Finding Islam

57: Ultrasound

No reminder in this chapter, but there is an amazing video in the media section by marhoum Sheikh Muhammad al Mukhtar Ash-Shinqitee ❤️

- KING'S POV -

"Are you nervous?" A'ishah asked, her fingers intertwined with my own as we sat in the waiting room. The day had finally come. We were going to see our baby and hear its heartbeat inshaaAllah.

It was also our anniversary, but neither A'ishah or myself were dwelling on that today. Today was all about our first ultrasound. We were going to hear our baby's heartbeat inshaaAllah and that took precedence over the fact that we had been married for a year.

I guess we would eventually have to get used to this new dynamic. We were no longer the priority - our baby was. Whatever he or she wanted or needed would always come first.

"Of course I am. Aren't you?" I stressed, squeezing her hand as I took in a deep breath. She placed her hand on my knee, stopping the bouncing of my leg effectively while I leaned my head back onto the drywall.

I was a nervous bloody wreck.

"Calm down, King." She mumbled. I felt like the other couples in the room were judging me, probably already having assumed that this was our first pregnancy ultrasound just from my behaviour.

They probably already guessed that the baby was a 'mistake' also, since I was the only male in the room who looked like they were having a panic attack.

Honestly, I was feeling extremely overwhelmed. There were pictures and posters of babies and ultrasound images hung all around the room. A little corner was dedicated to kids toys where there were two young children playing with each other, laughing loudly. Along with this, seeing three women around us with big bellies who were no doubt close to their due date was giving me anxiety.

"A'ishah and King?" Someone called once the previous couple left the examination room.

I released a deep breath as we both stood up and I squeezed A'ishah's hand when I realised it was a male holding the clipboard. He glanced up and smiled at us, extending his hand towards the room to let us through.

We walked towards him as I leaned into A'ishah's ear. "You didn't ask for a female?" I asked her, absolutely prepared to leave the clinic this instant if he was going to be the one exposing her skin and spreading gel onto her stomach.

Hell no.

"I did." She said, seeming flustered and awkward herself.

There was a general rule that us Muslims had to follow when looking for our doctors.
Muslim men should find male Muslim doctors and Muslim women should find female Muslim doctors.
If these weren't available, then Muslim men should look for non-Muslim male doctors and Muslim women should look for non-Muslim female doctors.
If these also weren't available, then, out of necessity due to medical reasons, it was permissible for a Muslim man to be seen by a doctor of the opposite sex and a Muslim woman to be seen by the opposite sex.

We didn't have any Muslim female ultrasound technicians or sonographers in our area, but after that, we were able to find a female one.

So why on earth was this man standing out here with a clipboard in his hands?

It was only when we walked into the room as per his instruction that I felt some relief.

There was a blonde female in her mid-40's sitting at a desk and smiling at us as we entered.

"Hi, I'm Maria Papdopalous. It's very nice to meet you both." She grinned, standing up and getting off her seat. She gestured for A'ishah to take a seat on the ultrasound couch which was in a seated position at the moment. A'ishah took a seat while I sat on the single chair beside the desk across her.