because no one had properly explained it, she assumed it was nothing serious.
Then, while searching online, she happened to find posts about Hyundai OB-GYN Clinic in Somang City.
There were reviews about a breast abscess treated without surgery.
Reviews from pregnant women who had been carefully monitored until delivery.
Eunchae stayed up all night reading the comments.
The next day, she made an appointment just in case.
Director Im Gain held Eunchae's hand and carefully explained the ultrasound image to her.
She did not frighten her unnecessarily.
But she did not make light of the problem either.
Before Eunchae left, Gain gave her two copies of a referral letter without charging her extra.
One copy was for reception.
The other had to be carried all the way into the examination room and handed directly to the doctor.
Then Gain looked straight into Eunchae's eyes and said:
"If you see blood, even a single drop, call 119. It doesn't matter whether it's day, night, or dawn."
"Waiting until morning is the most dangerous thing you could do."
"Hmm."
After returning home, Eunchae spent a long time wondering where to keep the envelope.
If she put it in her bag, it might get crumpled.
If she put it in the bookshelf, she might not find it quickly during an emergency.
In the end, she emptied the top drawer of the bedroom dresser.
She placed the envelope inside a ziplock bag so the corners would not bend, then laid it beside her maternity handbook.
After closing the drawer, Eunchae chuckled.
Am I really going this far?
She hoped she would never need it.
Still, she told Jihoon exactly which drawer it was in.
Gain's voice had been that serious.
Eunchae also searched the words placenta previa dozens of times.
Search engines always showed the scariest things first.
Emergency surgery.
Massive bleeding.
Hysterectomy.
Some nights, she became so frightened that she simply turned the computer off.
Whenever that happened, Eunchae repeated the words she had heard in the clinic out loud.
The baby is healthy.
The placenta is simply in the wrong place.
If you have a C-section at the right time in a large hospital, everything can go well.
Those words comforted her.
Whenever she became afraid, she repeated them.
It'll be okay.
After that day, Eunchae searched for every single post about Hyundai OB-GYN Clinic.
For some reason, reading them made her feel safer.
There were several new posts tonight too.
[Review] My baby got a fever at dawn. I almost went to the ER, but she replied to my message and saved me.
There were already more than twenty comments.
└ DuriMom: I've gotten a text reply from her too!! She's seriously so kindㅠㅠ
└ SomangLady: Having a clinic like that inside our market is a blessing.
Eunchae pressed Recommend.
She also bookmarked the post so more people would see it.
Scrolling farther, she found another.
[Review] She caught early signs of preeclampsia that a university hospital missed.
That post also had a long comment section.
Eunchae pressed Recommend again.
She planned to show it to Jihoon later.
After scrolling for a while longer, a post with a completely different tone caught her attention.
[Opinion] Isn't there way too much talk about that OB-GYN lately? Aren't these all paid ads?
Several comments followed.
People were saying things like, "What would a neighborhood clinic know?" and "Isn't this just marketing?"
Eunchae frowned.
Before, she might have gotten angry.
Tonight, she did not.
Instead, she clicked the Report button at the upper-right corner of the screen.
[Baseless defamation, violation of café rules.]
She entered the reason and submitted it.
It was the first time she had used the report button in three years of silently reading the café.
There's no point arguing with posts like this.
After reporting it, her fingers suddenly felt restless.
Eunchae returned to one of the positive reviews and clicked the comment box.
[I've been treated there too. The director really is wonderful.]
She typed that much.
Then deleted everything with Backspace.
