Okay, I can't promise to keep posting this often. The first two chapters have just written themselves, and I'm posting as I finish rather than waiting and giving myself some buffer. I hope to get some more writing done tonight, but just can't be sure.
Also, I got a couple of comments on the type of sonogram Lois is having being somewhat painful (my interpretation of the comments). Without getting too personal, I've written this from my (albeit, somewhat limited) experience. I guess I'm just lucky.
Lastly, I sort of made up how I thought Lois would feel about some of the dietary challenges of being pregnant. It's based on what I've heard, but as a vegetarian who rarely drinks, the only thing that I ever think I'll miss is sushi. (And strangely, the unpasteurized cheese thing is sort of a big deal as when you don't eat meat, things like blue cheese do a lot to zip up your food.) But I imagine meat eaters have a completely different feel about these things. I've based this loosely on what friends have told me and what I imagined Lois would feel, but feel free to let me know if I have it all wrong.
It took Evelyn about twenty minutes to get everything together. She found the equipment fairly quickly but since some of it had not been used in awhile, she wanted some time to sterilize it. I have to say, when I saw the “wand” she mentioned, I cringed slightly. I did not see how that could not hurt.
Still, I thought of Clark's words from earlier – nothing was more important than my getting the proper care. If this hurt a little bit, oh well. Evelyn assured us that it would not last long anyway.
She pulled a lab coat out of the closet. “Sorry I don't have a blanket, but you can place this over you. I'll leave for a minute. Just remove everything below the waist but your socks.” She gave me a friendly smile before leaving.
I felt awkward getting undressed in the lab, even if this room looked a bit more like a doctor's office with the ultrasound equipment in it. Still, once I was undressed, with Clark awkwardly holding my pants, and I had gotten up on the table with Evelyn's lab coat over me, I felt weird.
I could feel the desire to babble bubbling up in me as Evelyn re-entered the room. “So, what is it you normally do? What's the ultrasound for?”
Evelyn smiled at me. “My research is in human fertility and fetus development. I don't typically see patients, but every once in awhile if one of the local doctors has a patient with issues, they'll bring one over. I could always use their equipment and honestly, there are specialists in taking ultrasounds that are probably better at it than I am, but I just thought it was unfair for these women who are already going through a stressful time to have to wander to several different places.”
I turned to glance at Clark and our eyes locked for a moment. This was going to be okay. This woman was going to be perfect for us. I glanced back over to see her spreading some sort of jelly on the wand. She caught my eyes, which I am sure were showing the apprehension I was feeling towards having that thing inserted into me and smiled. “It's not as bad as it looks, although I'll admit it's not exactly as pleasant as eating an ice cream sundae.” I smiled at her analogy. “But this is lubricant which makes it much less uncomfortable.”
With that she moved towards my feet and I placed them in the stirrups, feeling my entire lower body tense in anticipation. “Just think,” Evelyn said, “You may see your baby for the first time in a minute.”
The thought made me glance at Clark again and he was smiling at me so warmly, I could feel myself relax while I anticipation overtook the anxiety I had been feeling. I'm sure it was done on purpose, but it worked. Evelyn's comment made me focus on the baby and not on the wand.
A moment later, she was moving the wand inside me and she was right – while it was not something I would want to do everyday, it was not so bad. Whether that was because it was not as awful as it looked or because I was fascinated by the black and white image on the screen, I was not sure.
“What's that?” Clark asked as he grasped my hand.
“This is Lois' uterus,” Evelyn said as she moved the wand around some more. A moment later she removed it. “Sorry, but it is too early to see anything.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked, suddenly concerned. I sat up as she talked, moving the lab coat around me.
“No,” Evelyn said. “Like I said, that's perfectly normal for a human baby. We'll try again in a couple of weeks. That's often too early to see the baby, but early enough to see the embryonic sac. For now, I'll give you a blood test that will make sure you are pregnant and test for progesterone levels and a hormone called hCG.”
“What for?” I asked.
“Well, it's mostly just to get baseline levels of these things. But also to make sure you are producing enough progesterone,” Evelyn explained. “In the meantime,” she continued, “I'll give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins.”
“I've already been taking some,” I said.
“Great,” she said. “We'll definitely want to watch in case there are things a Kryptonian baby needs that are not covered by those vitamins, but unfortunately, we'll have to learn as we go.
“I'll give you a minute to get dressed and then we can talk a bit more.” With that Evelyn left the room.
I took a minute to get dressed and then Clark and I stood there holding hands until she knocked on the door and came back in.
“Okay?” she asked me. At my nod, she continued, “Just a few typical dietary things I wanted to make sure we covered. No alcohol, of course, or smoking. Try to stay away from deli meats and unpasteurized cheeses. No tuna – the mercury levels can cause brain damage and no sushi.”
“Anything else?” I asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed. I knew I couldn't drink during pregnancy and not smoking wasn't even an issue, but did not know about the other things. I was not a big fan of sushi, so would not miss that, but no deli meat? I lived on turkey sandwiches.
“No deli meat?” Clark asked. He smiled at me, “We'll have to find really good food to bring from home so you don't miss your turkey sandwiches.”
Evelyn smiled, “Well, when I said no deli meat, I didn't mean things like turkey. That's fine. It's more things like pimento loaf that can cause a problem. Oh, and hot dogs. Basically, processed meats.”
“Oh, good,” I said, feeling relieved. This wasn't going to be so bad.
“Oh,” Evelyn added, “and if you could cut caffeine out that would be good, too. If you can't and need a cup of coffee in the morning, that's okay, but try to limit it to just one.”
I nodded. I had, of course, known about the caffeine as well, but I had forgotten about it. Or repressed it, more likely. That was definitely going to be an issue. I really needed coffee throughout the day. Clark squeezed my hand. “We'll do it together, Lois,” he said.
I knew Clark did not need coffee the way I did and this would be easier for him than for me, but I smiled anyway. I loved the fact that he was making an attempt to be so supportive.
Evelyn frowned, “We should probably check with Bernard, too. He may know of some things that he thinks will be important for the Kryptonian side of this little one.” I found myself putting a hand on my abdomen when she said that, filled with an irrational feeling of warmth for the tiny little thing in my belly.
It was weird because I had never really wanted to be a mother. Given my childhood, the most important thing to me was to be as different from my parents as possible. But then I married Clark and he wanted to be a father so much it made me want to become parents. But mostly for Clark. I wanted to be a mother mainly so that Clark could be a father.
But now that I was pregnant, it was different. I could already feel excitement and something else, something akin to love for the baby growing inside me, and it was separate from the fact that I felt happy that I may be able to give Clark the thing he wanted most in the world.
We saw Bernard shortly after Evelyn took a blood sample and he suggested I try to take a walk once a day to get some sunshine, but aside from that, had not other suggestions.
“One other thing, Lois,” Evelyn said before we left. “Hopefully, you'll feel fine, but a few things that you may notice in the next few weeks. Your breasts will already be adjusting for lactating and for now they may feel a bit sensitive. You'll need plenty of extra fluids as your body will be trying to produce extra blood for the baby. Particularly at night, you may feel thirsty. Some women find that sleeping with a glass of water by the side of their bed helps. Just a couple of sips if you wake up in the middle of the night can help you feel better. But definitely try to increase your water intake during the day.
“Lastly, there's a possibility you may begin to experience morning sickness. Many women find that it's worse during their first pregnancy than subsequent ones. Typically, morning sickness does not start until the sixth week of pregnancy, but it can start anytime starting from the forth week. It typically gets worse for the first few weeks and then goes away completely at the end of the first trimester.”
I grimaced at this little tidbit. Weeks upon weeks of nausea was hard to get excited about. And what Evelyn said next did little to change my mind.
“Unfortunately, morning sickness does not always happen in the morning and it can last all day. If you feel nauseous try to eat what you can. As much as it's important to eat healthy, the most important thing is to try to eat, so whatever you can get down if you feel sick is fine. Simple carbohydrates like rice or potatoes often work. Also, saltines. Try to eat small meals often. Having an empty stomach can make it feel worse. And ginger ale.”
My face must have shown my concern. I hated feeling nauseous and the idea of doing so for weeks on end was not at all appealing. “It may not happen at all, Lois,” Evelyn said. “But the truth is that about 80% of women do experience some morning sickness, even if it's brief and minor. I just want you to be prepared. But call me if you need anything.” She handed me a card. “This has my home number on it. Obviously, I'd appreciate it if you didn't use it to call me at night if it's not important, but feel free to call with any concerns.”
I smiled to show my appreciation and Clark and I left Star Labs.
“So,” Clark asked as we drove to work. “How do you feel?”
“Scared,” I answered immediately without thinking.
Clark reached over to take my hand. “Me, too. But it's going to be okay. You are going to be a great mother.”
I glanced at him quickly before bringing my glance back to the road. “Not like you, Clark. You were made to be a father.” It was true, too. I could so easily picture Clark with our child in his arms. The mental image brought tears to my eyes and I felt silly for getting worked up over something so ridiculous.
Clark leaned forward to look at me funny. “Are you crying?” he asked me.
“No,” I insisted, but it was weird, as soon as he asked me, it made the tears come faster. Not a lot, but enough that a tear or two leaked out.
Clark reached over to brush it off of my cheek. “No, of course you aren't,” he smiled. He leaned over to kiss me slightly on the cheek. “Want to tell me what's wrong?”
“I don't know,” I admitted, brushing at my eyes, annoyed.
Clark laughed lightly, “I bet it's just the pregnancy hormones, Lois.”
I nodded. That made sense. It didn't make it any easier to deal with, though. I didn't normally cry over something so silly.
“Do you want to go to Smallville tonight?” I asked, trying to change the subject to something safe – not too happy, not too sad. Basically something that would eliminate the need of my pregnancy hormones to cause me to cry.
“Do you think we should tell?” Clark asked in response. “Should we wait?”
I smiled as I leaned over to grab his hand. “Do you want to wait? I would think you'd want to tell you parents right away.”
“What about your parents?” Clark asked. “We should tell them, too.”
I sighed. “Well, it's not the same. For one thing, we aren't going to fly to the Bahamas to see them and I'm not sure they'd want us to disturb their vacation anyway.”
“We can call them, Lois.”
“I know. But it's different. I don't know how to deal with it but at some point having a child means we need to tell my parents and my sister about you. I mean, if Dr. Klein is right and things could be really different, what if I'm only pregnant for two months or something?” I voiced my concern.
I could see Clark nod out of the corner of my eye. “What's the other option, though?” he asked. “Not tell them? Then won't they be surprised when you announce we have a baby two months from now?”
I giggled picturing the shocked look on my parent's faces. “Still, what if it doesn't work out?”
Clark squeezed my hand. “Are you nervous about that?”
“A little,” I admitted. “I mean, I don't know. But it's not uncommon for things to go wrong, is it?”
“I don't know, Lois. But it doesn't matter. Even if it doesn't work out, at least now we know we can.”
I smiled. I had not considered that. That was good news. Still, I didn't like the idea of having to try again. It was irrational, but already I wanted this baby, not some replacement.
“What about Perry?” I asked as we got out of the Jeep in the Planet garage. “I mean, I know you usually wait awhile to tell your employer…”
“But it's Perry,” Clark finished for me.
“I almost feel like I want to tell him before my parents,” I said, feeling slightly guilty.
“Okay,” Clark said. “I'm okay with that. Do you think we could get by without telling Perry…”
“Definitely,” I said. “At least for now. There's no reason to share your secret with Perry right now.”
“So, we're going to tell my folks and Perry?” Clark confirmed. “And your parents?”
I nodded. “Your parents tonight and then Perry tomorrow. But let's put my family off for now. I'm not ready yet.”
“You sure?” Clark asked quietly as we exited the elevator.
“Sure. But this is our decision, Clark, not mine.”
“I know,” he said. “But they are your parents.”
“Yes, I do want them to know,” I whispered, “but not yet.”
Clark tugged on my hand to get me to stop walking, then leaned down to kiss me softly on the lips. “Sounds like a plan.”
I smiled against his lips. “I can't wait to tell your parents.” Just the mental image of Martha's face made me smile. She was going to be almost as happy as we were.
