Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970)

by Anderson, Sarah

  “Yeah, I’m due June seventh. I’ve already seen the OBGYN a few times, at campus, and everything looks good. I have an appointment next week with the one around here. Will you go with me mom?”

  “Yes, I will honey. I have one more week off school. Have you felt the baby move yet?”

  “No, not yet; I was really sick for most of the last school semester and am just starting to feel better.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better honey. Go get in bed. I’ll see you two in the morning.” She smiled, slightly.

  “Good night mom, I love you. Thank you for not choking me.”

  “Are you kidding, I don’t want to do that to my first grandbaby…even though I’m still a bit young to be one.”

  “Thanks mom, I’m glad to know you love me too.” I said sarcastically. “It’s nice to know you’ll wait to knock me off until after the baby’s born.”

  “Oh honey you know I love you and you’re not going anywhere. You’re going to be up for two AM and four AM feedings. This nana will help during normal hours. I’ll help but you are responsible for raising this baby.” She said in a firm but loving way.

  “I know mom. I already got a job at Trixie Rox, working part-time. I start next week. I also thought that maybe I could sign up for some classes locally. I don’t want to stop school; I’m afraid that if I quit now I won’t go back.”

  “Honey, I am glad you got a job—children are expensive! And school is a great idea. But we can talk more about that tomorrow. You really do need to get some sleep; it’s been a really long day for all of us.” She said as she steered me towards the stairs.

  Chapter 11: If the Apron Fits

  The next few days passed by quietly. I started my first day of training at the Rox. It went mostly well until Victoria Sweetly came in for lunch being her typical snobby self—making comments to her friends while looking and pointing at me. I knew she didn’t know about the baby because only my family and CeCe knew besides Father John, who was somewhat bound to secrecy and Tru, wouldn’t tell a soul. I shadowed Trudy the whole day, learning the ins and the outs of the small but coveted diner. The food at Trixie Rox is some of the best diner food around. Most of the customers are faithful locals, residents and passer-byes. My uniform consisted of only a small black apron with the Rox logo. I could wear jeans, pants or just about anything other than sweatpants. I was going to need to buy some bigger pants soon. It was pretty laid back except for the lunch hour rush—which was always busy. As part of my benefits at the diner I was allowed to eat one meal a day during my break. Now that I had an appetite, I looked forward to my favorite—cheese fries. The Reuben was pretty good too, though. I was tired after my first day at the Rox and went home and napped.

  Since Christmas Eve, my father avoided eye contact with me and seemed to ignore my existence when I was in the same room. I knew he was angry but it was still hurtful being unnoticed. Today was my doctor’s appointment and my mother, Richie, and CeCe were all going with me. My dad hadn’t said anything to me since that night—not even on Christmas. I wondered if he would ask about the appointment or how the baby was doing. I was starting to question whether or not I would ever have the relationship I had with my dad, again. I was like a stranger to him. My mom told me to give him time and that eventually he would come around. It seemed as if all the men in my life were ignoring me. Even Richie had been busy the last couple days. Richie, at least, ad an excuse—he said he was busy memorizing his lines for Fiddler on the Roof.

  The OBGYN office ended up being about a half hour drive. My mother drove us. Today, I was meeting with the new obstetrician and getting an ultrasound. I had heard that you can usually tell the sex by now and I was getting anxious to see who was in there. Would it be a boy? If so, would he look like Skylar? Or maybe, it was a girl. Would she look like me? I wondered and waited in anticipation. I hoped we could find out today what I was having. We sat in the waiting room for about fifteen minutes of which ten minutes were used to complete new patient paperwork. Richie and CeCe looked through magazines while my mother and I went through the papers. I was getting excited. I hadn’t seen the baby since my first visit to the doctor’s office on campus. Then, the baby was the size of a pinto bean, little and not yet defined. From the illustrated medical drawings on the wall the baby had little legs, toes, fingers and arms that we’d be able to see on the ultrasound.

  “Charlotte?” A lady in pink scrubs called out into the lobby.

  “That’s us.” I said looking at my mom, Richie, and CeCe.

  “Oh, are all of you coming back?” She asked.

  “Yes, is that okay?” I questioned.

  “Sure, we will just need to pull in a few extra chairs. I am going to walk you all to the room and then I will need you to give us a urine sample before you come back,” she said, handing me a sample cup. “Just make sure to write your name on it before putting it in the little window in the bathroom.”

  “Okay, thank you.” I said, reaching out to grab the sample cup.

  I carefully peed in the cup and wrote my name on it. I quietly opened the small bathroom window to sneak it in before someone on the other side opened up their window peeking into mine, to grab my urine sample for testing. I went back to the room where I found my mother laughing with Richie and CeCe. I sat down and waited, again. I hadn’t seen any pictures of the obstetrician and wondered what she looked like. Just then the door opened and the woman with the pink scrubs came back in.

  “Before the doctor comes in I need to take your vitals. Do you have any questions or concerns since your last visit? I see, in your chart here, that this is your first appointment here. You were seeing an OBGYN in Athens?”

  “Yes, this is my first visit here. I was seeing Dr. McKenan in Athens and am finally feeling better, no more nausea. I was really sick in the first trimester and some at the beginning of this trimester. I am, though, having some pretty bad burning in my throat and chest—especially at night. Other than that, I’m feeling good.”

  “It sounds like you might be having some heartburn—which is normal. You can take some Tums for that. They are over-the-counter and pretty inexpensive. Are you feeling any movements or kicking yet?” The nurse in the pink scrubs whose name badge I could now make out said Brenda.

  “Thanks, no I haven’t felt any kicks yet.”

  “You’re welcome. You should start feeling them soon. It usually takes longer to start feeling the kicks with your first pregnancy. It will feel like gas bubbles or butterflies at first until the kicks become stronger as the baby grows bigger.”

  “Char, just to clarify—she didn’t give you permission to pass gas—she said gas bubble-like feeling.” Richie laughed.

  “Ouch!” He yipped after our mother pinched his arm.

  “Thank you Brenda. Please excuse my brother; he forgot his maturity at home.”

  “Oh—I thought that was the father of the baby.” She said earnestly.

  We all broke out in laughter. “No, that’s my brother.” I said, shaking my head.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay; it gave us a good laugh.”

  “Is the father of the baby out of town today?” She asked kindly as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around my arm.

  I paused a moment, “yes, he is.”

  “Okay, maybe we’ll meet him another day. You’re going to want to start thinking about childbirth classes soon. I can give you the fact sheet with the dates and locations of the classes to take home with you.” She said nicely.

  I looked over at my mom who smiled at me slightly. Richie and CeCe were somber looking now.

  “Thank you; that would be helpful.”

  “The doctor will be in shortly. I’ll leave the fact sheet at the front desk for you to pick up when you check out.”

  “Sounds good, thank you again. Have a good day.”

  “You too,” She said as she closed the door on her way out.

  We sat quietly for a moment, waiting for the doctor.r />
  “I can help with the classes if you want?” CeCe offered.

  “That would be nice; maybe you and my mom could take turns—would that be okay with you, mom?”

  “I’m sure I can do that as long as the classes are in the evenings, when I’m not in school.”

  “That would be great, CeCe, if you’re here. You may be at school when they start up.”

  “I can”—she started to say when the door swung open.

  “Hello Charlotte, I’m Dr. Lewis. You were supposed to see Dr. Jacobson but she got called out to the hospital for a delivery. You would have to see me at some point anyway; we have four doctors and two midwives in our practice. We strongly recommended that you see each of us before delivery. We all take turns with being on-call for who covers obstetric care at the hospital so you won’t know who will be delivering until you get to the hospital.” He said in a professional manner while reaching out to shake my hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” I said.

  “I’ve reviewed the records from your previous doctor’s office in Athens. Everything looks good. Your due date is June seventh according to the information I received. How are you feeling—any concerns?” He asked as he opened a drawer and pulled out a clear squirt bottle with blue jelly-like substance inside.

  “Not really. The nurse told me that the burning in my throat and chest is most likely heartburn. She said I could take some Tums to help with the burning.”

  “That’s true.” He said as he pulled open a drawer and pulled out a small Doppler to listen to the baby’s heartbeat.

  He squirted the cold blue jelly on my belly and then placed the Doppler on top and began to lightly press and move the Doppler around. A few seconds later I heard the fast swishing sounds of a little heartbeat. I smiled as I loved hearing the heartbeat. In the midst of all the stress this was causing, I was happy to hear a strong little heartbeat. The previous doctor told me that usually the faster heartbeats are girls but nothings definitive until you have visual proof. Sometimes, they’re so busy moving around in there that their heart beats more quickly.

  “Sounds good, about 156 beats per minute,” he said pulling the Doppler away, before wiping off the jelly with some tissue. “So, you’ll want to make your next appointment with another one of the doctors until you meet all of us and then you can choose anyone of us to see for the rest of the appointments. Everything sounds good. You have an ultrasound down the hall next; any questions?”

  “No, not yet,” I said, smiling.

  “We’ll see you back in a month. You’ll want to start thinking about childbirth classes soon.”

  “I’m picking up the information before I leave today.”

  “Okay, take care, Charlotte. It was nice to meet you today.” The doctor said holding out his hand to shake mine, again.

  “It was very nice to meet you too doctor. Thank you.”

  “He seems nice.” My mother said.

  “He’s a little stiff,” CeCe added.

  “A little stiff is okay as long as they are knowledgeable and good at what they do,” my mother replied.

  “That’s true.” CeCe nodded.

  Richie was silent as he sat traumatized by the large picture on the wall of a baby being delivered, vaginally. He had a look of disgust on his face. “Ouch, they don’t knock you out for that?” He asked, looking at the expression of pain on the woman’s face in the picture.

  “No, they don’t knock you out.” My mother said, laughing. “The mother has to push the baby out; they don’t just crawl out.”

  “Ugh! Poor Char! That’s going to hurt.” He said squeamishly.

  “Yes it hurts; but you forget the pain when you see your baby.” She said, smiling.

  “There is no way you could forget that kind of pain!” Richie shook his head.

  “I totally agree; you are going to need some drugs for that.” CeCe nodded.

  “I read you could get an epidural but then they have to stick a really big, long needle in your spine. Mom, did you have an epidural when we were born?” I asked.

  “They didn’t have them back then—when you were all born.”

  “I don’t know what’s worse—a needle in your back or a watermelon-size thing coming out of…there!” CeCe said with her hands on her hips.

  “I don’t know but I don’t want to think about it yet.” I said, trying to get the image of a watermelon coming out of that small space, out of my head.

  “Richie, are you okay?” My mother asked, laughing as she noticed him looking paler than usual.

  “Yeah, I’m going to stay in the waiting room when you’re pushing that thing out. I’ll say prayers for you out there.” He said, breaking a small sweat.

  We all laughed and headed out the door towards the ultrasound room. We were greeted in the hallway by Brenda, the nurse in pink scrubs.

  “We are in here.” She pointed to the door where the ultrasound machine was set up.

  We filed into the small room. CeCe sat on Richie’s lap since we were a chair short. The room was so cold and there were pictures of Anne Geddes’ babies, dressed as sweet flowers and animals, all over the walls. I was introduced to a tall, slender woman, with a Russian accent, named Margaret, who was the sonographer. She was very nice and helped me up on the extended medical chair. She had me tuck my pants into my underwear and pull up my shirt to just below my bra. Next, she pulled out another squirt bottle full of blue jelly and squirted it all over my belly. I was surprised that the jelly was actually warm this time—which helped since the room was so cold. Immediately, a large black and white picture of the baby appeared on the monitor. I could see the spine and the arms and legs and the head. We had the perfect profile shot of the baby.

  “First, I am going to take measurements of the baby.” She said before continuing, “Do you want to know the sex of the baby?”

  “Absolutely, I’ve been waiting to find out the last few months.” I said excited to finally find out who was in there.

  “Okay, we’ll check for the sex in a few minutes. Now, we need measurements to see how well the baby is growing and to verify the due date. You’re due date is June seventh currently?” She asked as she placed the cursor over the baby’s femur to measure it.

  “Yes, that’s what they told me at my first appointment when they did the ultrasound.” I answered trying to see if I could see anything that identified boy or girl.

  “Okay.” She said keeping her eyes on the monitor as she moved the scanner around my belly.

  As she pressed down more firmly I saw the baby move quickly for the first time. His little arm moved up towards his head and he changed positions.

  “Oh—he didn’t like that.” She said, smiling as she tried to measure the circumference of the head.

  “It’s a he?” I asked as I looked at my mom, CeCe and Richie, whom were all very focused on the monitor.

  “I don’t know yet. I haven’t checked—but now that he’s moved—maybe we can see something.” She said moving the scanner around some more to get the baby to move.

  She continued to move the scanner and smiled mouthing something in Russian, most likely, as I couldn’t discern what she said.

  “Well, I think… that you have…”

  I was hanging on to every word she said and the silence in the room was so loud that everything and everyone froze to wait for the next few words.

  “I think that you have a baby girl.” She said smiling, looking at me for the first time.

  “Are you sure?” I asked, excited and surprised to know that I had a little girl in there.

  “Look over here,” she pointed. “See how it looks like a peach or a smiley face? I am pretty sure that this is a baby girl. She laughed and said “baby boy’s genitalia look like little turtles, with the head sticking out of the shell.”

  “How sure are you?” Richie asked while all the ladies laughed.

  “Hmmm… about ninety-five percent sure.”

  I looked at my mom and she smiled
at me. Next to her was CeCe who shot me an impish little grin. Richie was still trying to figure out how it looked like a peach.

  “I’m going to print you some of these pictures to take with you.” Margaret said.

  I sat there quietly, watching the screen thinking about the little girl in my belly, while Margaret continued to probe and measure the baby. Richie, CeCe, and my mother whispered softly. I was having a little girl. I was still shocked to be pregnant, nonetheless find out I was having a little girl. With all the boys in our family I never thought I’d have a girl. This was starting to feel real—even more than the morning sickness I had every day for the first trimester or so.

  Margaret finished up measuring a few moments later, smiled, and wiped off most of the jelly that was now cold on my belly. It still felt sticky so I grabbed for more tissues behind me. She then wished me well and gave me the pictures of my little girl. Down the hall, we stopped at the front desk and I made my next appointment. The lady who checked me in handed me the childbirth classes’ fact and scheduling sheet. I took them and we walked out to the car slowly while I looked at the ultrasound pictures again.

  “So, what are you going to name her?” CeCe demanded, immediately.

  “I don’t know.” I said turning the picture sideways to see her profile better.

  “Cecilia is a really good name.” CeCe said bright eyed and grinning.

  “Char—what about Evi? That’s a beautiful name.” My mother said as she pulled out of the parking lot heading towards the highway.

  “I love the name Evi but Grandma Rose might be hurt if I didn’t pick her name.”

  “You could combine them,” Richie muttered from the back seat.

  “Evi Rose?” CeCe asked?

  “That’s nice.” My mother said.

  “It is but I’m not sure that it’s the right name—as much as I love them both.” I said. “It’s kind of like a wedding dress. I think when you find the right one, you just know. I think when I find the right name, it’ll be undeniable.”