“It’s usually a little down and to the right,” I tell her. We have a doppler at home—you can order them on Amazon—and Ally and I listen most nights.
Dr. Gordon looks skeptical, but she moves the probe as I suggested. A moment later, we hear the rhythmic whooshing of our baby’s heart.
“Everything’s looking good,” Dr. Gordon says a minute later. “Do you have any questions?”
She’s clearly hoping we forgot about the tennis question. It’s a good thing we worked that one out ourselves.
“What do you think about an elective induction at thirty-nine weeks?” I ask. “I read about a trial?—”
“Drew, I don’t want an elective induction,” Ally interrupts. “I’d like things to be as natural as possible.”
“I just want to discuss the pros and cons,” I say.
“I was actually thinking about a home birth,” Ally says, turning to Dr. Gordon. “Would that still be an option?”
Dr. Gordon’s eyes widen. “Well, uh, I’d have to refer you to a midwife to discuss that,” she says. “You’re already thirty-five weeks, so I’m not sure if they’d be able to take you on . . .” she trails off uneasily.
“Well, maybe we could start with the referral,” Ally says, turning to me. “And you could do my epidural at home, right Drew?”
“Oh, no,” Dr. Gordon says. “You can’t have an epidural at home. The baby would need to be monitored?—”
“I think Ally means a natural epidural, right Ally?” I tease. “You want me to wave my arms around your back and chant something?”
“Yes, exactly,” Ally says, and she’s got that gleam in her eye again.
“Well, I’m not doing that,” I say. “You’ll have to deliver at the hospital.”
Ally raises an eyebrow. “But no elective induction, right?”
“Agreed.”
Dr. Gordon blinks at us. She’s not used to the way my wife and I negotiate. “So . . . you don’t want a referral to a midwife?”
“No, thanks,” Ally says with a smile.
“Okay. Because you’re close to term, we’ll see you every week until you deliver. Dr. Tang will be back next week.”
Dr. Gordon disappears, looking a little relieved to be done with us. Ally and I go at the desk to book our next appointment, then I walk her out to her car. She got her driver’s license a month before we got married, and I bought her a car as a wedding present.
“Drew,” she says as we head into the parking garage. “Could you actually do an epidural? Like, if I’m in labor and the anesthesiologist is busy with another patient?”
“Yeah, but it won’t come to that. I know all the anesthesiologists here, so if the person on call is busy, I’ll call someone else to come in.”
“They’d be willing to do that?”
“Sure. I’ve already talked to some of them about it.”
“Really?” Ally looks surprised, but she shouldn’t. I don’t remember much from my OB rotation in med school, but the one thing that stuck was the importance of an epidural. I mean, they used to do surgery without anesthesia too, but if you did that nowadays, people would call you crazy.
I nod. “Yeah, I’ve got the anesthesiologists on notice. I’ve talked to a couple of the obstetricians too, just in case. We’ve got good backup.”
“Thanks, Drew.” We pause by the door of her car. “Don’t forget, my mother’s coming for dinner tonight.”
Fuck. I had forgotten, and I try not to let my disappointment show. I want to spend the evening on the couch watching TV with my wife, not entertaining my mother-in-law.
To be fair, Ally’s mother’s not so bad, and we have her over for dinner every month or so. Usually without Ally’s dad, who prefers to stay home. Frankly, everyone’s happier when he does.
I know my father-in-law doesn’t like me very much, but I haven’t lost sleep over it. I’m happy to let Hayley’s husband Justin be the favorite son-in-law. Everyone should have an achievement.
