Page 32 of The Surrogate Mother
Or not.
Dr. Selena Wong came highly recommended, although it’s not like Monica needs a high risk OB/GYN like I would have if I had ever managed to get knocked up. But I still feel reassured when Dr. Wong enters the room with her broadsmile and intelligent eyes. There’s an air about her that makes me trust her instantly.
“Hello.” She holds a hand out for Monica to shake. “I’m Dr. Wong. You must be Monica Johnson.”
Monica nods and takes the doctor’s hand.
Dr. Wong then turns to me. “And you’re… Monica’s mother?”
Oh God. She didnotjust say that to me. Monica’smother? Really? Yes, I’m thirteen years older than she is, but I’m not old enough to… well, I suppose technically Icouldbe her mother. It’s not like we’re one year apart in age. But since people in this country don’t generally have babies at thirteen years old, this is highly insulting.
“Abby is going to adopt the baby,” Monica explains, because I’m too flustered to speak. “I’m serving as her surrogate for the pregnancy.”
“Oh.” Dr. Wong’s eyes widen. “Sorry… I thought I saw a family resemblance.”
“It’s fine,” I mumble. If she saw a family resemblance, couldn’t she have guessed “sister”?
Okay, I’m not going to obsess over this.
“So is it Abby’s egg?” the doctor asks.
Monica shakes her head. “No, Abby’s eggs are no good. We’re using my eggs and her husband’s sperm.”
“Oh!” Dr. Wong gives me a strange look, which I probably deserve. Monica is essentially having a baby with my husband. It’s not like I would have considered this if I weren’t so desperate to become a mother. “Well, that’s great.”
Dr. Wong proceeds to go through Monica’s medical history, which is fairly unremarkable. She’s barely had anything more than a cold in her life. Of course, I alwaysthought I was perfectly healthy until I was unable to get pregnant.
After the questions, she does a pelvic exam, which I insist on stepping out for, even though Monica doesn’t seem to care. Then Dr. Wong comes out to bring me back into the room.
“We’re going to try to listen for the heartbeat with a Doppler,” she explains. “Monica thought you’d want to hear.”
My own heart is pounding in my chest. “Yes, that would be great.”
Monica has her pants on again so that she can lift her gown without revealing her nether regions. Her belly is completely flat. I had no idea it was possible to be nearly three months pregnant and have a belly that flat.Ilook more pregnant than she does.
Dr. Wong dabs gel on her Doppler probe and places it gingerly on Monica’s tummy. Monica shivers and giggles. “Cold!”
“Sorry about that.” Dr. Wong smiles at her. “Okay, now let’s see if we can find that heartbeat. Remember that it’s still on the early side, so I wouldn’t panic if we can’t hear it. We’ll do the transvaginal if that’s the case.”
But then Dr. Wong shifts the probe and we hear it:
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
It’s really fast, but I’ve heard fetus’s hearts are faster than adult hearts. It sounds… well, it sounds normal to me, but what do I know? Actually, it sounds perfect.
That’s my baby’s heart.
“Perfect.” Dr. Wong smiles up at us. “One-hundred-eighty beats per minute, which is normal for ten weeks. It will slow down a bit in the second trimester.”
I feel a lump in my throat and my eyes are tearing up. Allof a sudden, I’m sorry I didn’t invite Sam to come along. I wish he could be here to hear this with me. Our baby.
Monica is gazing down at her belly, her mouth hanging open. “That’s incredible,” she breathes.
And then her eyes start to water. She swipes at them quickly, before the tears can fall, but she’s definitely on the verge of crying. Except why isshecrying?
“Can we get a recording of this?” Monica asks.
Shewants a recording of this? What the hell?
