He Who Conquers Others Is Strong, He Who Conquers Himself Is Mighty

Baby Edelman

Another month dragged on by and finally we were in July. It was the day of my first scan. Hell I was nervous. "babe I'm so excited! I barely slept!" Julian said excitedly as we made our way quickly into the building. I let out a 'hmm' and hurried along beside him. We'd decided that after today we were going to start telling our families and friends- but not the media. So we decided to try and be as incognito as we could. Which is hard when your husband is Julian Edelman... "Pen, everything will be okay I promise" He said, squeezing my hand tight as we made our way over to the desk. I just silently nodded at him and took a deep breath. "Thank you Mrs Edelman, please take a seat and they will call you through" the girl told me with a smile and I nodded again. "thanks" I muttered to her and then turned to find us a vacant pair of seats. 

I sat down in the corner, Julian beside me; slouched back in his chair with his snap back covering his eyes a little. But we were in Boston- I caught a few of the expectant fathers kept giving him the eye but weren't entirely sure if it was him or not. Either that or they didn't like to come over and start a football conversation in the middle of a clinic. I watched as the other women around me shuffled in discomfort or waddled to and fro to the bathroom. Several of them called through before me and I was getting impatient. I know there was a queue, and I had my appointment time, but this was just like time was moving backwards. "do you want some water babe?" J asked me in a whisper. What was it with waiting rooms? No one dare speak above a whisper... "no thanks. They told me to drink plenty before my scan, if I have any more I'll pee myself" I replied, causing a smirk to appear on his face. I gave him a slight smirk back and rolled my eyes at him. "I doubt we'll be waiting too long now though Short stack....Please tell me you're a little bit excited" he asked me with those hopeful perfectly blue eyes of his. I gave him a soft smile and nodded, taking his hand. "I am...I just, I want to know they're okay first." I said, and he squeezed my hand. "he will be" he nodded, "he's made of the best." he grinned, making me giggle. "I love you Babe" 

"love you too Hotshot" I grinned back before receiving a peck on the lips from him. "Mrs Edelman" my name was called out and I shot my head around to look at the nurse. I took another deep breath and we both stood up. Here goes...

...........

"Okay so I am going to apply the gel to your stomach now, and it's going to be  a little cold...." the nurse said as she squeezed the green gel out onto my skin. "A little cold?! Jeez" I jumped as it came into contact with my skin. The nurse smiled at me and giggled lightly as she began spreading it out. "Okay, so we're going to take a couple of measurements of baby. Reconfirm how many weeks you are and do a little check over baby's heartbeat" she said, as she picked up the little wand thingy that she was going to press over my abdomen. I nodded at her and turned my head to look at the monitor beside the couch I was layed on. 

I felt Julian take my left hand in his as she began, and I held my breath...."okay, there is baby" the nurse said, as the fuzzy monochrome picture appeared on the screen, getting clearer as she moved the wand over my skin. Julian's grip on my hand got tighter, "hey there Bubs" he whispered; I tore my eyes away from the screen briefly to look over at him. Both of us with tears rolling down our faces as the sound of it's little heartbeat filled the room. "heartbeat is good and strong..." the nurse said as I looked back to the screen. She pressed a couple of keys on the board in front of her and took a measurement of our little baby. "okay baby Edelman is measuring perfectly for 12 weeks....due date is January 25th." she said. "Congratulations to both of you" she added. "I'm just going to take a photo for you and then we're done" she said brightly, tapping away on her keyboard once again. 

My eyes didn't move from that monitor until she removed the wand from my stomach. It was still hard to process that what I was seeing on there was actually my baby in my tummy. "okay so if you'd like to get cleaned up and get up off the couch when you're ready" she said to me. I took the paper towels and wiped off the gel that was still clinging to my skin and then I sat up on the couch, rolling down my shirt. A loud sniff had me looking up- Julian sitting there with pink watery eyes and a proud smile on his face, had me tearing up all over again. "here you go Daddy" the nurse said, passing him the scan photo. "thank you" he breathed out a laugh as he fought to keep it together. "babe, look...look what we did" he whispered out as he wiped his eyes again. The picture in his hand shaking as he was overcome with emotion. "I know" I giggled at him, blinking away tears of my own. "thank you" I turned to say to the nurse who was sitting smiling at us. She gave us a nod and then after grabbing my purse we made our way to the door.

.........

"I  don't know about you, I'm ready for some food" I sighed to him as we walked outside into the fresh air. Julian chuckled and nodded, "I've taught you well" he said, still fixated on the photo. "man, I was barely holding it together as it was back there, but as soon as she said Baby Edelman, shit, I was a gonner" he sighed, shaking his head. I laughed at him but grabbed his bicep and pulled myself closer to him. "I dread to think what you're gonna be like when she's born" I giggled, and he shook his head. "I wreck." he answered shaking his head. "and it's a boy" he added, making me scoff. "we'll see Edelman" I snorted before climbing into the car.