Doctors visit - #2
Week 10: Day 70 – Still sick.
Thursday morning was our second trip to the doctor’s office. The plan was; I would accompany Tracy, listen to the heartbeat and then hightail it to the waiting room before any medical stuff could transpire. Apparently the nurse girl, who probably has a more formal sounding title on her business card, had a different itinerary. She informed us that the first item of business was to take blood. I decided to gut it out and stay. Tracy had no such choice to make.
Nurse girl inserted the needle and took a vial of blood. And then another. And another. By the third vial (or should I say, vile), it was a race to see which one of us would pass out first. Knees were weakening. We were like the final contestants in Fonzie’s dance marathon demonstrating all the stability of a Weeble. Yes, we were wobbling but these Weebles do fall down.
Luckily, the blood sucking stopped. She removed the vials from the room and allowed us a moment. Tracy leaned back to rest, reading the comics strategically tacked to the ceiling. I took a deep breath, scratched the recently grown Chia Pet on my chin, collected myself and I was back in the game.
The doctor came in the room and, with tape recorder in hand, we were ready.
Doctor – "How are you feeling?"
Tracy – "Terrible."
Doctor – "Excellent. That means the baby is healthy."
Did she just say excellent?!
In an Ally McBeal moment, I imagined myself springing from my chair and grabbing the doctor in a viscous choke-hold like Homer Simpson on Bart... Why you little…. If being sick means having a healthy baby then we are growing our own Gunner Peterson. I mean, this kid is going to pop out doing Billy’s Tae Bo Boot Camp.
I snapped back to reality to see the instrument placed on my wife’s belly. It was an amazingly simplistic procedure to hear the heartbeat. I’m not sure what I was expecting but she just placed in on the stomach and presto! - there was noise. At first just a gentle ticking. Then the doc repositioned the microphone and little Sally was loudly chugging away full steam. Strong like bull. We both agreed it sounded like she was doing a load of laundry.
For a moment, as we listened to this delightful sound, I saw the green of sickness wane from my wife’s face replaced, albeit briefly, by a smile that clearly said, "Ok, this makes it worth it." And for me, that look on her face made it worth it.
Thursday morning was our second trip to the doctor’s office. The plan was; I would accompany Tracy, listen to the heartbeat and then hightail it to the waiting room before any medical stuff could transpire. Apparently the nurse girl, who probably has a more formal sounding title on her business card, had a different itinerary. She informed us that the first item of business was to take blood. I decided to gut it out and stay. Tracy had no such choice to make.
Nurse girl inserted the needle and took a vial of blood. And then another. And another. By the third vial (or should I say, vile), it was a race to see which one of us would pass out first. Knees were weakening. We were like the final contestants in Fonzie’s dance marathon demonstrating all the stability of a Weeble. Yes, we were wobbling but these Weebles do fall down.
Luckily, the blood sucking stopped. She removed the vials from the room and allowed us a moment. Tracy leaned back to rest, reading the comics strategically tacked to the ceiling. I took a deep breath, scratched the recently grown Chia Pet on my chin, collected myself and I was back in the game.
The doctor came in the room and, with tape recorder in hand, we were ready.
Doctor – "How are you feeling?"
Tracy – "Terrible."
Doctor – "Excellent. That means the baby is healthy."
Did she just say excellent?!
In an Ally McBeal moment, I imagined myself springing from my chair and grabbing the doctor in a viscous choke-hold like Homer Simpson on Bart... Why you little…. If being sick means having a healthy baby then we are growing our own Gunner Peterson. I mean, this kid is going to pop out doing Billy’s Tae Bo Boot Camp.
I snapped back to reality to see the instrument placed on my wife’s belly. It was an amazingly simplistic procedure to hear the heartbeat. I’m not sure what I was expecting but she just placed in on the stomach and presto! - there was noise. At first just a gentle ticking. Then the doc repositioned the microphone and little Sally was loudly chugging away full steam. Strong like bull. We both agreed it sounded like she was doing a load of laundry.
For a moment, as we listened to this delightful sound, I saw the green of sickness wane from my wife’s face replaced, albeit briefly, by a smile that clearly said, "Ok, this makes it worth it." And for me, that look on her face made it worth it.
posted by Derek, Tracy & Calvin | 10:47 PM
2 Comments:
Yes indeed, hearing the heartbeat was quite amazing and confirmed for me that there is something truly there that requires everything I've got. Only a few more weeks and then "they" say I'll wake up one day and feel amazing with all this bottled up energy and full of life feeling. "They" better be right!!!
:-)
It is amazing to hear your baby's heart beat for the time! Sounds like you're hanging in there for your wife. Congratulations and good luck with sally :)
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