My eyes get big as I watch him squirt lube onto what looks like a giant sex toy.
Dylan gets up to stand on my other side and holds my hand.
The doctor turns away for a moment, and I whisper, “You’d think he’d at least buy me dinner first.”
We both smile, but mine turns to a grimace when the wand gets shoved somewhere uncomfortable. I try to breathe through the pressure. He moves it around for a second, and my nerves go crazy, wondering if something is wrong.
After what feels like forever, he finally says, “There we go. There’s your little guy or gal.”
I thought that when I saw my baby on the screen, it would set my motherly hormones into motion. I thought endorphins would course through me with love and excitement. But as I stare at the tiny blob, I feel…
Nothing.
I feel nothing.
Does that make me a horrible person?
Probably.
I look up at Dylan who is beaming from ear to ear. He’s staring at the screen as if the image on it is the most dazzling thing he’s ever seen. I wish I was having that reaction right about now.
But nope. Still nothing.
Hell, I wouldn’t have even been able to tell what I was looking at if the doctor hadn’t pointed things out to me.
He does some sort of funky doctor math and figures out my due date. I knew when I got knocked up, so the due date wasn’t really a surprise. I’m about eight weeks right now.
After he prints off some photos for us, he tells me I can get dressed and leaves the room. As I put my clothes back on, Dylan looks at the photos. “Leah, this is our baby.”
“Yeah,” I say, trying to muster up as much excitement as I can.
Once I’m dressed, we walk out to schedule my next appointment in a month and then head back to the house.
In the truck, I look over all the stuff in the bag. It’s a lot of information to take in all at once. The thing that stands out to me is a piece of paper that reads: Food and Drink to Avoid While Pregnant.
Oh, that sounds like a real page turner.
Dylan looks over and asks if I’m okay. I reply with, “Yeah, I’m alright. Just tired.”
And guilt-ridden. I feel like the worst mother-to-be in the entire world. I should really feel more of a connection to this baby than I do.
What is wrong with me?
When we get back to the house, Dylan heads into the kitchen to try to find something to make for lunch. Meanwhile, I look over at the banned foods list.
Dylan asks, “What are you looking at?”
“A list of all the things I shouldn’t consume.”
“Ouch.”
“No lunch meat. Minimal caffeine. No alcohol. It’s like they don’t want me to have any fun.”
“Well, two out of three of those things shouldn’t be a shock to you,” he says.
I basically ignore what he said. “Are you kidding me? I can’t have sushi!”
He looks up at me while cutting up some fruit. “Do you like sushi?”