Nine Months - Val's Story, Chapter 3a

Most of the nine months of my second pregancny were uneventful, other than having unrelenting indigestion no matter what I did or didn't consume. I was incubating this little bundle like a bun in the oven, or maybe like a little Easter ham. My due date was April 21, a week after Easter.

          At twenty weeks, I had the usual ultrasound they did around then to make sure Baby was growing all the right parts in the right places. At that time, ultrasounds weren't as detailed as they are now, but the technician could usually pick out if a boy or a girl was cooking in there.

          When asked if I wanted to know, I emphatically answered, "NO!"

          I hadn't had a clue when I was pregnant with my firstborn, and I didn't want to know now. Very few mothers-to-be feel the way I do, but I wanted to be surprised when the bundle popped out. I felt that if I knew ahead of time, there would be no thrill of discovery at the delivery.    

          One of the three obstetricians working in our clinic at the time, Dr. Skye, was going to give a presentation to colleagues from around the state and needed a willing pregnant woman to offer her unborn child a chance at stardom. Of course, I offered.

          So, a few weeks later, another ultrasound was performed on my growing belly; this time, it was being recorded. I still have a copy of it on an old VHS tape somewhere. 

          Summer had turned to fall – a season that is always too short where we live. Winter brought the usual cold and snow. At some point during that time, I was able to transfer to the clinic in town, saving me the half-hour trip every day. The local clinic was also much more laid-back and less stressful – just what the doctor ordered. And my OB doctor even rotated to that clinic, so I didn't have to take time off for my routine pregnancy checks.

          "Hmmm?" Dr. Skye was checking me one day when I was about 4 weeks away from my delivery date. She pushed on my bulging belly again. "Well, Chris, I hate to tell you, but this baby seems to be positioned butt-down. At this point in the pregnancy, Baby should already be turned with their head down."

          I had worked in labor and delivery at another hospital several years earlier, so I knew what that meant.

          "You should maybe get yourself psyched up for the possibility of a Cesarean."

          I nodded in understanding, but thought to myself, "There ain't no stinkin' way I'm having a C-section. This baby is going to turn."

          The next week, when she checked me, Baby's head was down, pointing at the birth canal. One of the few things this child of mine ever made easy on me.

Nick and the dog we had for a while when we were living in the mobile home. Maybe doesn't have much to do with this story, but it's where we were living when I was pregnant with Val. There were a few pictures I had in my head that would fit better (including one of that ultrasound), but I couldn't find any of them.