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Wonderful Wiggles
A Father Watches His Child's First Dance
By Mark Stackpole
. I am not sure I have ever been more scared in my entire life when I was forced to consider that this might not work, that Sherman might never develop past the blob stage. I found myself trying to read meaning into every little thing that the nurse said or did; by the middle of that sleepless night, I had convinced myself that she was letting us down gently and expected Charlotte to miscarry.
When the hCG test indicated that Char's levels were through the roof, I felt like I was walking on air. Bad day at work? Who cares, Char's hCG levels are at 45,000. Horrible commute traffic? Don't care. Char's hCG levels are at 45,000. I did not have any baby pictures in my wallet, but I wanted to stop strangers on the street and tell them, "Hi, I'm Mark, and my wife's hCG levels were at 45,000 this morning." To tell you the truth, I didn't even know what that meant (45,000 what?), but I was ready to broadcast it to the world. The next ultrasound brought the relief of seeing growth – he looked a bit like a seahorse – and that little heart flutter, fast and healthy.
At our most recent ultrasound, while the nurse was gently massaging Char's stomach, Sherman wiggled. Danced. He was probably just irritated that his walls were being shaken a bit, but the gesture was decidedly human. Black blobs don't wiggle. Seahorses don't dance.
My son, Sherman, not even an inch long yet, does both.
Want to see more?
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- They're Too What? One Man Shares His Reaction to a Diagnosis of Varicoceles
- Cruele r Than Hope: Handling the Disappointments of Trying to Conceive
- Preconception.com
- The House is Quiet: Loving My Niece While Waiting My Turn at Parenthood
- Fuzzy Blue Hippo: A Letter to My Baby on the Way
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