The Number Field

Our first prenatal appointment was about three weeks ago, the morning after a big storm was scheduled to blow through. It wasn't as bad as some had predicted--around here it almost never is, last winter notwithstanding--but we did have enough of a slushy mess that morning that I called the doctor's office to make sure that they were still open. Jenny dropped Elena off at her friend Saoirse's house; we thought that if we were both there, it would be too obvious and we didn't want to let the news out at that point.

During Jenny's previous pregnancy, our experience with the doctor was very positive from day one. We had a high standard of comparison for the new office, and were not impressed with the impersonal processing at the front desk and nurse's station. Eventually a nurse showed us to an exam room where we met the doctor. Jenny had a strong word of mouth recommendation, but we were still waiting to find confirmation that it was the the right office for us. When the doctor finally joined us, she put our fears to rest, listening patiently to our concerns and giving reasonable answers.

After question and answer session, it was on to the main purpose of our visit. The doctor confirmed what we already knew. She fired up the ultrasound machine and showed us the first video of Moonbeam, heartbeat and all. The baby appears normal and healthy. According to the doctor, there is almost no differentiation in embryo size at ten and a half weeks, so the due date she gave us (August 12) should accurately represent a full term, although Jenny's hopeful that this baby will be early like Elena.

We told Elena about what's happening. As many toddlers do, she now thinks that everyone--including her--has a baby in their tummy. As a result, she wants to show everyone her tummy and look at theirs. We saw my parents just after we told her but before we were ready for them to know. At some point she started pointing at midsections and talking to them about babies in tummies. Thanks to her garbled enunciation they didn't understand what she was saying, so she didn't blow our cover. But now we're ready for everyone to know, so if you see Elena, feel free to ask her about it.