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“Well, has anything bad happened yet? No. So, we have no reason to believe that anything is wrong.”
Of course, I’m worried about my baby. Every mother is, especially when they’re hidden in the warm confines of your womb and you can’t be sure exactly what’s going on. However, I have three sisters who have had children to rely on, one of whom is also currently pregnant. They’ve all been incredibly encouraging, all ready at a moment’s notice when I have a question even in the middle of the night about something ridiculous like a sharp pain in my back or my inability to even look at a pickle.
Basically, it’s all normal because pregnancy truly is a free-for-all depending on who you are. I’ve been learning to go with the flow.
Orlie, on the other hand, does not go with the flow. Those surfer days are far behind him. He wants to understand everything as soon as I feel it.
Poor guy. I think he’d be the pregnant one if he could be.
There’s a tiny knock on the door and then my doctor waltzes in. “Sorry to keep you waiting! Let’s get a look at this baby!” Doctor White says with her beaming smile that lives up to her name.
“Are you Dad?” she asks Orlie.
Orlie pops back up to standing. “Y-yes. Yes, that’s me. I’m Dad.”
“Aww…” She grins at me. “Nervous, huh?”
“Very,” I say.
“Let’s quell those nerves, then.”
Doctor White goes through the normal questions, checking in with me about how I’m feeling, if anything out of the ordinary is going on. I answer everything and, to no surprise, every symptom or strange fluke is indeed normal.
Orlie breathes an audible sigh of relief.
“Now, you wanted an ultrasound today too, is that right?”
“Yes, Orlie hasn’t gotten a chance to see the baby in action yet, so…”
Doctor White smiles. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
I lay back on the examination table, Orlie standing at my side. He watches with intense focus as Doctor White lifts my shirt and squirts the cold gel onto my stomach.
“So, everything’s been very, very normal, Dad,” Doctor White says, sensing Orlie’s tenseness. “Which is the best way it can be. Every time Kira has come in for an appointment, I tell her that this is all picture perfect. So, you have nothing to worry about.”
Orlie smiles like a shy boy on a playground. I take his hand and squeeze it. “It’ll be great.”
Once Doctor White has the machine ready to go, she slides the transducer across my belly, screen only pointed in her direction. She’s very good at remaining stoic on the off chance she has to deal with something hard to see. But I’m not worried.
Orlie, on the other hand, isn’t very patient. “Is everything okay?”
“Takes a minute. Even bigger babies can be shy,” Doctor White says.
“Takes after me, I guess,” I say, rubbing my thumb into the back of Orlie’s hand.
“Here we go.” Doctor White turns the screen toward us.
On the screen is a three-dimensional image of our baby cast in amber with highlights and shadows dappling their little face. Nose, lips, eyes…It’s all there. Looks like a real baby.
“That’s…” Orlie’s face goes slack. “Seriously, that’s our –”
I nod, grinning.
“It looks like a real baby.”
“Itisa real baby,” I reply.
“I know, but I mean…” He trails off as he watches the ultrasound. Baby moves one of their hands up toward their face. Orlie’s face scrunches together. “Oh, my gosh, it’s amazing.”
