The Sweetest Sound

I have this distinct memory from when I was 10 years old. Mom was pregnant with my brother, Nick, and despite living in Port Jeff, she wanted to continue going to the OB that delivered Chris, Doug, and me - about an hour away in Nassau County. Come to think of it, I don't exactly remember why I was the only kid with her that day (because when you have siblings, its rare to get your parents alone).

We got up that morning, got ready, stopped by the deli for our favorite egg breakfast sandwiches, and headed to the doctor. After fighting our way through an hour of rush hour traffic on the express way we finally arrived at the doctor's office and after waiting for what seemed like forever (to a 10 year old, at least) she was called back to the patient room. Mom got up and walked towards the nurse and I stayed behind reading a book I had brought. She turned around and asked if I was coming. Um...sure? We walked in and after another long wait, the doctor came in. This was it! I wasn't exactly sure what this appointment would entail, but after a long morning of traffic and waiting, he was here and something important was going to happen.

The doctor pulled a little machine out of his labcoat pocket, squirted some goop on Mom's stomach, and pressed a wand down on the goop. Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub. Nick's muffled little heartbeat came from the speakers on the little machine. "That's his heartbeat!" Mom said. The doctor wiped off the wand and Mom's stomach, put the machine back in his coat pocket, and told her that he'd see her again in a month. "That's it?! THAT'S what we came all this way for?!" I was shocked. Mom laughed at my slight disappointment. What can I say, I was an impatient kid and after all that, I thought something cool was going to happen.

Its amazing how things change. Yesterday, I got up early, drove to the doctor's office, sat in the waiting room for what felt like forever (hey, some things never change), and when I was finally called back, I went back to a little room where (you guessed it!) I waited some more. The doctor finally came in and we chatted for a bit. He's very good at answering my ridiculous, neurotic questions. Finally, the moment I'd been waiting for. He pulled out the familiar little machine and goop (thank goodness they have warmers for that stuff now a days).

Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub. The sweetest sound in the world.