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Chapter Twenty-Five
Naomi
Josh held my hand as we walked into the OBGYN’s office. It was decorated in a cutesy boutique style. The chairs in the waiting room were plush leather seats, the end tables were made with deep mahogany wood. The carpet made the room quiet and hushed even though there was a good number of women waiting to be seen. Some were visibly pregnant and some women were with their partners.
We walked to the front desk and the medical assistant—a soft looking middle aged woman—smiled welcomingly. Her nametag read, “Anna.”
“Is this your first visit with Doctor Reveena?” Anna pulled out a clipboard with new patient forms for me to fill out as if she already knew.
“Yes,” I said. She had me sign in and then I took the forms with me to sit beside Josh. The couple across from us were studying a maternity magazine, the woman looked big, like over six months pregnant.
“You okay?” Josh asked. I snapped out of it and glanced at him, smiling.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said and started filling out the first form. I couldn’t envision myself getting so big but I knew it was bound to happen. Then the thought finally crossed my mind that I’d have to push out a baby human through my very small vaginal canal and I balked.
“Nao, what’s wrong?” Josh kissed my temple and put his hand over my trembling one.
“I’m going to have to give birth, Josh. To a baby that’s gonna come through my vagina,” I whispered. He chuckled and I looked up at him, his smile disappeared when he saw that I was seriously freaking out.
“I’m sure the doctor will be able to answer all of your questions about birth and we’ll go to those Lamaze classes so that we know what to expect,” he said. Josh rubbed my shoulder and I took a deep breath and focused on filling out the damned paperwork. When I was done, Josh took it to the front for me and I focused on not looking at the huge pregnant women all around me. I slipped into a realm where everything made me feel like I was in some kind of bizarre fantasy.
“We might have a long wait,” Josh said when he came back. “Is it only the one doctor who works in this office?”
“No, there’s two others,” I said. Just then, a nurse stepped into the waiting room and called a name. Two more people were called back after that. I started tapping my foot against the leg of my chair. Josh was reading a parenting magazine while glancing at me every few seconds. As much as he wanted to be a dad, I was sure he had no preparation for dealing with a pregnant partner.
“Naomi?” A nurse stood in the doorway with an open chart. With my heart in my throat, I stood up, followed by Josh. “Is this dad?” the nurse asked, her name tag said, “Joanna.”
“Yes, he can come with me, right?” I asked.
“Of course. Follow me please,” she said. She led me straight to an exam room, took my vitals and gave me a paper gown to change into. She gave me the rundown of what was going to happen. We would get to see the little pea inside of me through an ultrasound and I’d be getting my blood drawn for routine lab work. Joanna stepped out of the room so that I could change.
“You okay?” Josh asked. I stepped down from the table and felt very vulnerable all of a sudden.
“No,” I said and pulled the curtain to change. “I’m going to get huge. Did you see those women out there? I’m gonna get huge and then have to push a watermelon through my vagina,” I said.
“Naomi, the baby won’t be the size of a watermelon. Plus, there’s epidural and…stuff,” he said. I rolled my eyes, held the gown closed with one hand and pushed the curtain aside. “Don’t think about the birth yet, we have months until that time,” he said.
“Josh, how can I not think about the birth?” I sat on the table again and put my face in my hands. I looked up when there was a knock on the door and Doctor Reveena stepped in. She was a gorgeous woman with tan skin and big almond eyes. Her thick black hair was wound into a bun. She could’ve been from anywhere.
“Hi, Naomi, I’m Doctor Reveena, nice to meet you,” she said and shook my hand.
“Nice to meet you, my sister wrote poems about how great you are, I was happy to get an appointment,” I said.
She laughed and pressed her hands over her heart, “Aw, that’s so nice. Yeah, Jess and I always click. She was right to send you here, you’re in good hands. I understand this pregnancy came as a surprise?” she asked. Doctor Reveena paused to greet Josh.
“Entirely. I was on birth control when it happened,” I said.
“That does happen from time to time. Don’t worry, as long as you’ve stopped taking the pill and started pre-natal vitamins the baby should be alright,” she said.
“Yeah, I got the brand the office told me about when I was making the appointment,” I said. She nodded in approval and then the nurse knocked on the door and came in with a rolling ultrasound machine. There were some things on the keyboard, I recognized a needle and the vials for drawing my blood. My nerves ratcheted up and I glanced at Josh, who got up and stood beside me.
“No need to be nervous. For all new moms we do the routine bloodwork, just to get a feel for your levels and make sure everything is healthy. How long have you been off of the birth control?”
“Um…like a week?” I said. She picked up her tablet and put in that information while the nurse was getting the ultrasound machine set up.
“So what can we see on the ultrasound at this point?” Josh asked.
“Just a tiny bundle of cells, really. At this stage it’s more for me to get a look at the placement of the embryo and check the size,” she said. She turned to her nurse and offered to take my blood while Joanna fussed with the machine.
