No twins... breathes -- but I SAW IT MOVE!!!!

nospam@example.com (Bobby) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:15:48 -0700

And it was bloody amazing too!!!

The ultrasound, sonogram or whatever you want to call it, was probably the coolest thing I have thus far seen in my life! And I thought hearing the hearbeat was cool… I saw it!!! I also saw the baby’s spine, its little toes, its fingers, and it’s creepy demon-face when the ultrasound saw right through its face. Really did seem like a little alien then…

AND I SAW IT MOVE!!!!!

It was a wriggly little thing. It was giving the technician nothing but trouble (and I apologise for my judicious use of the word "it", Robin — but if I say "the baby" constantly, it may drive people batty…) — and the trouble didn’t surprise me at all. This child will be like both of its parents: a pure, unadulterated, uncut punk-ass. This alien is sooo going to take over the world…

First the baby wouldn’t move. Just kept all its limbs right in the way of the attemtps to take pictures of its insides. Then, all of a sudden, its arm shot UP over its head and the opposite leg kicked DOWN! And our baby was in a semi-superman pose. Then the arm went down — then up again!

And the baby was either sucking its thumb, or putting its thumb against its nose with all finger splayed open and pointing upward while it said "naa nana naaaa naaaaaaaaa".

I’m betting on the latter.

After that, there was no stopping it. The kid was practically doing summersaults!

And no, we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. We don’t want to know. Surprises are peachy! What we do know, is that there is only 1 — count ‘em — ONE… baby in there. Twins would have been an adventure, but one is way more than enough for me for the first go ‘round. The Pregnant Lady is relieved too… she never did figure out how she would feed two of them. Even the thought of it made her breasts hurt…

We also know that the baby is right on schedule. 1st week of May, baby! Can’t wait to meet’cha!

Everything is normal… Robin is just carrying big.

And me? I’m giddy.

This was one of the most true and awesome moments of my life.

I was utterly enthralled.

Robin said that her favourite part of the whole experience was watching the look on my face.

*grins stupidly*

It has a heartbeat!! IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!

nospam@example.com (Bobby) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:52:36 -0600

Tonight, I was going to write the 2nd installment of The Sickness,
as I am still trying to catch the blog up to the actual current
happenings of the pregnancy — but I couldn’t. Today was too
exciting!!! All of you out there who were waiting with baited breath to
see how poor Robin fared with her sickness upon sickness and overall
general discomfort (and I am sure there were a few of you… ), I’m
sorry. You will have to wait.

Why?

Because today was OBGYN day!!!

It
was our first appointment, and Robin was just passed 12 weeks — which
means there was a good chance of hearing the baby’s heartbeat.

Sooooo exciting!

What’s the big deal, you ask? Come ON, man!! We could hear the baby. While it is still this tiny little thing the size of a lime… while it is still inside of her… While…

So freakin’ cool.

So last night we were like a couple of kids waiting for Christmas — or whatever holiday you may engage in that requires you to wait an entire night

before opening a bunch of presents. We couldn’t sleep. Oh, it came in fits and starts, sure, but I am sure you know how that goes. We got up, skipped breakfast, and headed right to the doctor’s office. By the time we got there, we were a little more settled. After all, this wasn’t to be all fun and games… there were questions and forms and… PAP smears. Robin had told me previously that the OBGYN came highly recommended; apparently, we were lucky to get referred to him. Ask any woman, though, and she will tell you — a PAP smear is no fun. At all. And for me… I had developed a fear that I might be expected to be there while it happened…

Ohhh dread!

We watched as the other patients came and went from the inner offices… none seemed the worse for wear. We were momentarily troubled, however, when it became apparent that the young woman who was calling the patients in — and was wearing a stethoscope — was not, in fact, a nurse. She was an intern.

Dun Dun DUNNNNNNNNNNN!

There was now an additional unknown to this equation. Would she be the one performing everything? Was she competent? Is… she going to sit there and watch? We put it out of our minds. Certainly, everything would be fine…

Honestly, I think Robin had an easier time of it than I did — but I can’t speak for her. I am pretty sure that my over-active imagination simply collided with the newness of everything, and the lingering effects of my previous excitement.

~~When our turn came to be called in became quickly apparent that I was, most definitely, a drama queen… er, king?~~

When our turn came to be called in, it became quickly apparent that I was being overdramatic. nods The intern turned out to be very nice — and quite competent insofar as I could tell. She asked us both many questions about our respective health history, as well as that of our families. I had thought I was prepared for this, but I promptly blanked out on a few key issues concerning my family. I have the information now and will have to call it in, but I felt a bit silly at the time.

When the questions were finished, the doctor and his intern invited us to come to the other room so we could continue — I think I froze a bit inside and it must have shown on my face, because, when I asked, ever so casually, if they were going to do the PAP test now and, if so, was I supposed to come along, I was greeted with amused looks and gently told "no". I think the doctor even laughed at me a bit! "No," they said. They wanted to see if they could hear the baby’s heartbeat — after that I could wait outside…

I won’t lie.

I was relieved.

Ohhh, don’t get me wrong, I intend to be in therefore the birth and all that, but there are some things a guy just doesn’t need to see. And before you ladies start (continue…?) scoffing at me, let me ask you this: When was the last time you went with your man/husband/boyfriend/father/friend to watch him get a prostate exam?

Hmmmm?

That’s what I thought.

Moving on…

As Robin got up on the table and things got started, I learned two things:

That the heartbeat might not be easy to find at our current stage in the pregnancy. And…
That the baby I had been talking to and kissing good night these past several weeks, was not anywhere near where I thought it was — it was actually much… lower.

Yeah.

When I mentioned it to my mother later, she laughed at me and said I should have been able to figure that one out… Thanks mom.

I was pretty disappointed that we might not get to hear the heartbeat, and more so when they seemed to be having a lot of trouble finding it. It was really starting to look like it wasn’t going to happen. I was surprised at how much I really wanted to hear it — and now! I didn’t want to wait for a month! I didn’t want to wait for a week — or an hour! I wanted…

Why was it so important to me anyway?

I was thinking about this and battling my disappointment when… it happened.

The doctor stepped in to show the intern a "trick" with the instrument (it’s called a fetal doppler, I believe) that involved angling the sensor higher than you would normally think to, and there it was. This wonderful, beautiful rhythm… a strong and steady cadence of sound. So fast. So… tiny.

That was my baby.

My baby.

My baby.

It hit me in a rush of emotion and clarity. I knew why it was so important to me. It was confirmation. There was now no room for any doubt whatsoever. No chance that it might be some fluke of the body fooling itself into a false pregnancy. No chance that something horrible had happened before this point. No chance that it was anything other than what it was.

My baby.

I thank God, the Universe, Allah, and any and all other conceptions of a higher power for that moment.

I will never forget it.

holy crap, I'm pregnant! (Entries tagged as baby\'s heartbeat)

No twins... *breathes* -- but I SAW IT MOVE!!!!

It has a heartbeat!! IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!

No twins... breathes -- but I SAW IT MOVE!!!!