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“Just a second. Okay, there. I’ve got a good photo of them. Let me show you.” She rotates the screen around toward us.
“Them?” I question, but then I realize she must be using they/them pronouns since we don’t know the sex of the baby yet.
“Yes, them.” She points. “Baby A is here. And let me just get a better angle,” she moves the wand again. “There’s Baby B.”
“Baby B?” Hunter and I say in unison.
“Congratulations! You’re having twins.”
“I’m sorry, I must have misheard you. Did you say—”
“Twins?” Hunter fills in.
“Two babies.” Gianna smiles, then looks at the chart. My chart. I have one of those now. “Twins.”
“Please stop saying that word.” That’s all I can say. The idea that there could be two babies never occurred to me.
“Okay, let me get some measurements. That’s going to pinpoint their gestational age and your guess date.”
“Guess date?” I ask.
“We like to use the term guess date instead of due date. We don’t want anyone to feel like they are ‘due’ at a certain time. It’s an estimate after all.”
Gianna uses her computer to measure the babies.
Babies.Twins. Holy shit.
“With multiples, these factors can vary, but with the information you’ve given me and the current measurements, it appears you conceived between June fifth and June ninth.”
Hunter and I look at each other. It wasn’t in Vegas. It was after. Probably the first time we slept together here.
“But I had my period in June,” I argue.
“It likely wasn’t a period. The spotting you experienced could have been from implantation. The embryos attaching to the uterine wall.”
I think back to my nausea. That wasn’t pregnancy. It was a stomach bug. My eyes widen. Oh, shit. I wasn’t pregnant then, but when I was throwing up, it must have messed with my birth control. And when Hunter and I started having sex, my birth control wasn’t effective.
And now there are two human beings growing inside my body. Not one,two.I can’t wrap my head around it.
“Let’s see.” She moves the wand again and I think I might have peed a little. “I’m now looking for the placenta. It will help me determine if your babies are identical or fraternal.”
Super-sleuth Gianna over here just keeps bringing the facts.
“Ah, there. Your zygotes appear to be sharing a placenta. You’re most likely having identical twins, but we can confirm that with genetic testing.”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
“That’s surprising,” Hunter squeezes my hand. “And exciting.”
“Let’s listen to their heartbeats.” She hits another button on the machine and the room fills with a whooshing sound. “It’s difficult to distinguish two heartbeats at this stage as they’re often beating at the same pace.”
“That’s their hearts beating? It’s so fast,” Hunter comments while I’m spiraling.
“That’s typical. Perfectly normal.”
“Wow.” That’s all I can say.
“I’m going to print you some pictures.” She taps on the keyboard and the machine makes a sound as it prints out the black and white photos of our babies. She extends the photos to me, but ultimately decides I’m worthless in this moment, and moves to give them to Hunter instead. “I’ll also send you some literature on what to expect when carrying multiples. The doctor can go over that with you. And you can always call with any questions.”
