Everything I Need

18

   School has been going great for Lauren and myself since returning from Christmas break. She has had no weird feelings of being watched and I'm really glad because it had me worried. She said at least she knew it was just her being paranoid and her hormones being crazy from the pregnancy.

   I have made sure to keep all the ingredients for the smoothie stocked at home so Lauren can have one everyday at least while plagued with morning sickness. The smoothies have definitely helped because she hasn't been waking up as early to throw up and some days she hasn't had any morning sickness at all. She hasn't even had to leave school early again so I'm glad it has helped.

   I have been working extremely hard with my classes and even increased my online class load for the second semester. My goal was to finish early as a double major and I will actually graduate a year early. I wish I could finish school before our baby is born or at least not long after. While Lauren is at work, I spend my time doing online classes until I have to be on campus. Once I finish on campus, I'm back home to finish my online work for the day.

   Two and a half weeks have passed by in a blur since school started back and today is January 24th which is the day of Lauren's doctor's appointment for another ultrasound and we get to see our little bean. I'm so excited that I didn't want to go to class this morning. Of course Lauren said if she was going to work until time for the 11 o'clock appointment, I had to go to class. I had a class at 9 this morning then two this afternoon with the first one at 2.

   Lauren and I meet at the clinic at 10:45 and walk inside hand in hand. She signs in then we sit and wait for her name to be called. She is looking on Pinterest for nursery design ideas and I'm just looking around the waiting room as I excitedly nibble on my thumb nail. With my other hand I'm tapping on the chair arm impatiently waiting for the chance to see our little bean.

   Suddenly my hand is swatted away from my mouth and Lauren sternly says "stop that" as she also covers my other hand that's tapping the chair arm.

   I look at my wife "sorry, I'm just excited." I lean in and softly kiss her wonderful lips. As I'm pulling away we hear "Lauren James" being called out from a nurse. I grab Lauren's hand as we get up and make our way to the nurse waiting in the doorway. She leads us into an exam room with an ultrasound machine and instructs Lauren to get on the exam table while I take a seat in the chair beside the table. The nurse quickly checks her vitals and asks routine questions. When the nurse is done, she leaves the room and now we have to wait on the doctor.

   A couple minutes pass by then we hear a knock on the door and Dr. Davis enters the room. "Good morning ladies" she says as she looks over Lauren's chart. "Vitals and everything are good so we are ready to check on the baby. Do either of you have any questions before we get started?"

   Lauren and I both say "no" at the same time and Lauren looks at me and smiles. I smile back and take her hand in mine while we wait to see our little bean. Dr. Davis has Lauren to lay back and push her shirt up. She pushes it up to her breast and her flat, toned stomach is on display. It's weird that her stomach is still so flat when our baby is growing inside of her.

   Dr. Davis gets the ultrasound machine ready and a blank black screen appears. She warns that the gel is going to be cold then squeezes it on Lauren's stomach and Lauren sucks in a sharp breath from the coldness. "I know it's cold, just bare with me." Dr. Davis says as she places the wand on Lauren's stomach and moves it a little bit. "You're right at eight weeks so your projected due date is September 5th." The doctor explains as she moves the wand again.

   The image on the monitor changes as a fuzzy black and gray image of the fetus appears and the sound of our little beans' heartbeat fills the room. "There it is." Dr. Davis says excitedly as she moves the wand looking at every angle of our baby. "The baby is nearly an inch long and will start growing fingernails, hair and the major organs will be developed and start working.

   My mouth drops open as I hear the strong heartbeat. Tears roll down my cheeks as I look at Lauren and she is already crying too. I stand up and press my lips to hers in a sweet kiss as we listen to our baby's heartbeat. "That's our baby." I whisper against her lips as I start to pull away. The feeling I have right now is not like anything I've ever felt before. My legs are weak and I feel like I'm floating on cloud nine. I still can't believe we are going to have a baby.

   I sit back down but keep a hold of Lauren's hand. She squeezes my hand and smiles at me with more tears in her eyes. Dr. Davis prints out the ultrasound pictures and hands them to me. As she cleans the gel off of Lauren's stomach, my eyes gravitate to the pictures in my hand. Wow, I can't believe we are going to be parents but I'm so happy to have the greatest woman as a mother of our baby.

   Dr. Davis explains this is Lauren's last visit with her here at the fertility clinic and now she has to see an Obgyn for the rest of her pregnancy. The doctor congratulated us again, prescribed prenatal vitamins and said to set up a 10 week appointment with our Obgyn.

   We kiss goodbye and go our separate ways as we both leave the clinic. When I get home after my last class, I don't see Lauren in the kitchen so I head to the living room. She is not in there either so I checked the bathroom next and she wasn't in there. Maybe she is taking a nap so I head to our bedroom. I hear a moan when I reach our closed bedroom door and I know that was definitely Lauren. I can recognize her moans from anywhere.

   My heart starts racing and I swallow hard as I turn the doorknob and open our bedroom door. I swear I stop breathing as I happen to lock eyes with Lauren because this... this is never anything I thought I would walk in on.