On Board Conduct Unbecoming

Chapter 35 [The MOST You'll Ever See Of Me]

"Sharon O'Dwyer" Dr. Michaels called.

"We'll have to change that, Doc. It's Flynn now." Andy told him as they followed him into his consulting room.
"Well you two don't do things by halves do you?" the doctor chuckled. "In the space of two weeks you found out you were expecting a baby, AND got married?"
"It really was only to make it all formal Doc, but we both knew that's where we were headed. We just moved it up some." Andy smiled.

Sitting in Dr. Michaels' office again, they were listening to him rattle off a list of possible issues they could face, knowing there was zero doubt about continuing with the pregnancy. They had both researched extensively before the appointment so that they'd feel prepared. They had decided together, that any absolutely necessary ultrasounds would be fine, but that any other testing was too invasive, and would ultimately not change their minds about the baby, so they would forego those.
The doctor pointed out that keeping Sharon's blood pressure under control was the most vital factor.
He'd also given her recommendations on which iron/folate combination would be suitable to keep her levels even.

"Sharon I'd like to see you commit to going on leave a month before your due date" the doctor told her firmly.
"I know how dedicated you are, but because this is a higher risk pregnancy, and because of the stress factors involved in your work, a month is the least amount of time I'd be happy with. If I was to be completely honest with you, I'd prefer it to be a couple of months, but I've tried to argue with you before without much success." He smiled.
"I will commit to a month before my due date... once I know what that due date is." she answered.
"Ok then, let's have another look at this little person, and do some accurate measurements, so that we can give you that date, shall we?" he indicated Sharon should move to the examination table.
"We can almost certainly tell you the baby's sex today, if you want to know that is?" He asked.
"Please, yes. Andrew is convinced it's a girl. I'm not sure either way, but wanting to be prepared and organised, we think we'd like to know." she answered.
"You've certainly popped out in that short space of time between visits" he said as he applied the ultrasonic gel, and started to move the wand to get the view he needed for measurements.

"It doesn't matter how new the equipment is, a baby's heartbeat always sounds like the steady clip-clop of horse's hooves" Andy grinned.
"It's a nice strong, steady heartbeat" the doctor assured them.
Sharon smiled. The doctor continued to take measurements.
"Ok, from the measurements Mr. & Mrs. Flynn" he looked at them pointedly noting the name change out loud "your due date will fall on October 3rd".
"Great Doc. Now, don't keep us in suspense!" Andy prodded.
"While there's no 100% guarantee of accuracy, ultrasound technology has moved ahead in leaps and bounds, and we can be almost positive when I say you are expecting a daughter." He told them.
Without any grace at all, Andy pumped a fist in the air. "YES!" he said "Was I right or was I RIGHT?" he grinned at his wife.
"Can we maybe get a printout doc?" he asked. The doctor promised there would be one waiting for them shortly after the appointment if they wanted to wait a few minutes for it.
"You can book your next appointment for a month's time, but of course if you're worried about anything, or you have questions, you're always welcome to phone in to move your appointment up any time. I am marking in your file, that you will be off work from September 3rd, if not sooner." he said pointedly to Sharon.
"I'll make sure of it Doc" Andy promised.

By the time they arrived in the murder room, everyone was heads down in their paperwork.
"Well... Do you want to KNOW?" Andy asked them, holding up his black and white ultrasound "photo" as he called it.
All eyes rose to them with expectation.
"Andy won. It's a girl" Sharon announced.
"Have you thought of a name yet Ma'am?" Julio wanted to know.
"Oh, now I can SHOP!" Amy squealed, her eyes sparkling.
"Hope she doesn't come out looking like YOU Flynn" Provenza told his partner.
"Do you need a birth photographer?" Buzz asked.
"Congratulations both of you" Tao said.
The questions were fired fast without room for reply, but Sharon pointedly answered each of them.
"Julio, no we haven't even discussed that yet."
"Amy, don't overdo it! They grow so fast at the start."
"I hope she looks JUST like her daddy" she eyed Provenza with a grin.
"I seriously hope that was a JOKE Buzz, because what you see now is the MOST you'll ever see of me, with or without a camera in your hand."
"Thank you Mike." She beamed.
Andy piped up with "The rules, Sharon, the rules". Grinning at her he added "The Captain will be on leave from September 3rd, with a due date of October 3rd if all goes to plan, and I'm about to go and see Taylor to let him know that it's not negotiable."