It’s Friday mid-morning, and Carson is sitting with me in the waiting room of my new OB’s clinic. Dr. Bahati had great reviews online, and she’s a woman, which made me more comfortable. I’ve got a lot of questions about if and how my endometriosis will impact my pregnancy and if the baby is okay after the accident.
Carson’s leg continues to bounce up and down next to me, so I ask, “Are you anxious?”
“One hundred percent. Aren’t you?”
“I have so many thoughts, questions, and concerns running through my mind at a constant rate that, at this point, I think my brain is too exhausted to be anxious.”
“I get that. Did you write down your questions like the article we read suggested?”
“Yes, brother bear.” I shoulder-check him, and he rubs his upper arm, pretending like I could actually hurt him.
“Good. I wrote mine out, too.” He proceeds to show me a note on his phone with twelve questions.
“Twelve? How do you have twelve questions aboutmypregnancy?”
“It’s not just about you now, Mack. I have questions about how my little niece or nephew is doing, too. Speaking of . . . question number two: when do we get to find out the gender?”
“From what I read online the past few days, I think I could find out today if they do an ultrasound. But I decided I don’t want to find out the gender right now. Maybe not until the baby is born.”
“What? How are you going to plan? Can I have the doctor slip me a piece of paper with the gender on it? I don’t think I can wait until the baby is born.”
“Well, I was thinking that if I do find out the gender beforehand, I should probably wait for Griff to be here, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Have you thought more about how you want to tell him?”
“Like I said before, it’s not something I can say in a text or leave on his voicemail. I guess I’ll have to wait until he’s home for Christmas.”
Carson stiffens beside me. “Didn’t Mom and Dad tell you? Jack sold their house and moved to Boston right around Thanksgiving.”
“What?” I ask in disbelief. “I just thought he went to see Griff for Thanksgiving because he had games that weekend that wouldn’t allow him to come home.”
“Nope. Mom said Jack took the Chief of Surgery job at a big hospital in Boston so he could be closer to Griff. I don’t see why, though. G is only going to be there for another year before he signs with Colorado.”
“And he already sold their house?”
“Yeah. He’s already moved out and everything.”
I can’t believe I’ll never step foot in that house again. It feels like my childhood home has been taken out from under me. I feel cheated that I didn’t get to see it one last time before he sold it.
“So how the hell am I supposed to tell Griffin he’s going to be a dad?”
Before Carson can answer, I hear my name called by a nurse in mauve scrubs holding a clipboard.
“Hi, that’s me,” I say and hold up my hand. “Is it okay if he comes back with me?” I ask and point to Carse.
“Absolutely. Dad is welcome to join you for any of your appointments.”
“Oh, no. He’s not the dad. He’s my twin brother.” I quickly correct her.
The nurse’s cheeks tinge with embarrassment. “My apologies. Yes, your brother is welcome to accompany you.”
We walk down a hallway, stopping when the nurse asks me to step on a scale. Once I get weighed, I realize I’ve only gained two pounds. I wonder if that’s normal. I’ll have to remember to ask the doctor. I do have a small swell to my lower abdomen, though I wouldn’t necessarily call it a bump yet at this point. The nurse also has us stop by the lab to get a urine and blood sample from me.
We’re taken to a room that has photos on the walls of a woman’s bump, a woman holding a newborn baby on her chest, and a woman nursing her baby. There are also diagrams hanging on the wall of the female anatomy. I don’t miss how Carson’s eyes widen as he takes in the room’s decor. Leave it to Carse to make me laugh during a stressful situation.
The nurse asks some standard health history questions, takes my vitals, and then says, “It looks like your urine test is already in the system. Congratulations, we can confirm you are definitely pregnant. Your hCG levels are in range for when you said your last period was, but we will do an ultrasound to get a better measurement of your due date. Do you have any other questions for me before I grab Dr. Bahati?”
“No. Thank you.”
