50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 642 A Christmas Eve Surprise
"That? Which one?" Tong Jiajia had just managed to control her nausea and took a sip of water to calm herself down when she heard Sun Zhiwei's question.

"I mean, you haven't had your period this month, is the timing normal?"

Tong Jiajia was taken aback when she heard this, and then replied uncertainly, "It seems like I won't be there on time."

Upon hearing this, Sun Zhiwei basically knew that it was probably correct, but he still needed to confirm it.

"I'll call Dr. Annie to come and examine you."

"Now? How about tomorrow? Everyone's celebrating today."

"We celebrate Christmas every year, but isn't our little one more important than Christmas?"

After saying that, he got up from the dining table, walked to the sofa, picked up the phone, and dialed the home of community doctor Anne Mason.

Dr. Annie is a gynecologist in the community and one of Sun Zhiwei's family's private doctors. She is available whenever needed.

Sun Zhiwei's family has a total of three private doctors, two men and one woman.

The female doctor's name is Anne Mason. She specializes in gynecology, obstetrics, and common women's diseases, and currently works at NYU Langone Medical Center.

One of the male doctors was named Brown West, who was skilled in various internal and surgical procedures, and the other male doctor was named Eddie Morrison, who was a dentist.

It's strange, isn't it? In Western countries, dentists are treated separately from other doctors.

Of course, there will be three private doctors. This is not because Sun Zhiwei's family is too extravagant, but mainly because the tiered medical system in European and American hospitals can drag a cold on until someone dies.

For the safety of themselves and their families, hiring a private doctor is an essential expense for most middle-class and above families.

Of course, these private doctors don't just serve one family; they usually serve as private doctors for multiple families at the same time.

If you want a doctor to serve only your family, that's also possible; just pay extra.

"Dr. Anne, this is James Robert. Merry Christmas. I'm sorry to disturb your dinner with your family. My wife just vomited. Could you please come over as soon as possible?"

It took Dr. Anne a few seconds to remember who James Robert was.

The main issue is that since Sun Zhiwei got a family doctor, he has never contacted them proactively; the doctors only make a routine phone call every three months.

However, shouldn't vomiting be treated by a gastroenterologist? Immediately, her doctor's instincts led her to think of pregnancy symptoms.

Sure enough, Sun Zhiwei's later description of Tong Jiajia's condition confirmed her suspicions.

“Mr. James, please ask Ms. Jiajiali to stay where she is. I will be there soon.”

After saying that, Dr. Anne hung up the phone.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Dr. Annie, dressed in a white coat and fully equipped with protective gear, appeared at Sun Zhiwei's door.

After she entered the room, Sun Zhiwei could still smell alcohol on her. It seemed that Dr. Annie had just been celebrating Christmas with her family at home.

He had heard from Daisy before that Dr. Anne liked to drink, and now it seemed that this was not unfounded.

Sun Zhiwei observed her for a while and saw that she spoke logically, made a clear diagnosis, and was very efficient with her hands, so he didn't interfere in her private affairs.

Drinking alcohol is fine, but if someone is an alcoholic, especially a doctor, then he should consider changing to a private physician.

Alcohol has a significant impact on the brain and nerves. People who drink heavily for a long time will experience involuntary tremors in their fingers, and surgery would definitely cause problems.

After the basic diagnosis, Annie took out a pregnancy test. This wasn't one of those convenient home tests you'd find later; it was a professional medical device.

Although the detection principles are similar, it will be several more years before convenient home test strips are invented.

Decades ago, Western doctors' methods for detecting pregnancy were even less reliable.

It's only because medical technology has gradually advanced now that Sun Zhiwei would have gone to Chinatown to invite an old Chinese medicine doctor to take his pulse.

As early as 3000 years ago in Egypt, there was a method for detecting pregnancy known as the "seed test".

This ancient method is said to have a theoretical basis; the principle is that high estrogen levels in pregnant women can affect the growth of wheat.

Modern doctors have tested this method and found that its accuracy rate is as high as 70%. However, this method is also affected by seed quality and germination environment.

However, the ancient West did not have a better solution, so this method was used for thousands of years.

In the early 20th century, a new method emerged: injecting pregnant women's urine into mice.

If a mouse is pregnant, its ovaries will swell and become congested with blood after a week. Whether this is true or not, an autopsy of the mouse will tell you.

This method is also very effective, but the waiting time is a bit long and it uses a lot of mice.

After that, someone invented the "rabbit test" method, which works on the same principle but still requires rabbits. At that time, there was a popular saying that "if the rabbit dies, it means you are pregnant."

In order to find an animal that could quickly detect pregnancy and be obtained for free, medical researchers have conducted many experiments.

In 1947, British physician Hoggburn discovered another detection method: using the characteristic of African clawed toads to detect pregnancy by their sensitivity to progesterone in the urine of pregnant women.

If the urine contains a high concentration of progesterone, the female frog will ovulate within 5-12 hours, indicating that she is pregnant.

This method, which was both quick and accurate, was known as the "frog pregnancy test," and the African clawed toad, the animal used for testing, was available for free, making it very popular among Western women at the time.

Until the African clawed toad became extinct.

What a terrible thing to do.

Thirty years later, in 1960, laboratory immunochemical tests were invented.

Doctors can perform pregnancy tests directly in the laboratory using chemical experiments, which is why these animal pregnancy testing methods have been phased out.

With the further development of science, many testing reagents have become more widely available. Nowadays, many gynecologists carry their own testing reagents and make their own simple on-site testing devices for quick pregnancy testing.

Dr. Anne brought her homemade device today, which is basically a test tube and some reagents. After mixing the urine, she can tell the result by visual observation.

Half an hour later, Annie approached Sun Zhiwei and his wife with a smile: "Congratulations, Miss Jiajia is indeed pregnant."

Sun Zhiwei burst into laughter upon hearing this, and Tong Jiajia was also very happy.

The couple had considered having a third child years ago, but the situation in China didn't allow it. Now that they're out in the world, there's no such restriction.

Zhu Hongfei congratulated the two of them from the side, while Zhao Wanting and Du Qiaoqiao curiously surrounded Tong Jiajia, wanting to quietly ask her how she felt.

Sun Zhiwei's dream came true, so he naturally wouldn't treat Dr. Annie unfairly, especially since today is Christmas Eve.

So, to thank Dr. Anne for making the trip, he took a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet and handed it to her.

(End of this chapter)