Second Heartbeat

Because God Made You That's Why I Love You...

So I went to my secret hiding place and got the present, made Matt sit down and gave it to him. Matt slowly opened it up and then said,

“Ash, is this what I think this is?”

I slowly nodded and braced myself for his reaction.

“YES! I am going to be a daddy! Sweet! Everyone look at what Ashlyn gave me!”

Well, that was totally unexpected, I was expecting him to go off on me telling me that we did not have time for a baby right now. Instead he took out the shirts and onesie and started to pass it around the room.

Then he came up to me and said,

“Thank you so much for that present, I am glad you surprised me with it.”

Then he kissed me and I started to cry.

“Aw baby, don’t cry, it’s ok.”

“That’s not why I am crying, I am crying because I cannot believe you are so happy.”

“Of course I am happy, that’s my child in your stomach right now, why wouldn’t I be happy?”

“Because you guys are about to work on your album and you said that you wouldn’t have time for me while you were working on it.”

“Oh you are right, well, I guess there is only one solution, you will have to come with us to the studio, no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

“Really Matt?”

“Really Ashlyn.”

Once the clothes got back to Matt, Val asked,

“So when are you due?”

“Well, I don’t know,”

I said,

“I am going for my first doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. Matt would you come with me? I know that Wednesday is your first day in studio but…”

“Of course I will be there Ash, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

fast forward to Wednesday December 20, 2006

Well, today is the first doctor’s appointment with Dr. Addison Montgomery and the first day that Matt and the boys are going to be in the studio and I am nervous because not only because I am not a fan of going to the “lady doctor” but at the same time I am excited to get to hear the baby’s heartbeat.

I got dressed in a shirt that Mama got for me once she found out I was pregnant that said, “pregnancy glow my ass, I am just trying not to hurl!” and Matt wore his “The Impregnator” shirt. Matt and I are very excited to hear the baby. We woke up around 7:30 to get to the doctor by 9:00 and our appointment will be at 9:30.

It took us about an hour to get to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and when we did get to Dr. Montgomery’s office, we were handed a huge stack of papers and then we had to fill them out with Dr. Montgomery. These papers included asking about family history, our personal health histories.

Well, on my side, my great-grandpa had high blood pressure, my mom had preeclampsia, my grandma has arthritis and my grandpa has heart disease. On Matt’s side, his grandpa had high blood pressure and his other grandpa had a heart attack.

The next thing they asked was

“Do you or any member of your family have a chromosomal or genetic disorder?”

On my side, my cousin Kyleigh has Down Syndrome, my cousin Annabella has achondroplasia and Matt’s cousin, Adam had cystic fibrosis. But, other than those three, all of our families have been fairly healthy.

Then they asked us how we would like to do prenatal genetic testing, should we choose to do so. We chose to do the blood test today, instead of next week because it is needed between 9 and 13 weeks and we are already at 11 weeks. They also informed us that my estimated due date is July 10, 2007

The next part of the exam was really uncomfortable, the physical and pelvic exam. The physical part wasn’t too bad but the pelvic exam was very uncomfortable. After that, I got two blood tests, the first was a required one which identified my blood type (O+) and Rh status and checked for anemia. The second one was the genetic testing we had requested.

Then we got to hear our baby’s heartbeat and I almost cried and could see Matt start to tear up too. Thankfully Dr. Montgomery had a CD on hand and recorded it for us.

Finally, Dr. Montgomery gave me some tips and dos and don’ts of pregnancy (as if I didn’t already know some of these) and told me she would see me again in January.

Then we left to go to El Dorado Studios in Burbank, which is where Avenged Sevenfold is recording their next album. Matt said they have started on one song and are working on the others.

Matt reminded me that we would be filming this and so as soon as we pulled up,
the cameras were on us. I walked in and saw Jimmy, Zacky, Brian and Johnny just sitting around and then Jimmy saw us and said,

“Love the shirts guys, it was perfect for your first doctor’s visit.”

Zacky, who looked like he was about to fall asleep, perked up at the sound of Jimmy’s voice and came up to me and gave me a hug then said,

“how was the doctor’s visit?”

“Awesome,”

I said,

“a little uncomfortable but still great. Do you guys want to hear the baby’s heartbeat?”

“Well, why wouldn’t we?”

And so I found a CD player and put it in. The cameras captured this and I was glad that they were so I could so this baby when he or she is older. The boys were just in awe and even Fred, the engineer was on the verge of tears.

When it was over, they were just silent and then finally Brian spoke,

“Well, did you find out when you are due?”

“Yes, ironically, I am due on July 10, 2007, the day you are supposed to finish the album.”

“Well,”

he said,

“let’s get cracking on this album so it will be done in time for Baby Deathbat to get here.”

After he said that, I knew we had a name for the baby, because Matt and I discussed it earlier and we don’t want to know the sex of the baby until I have him/her. Soon after I realized it, Jimmy went to go get water bottles and then came back giving each of us one and then said,

“To Matt, Ashlyn and Baby Deathbat.”

“To Matt, Ashlyn and Baby Deathbat,”

we all said and I knew that working on this album while pregnant would be one of the best experiences of my life.

♠ ♠ ♠

Sorry if I get some of the pregnancy things wrong, I have never been pregnant but if you have been or know someone who has, please let me know so I can ask questions. Dr. Addison Montgomery might be familiar to those who follow Grey's Anatomy but I do not own her either. I just thought that it would be easier to put her as the doctor than think of a random name for her.

The title comes from a song that I love to sing and it is called "Tell Me Why" (I might have Ashlyn sing it to the baby later) and it goes like this,

"Tell me why the stars do shine,
Tell me why the ivy twines,
Tell me why the skies are blue,
And I will tell you just why I love you.

Because God made the stars to shine,
Because God made the ivy twine,
Because God made the sky so blue,
Because God made you, that's why I love you.

I really think that dear God above
Created you just for me to love;
He picked you out from all the rest
Because he knew that I'd love you the best"
here is the link to the outfits that Matt and Ashlyn wear to the Doctor's and to the Studio. :D
Outfits