The Heart Beats

A new day… in so many ways. A new president for our struggling country. A black man in the White House. No, I haven’t blogged or said much about this election. I made a concentrated effort to stay away from the election hype, learning just enough to make an educated decision to cast my vote. So much energy — too much energy in my opinion — was wasted watching, twittering, social networking, talking, e-mailing and so on about this election. Important election, yes. Important to understand what’s going on, yes. Important to vote, yes. But why spend so much of your time and energy feeding the media machine? I dunno. It’s lost on me.

Yesterday was historical to me, personally, as well. Adam and I had our first trip to our obstetrician. I had been looking so forward to the visit, and needed the comfort of knowing my baby was okay. I have a friend who had an ectopic pregnancy, and the memory of it had haunted me. We arrived early, and I eyed the women with their protruding bellies with curiosity and fascination. Adam and I both tried not to stare at the woman who arrived with seven children of various ages in tow, and her belly announcing an eighth — one more and she has a softball team.

The nurse called us back, and we began talking in her office. The person who made my appointment made a mistake. New OB visits are usually scheduled on Wednesdays; they didn’t have a record that I was pregnant. I almost started crying. “No, no, no!” I thought. You can’t make me wait longer. Fortunately, the nurse was very kind and professional and worked me into their schedule with no problems, though she said we were doing things a bit out of order.

First, pee in the cup, which always makes me wish it was easier to aim with my equipment. Next, the ultrasound. I had the image of the tech smearing my belly with jelly and glowing like those girls in movies as she waved her magic wand and my baby’s picture appeared. No, no. I had my arse hanging off the table with my feet in stirrups as she slipped an ultrasound device inside me. It was an odd sensation, especially since I hadn’t known what to expect. But within moments, there he/she was.

I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of seeing this tiny little thing on the screen and knowing that it’s growing inside. And just as I was adjusting to seeing him/her for the first time, the tech pushed a button and the room was filled with his/her heartbeat. 170 beats per minute. My hand tightened around Adam’s, and I looked up at him to see his eyes grow moist and a smile spread across his face. I was overwhelmed.

The nurse took us back to her office for complete medical histories, a few lessons in what I should/should not be doing, introductions to the various services they offer and more. She answered all of my odd questions, and then walked us to the lab where they took ALOT of blood. We return on November 21 to meet with the doctor, have more tests completed and discuss the results of the tests we had yesterday.

We stopped at the pancake house for lunch, and were overjoyed to know that our baby is exactly where he/she should be, is the right size and has a strong heartbeat. And, of course, we’re still scared shitless.

Our first baby picture!