Part 3 - Somewhere in the middle...

When I called to schedule an appointment with my OB, I was told to schedule my first appointment for when I would be 8 weeks along. When the second week of August came around I was getting extremely impatient to see Dr. J. I was very lucky to have been referred to him the previous year after my old OB/GYN went out of practice. At the time, I was very hesitant to return to having a male doctor, but at my first appointment with him for an annual exam, we had a very nice chat during which he made me feel very comfortable, and I was pleased to find out he was as gentle during procedures as he was during conversation.

When my husband and I arrived at the appointment, the nurse took my vitals and asked a million routine questions. Dr. J. came into the room and performed an exam, and was able to actually feel my "little pouch of pregnancy" as he liked to call it. He performed an ultrasound which was just what everyone expects - a little kidney bean floating around in a lot of fluid. The amazing thing was, even though our little bean was extremely tiny, we could see the even tinier heart fluttering on the screen. My husband and I shared one of those looks (that a month before I would've sworn only existed in romance films) and a single tear rolled down my husband's cheek. That's all it took for my floodgates to burst, and I cried - unashamed.

Dr. J. wanted to see us every 4 weeks, and of course there was blood work I needed to have done. He told me that if I had any problems, to call him immediately, and gave me his direct cell phone number. He told me he didn't do that for everyone, that he has an answering service for that, but for reasons he didn't (or couldn't?) explain, he wanted us to call him directly.

That evening, lying in bed embracing my sweet husband, I pictured us with our baby in the middle of our bed. In my vision, I saw a tow-headed baby with skin the color of cream, and chubby cheeks the color of peaches, wearing a pink sleeper and matching pink hat.

I said to my husband, "We're going to have a girl, I just know it - and I think we should call her SoBee."