Page 59 of Ghosted By Texas

“Ms. Robinson, I’d like to apologize for my nurse’s lack of couth earlier.”

I waved her off. “It’s not that big of a deal, Dr. Danvers.”

“Well, rest assured that it won’t happen again. Maybe, next time you show up there won’t be any catastrophes in the office.”

“That would be disappointing. You’ve built me up with Snowageddon and now Nursegate. I’m just waiting to see how you top those two.”

Dr. Danvers laughed and then narrowed her eyes conspiratorially. “Hush your mouth before I end up telling you there are four babies in there,” she teased as she pointed to my stomach.

“That is not even funny,” I argued.

She continued to chuckle as if she really thought it was. “That shuts the patients up every time when they get sassy with me.”

“Touché, madam.”

“So, tell me what’s been happening in pregnancy land,” she insisted. “Morning sickness?”

“Yes, but it’s tolerable. If I avoid certain smells, I’m fine and can keep the queasiness at bay. Thankfully, the school took me seriously and assigned a permanent helper for bathroom duty because I can’t get near those things. Whatever cleaner they use trips my gag reflex.”

“As long as you feel it’s under control, we won’t worry about it. You did put on a good amount of weight, and I mean that. I am assuming you got your appetite back?”

“Yes, at first I had to force myself to eat so I wouldn’t get sick, but after seeing the baby last time, it seemed important to try harder to get food in my system, for them.”

“For yourself, too.” She reminded me. “Anything else going on that you think I should know about?”

“Not that I can think of right now.”

“How are you doing with the prenatal vitamins? They’re not causing any upset stomach, are they?”

“No. I usually take them at night before I go to bed. One of the teachers at school told me it was better for her to do it then, since she would fall asleep and wouldn’t notice the slightly upset stomach. I drink a glass of milk with them, too.”

“Sounds good. I was going to suggest taking them at night if they bothered you at all during the day. Your teacher friend was one step ahead of me.”

“I want to address one more thing before we get down to it. You don’t have to come up with the answers now, but it’s something to think about. You had your friend with you last time, and I see a different friend has joined you this time. It’s important to have a support system you can count on during pregnancy, especially the further along you get. If you want to start birthing classes, there are several different types offered through the hospital and a few private places in the area, too. They’ll help you discover your birthing plan and teach you and your birthing coach how to handle the important things as they come.”

“I’ll see what I can work out between mine and Clea’s schedule.” I heard Austin sigh, but thankfully he didn’t say anything in front of the doctor because then, I’d have to point out that she did say I needed people around who I could trust to be there. He did not factor on that list, whether he was the father or not.

“Okay then. Can I get you to unbutton your pants and roll them down to your panty line and lift your shirt up to just where the lower portion of your bra sits on your ribs?”

“Sure,” I did as I was told, all the while knowing Austin watched my every move. Dr. Danvers tipped the back the exam table down flat and added a barely-there pillow for my comfort before instructing me to lie down.

She pulled out a measuring tape and started poking around at my lower abdomen, then when she was satisfied with whatever she felt there, one end of the tape was held there while she repeated the process a little higher up. Then she wrote down a measurement and smiled at me.

“You’re measuring right on track for the November sixth due date. That’s good. Let’s take a listen today, too.” She popped out a handheld machine that had a tiny little wand thing attached to it and squirted a little gel on my tummy then began rubbing the thing around while pushing rather aggressively.

“It’s a good thing I already emptied my bladder, or you might not like me very much, Doc.”

She laughed at me as the familiar whooshing sound came out of the machine. I knew my heartbeat when I heard it because it was the slower of the two.

“Is that the baby?” Austin asked.

“No, that sound is unique to Becs.” She moved the wand lower and pushed again just before the strong galloping sound of my baby’s heartbeat came through the speaker. “That one is the baby’s heartbeat.”

“It’s so fast.”

“It’s normal at this stage of fetal development,” she assured him.

“I saw wands like that at the baby store. Are the at home ones safe to use?”

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