Forever Young

I sat awkwardly in the chair beside Ember, my teeth digging into my lip. As much as I'd heard about visits to the OB, along with the pictures I'd seen, I was not prepared to see all of the charts and labor facts on the wall. Just by glancing to my left I could see what the normal weights for pregnant women were, as well as the size of a baby through the months. I even caught a glimpse of something called a 'mucas plug' which apparently was a sign that labor was on the way. Surely, some of these things chicks wanted to keep to themselves.


"I'm really glad you came," Ember broke the silence, her hands tugging on the hospital gown they'd given her to wear. "I'm starting to get nervous."


"Don't be nervous," I smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "You peed in a cup like, an hour ago. I'm sure if anything was off in your system they'd tell you by now."


"I'm not nervous about that. I'm nervous about seeing the baby for the first time. All of this will be real."


"More real than puking every morning?"


Ember giggled and smacked my arm just as a tech walked in the room. She was a short woman, with short blonde hair to match. Her skin was pale, but her scrubs were bright blue, which made her appear more cheerful. She offered both Ember and I her hand as she introduced herself.


"Hey guys, I'm Taylor and I'll be doing your sonogram today. Once I get some pictures sent to the doctor, he'll be in to talk to you about your results and your pregnancy so far. Are you taking prenatal vitamins?"


"No," Ember frowned, the both of us realizing we hadn't even thought of that yet.


"That's okay. We have some we can give you to take home, but you should probably go buy the store and buy some, just so you'll have them." Taylor offered a smile and sat down on a rolling chair, flipping through Ember's chart. "So, your chart estimates that you're about four weeks along. How on earth did you find out so early?"


"A blood test. She was feeling really sick so I made her go to the doctor."


"Good call, dad," Taylor winked at me with a smile. "So pretty much, you're in the very early stages of pregnancy and it's odd that you've been having so many symptoms. With that being said, this will probably be a rough couple of months for you. Usually women will feel sick until at least three months in, a lot of them after."


Ember and I awkwardly nodded our heads. We didn't know much about any of this, honestly. We'd just take in everything she said, because really, we had nothing to compare it to.


"It also says here that you're high-risk due to anxiety?" Taylor rose her eyebrow as Ember nodded. "I would advise you to stop taking any medicine if you are, but you can discuss that with the doctor. Pretty much, you're just going to want to keep your emotions under control and try not to get stressed out. Stress can cause a miscarriage, but I don't want you to think that your chances of having a miscarriage are any higher, okay? But if something upsets you, walk away and let it calm down."


I protectively put my hand on Ember's belly and gave her arm a light squeeze. I'll be damned if anyone or anything is going to stress her out. This baby was my world now and no one was allowed to ruin that for us, not even me.


"All right. Since it's still so early on in your pregnancy, we're going to have to do this the uncomfortable way," Taylor frowned, wheeling her chair over to Ember. She propped Ember's legs up so they were spread wide, slid on a pair of gloves and started up the machine. "You're going to feel some pressure. Just try to breathe through it. If you want to go ahead and adjust your eyes to the screen, we'll be seeing the baby soon."


I cringed as I saw the wand she was using. It was long, and now covered in some type of lube so it didn't bother Ember as much. Truthfully, I couldn't help but to mentally compare it to a fancy dildo. Fighting back my desire to laugh, I averted my gaze before I could see the thing go into Ember. I felt her shift beside me and offered her arm another squeeze, just to let her know I was there.


Taylor began pulling up images on the screen, zooming and measuring things here and there. After a minute or so passed, a smile came to her lips and she drew a sqaure on the screen. She then typed out the words:


Hi mommy and daddy!


My heart skipped a beat. It didn't look like much of anything. Seriously, had she not pointed it out right there on the screen, I wouldn't have even know it was there. But that tiny little peanut was our soon-to-be-baby. Tears came to my eyes as I leaned over and kissed Ember's forehead, seeing that she was crying now, too. It was so a special moment. Right in front of us was the life we created. Words cannot express how I was feeling.


"It's too soon to hear the heartbeat," Taylor commented, printing off a single picture for us. "Most people don't even get sonograms until they're about ten weeks, so it's a little hard to tell what's a baby and what isn't. I would set up another appointment in about six to eight weeks, that way we can better check you, the baby and hear the heartbeat. It's really cool, sounds like a little helicopter."


Even though I heard her, I couldn't register what she was saying right now. She slid a picture to Ember, measured a few more things, then it was over. Ember could rest as we waited for the doctor, which meant we could stare at the picture and admire our little peanut.


"I love you," I mumbled to Ember, a small sigh falling from my lips. "Both of you."

Notes

Awwwwwwe!