Chapter 410: McSciuto Mark II
It's different the second time. Not that it's less exciting, but… there's a sense of calm this time.
So, they're only almost bubbling out of their skins with excitement at getting to see McScuito Mark II.
Abby's already on the table, holding Tim's hand, both of them waiting to get the show on the road as the Ultrasound Tech gets her stuff set up.
New one from last time, but Tim doesn't remember the last Tech's name. According to her nametag, this one is Nancy.
"So, are we thinking this is a boy or a girl?" she asks as picks up ultrasound wand and applies lube to it.
"Boy," she answers.
"Okay, then let's get some shots of him!" And after a few seconds, a little humming from Nancy, and Abby stiffening up slightly, and then relaxing (Tim's working on not paying too close of attention to how they get those pictures. He's afraid his brain might decide it's sexy if he watched and that'd just be… well, probably icky and horrifically inappropriate, so he's watching the monitor) they find the familiar little white on black shrimp on the monitor.
"And there he is!"
And like the first time, Abby's hand clenches in his in excitement, and he feels a hot rush of excited pleasure as he kisses her, eyes never leaving their baby.
"His heart's beating fine." Nancy zooms in so they can see the blood thrumming through him. "Uh huh… Yep…"
That sounds a little off.
"What?" Abby asks, sounding a little scared. Neither of them are experts in this, but from what they're seeing everything looks good.
"How far along do you think you are?"
Abby thinks, remembering that she's got to add two weeks to the right number. "Ten almost eleven weeks? Why?"
Nancy nods. "Yeah, that looks right. Did you want to do a Nuchal fold test?"
And Tim and Abby remember that you've got to do that before the twelfth week. "Yes."
"Okay, let's get that measured, too."
"I was going to ask why you two waited so long to come in, but… You've had some excitement lately, haven't you?" Dr. Draz asks as she walks into the office, looking at Tim.
Tim and Abby nod. Tim adds, dryly, "You could put it that way."
"What happened?"
"Ever hear the phrase 'I feel like I got hit with a truck?'" Tim points to himself.
Dr. Draz winces. "I'm sorry. They catch the guy?"
Tim and Abby glance at each other, since they've never tested out the cover story, they've never answered any questions about it before.
Tim shakes his head. "No. But," Draz knows he's a cop, "I've got good people checking into it for me."
"Good. Okay, I'm sure that's more small talk than you'd like."
They're both nodding at her.
She opens up her folder. "Everything looks fine. Nuchal fold is exactly the way it's supposed to be. Heart, lungs, brain, spinal cord all look exactly like they should for almost eleven weeks along. All in all this looks like a perfectly healthy small person."
Tim and Abby both beam at that.
"I do have a question for you, I see you've got a prescription for Zofran?"
Abby nods.
"Who's Dr. Palmer, your PC?"
Also a question they don't precisely know the answer, too, though both of them are familiar with the idea that your buddies are not supposed to be writing prescriptions for you. "Yeah," Abby answers. "We've been seeing a lot of him lately."
Draz eyes Tim again. "I'd imagine so. Well, first off he's a few months off of cutting edge, we've got something better now, it's called Flarlan. Zofran works for four to six hours, and this works twenty-four. Zofran was designed to deal with chemo-induced nausea, and Flarlan was designed to deal with morning sickness in specific. If you especially love Zofra, we can stay with that, or I can switch you to Flarlan."
"I'm usually feeling pretty good by noon, so, do I want something that works for 24 hours?"
Dr. Draz shakes her head. "Always a good plan to use as little medication as'll do the job. I'll write you up a longer scrip for more Zofran. We've also got another new goodie. We test your pee and can tell the baby's sex from it. Insurance doesn't cover it, but if you don't want to wait the nine weeks…"
"Scary expensive?" Tim asks. 'Not covered by insurance' are words he often hears bandied about in horror as he's been sitting in different waiting rooms. Fortunately as government employees, they've still got insurance that covers everything, and as an agent hurt in the line of duty, he's got an extra layer of coverage, so those are not words that have slipped out of his lips. (For which he's grateful. He got a hold of one of the itemized price lists of what his treatments are running and almost passed out because he thought it was a bill.)
"Not too bad. Seventy-five. We can do it here and it doesn't take long, so…" She's looking at Abby.
"Oh yeah! Lead me to the specimen jar."
"Once we're done with this part. Any extra concerns? It's pretty much the same routine as last time."
Tim can't believe he didn't think of it until now, but he didn't. "Where's the placenta?"
Dr. Draz smiles. "Exactly where it's supposed to be, right up top. Though that reminds me, the hospital you used last time doesn't allow VBACs." She can see Tim and Abby's blank looks. "Vaginal birth after C-section. It's a liability and expense issue. Closest one that does is about an hour away from here in Alexandria."
Tim's ready to say, "Another C-section's fine," after all, it seemed to go smoothly to him, and he likes their hospital a lot, he especially likes how close to their home it is, but in that he is now a veteran pregnant daddy, he doesn't say that, and just waits to see what Abby has to say.
"I'll research. The C-section wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be."
Draz nods. "And if you opt for another one, this time we've got a much better idea of what pain medication agrees with you, so post op should go better."
Abby crosses her fingers. "If we do a c-section, we schedule it ahead of time, right?"
"That's the idea. Up until they put the epidural in, you can always change your mind, but if you wanted to, you could leave here today with a birthday set. Assuming your baby cooperates."
"Huh." Tim can see Abby's desire for the "perfect" natural birth warring with heading out of here with a set date and time. The scientist loves order and precision, and that's definitely where she's most comfortable. The Goth likes natural and organic. He's not sure which side she'll come down on. "So, we could schedule today, and if I did my research and decided to go natural instead?"
"Not a problem. If we schedule today… We're pretty far out, so obviously things can and likely will change, but this makes sure there's an operating room and an anesthesiologist and all the rest of that aware of the fact that sometime in the general vicinity of your due date, they're going to be swinging into action."
Abby nods at that. "Grab your calendar. Let's get a date scheduled."
Tim smiles at that. He likes order and precision, too.
"So, due date is February 5th. We like to do repeat c-sections at 39 weeks, because you're less likely to have started real labor by then, which minimizes the chance of rupture. How does January 28th in the morning sound?"
Tim feels another hot, tingling rush at those words. He's grinning like a dork, but just so happy he can't not let it out.
Abby's squeezing his hand, hard, and nodding at Dr. Draz "Sounds awesome!"
"Wonderful. Anything else?"
They both shake their heads.
"Okay, let's get you set up for the sex test, and then off you go!"
Smiles broke out across the Gibbs clan as they each checked their phones and saw the tiny, grainy shot of the ultrasound, along with the caption: Sean James McGee, ETA January 28th, 2016, 10:00 AM. More details when we see each other in person.
And Jimmy would have to admit, as he was showing the shot to Dr. Allan (and anyone else who stayed still long enough to be badgered into seeing the shot), to being in an especially fine mood.
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