In The Long Run

In The Long Run (19)

"Everything looks good. You can make out everything clearly. There's the head and the feet, there's an arm, so everything is right side up at the moment. In about four weeks the baby will have turned upside down into what you can call the 'ready position' to prepare for a natural childbirth. Its vitals look good and the little heart is beating away as normal. I'd say the both of you are in perfect health, except for the calcium deficiency, but that's easily fixed."

Dr. Gustavo talked on, but the picture on the screen had me enamored. Every time I saw our baby I fell a little more in love with it. In ten weeks time, maybe even sooner, I would be a mom and Wayne will be a dad and to be honest, at this point I was more excited than any other pregnant woman in history. I just couldn't wait anymore. Dr. Gustavo printed the pictures again and handed me the towel to wipe the gel off.

"Okay, so we're keeping to seeing each other every two weeks and as you get closer, you can come in if you have any questions or as you feel it's needed. Have you booked yourself a room yet?" The doc asked as he moved out of the little room and into his office where Wayne and I followed him.

"Yip, we confirmed it yesterday." I answered rather proudly since we actually had a plan.

"That's good. Have you thought about taking birth classes?"

"Birth classes?" Wayne echoed, clueless as to what it was.

"Yeah, birth classes. You know? That weird class the parents take in the movies where an instructor teaches you how to breathe and stuff like that." I explained to him.

"Oh, yeah, we haven't really talked about that." he said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. I think he realized that none of the movies we've watched that involved a pregnant person had a pregnant teenager as the lead character.

"Well, I'd recommend it. It will help Jamie cope with the pain and it'll help you to stay conscious through it all."

I stifled a giggle and Wayne jumped right in to defend himself. "I don't have any trouble staying conscious through stuff like that! I watched a cow give birth on my uncle's farm once when I was a kid and I didn't have any trouble with that."

"You did not just compare me to a cow." I said, lacing my voice with irritation.

"No, I didn't. I was just trying to prove a point."

"What? That I'm a cow?"

"No! I was..." I interrupted him before he could finish.

"I get it! Stop trying to explain, you're only making it worse."

He immediately shut his mouth, looking a little petulant in doing so and we both turned back to the doctor. "So you're saying that we should go for birth classes?" I asked to make sure it was really necessary.

"Well it's not mandatory. Either way, you're still going to have the baby. Taking a class or two will only make things easier."

Wayne and I looked at each other, silently confirming that the answer was yes. "Okay, sure. Where do we sign up?" Wayne asked.

"There's a class right here at the hospital on Saturday mornings. You just give your names up at reception and show up. No charge."

"Cool. Well thanks doc. We'll see you in two weeks."

"Okay, enjoy the rest of your week." he said kindly, escorting us out of his office. As soon as his door closed, I made a dash for the bathroom, Wayne laughing behind me. I proceeded to relieve myself and when I was done, Wayne was waiting for me outside the bathroom. He held his hand out for me to take and took it instinctively, lacing our fingers together. It was such a natural thing by now that I never even thought about it. We signed up for the classes at reception and headed out to my mom's car. Wayne still hadn't gotten a car, but he only had about a month left before he'd have saved up enough for one. I got into the car and buckled my seatbelt as Wayne got in too.