--chapter one - page nine--
“I hate the doctor,” Malu protested stubbornly. Management had set them up for an ultrasound appointment that Nick had dragged a grumpy Malu to.
“I do too,” Nick admitted. “But you want to make sure our baby is going to be safe, don’t you?”
Malu grunted. “What I want is to take a leak.”
Nick laughed. For the ultrasound to work, Malu had to have a full bladder. She was instructed to drink 32 ounces of water before the appointment, and not relieve herself. “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon enough.”
The doctor entered the room at that moment. “The other option we could have done with your ultrasound was to stick a probe up your vagina, like a tampon. But most people tend to like this method better.”
Malu and Nick both winced at the other option. Though technically adults, the prospect made them both squeamish.
“No, I think you made the right decision,” Malu agreed. “You just better hurry up, or I might piss all over this hospital bench of yours.”
“Remind me again, why did she have to come here on a full bladder?” Nick was eager to learn everything that had to deal with pregnancy. His eagerness to learn surprised his band mates and the people who knew him best, but was a source of annoyance to Malu. Although it was her body that was going through changes, Nick seemed to know more of what was going on then she did.
“A properly filled bladder is necessary because the ultrasound beam does not travel well through the gas in the intestines. The filled bladder helps move your intestines out of the way.” Doctor Jakobs said, as she must have told hundreds of expecting parents before them.
Nick nodded, mentally etching her words into his brain. It was his child growing inside Malu, and Nick wanted to be sure everything was going according to plan. The doctor pulled Malu’s tee above her ever-growing belly. Malu flinched whenever she caught sight of her trim figure slowly disappearing. But it warmed Nick’s heart to see the tiny bulge above the waistline of her jeans. Tiny white stretch marks had appeared at the bottom of Malu’s torso. Nick yearned to reach out and run his hands along them. But something stopped them. Although they’d spent a night exploring each other’s bodies in the Keys, things were different now. Nick let Malu initiate any physical contact between the two.
Stomach revealed, the doctor began to spread a gel across her smooth copper skin. She looked to Nick, knowing he’d be seeking an explanation. “This is to help facilitate the transmission of the sound beam from the transducer to the skin.”
Nick and Malu looked expectantly to the monitor. It took the doctor a few moments to locate the fetus, as she was still early along in the pregnancy. But after a bit of searching, a tiny heartbeat was apparent on the screen. Nick and Malu looked at each other, speechless. The feeling that swept over them was indescribable. Together, they’d created a life.
“From everything I see here, the baby looks perfectly healthy to me.” Dr. Jakobs interrupted Malu and Nick’s silence a few moments later, after carefully examining the ultrasound. “Do either of you have any questions for me?”
“When do we get to know the sex of the child?” Malu and Nick asked at once. Dr. Jakobs stared at the two oddly, a little dumbfounded by their rapid, unison response. Nick felt a need to justify their strange outburst. “We have a pool going on its sex.”
“I see,” Dr. Jakobs replied, as she nodded her head. She still seemed a little uneasy that these parents-to-be had money on the sex of their future child. “Unfortunately, the fetus is too small to decipher that at this moment in time.”
A little glum and dismal, both Nick withdrew his hands from his wallet. He had been ready and waiting, just in case he’d lost the bet. Dr. Jakobs couldn’t help by following up with a question. “So what do you all think its going to be?”
“A pretty little girl with Nicky style!” Nick shouted gleefully.
Malu looked at Nick with disgust in her eyes. “You did NOT just quote a Puff Daddy song.”
“I thought you liked hip-hop,” Nick questioned. “Besides, its P. Diddy now.”
“Puffy is not real hip-hop. I gotta get you off this mainstream crap you listen to. Introduce you to the underground scene,” Malu shook her head. She hoped her daughter would inherit HER taste in music.
“Let’s get back to this baby here,” Doctor Jakobs interrupted. She’d seen a lot of expectant parents before, but none quite like this couple. Neither appeared to be responsible enough to take care of a child, but that passion was in their eyes. Give them six more months to grow up, and they’d do okay. “Everything here looks okay. I’ll give you some prenatal vitamins, and we’ll set up an appointment for another ultrasound. That should be around your twentieth week- in another month-and-a-half.”
“What should we be expecting until then?” Nick asked. It was a good question. Malu scolded herself for not thinking of it first.
“Well, she’s already into her second trimester. That means all that morning sickness you’ve been going through is probably on its way out.”
“Thank God.” Malu mumbled.
Nick shot her a worried glance. “You didn’t tell me you were having morning sickness.”
Malu shrugged. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. Just kinda like getting cramps during my period or something.”
“Still, you should have told me…” Nick sounded almost hurt. “I want to go through every step of this pregnancy with you.”
“Women in their second trimester,” Doctor Jakobs was forced to interrupt again, keeping the couple on track. “…usually experience a burst in energy. This normally results in a sexual peak. And since you won’t have to worry about birth control, this can be a fun time for both of you.”
Nick and Malu looked at each other awkwardly. They’d sworn off sex, and the thought of consummating their relationship once again was, well, weird. Their relationship was intense enough to begin with, without having to calculate in the added awkwardness of sex.
“At the end of the trimester, the baby will be finishing its development. That’s when you’ll be really putting on the weight. Also at that time, you’ll be able to feel the baby moving. This will be an exciting three months, for all of you.”
...to be continued...
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