At Dr. R's the other day, in that moment post ultra-sound, pre-consultation, when my job is to quickly de-goop and re-robe, the door to our exam room slowly starts to open. I am bending over, ass to the air, my underwear and sweatpants about a million miles away on the chair in front of me; Bruno is standing by the door, looking at me in horror. I need to spring him into action, but my brain is jammed with a mix of desperation, anticipatory mortification and the perennial pregnancy state of cow consciousness. Words elude me, but I manage to stammer out the kernel of my urgent need: "Prevent. PREVENT!!!"
Bruno presses gently on the door and says, "One moment, please". The door closes again.
We look at each other, and begin to laugh hysterically. I stagger back into my clothes, both of us laughing so hard we have tears in our eyes, and I begin to worry about whether laughter can trigger contractions. Screw it: this feels too good to cause trouble. "Prevent!!," I whisper through the laughter, and we giggle even harder. I can only imagine what they are thinking outside the door.
We open the door and let Dr. R back in, Bruno and I both red-faced and still spitting and sputtering in our hysteria. I try to explain the source, but the moment doesn't translate, and I try instead to calm myself down. I spend the rest of the consult bursting out into fits of laughter while Bruno looks stern. On the car ride home, we relive the moment with each other, laughing loudly all over again.
Our nerves and our relief spill out in our giddy silliness and we take a breath. All four of us have survived another week, another moment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
Laughter is always healthy! You're a pregnant lady... the last thing you need to worry about is whether you look foolish in front of a doctor.
I am following your pregnancy avidly now, and really appreciating all that you have shared, especially as I am in a similar boat with another subsequent pregnancy. I was particularly grateful for what you posted about your decisions regarding prenatal testing... we have our nuchal coming up and I'm trying hard to resist all the anxiety that comes with the genetic counseling. When we had the counseling with our last pregnancy, it brought me right back to our daughter's autopsy results and the complete lack of relief it gave us to still not know what caused her demise. I want to believe in the safety of statistics, but I also know what it's like to be on the other side of those statistics, the tiny percent of cases that don't turn out okay, so ultimately statistics are not very reassuring. And I am angry that that confidence has been taken from us, all of us who have had to experience what most people can't imagine in their worst nightmares.
Hang in there, Lisa. I'm rooting for you all.
Jen
Post a Comment