Page 88 of Interference
Brett speaks up. “She has been eating ice cream and chili cheese dogs like crazy.”
He says it so dramatically that everyone laughs. I’m grateful for it, reaching over to squeeze his hand.
“Great. All of those are your body’s way of telling you that you need something. Margaret, you said that you crave cornstarch. That is a sign of pica. Have you mentioned it to your doctor?”
“Yes. They said I am iron-deficient and gave me some vitamins. I haven’t had the craving since,” the older woman says.
“Great. Remember, ladies…and gentlemen. If the craving seems off the wall, mention it to your doctor. They can’t help you if they don’t know the issue.”
“Thank God for our little acorn,” he whispers in my ear, referencing the acorn squash our baby is now the size of.
I laugh, turning my attention back to the teacher.
She goes over some more pregnancy stuff before she moves into the next section. Most of the stuff she goes over, I’m surprised to find that I know thanks to Brett being prepared. He talks to me all the time about pregnancy things, but I didn’tcatch on that my brain had been soaking it in. It helped ease my fears about everything.
Maybe I will be prepared for this.
Then Vanessa brought out the dilation model.
“Does anyone know how big a baby’s head can be?”
Brett raises his hand. “The cervix will stretch to about ten centimeters to allow for the baby to pass through.”
“Very good. Ten doesn’t seem like a lot, does it, ladies?”
We all shake our heads no.
“I’m going to hand out these balloons and ping-pong balls. As I do, what I want you to do is put the ping-pong ball into the balloon opening carefully.”
Brett takes the balloon as she hands it to us, while I take the ping-pong ball. I watch as he carefully stretches the opening before taking the ball from me.
“Once your ball is in, blow the balloon up and let the ball sit at the opening.”
She walks around, monitoring us as we do as she asks. She smiles when she sees our balloon, making me proud to be with Brett. He is so good at this stuff.
“Great, now gently squeeze the top of the balloon. What you want to see is the ping-pong ball going through the small opening. Yes, like that. Great job. See how the balloon stretches to accommodate the ball? This is like your cervix. See how the ball moves forward and then back a little. It’s like two steps forward, one back? It’s stretching, then allowing it to adjust. Over and over again so that the ball can move through freely.”
Our ball pops out, making Brett laugh. All I can do is stare at it as the reality hits me.
I will be pushing a baby out of my vagina. It is going to stretch the hell out of me.
Brett looks at me, all laughter fading away as the woman keeps talking. “What’s wrong?” he whispers to me.
I shake my head. “I don’t think I can do this.”
He kisses my cheek. “Of course you can. You are the strongest woman I know. I’ll be right by your side the whole time. You can hurt me as much as it hurts you.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper-yell back to him.
He smiles, cupping my cheek. “We are going to get through this together. Don’t be afraid. Not with me at your side.”
I swallow hard. “What if I’m not strong enough?”
“Then I will be strong enough for the both of us, and before you ask your next ‘what if,’ it doesn’t matter if you push this baby out of your vagina or the doctor has to surgically remove him or her. You will still have given birth to our little miracle.”
With a few simple words, Brett calms me, making me feel like everything will be okay.
“Okay.”
