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“Yeah, good point. Any idea on how far along you might be?”
I do some mental calculations. “Maybe a month? My period math isn’t perfect, but I’d say maybe four or five weeks, max. I’ll call and get in this week.”
The water has gone tepid and we both step out and grab our towels.
“When should we tell your parents?” I ask, holding up my ring finger.
“How about we get in bed? No need to get dressed, by the way,” he motions to my towel around my body. “Then we’ll send them a selfie of our faces with the ring. After that, we’ll turn off our phones and let them all go crazy while I try to satisfy all those naughty little pregnancy hormone needs you have.”
I bite my lip and drop the towel. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“Wow,a party this weekend? Already? Your parents move fast.”
“That’s Celeste Slade for you: Type A and on top of everything.” He reaches over and grabs my hand. “They’re just beyond excited for us. My mom has been wanting me to not only get married but give her a grandchild for the better part of a decade.”
“Well, she’s going to really freak out once she finds out about this one.” I point to my belly.
I called the only obstetrician in town and was able to get in for my first appointment today. I’m nervous, partly because I want to make sure our baby is healthy—although I’m not sure they can tell much of anything this soon—but also because this makes it all so real. I think I’m still in disbelief at this point. I’ve had pretty much zero symptoms of pregnancy other than a little weight gain and a missed period. And I guess if you count being tired and headaches, those symptoms could be added to the list, though they could also be chalked up to stress due to my work schedule.
“What’s going through that head of yours?” Tyler glances over at me and gives my hand a quick squeeze as we pull into the doctor’s office.
“Just nervous. Are you nervous at all?”
He shuts off the truck and turns to grab both of my hands. “I am. Probably not for the same reasons as you, but I also want you to know that I’m your rock, baby. I can handle any fears that might arise on my end. If you need to freak out, don’t hold back.”
I smile. Just hearing him say those words sends a feeling of relief through me.
“Okay, we’ve got this,” I say as I squeeze his hands and look him in the eye. “Let’s go find out how long we have to wait until we meet this little bean.”
“Hmm, okay,”the doctor says. I glance nervously at Tyler as the doctor looks at his screen. “So your last period was in January, and we’re about to head into April. You’re most likely not very far along, as you’ve pointed out, so we’ll be doing a transvaginal ultrasound today.”
“Uh, what?” All this baby stuff is brand new to me, and while I’ve never even heard of that kind of ultrasound, I can just about guess that it means. “Don’t you normally squirt the goo on the belly and use the camera that way?”
“We do when you’re a little further along. Okay, I’ll step out and you can change into this gown. We’re just a country office here, so my nurse will assist, but I don’t have an ultrasound tech.”
He smiles and walks out of the room. I quickly change and take a seat back up on the table, chewing on the edge of my thumb as I tap my fingers.
“You okay?” Tyler comes over and pulls my hands away from my body. He intertwines his fingers with mine. “It’s okay.” He kisses my forehead as the doctor knocks on the door and enters with his nurse.
The procedure is uncomfortable, but I focus my attention on the screen to my left. The doctor is talking about something with his nurse when he suddenly points to a small blip on the screen. “There’s your baby.”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. There on the screen is the tiniest little outline of a baby. The image is clearer than I expected. I feel myself welling up as the sound of its rapid heartbeat fills the room.
“And that’s the baby’s heartbeat. Sounds strong and healthy, in a perfect range.”
“Oh my God.” Tears tumble down my cheeks. Emotion overflows and I begin to sob as I reach for Tyler’s hand.
He grips my hand, and as I look up at him, I notice he’s crying just as hard as I am.
“Look at us,” I laugh as we both stare in complete disbelief at our unborn baby.
“Going by the measurements we see here and the stage of development, I’d estimate you to be just over nine weeks.”
“What? I’m that far along already? I’m almost done with my first trimester!” Suddenly that thought sends me over the edge and I start to cry again. “I missed the entire first two months.”
“Well, the fact that you haven’t had morning sickness and cramping and any major symptoms is a nice relief for you. Don’t worry, Mama, you’ve got about 31 more weeks to experience.”
“We’ll have some pictures printed out at the front desk when you check out and schedule your next appointment,” Betty, his nurse, informs us.
