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"Her urinalysis shows she has a urinary tract infection," the doctor explained after she flipped the pages of the chart. “And that explains her chills and fever.”

“Is stress the cause of the infection?” I asked, having nothing else in mind to blame for her illness.

The doctor looked at me and smiled, and her eyes fell on my abdomen afterward. I wondered if an obstetrician can tell if a woman is pregnant or not by just looking at you, but that gaze she threw at my lower abdomen suggested that she thought I was one. However, she didn’t say anything about it but answered my question instead.

“Pregnant women are at increased risk for UTIs because of the changes in the urinary tract. Since the uterus sits directly on top of the bladder, its increased weight over time can block the drainage of urine from the bladder, trapping bacteria inside it. And that causes the infection.”

I nodded and smiled, subconsciously ru