Chapter 6 #2
Dr. Frog looked at me with a softened smile.
“You know I don’t know that either way right now.
But what I do know is that there is a possibility that you have a healthy pregnancy.
There are many women with endometriosis that have gone on to have babies.
Like I’ve always done in your earlier pregnancies, we’re going to watch you closely. ”
Tafari cleared his throat before he stood, then came over to stand next to me. “What does that mean? When you say that we’re going to watch her closely. What will that entail?”
“Mr. Seasons, I’m so happy that you asked.
What that means is check-ups more often.
I’m going to want to do more ultrasounds to check how the pregnancy is going.
As Pril already knows, she is considered high risk.
Saying that does not mean that something will go wrong, but we want to keep an eye on her and the baby. ”
“Is there anything that she shouldn’t be doing? Like should she be in the bed or something?” Tafari asked. He side-eyed me as his way to silently warn me that he would keep me in bed if he had to.
Dr. Frog chuckled. “No, she doesn’t need to stay in bed, but she does need to take it easy. She can work as normal, but I need her to rest. I want you to cut the number of appointments you take by three a day for now. Can you do that?”
My doctor knew how hard I worked as a nail technician because she was one of my clients. I generally took appointments as early as eight in the morning and as late as nine at night. Before I could respond, my loving man responded for me. “Yeah, she can do that. She will do that.”
Dr. Frog loved to hear that. Her cheesy ass smile said as much. “Now that we have that squared away, let me do a little check. I do want to do a vaginal ultrasound just to see how far along you are if that’s alright.”
I let her know that it was fine. While she did her check, she went over what could occur during my first trimester.
She mentioned that spotting or cramping could happen.
I knew all of this, so she more so went over it for Tafari’s benefit.
He listened intently and asked questions.
When he asked about sex, she told him that it was fine as long as I was comfortable.
We were able to hear our baby’s heartbeat during the ultrasound. So many emotions ran through me when I heard it. Fear, excitement, anxiety, joy, and hope were all tossed in the air. I wasn’t sure which one would hit the ground and settle there. I prayed it was joy.
Some Time Later
Let’s Tell The World . . .
Twenty-two weeks! I made it to twenty-two weeks in my pregnancy.
Although grateful, it didn’t come without some concerns.
The first concern that was checked heavily was where my bean decided to implant.
With the scarring in my uterus, my bean implanted lower than normal.
It was what they called low-lying placentas.
There were levels to the low-lying placenta and mine was marginal.
The risk of low-lying placenta was that it could cover your cervix which was a bad thing. The marginal placement meant that it didn’t cover my cervix, but it was close. Dr. Frog watched me closely. All of these appointments put me on edge.
Usually, pregnant women went to the doctor once a month until around their twenty-eighth week, then it increased.
I’ve been to the doctor twice as much because my bean wanted to chill on the low side of the uterus.
There were concerns about possible blood flow issues through the umbilical cord that could affect my bean’s growth.
Dr. Frog continued to assure me that I was good, but she just wanted to make sure.
My anxiety was more of an issue in my first trimester than my body. Tafari and my mother helped me keep it at bay. I loved them so much.
Now that I was in my second trimester, there was a host of new concerns it seemed.
The light spotting and sharp pains that I felt sometimes were my biggest concerns.
The pain was tricky because it felt like the same pain that was caused by my endometriosis, but I was pregnant now. How could I really tell the difference?
The pelvis pressure wasn’t all that bad, but I appreciated that my doctor took every concern I had seriously. She never downplayed my concerns or fears which was important to me. Dr. Frog was a woman of color, and she understood how the medical field could be to marginalized women.
Now that we’ve made it to twenty-two weeks, it was time to tell everyone.
Hiding my pregnancy was something that I couldn’t do much longer.
I honestly thought that my best friends knew I was pregnant, but they didn’t want to say anything until I did.
They had been there for all of the losses that I’d been through.
They were there to see the firsthand devastation.
My last miscarriage, Derrick was out of town and didn’t think to come back.
It wasn’t like he was somewhere that he had to take a flight to get back to me.
His ass was in Columbia, South Carolina and he drove there.
I had to convince Nicole not to drive up there and fuck his ass up.
She didn’t bother him while he was out of town, but she gave him hell when he returned.
Let’s just say that he had an experience with car vandalism.
In hindsight, he never said anything about it.
He probably thought it was his now wife and didn’t want to bring any attention to it.
The car was vandalized at his office, and he just came home with a rental.
His excuse was that he had car trouble. I knew that it had been vandalized, so I left it alone.
“Baby, you look gorgeous,” Tafari complimented. His arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and his hands landed on my belly. That was his hands’ favorite place to be.
Today, I wore a dress that accentuated my belly. “You don’t think it’s too tight? I could change.”
He kissed my neck. “There ain’t nothing wrong wit’ what you got on, Pril. My bean got your skin glowin’ and shit. You ready ta let everyone in on our lil secret?”
We didn’t know the gender of our baby yet, so we just referred to him or her as bean.
Tafari planned a party at & Ish Restaurant for our close family and friends.
Early this morning, our party planner and caterer went into the restaurant to set up.
The theme was obviously beans. Our planner did an amazing job tying it all together.
The plan was for everyone to arrive before us. They would see the decor, and they would immediately know that I was pregnant. When we arrived, it would be a joyous occasion.
A part of me was still scared to tell people.
I felt like if I told people that I would jinx myself in some way.
I loved my bean so much. I felt them kick for the first time last week.
You would have thought that I won the lottery.
The best thing about it was when I called Tafari and told him about it, he left work and came over just to feel it.
When he arrived, he had a small cake that was inscribed with the words Bean’s First Kick.
The love, concern, and care that he showed toward me and our child made me love him more and more every day. I pressed down a little on my baby, and my bean rewarded me with a kick. I smiled, then responded to Tafari. “Yes, I’m ready.”
Mommy & Daddy Are Here . . .
There were shouts of joy and a few tears when we walked through the door of the restaurant. Mama Shayla was the first person to hug me with tears of joy. Papa Terell was right next to her. My mama wasn’t too far behind.
She cupped my face in her hands. “Thank you, baby. You don’t know how happy you done made me. God gonna bring my grand right ta us safe and sound.”
That caused the first tear to fall from my eye.
Mama Shayla was a complex woman. She would pray for you and curse you out in the next sentence.
If she loved you, then it was nothing that she wouldn’t do for you.
She reminded me of my mother, except my mother would curse you out and not offer prayer.
“Bitch, I should kick your ass for not telling us!” Nicole fussed but tears streamed down her face. The smile that was plastered on her lips overshadowed the fussing.
She and Lacie engulfed me with hugs. I giggled. “God-mama number one and two, I’m sorry.”
They both pulled back from the hug, then gave each other a high-five. “Girl, we already knew that shit. Who else but us? Shit, we already knew you were pregnant anyway, no matter how hard you tried to hide that stomach.”
I erupted with laughter. “I’m not surprised at all that you two knew with y’all nosy asses. What gave it away for sure?”
They both snickered. I wasn’t sure what was so funny. They glanced at each other, then gave me a side eye. In unison, they said, “Waffle House.”
I sucked my teeth. They both knew that Waffle House was not my favorite place, but during every pregnancy I became obsessed with it.
It was the same order every time, two eggs that were smothered, covered, and chunked with a regular side of bacon and a pecan waffle.
I didn’t use their syrup though. My baby introduced me to strawberry syrup. I was hooked.
“Baby, come look what I got fa you!” Tafari yelled from the other side of the room. Whatever it was, I knew that it had to be good because his cheeks were high and his eyes sparkled from where I stood.
As I walked through the crowd, I was stopped and congratulated. Tafari’s family was huge compared to mine. It had always been mainly my mama and me. Like me, my mama was an only child, and my father was a deadbeat. He popped up when it was cool for him until he didn’t.
When I finally got to where Tafari stood, he pulled me into the kitchen. I kissed his lips. “What do you have for me?”
He kissed my lips. “Oh, e ain’t nothin’ but ya favorite.”
When he moved over and I saw what he hid, I immediately felt tears. “Baby, oh my God. I love you so much.”