Ellie has just turned forty when her husband of fourteen years announces that he's met someone new.
This sends Ellie into a deep depression that only her friends can help her out of. They invite her on a girls' trip to the Caribbean. The goal of th...
Gayle and her family had made the final decision and were set to move to LA. She had decided to start a second branch of her firm, and she would be aiming towards selling the big, Hollywood houses. The kids were enrolled to start high school and Xander had been able to transfer from his current firm, to an LA branch. For me that meant, that my best friend would be close by when the baby came. I knew that women often needed their own mother close, when they had their first child; I needed Gayle. She was a huge help and support and she had had two kids herself, so she knew what she was talking about. She offered to help me with the nursery and I jumped at the opportunity.
We had picked out a room on the opposite side of the hallway from our bedroom. Our baby would be sleeping in our room for the first six months or so, but her room was still going to be ready for when she was born. We had painters come and paint the room in egg shell white and then Gayle and I set up lovely wall stickers of bunnies and flowers. We went shopping for furniture and Henry helped assemble everything. It took a couple of days of work, but in the end we had a beautiful room ready for our little Nugget. I found a really comfortable rocking chair for the late nights of nursing or bottle feeding, and for Henry to sit and sing for her.
I was nearing 8 months and everything was getting a little heavy now. Henry was always around me, making sure I was comfortable. I knew he was nervous. Becoming a parent was a huge step in any person's life. But I sensed that he wasn't only nervous about becoming a parent, but also about me and what could happen. He joined me for lamaze classes, preparing us for everything from the birth to coming home with a little baby. He listened closely and wrote notes in his journal. I smiled at him, when he was listening intently to the educator, obviously deep in thought and taking it all in. I put my hand on his back and caressed him, unable to keep my eyes off him. He looked at me and smiled. We were hearing about home birth, where people gave birth in their own homes. That was apparently the it-way to give birth these days. I shook my head at Henry, and he chuckled. "Hospital", I mouthed and gestured at my belly. He smiled and nodded. We were advised to make a birthing plan with the obstetrician. That way we could plan pain management. I booked a consultation with Dr. Walters and Henry joined me.
***
We were having our last ultrasound at Dr. Walters' office. The very last peek at our little girl, before she would be in our arms. We were offered to do a 3D scan, and we decided that would be fun. Dr. Walters put the transducer on my stomach and after a little while, she turned the screen for us to see.
"Oh, look at her little face, she's a beaut!" The nurse exclaimed.
Henry and I both stared at the screen, overwhelmed with emotions. It was a fuzzy image, but it definitely gave us on idea of what she looked like. Henry kissed my hand and blinked a couple of tears away. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
"She's so beautiful", Henry said, his voice a little shaky. He snuffled and kept staring at her little face. She was making little movements, her facial expressions changing. Every now and again it looked like she smiled, and we all cooed.
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"Everything looks good," Dr. Walters said. "She's exactly like she needs to be, and she's made the drop. That means she's changed position and she's getting ready to be born."
I took a deep breath and Henry chuckled. "So soon?" I asked. "I mean, there's a month or so left, right?"
Dr. Walters nodded. "Yeah, but she can come within the next month. Babies tend to chose for themselves." She winked at me and put the transducer away. "Let's go check up on you, Ellie. You can get cleaned up and come into my office, okay?" She smiled and left the room.
Henry sat on the stool with the pictures of our little Nugget. We had a few printed and he was completely lost in staring at her little face. He ran his thumb over her cheek and smiled. I felt weak to the knees seeing him look lovingly at her. He was so proud and happy. I hugged him from behind and kissed the top of his head. He leaned back against me and tilted his head, so he could see me.
"Look what we made," he said with a smile, showing me the picture.
"A little miracle," I said and reached out for him, so we could go get the last check up and make our birthing plan.
***
Dr. Walters checked my weight and measured my blood pressure. "Hmm..." She said and measured it again. I felt a little tense, my eyes found Henry's and he smiled at me, obviously trying to calm me.
"It's a little high", Dr. Walters concluded. "Have you been experiencing any headaches or fatigue?"
I thought for a moment, but Henry beat me to it. "She's been quite tired, but that's normal in the third trimester, right?"
Dr. Walters nodded. "Yes it is", she smiled at Henry. "But at this point in the pregnancy we want to be extra careful to check up on things, because in some cases the elevated blood pressure is a sign of preeclampsia, which can be serious for both baby and mommy".
Both Henry and I must have looked spooked, because she immediately put her hand up and said: "Don't worry! Ellie is doing fine, the baby is doing fine and all we need to do is keep an eye on your blood pressure. Okay?"
I nodded. "So what do I do?" I was feeling nervous, but I trusted that Dr. Walters had it all under control.
"We'll lend you a sphygmomanometer that you take home with you and then you measure your blood pressure after this schedule", she handed me a piece of paper with a schedule.
"Phew, say that three times quickly", I said drily as I checked the schedule. Dr. Walters and Henry laughed.
"It's important you try not to worry about it, Ellie. Here are the orders: rest, low fat and low sodium food, more rest and no stress. And you guys call me in a couple of days for a check-up, okay?" She squeezed my hand over the desk and smiled at us. We both nodded and went home, so I could rest.
