A Beautiful Fluttering Flipflop

The Doctor told Frank and me that the morning sickness could be controlled by my eating saltine crackers every morning before getting out of bed and eating small meals to keep my stomach from being empty.

Our baby’s due date was figured out to be September 26th which meant that I was approximately nine weeks pregnant.  The Doctor wanted to keep seeing us until I was past three months along and only then would he refer us to an OB/GYN he knew in the College Station. If the morning sickness was to get worse,  the Doctor wanted us to call then come see him so he could write a prescription for a medication to help me with it.

Before we left the Doctor’s office, a sweet Nurse brought me in some saltine crackers, and they really did work.  Frank and I left the Doctor’s office hand in hand with the biggest smiles on our faces, and Frank announced loudly to the whole waiting room that we were going to have a baby.   Everyone who was sitting there waiting laughed and clapped for us which was so beautiful.

Frank and I walked hand in hand to the parking lot, got into the Super Beetle, and headed to Van Vleck.  The last time we had left this very parking lot together was a heartbreaking experience, but this time we were overjoyed with happiness.  Frank and I could not quit smiling. As we pulled out of the parking lot, Frank said, “I’m gonna be a Dad! I love you, Nancy.  I told you God was gonna give us a baby.”

I looked at him driving that car smiling ear to ear with those beautiful dimples, and all I could say to him was, “I just pray this baby has those amazing dimples, Frank Henderson.  I love you so much.”

Our first stop was at Frank’s folks home in Sugar Valley.  We got out of the car quickly then ran to the front door, and Frank rang the doorbell many times.  His parents were not expecting us, so they both opened the door together.  Frank blurted out loudly, “We are going to have a baby!”

Frank’s Mom and Dad were so surprised and excited as they congratulated us with big hugs.  They knew about the heartaches we had gone through for years and the last diagnosis saying we would not be able to have children.   We could not wait to tell them what had happened the past few weeks and what had transpired at the Doctor’s office.  We all went into their Den which was open to the kitchen to sit down then Frank’s Mom decided to make a fresh pot of coffee.

Fresh perking coffee has the most wonderful aromatic smell.  I have always loved to smell coffee perking but suddenly the first whiff I got of it, made me run to the bathroom to hug “John” again.  I am so glad Frank was not jealous of my new friend “John”.

Frank’s Dad asked Frank what just happened and Frank told him that I had a little morning sickness.  His Dad was loudly laughing until Frank’s Mom reminded him that she had not had morning sickness, but he had with every one of her pregnancies which made Frank laugh loudly.

When I returned to the room, Frank’s Dad asked, “Nancy are you gonna visit with us or spend your time running back and forth to the bathroom?”

I replied, “From what I heard from out here while I was in the bathroom, I would say that you are just jealous and want a turn!” Of course, we all laughed and then Frank’s Mom handed me some saltines.

Coffee would be something that I could not drink or tolerate the smell of and another would be the smell of cigarette smoke.  Neither one had ever bothered me before, but evidently, my pregnancy hormones were affecting my sense of smell.

After we visited with Frank’s folks awhile, we headed to Van Vleck to tell my parents. They were so excited for us, and our little one was due six weeks after my brother, Grady and his wife Tish’s baby was due in August.  Grady and Tish lived in College Station in the same apartment complex that Frank and I did.

The next morning Frank and I headed back to College Station.  We both had homework to do,  Frank had to work that Saturday night, and I had lots of catch up reading waiting for me.

In hindsight, thinking we should have bought stock in Saltine Crackers back then because I ate my weight in them,  I did as the Doctor had told me, but morning sickness just got worse and developed to an all-day experience. Saltines crackers went everywhere with me and on top of that my brain just seemed to stop functioning.  I would read my History book and could not remember what I had just read.  Exhaustion seemed to take over my body and tears fell for no reason.  My hormones were on steroids bouncing up and down like a seesaw.

A couple of weeks later, Frank came in one afternoon after classes and found me crying on the couch.  He asked me what was wrong and all I could answer through the tears was, “I don’t know.  I’m so far behind in my school work, I can’t think, and I am so nauseous.  I don’t know what to do, and I feel so confused.”

Frank sat down beside me on the couch and held me in his arms stroking my hair then he said, “Nancy, I know what to do.  I am going back to the campus, and I will be back soon. Just rest while I am gone.”

When Frank returned, he gently woke me then gave me some Saltine Crackers before telling me, “Nancy, I went and withdrew you from school.  I can’t have you so upset and worried about those classes.  You and our baby are what is most important now.  Now, I am going to call the Doctor to see what he can do about this all day sickness.”

The Doctor wanted to see me the next day which was a Tuesday, so Frank called his work and took the next evening off so we could leave for the Doctor’s appointment by noon.  When Frank finished making the calls he needed to make, he came back to the living room then sat down to talk with me.  He asked me how I felt about what had transpired.  I told him that it was a relief not to have to worry about reading, tests, and trying not to have to leave my classes when nauseated but I felt like I had let him down.  Of course, Frank called “Bull” on that statement telling me that I could never let him down.

The next day at noontime, Frank and I left College Station on the trip to Wharton.  We went in together to see the Doctor, and he could tell that I might be getting dehydrated and needed help with the “all day sickness”.  After doing another exam to check on the baby, who he said was doing great, the Doctor wrote me a prescription for prenatal vitamins and pills to help with nausea.  The Doctor told us that it would probably take a few days for the nausea medication to work.  Frank and I left the Doctor’s office then went to a Pharmacy to fill the prescriptions then we drove on to Van Vleck.

On the way to Van Vleck, we decided it would be a good idea for me to stay with my folks for a few days because Frank did not want me to be alone at our apartment at night, plus I would be closer to the Doctor.  Frank would return that evening to College Station.  He had taken on another part-time job as a night clerk in a motel which meant he was working two part-time jobs, along with his class load of eighteen hours, and had two tests to take before Friday.  After he got off work early Sunday morning, Frank would come back to Van Vleck to pick me up.  I agreed with him mainly because I did not want him to worry about the baby and me.

Sunday morning early Frank drove into my parent’s driveway, and I ran into his arms.  I was beginning to feel like myself again; the little pills had worked their magic.  Frank and I attended the little Methodist Church in Van Vleck that morning which was the site of our first date, where we married promising to love each other for eternity, where I said many prayers for him when he was in Vietnam, and where we planned to christen our baby. We thanked God for His beautiful miracles for us.  After lunch, we returned to College Station.

Each day I felt better and seemed to be growing in all directions.  None of my slacks or shorts fit, but I had lots of dresses that were high waisted A-line or in MooMoo style.  Frank’s short-sleeved dress shirts were perfect, and I could just leave my shorts unbuttoned under them, for a while. We did not have extra money for maternity clothes.

Frank had taken on the extra part-time job when we found out I was pregnant since we did not have health insurance and would have to pay for our baby’s birth. He would not even talk to me about working.  Of course, I was hugging “John” those first few months. Kinda hard to have a conversation.

One evening the first week in May, I was sitting in a chair doing embroidery on a blanket for our baby, when all of a sudden,  I felt a fluttering.  It felt like butterfly wings were fluttering in my stomach. Next, I felt a quick flip-flopping turn which actually made me a little dizzy.  Our baby was moving and letting me know all was fine.  Frank was at work, and I could not wait to tell him, so I drove to his work, ran into the lobby of the motel where I saw Frank standing behind the desk, and I yelled loudly, “Frank, I have butterflies fluttering in my stomach, and the baby did a flip-flop!”

Frank came running out from behind the desk smiling then hugged me and kissed me.  There is no way to describe the feeling of a baby moving inside you.  I was totally in love with this little soul growing in my belly and I knew that little life was depending on me.  It would be a few weeks before Frank could actually feel what I was feeling.  The day Frank first felt our baby move there are no words good enough to describe the look of love on his face.

When Frank came in from school or work, he would kiss me then immediately kneel down and talk to our baby.  We picked out a boy’s name for our baby which was Matthew Scott Henderson.  Matthew is biblical and means “Gift from God”.  Frank picked the middle name Scott because he loved the song “Watching Scotty Grow” by Bobby Goldsboro.  Frank and I called our baby Scotty from the first minute we found out that we were going to have a baby.  Thinking we just knew.  We did pick a girl’s name, Heidi Dawn Henderson.

<<<<< Book One |  Next Chapter >>>>>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visits: 211