Woman in White

Part 19

March 20, 2014 — Anatomy Scan
21 weeks 5 days
      He feels the bed shift and looks over at the alarm clock on his nightstand to see that it's 3:17 in the morning. "Beckett? Why are you awake?" He asks as he sits up in bed. "Go back to sleep." She insists. "What's wrong?" "I have heartburn." She finally admits. "Okay. What can I do?" He asks as he begins rubbing her back. "Can you get me some water? With a lot of ice." She asks and he nods. He gets out of bed and makes his way to the kitchen.
      He returns to their room to find her in the same position he found her in. "Here you go." He hands her the glass and she nods in appreciation. "Is there anything else you need?" He asks. "I might take a cold shower in a little bit." She says. "Go back to sleep." She tells him, "No, no. We're in this pregnancy together." He insists. He leans down and presses a kiss to her bump. She smiles. "I'm gonna go take that shower." She stands from their bed, "Let me know if you want any help." He winks.
     She makes sure the water is chilling cold before stepping in. She immediately feels the relief in her chest and throughout her body. The further along she gets in her pregnancy, the harder it is for her to get comfortable. Her Braxton Hicks started a couple of weeks ago and her boobs have become so achy and swollen that at one point she almost went to the hospital to get them checked out. As she tries to cool herself down in the shower, she feels something weird in her chest and looks down to see a cloudy white substance from her breasts.
     She panics a tiny bit. "Castle!" She yells. She hears him barrel through the bathroom door, "What? What's wrong?" He asks out of breath. "My boobs are leaking." She says, "What?" He asks slightly confused as he opens the shower door and looks to where she's pointing, "Oh, that's just your colostrum. It's the first bit of milk your body produces. Meredith and I went to the hospital when this happened during her pregnancy." He explains. Her face reddens in embarrassment. Sometimes she feels like her husband knows more about what's happening to her body than she does.
      "Oh, sorry, I didn't know that." She says, "Hey, it's okay. We can ask your doctor about it at your appointment later this morning if you want." He offers. "I'll do some research once I get back into bed. Speaking of which, I better do that seeing as we have to be at my doctor's office in six hours." Beckett says and takes her husband's hand as he helps her out of the shower. She dries herself off and slips her pajamas back on before they both cuddle back down under the covers and read briefly about colostrum before succumbing to sleep.
      It's later in the morning when Beckett is sitting at the bar with her oatmeal in one bowl and her new craving in another bowl: pineapple slices and cool whip. Her new craving came in a couple days ago and she was so determined to have the treat that Castle had to drive uptown to the only open grocery store at 2:00 in the morning to purchase the items. By the time he got home, she had fallen back asleep. But all she wanted the next day for meals was a bowl of pineapple slices and cool whip.
      They hear footsteps as Alexis descends the stairs. She's currently on Spring Break from Columbia and they offered to bring her with them to the anatomy scan so she could find out the gender of her sibling before anybody else. "Morning Pumpkin. You excited?" He asks his redheaded little girl. "Yeah. What do you guys think it is?" Alexis asks, "I really wanted a boy, but my mother's intuition is telling me it's a girl." Beckett answers and Castle nods, "I think it's a girl too. What about you, Lex? You want a brother or sister?" He asks her.
     She shrugs, "Honestly, I'm just excited to have a sibling. I'm fine either way. But, a sister would be more fun to take shopping and dress up." Alexis says. After breakfast, they all get themselves ready and then make their way to Beckett's OB/GYN. They check in and Beckett is taken back to get weighed and have her blood pressure checked. When they get them in an exam room, Beckett is asked to leave a urine sample before Castle helps her up on the exam table as they wait for one of the ultrasound techs to come in and perform the scan.
      There is a knock on the door and a young, dark-haired woman walks in, "Hello. I'm Faith and I will be your ultrasound technician for the day." She introduces herself, "Hi. I'm Kate and this is my husband, Rick, and his daughter, Alexis." They all greet her. "It's nice to meet you all. So, just a quick rundown of today, this is your anatomy scan, but it's basically a full body scan. I'll be looking at every inch of your baby as well as your placenta, the umbilical cord, some of your organs, and your uterus."
      "I'm not allowed to tell you anything so your baby's development and the sex will be sent to your doctor who will notify you of all of those details when she meets you in her office after the ultrasound. Also, because I have to look at specifics of the baby, if I freeze the frame that doesn't mean anything is wrong." The ultrasound tech explains to them. She then dims the lights and pulls the ultrasound machine over while Beckett lays back on the exam table and lifts her shirt over her bump. Gel is squirted on her bump and spread with the transducer.
       They all stare at the giant screen on the wall when their baby appears. "Okay, I'm going to start with the heartbeat which I know isn't the usual order, but just to rule out any abnormal heart rates." Faith says as she switches out the transducer for a doppler. Their baby's heartbeat fills the room and Rick and Kate share a smile before looking at Alexis who smiles at them in amazement, "144 beats per minute which is perfect." She says before removing the doppler and bringing back the transducer to begin the ultrasound.
      "Okay, here is their head. Kate, it seems that they are transverse which is perfectly fine. Their head is to your left and feet are at your right. Those little lines are your baby's hair which it looks like they have a head full of. Now I'm going to freeze the frame to take a closer look at their brain." Faith talks them through the process. After checking the baby's brain, she moves onto their profile, "Castle, they have your nose." Kate says, "Yeah and your lips." He adds. "They're so cute." Alexis says and a tear slides down Kate's cheek.
      "I'm going to move into their body so I'll be looking at their heart, organs, and spine." Faith says. She measures the spine and looks at each of the individual organs, "Based on the measurement of the spine, your little one should be about average length wise." She tells them and then looks at the baby's genitals, legs, feet, arms, and hands. "Okay, I've sent these images to Dr. Chasefield. I'll get you cleaned up and show you guys back to her office." Faith says as she grabs a rag and cleans off Beckett's stomach before walking the trio to the office.
They sit in silence waiting to hear the news about the newest addition to their family. There is a knock on the door and Dr. Chasefield walks in, "Hello. How are we doing this afternoon?" Dr. Chasefield asks, "Good. Dr. Chasefield, this is Rick's daughter, Alexis." Kate introduces them. They get acquainted before Dr. Chasefield takes a seat, "So, based on your ultrasounds, the baby's brain has all of the proper lobes developed, their heart chambers are developed and lungs are on track. Their major organs are developing and beginning to function and their vitals are perfect. Congratulations you two. You have a very healthy growing baby in there."
Beckett smiles at her husband as he hand travels down to rest on her bump. "Were you interested in finding out the sex?" They nod. "Okay, well when you checkout and get your ultrasounds, there will be one in an envelope that has the sex typed out next to the ultrasound of their sex." The doctor explains. "Now, I want to talk about your next appointment, Kate. The glucose test. Everyone dreads it, but it's a necessity." Dr. Chasefield says before giving the specifics of the appointment.
"Once you checkout today, you will be given a bottle. This will be the glucose solution. You'll also schedule your appointment for the glucose test today. You'll come in the day before and we'll draw some blood and then fast for eight hours and come back the next day to drink the solution. We will then wait an hour and draw your blood again. You should get the result from that test within a few days. Do you have any questions for me?" Dr. Chasefield says. They both shake their heads, "Alright. Congratulations on a healthy little one and your ultrasounds will be ready for when you checkout."
The couple checks out and then make their way outside and into the car. Beckett hands the envelope to Alexis, "Why don't you tell us, Lex?" Beckett asks. "Really?" Alexis asks in disbelief and they both nod. "Okay." The redhead agrees with a smile before taking a deep breath and opening the envelope. Castle grabs Kate's hand as they watch her pull the sonogram out of the envelope and gasp. "It's a girl!" Alexis exclaims. Castle and Beckett cheer and hug over the center console before sharing a kiss. "A little girl." Beckett beams, "A little girl." Castle beams right back. A little girl.
Part 19! Baby Castle is a girl! Share your thoughts on what her name could be. I already have a name picked out and I can't wait to share it with you guys!