“That she is.”
“She’s so resilient and upbeat and energetic,” I say.
“She’s all that and a bag of chips.” Quinn smiles. “Speaking of chips, would you like something to eat?”
“No, thanks.”
“Well, how about a beer? I have a couple in the fridge that will just be sitting there for seven more months or so.” She puts her hand on her belly, over the baby she’s carrying.
“Okay—sure.”
She hands me a beer and takes a sparkling water for herself.
“So the baby’s a couple of months along?”
She nods. “The doctor says nine weeks, although I was inseminated seven weeks ago.”
“Sarah said you had an ultrasound.”
Her eyes grow bright. “Yeah.”
I remember my sister getting copies of her ultrasounds. “Do you have a DVD of that?”
“I do. Would you like to see it?”
“I’d love to.”
“There’s not a lot to see, but you can hear the heartbeat.”
I follow her into the living room, adrenaline pumping.
“Have a seat.” She gestures to the sofa, then slides a DVD into the player connected to the TV. She joins me on the sofa, tucks her feet under her, and reaches for the remote.
The screen lights up, but it’s hard to make out what I’m seeing. Everything is gray and black, and the camera seems to be moving. “The doctor was rubbing the transducer across my belly to find the baby,” Quinn says.
The movement settles. I see a little mass of something gray at the bottom in what looks like a cave. I hear awhoosh whoosh whoosh. My heart feels like a fish jumping out of the water.
“That’s the baby’s heartbeat?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. It’s so fast!”
She nods. “The doctor said it’s supposed to be.”
She gets up, goes to the screen, and points at a little mass. “The doctor said this is the head.”
It takes me a moment, but I think I see it. “Wow!”
“The baby is about the size of a grape. All of the organs are forming, and the heart already has all four chambers.” She smiles as she comes back the sofa. “I call the heartbeat ‘Chamber Music.’”
“That’s perfect.” I stare, transfixed.
“I have it on my phone. I listen to it every night before I go to sleep. And sometimes during the day when I’m alone and I want to get some perspective on what really matters, I play it.”
“That’s a great idea. Do you mind if I record it?”
“No. Go ahead.”
