Dos Bambinos!
Now let me set the stage on one of the more shocking moments in my life for you....
A guy doesn't have that concrete reminder of the realities of pregnancy that a woman does. So it can be a little harder to wrap your head around the idea of being a father in eight short months. It takes a lot of getting used to the idea in order to get past the very surreal nature of it. For the first several months it's almost like your wife is just fighting a really long term low grade virus. Mostly she's constantly tired, nauseous, and more cranky than usual. And she won't drink adult beverages with you any more.
For expecting parents, the ultra-sound is a really amazing thing. It's kind of like a head start on getting to know your kid. It's also a good kick in the pants to remind you that you really are going to be the parent and in complete charge of a whole 'nother human being in a few months. With good equipment you can see them fairly well and you can watch them move and do whatever it is they do in there. I was thirteen when my little sister was born, so my nine year old brother and I got to see the ultra-sound so I knew a little about what to expect.
With all that in mind, I was really excited when the first ultra-sound rolled around. It was her first natal care appointment at week eight. And back at that time we were still trying to decide between doctors and midwives so we went to her current lady parts doctor. Like I've said before, that was probably a mistake. The doctor was in too much of a hurry. Her ultra-sound equipment wasn't that good, and she wanted us out of there fast. So she took a quick look. As soon as she found the embryo she checked its heart rate and called it a day. She put The Mrs's fears to rest that it wasn't twins and shoved us out of the office. I was very disappointed because I didn't see anything but a blur. Didn't even get to hear the heart.
A month later at our first midwife appointment we decided to do a little genetic testing so they sent us to the Vanderbilt Women's Health Imaging Center for another ultra-sound. This was exciting. They have the latest and greatest equipment over there, and the test was going to take awhile so there would be lots of time to get to know my baby. Plus she (I was already thinking of the baby as a she by this point. I'm still not sure why.) had graduated from embryo to fetus and should be looking a lot more human now.
We scheduled the testing for the morning before we went on a long weekend vacation in Memphis so we were just stopping by on our way out of town.
We went in all innocent and unsuspecting. The Mrs. got up on the table and the ultra-sound tech did whatever it is that medical technicians do. She dropped the probe onto The Mrs's stomach and I was watching the screen closely. I had a better look at the screen since I was standing beside the tech, so I was already staring dumbfoundedly at the screen trying to decide if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing when the news percolated thru to The Mrs.
My recollection is a little fragmented, but the following is my best reconstruction of the next minute or two.
I've had a couple of months to get used to the idea, but it's still pretty crazy when I really think about it. When we left there we actually spent the first half of our trip to Memphis calling up various friends and families and dropping the bomb on them. Witnessing all their shock was very therapeutic for getting over our own.
I'll never be able to name them this in reality, but for blog purposes, their names are Luke and Leia.
A guy doesn't have that concrete reminder of the realities of pregnancy that a woman does. So it can be a little harder to wrap your head around the idea of being a father in eight short months. It takes a lot of getting used to the idea in order to get past the very surreal nature of it. For the first several months it's almost like your wife is just fighting a really long term low grade virus. Mostly she's constantly tired, nauseous, and more cranky than usual. And she won't drink adult beverages with you any more.
For expecting parents, the ultra-sound is a really amazing thing. It's kind of like a head start on getting to know your kid. It's also a good kick in the pants to remind you that you really are going to be the parent and in complete charge of a whole 'nother human being in a few months. With good equipment you can see them fairly well and you can watch them move and do whatever it is they do in there. I was thirteen when my little sister was born, so my nine year old brother and I got to see the ultra-sound so I knew a little about what to expect.
With all that in mind, I was really excited when the first ultra-sound rolled around. It was her first natal care appointment at week eight. And back at that time we were still trying to decide between doctors and midwives so we went to her current lady parts doctor. Like I've said before, that was probably a mistake. The doctor was in too much of a hurry. Her ultra-sound equipment wasn't that good, and she wanted us out of there fast. So she took a quick look. As soon as she found the embryo she checked its heart rate and called it a day. She put The Mrs's fears to rest that it wasn't twins and shoved us out of the office. I was very disappointed because I didn't see anything but a blur. Didn't even get to hear the heart.
A month later at our first midwife appointment we decided to do a little genetic testing so they sent us to the Vanderbilt Women's Health Imaging Center for another ultra-sound. This was exciting. They have the latest and greatest equipment over there, and the test was going to take awhile so there would be lots of time to get to know my baby. Plus she (I was already thinking of the baby as a she by this point. I'm still not sure why.) had graduated from embryo to fetus and should be looking a lot more human now.
We scheduled the testing for the morning before we went on a long weekend vacation in Memphis so we were just stopping by on our way out of town.
We went in all innocent and unsuspecting. The Mrs. got up on the table and the ultra-sound tech did whatever it is that medical technicians do. She dropped the probe onto The Mrs's stomach and I was watching the screen closely. I had a better look at the screen since I was standing beside the tech, so I was already staring dumbfoundedly at the screen trying to decide if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing when the news percolated thru to The Mrs.
My recollection is a little fragmented, but the following is my best reconstruction of the next minute or two.
Tech: "Nobody told me this was a twin pregnancy!"You read that right folks. We're gonna have two babies.
The Mrs: "Shut up!!!!" (I'm not exaggerating thee exclamation points in the least.
She claims to have thought it was a weird joke.)
W: "Nobody told us either!"
Tech: "Oh!. Well surprise! And
congratulations, it's twins."
The Mrs.: (palm to forehead)
I've had a couple of months to get used to the idea, but it's still pretty crazy when I really think about it. When we left there we actually spent the first half of our trip to Memphis calling up various friends and families and dropping the bomb on them. Witnessing all their shock was very therapeutic for getting over our own.
I'll never be able to name them this in reality, but for blog purposes, their names are Luke and Leia.
posted by W at 9:51 AM
1 Comments:
Congrats!
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