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Heartbeats at the Doctor's Office

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The sound of an unborn baby's heartbeat filled Dr. Ed's little office. Once again, I was attending pre-natal appointments and making sure our third baby is healthy and growing.

Dr. Ed moved the dopplar around a bit and then suddenly, "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" There was that familiar sound again, only from the opposite direction. Maybe the baby moved. He moved the dopplar back and we heard that quick rhythmic sound.

I watched a very funny look cross Dr. Ed's face as he checked and double checked. But each time he moved the dopplar, we heard a heartbeat.

"Don't get excited or nervous yet, but I think I hear two heartbeats," he said.

Immediately images flooded into my mind in quick, hazy succession: two babies in the little closet bed, nursing two babies, naming two babies... I had never specifically wanted twins, but I always knew I would be happy if it happened. Twins would be different, exciting. An adventure! I'm sure my heartrate was much faster than Dr. Ed had measured a few minutes before as I waited for him to turn on the ultrasound machine.

Then the fuzzy gray image appeared and we could see the small, indistinct form of a baby: tiny arms and legs and a head. "Just one," Dr. Ed diagnosed. "Looks healthy and normal. It's a good looking kid!"

Slowly my pulse returned to normal. The imaginings in my head of the future began to return to normal too. Just one baby to wake up in the night. Only one to nurse. Only one new dirty bottom to clean. Normal is good, too.

P.S. Our third baby is due to join our family sometime in the middle of July. We are overjoyed!

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