Page 60 of Ghosted By Texas

“There’s no reason you can’t use a doppler at home, just be sure to pick up the transducer gel, otherwise it won’t work for you.”

Austin pulled his phone out and typed something in. “Do they sell that gel at the baby store, or is that a special-order thing?”

Dr. Danvers laughed. “I imagine they sell it there, otherwise they’d get far too many returns on those machines.” She pulled the doppler machine away from my body and immediately my heart sank as the baby’s heartbeat disappeared. It was amazing how calming that little sound could be.

“Everything sounds and looks good. I am pleased with your weight gain, though I don’t expect you will continue to pack on quite as much between future visits, even if it starts to look like you put on more than you think you have.” Again, she winked as if letting us in on a private joke that I still didn’t get. I imagined she was saying when my belly popped, it would feel like I’d gained more than I had. Valid point, I supposed.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes,” Austin stated immediately. “What kind of exercise should Becs be doing? She goes to the gym every morning with her best friend, and I’m worried it’ll be too much.”

“Becs is her own best advocate. If she feels too tired, or her muscles, especially in the abdominal or groin region, feel too strained, then she should slow down and rest up. If you’re feeling fine with what you’re doing, everything should be okay. We’ve had a female body builder in here who continued lifting until her eighth month. I don’t recommend heavy lifting, but it’s doable. Yoga is great, as long as you are maintaining balance in the poses. That won’t be an issue now, but when you’re bigger, the center of gravity you’re used to is off and you will probably want a spotter just to be safe.”

“Spotter, got it.” Austin said, since he was apparently transcribing everything the doctor said into his phone. “What about sex?”

“What about it?” Dr. Danvers asked.

“Nothing about it,” I interjected, only to be ignored.

“Is it safe for her to have intercourse throughout the pregnancy?”

“Of course. Unless there’s bleeding, heavy spotting, or cramping she can continue regular sexual intercourse right up until it’s time to deliver. Some women swear by sex that ends in an orgasm to trigger labor when they’re close enough to their due date. As with the workouts and yoga, you will have to experiment with what feels comfortable for you.” Dr. Danvers said to me, instead of Austin.

“Will massage help with the rapid growth?”

My doctor chuckled at his latest question. “Rapid growth?” She asked but didn’t wait for him to elaborate. “Prenatal massage has been known to lower stress and help with the ligaments that pull tight in the groin area and lower back as the body prepares for childbirth.”

“When do you think she’ll need to start wearing maternity clothes?”

Dr. Danvers made eye contact with me that time and grinned widely. “That is a good question and one that Becs will answer for you as soon as her clothes stop fitting her. It is different for every woman and depends on how many pregnancies they’ve been through too. For most first timers, they start growing out of their clothing around the fourth or fifth month. Sometimes, that can happen sooner. It really just depends.”

“Okay, I had more questions, but I can’t remember them all right now.”

“You can always write them down for next time.”

“And you’ll be doing another ultrasound next time?” He asked.

“Yes, we’ll do another ultrasound next time where I can get measurements again, and with any luck, we’ll be able to tell the baby’s gender if you want to know. I will warn you though, my office does not play the gender reveal game. Those parties have become dangerous. It was one thing when people just wanted to color the cake and cut into it to find out if it was blue or pink, but with all the outlandish smoke poppers and fireworks people are using these days, we don’t allow that information out to anyone beyond the patient and whoever she has in the room with her that day.”

“I understand and would never do anything that could harm either of them.”

Dr. Danvers had clearly put two-and-two together. “Shall we go ahead and fill in the blanks on the father’s side of the family while we’re here?”

I nodded my head, letting her know that he was indeed the father-to-be. Then she turned the tables and started grilling Austin about his medical history and that of his closest relatives to make a full profile for our little one.

I wondered if Austin had been to the baby store with Jordan, looking at things for their fake baby, and that’s how he knew what they had on their shelves. I hadn’t even taken a trip to the baby store yet. It made me feel like shit that she had that one up on me still, even if she couldn’t carry a child. That probably made me an asshole, but all my residual anger was stuck focused on what she’d taken from me, and it didn’t leave a whole lot of room for me to be nice about anything that happened to her to make her unable to carry a child.

Once Dr. Danvers got all the information she needed from Austin about his side of the family and their medical history, she headed out with a reminder to stop and schedule my next appointment. The minute we agreed on a date and time, Austin typed it into his phone, and then grinned the whole way to the door.

“Do you want to grab lunch?” He asked as we walked out.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Look, Becs, I know you’re still angry with me and I understand that, but we have to learn to talk to one another again.”

“And we did. We managed to get through an entire checkup together. I think that’s a good enough start.”

“I don’t think it was. You plan on using Clea as your birthing coach,” he reminded me.

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