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Not only does seeing the picture reinforce that I’m actually pregnant, but it’s clear as he points out one shape, then the other, that there are definitely two babies in there.
“Twins,” Saxon whispers. “Is that why she has a bigger bump?”
“Yes, definitely. Now let’s do some measurements and work out how far along you are.” He brings up a screenshot and takes a few minutes to measure the length of the babies, and around their middles and their heads.
Saxon and I continue to stare at the screen. It still hasn’t sunk in. I was panicking at the thought of having one baby. Fucking hell. How on earth am I going to manage with two?
“Going by these measurements,” Mathew says after a few minutes of silence, “I’d say you’re about eighteen weeks, nineteen at most. Which means conception would have occurred around the end of July.”
Right when Saxon and I met at the bar.
I glance at him, and he looks at me.
“I’m so sorry,” he says, his brow furrowing. “For doubting you.”
Tears rush into my eyes. I just nod, because my throat’s too tight to speak.
“Twins usually deliver around thirty-seven or thirty-eight weeks rather than the normal forty for singletons,” Mathew says. “For forty weeks, your due date would be April 20th, but realistically it’s likely to be two or three weeks before that, so something more like March 30th to April 6th.”
This is all getting very real. I try not to hyperventilate.
“There’s the placenta,” Mathew says, pointing it out. “The level of amniotic fluid is normal.”
“There’s only one placenta?” Saxon asks.
Mathew nods. “They’re identical twins.”
It occurs to me then: “Was that more likely because you’re an identical twin?”
Saxon shakes his head. “Being an identical twin doesn’t increase your chance of having identical twins. The odds are about one in two hundred and fifty.”
“Technically that’s right,” Mathew explains. “Fraternal twins are two eggs fertilized by two sperm, which produce two genetically unique children, and we think a certain gene can predispose some women to hyperovulation, meaning they release more than one egg each menstrual cycle—this means that a woman who has fraternal twins in her family might have a great chance of having fraternal twins herself. Identical twins occur when one fertilized egg splits into two babies with the same genetic information. Saxon’s right in that identical twins don’t appear to run in families. After saying that, some families do have a larger-than-usual number of identical twins, like yours, I guess, Saxon, right? Isn’t your dad a twin?” He nods. “When this happens, it’s called Familial Monozygotic Twinning. So some experts say there may be a genetic link—we just don’t know.”
“It’s why I didn’t even consider you might be having twins,” Saxon murmurs.
“I’d like you to come back for a more detailed scan,” Mathew says. “Everything looks fine here. You can see the heart of this one—it’s the same size as your thumbnail, can you see it beating?”
I nod, dumbfounded.
“Next week we’ll do a full anatomy scan, and we’ll measure the babies’ kidneys, bladders, stomachs, brains, and spines, as well as look for hard and soft markers, characteristics that may indicate an increased risk of a chromosome abnormality. But don’t worry about that now. The important question is, do you want to know the sex of the babies?”
Startled, I look at Saxon. He stares back at me. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know this guy at all, not really, and here I am being thrust into the most bizarre and intimate situation with him.
“It’s up to you,” he says.
“I… I don’t know.” I look helplessly at Mathew. “What do you think?”
He shrugs. “If you don’t know, it’s more of a surprise at the birth. If you do know, some people say it’s easier to bond with the baby. Babies, in your case.”
Saxon blows out a long breath. “Maybe it would be good to know,” he says to me slowly. “It’s been so sudden, and such a shock. Perhaps it’ll help us adjust? But it’s up to you.”
I rest a hand on my bump. I’ve ignored it for so long that it’s a shock to think of there being two babies in there. Suddenly, though, I want to know whether they’re boys or girls. I think he’s right—it would help me connect with them.
I nod to Mathew. “I’d like to know.”
He smiles. “They’re boys.”
Boys!
