Harper & Lee Plus Three

Double Trouble

Today is the day of my ultrasound, I thought as I woke up on our mattress. I thought I was just having a regular appointment, but when they called me to confirm my appointment last night, I explained that I already had a noticeable bump. They wanted me to do an ultrasound right away.

We got up, got everything together, and piled into Etsy's car for school. She pulled into the student parking lot. The day went by as usual until Sophia came to pick us up after the final bell.

I got checked in and had to fill out a bunch of paperwork because I was a new patient. I filled out like three pages and then brought it back to the lady at the front desk.

"Harper?" said a lady in a nurses' uniform.

"Good luck!" Sophia said, as I stood up.

"You can come on back," the nurse said.

I followed her down the hallway as Lee held my hand. She took my height and weight, then brought me into one of the examination rooms. I sat on top of the table, laying all the way flat.

"My name is Kayla, I'm one of the ultrasound techs here," said the nurse. Ultrasound tech, I mean. "Are you ready to see your baby?"

"Yes!" I said, unable to stop smiling.

"Okay, you can lift your shirt up for me," she said, turning off the lights. "I'm just going to put some cold jelly on you. Try to relax."

I cringed when she squeezed that stuff onto my baby bump.

"How far along do you think you are, Harper?" Kayla asked.

"Uh...I'm not sure. I've been getting my period this whole time...I think."

My heart was racing. I was really about to see my baby for the first time. The little bean that was making me so sick and so tired. She started pressing into me with this wand thing.

"Oh wow," said Kayla. "I see four feet here."

"Holy shit!" Lee said.

"What? Is it like, mutated or something?" I said.

"Not quite," said Kayla as she giggled. "There's two babies here."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "I'm only sixteen! I didn't even know how I was gonna take care of one baby! How am I supposed to take care of two?"

"I'm going to zoom in a bit," Kayla said. She turned the monitor so we could see it. "So you can't see much right now, but if you look between them, you can see this big dividing line. Your twins are a hundred percent fraternal."

"Oh, so maybe we'll get one of each! A boy and a girl," Lee said. He was beaming.

"That would be pretty nice," I said. I chuckled at Lee. "You were the one who didn't want kids, and now we're having two and you're even more excited than I am."

"It hit different when it's real and we're not just talking about it," Lee said.

"I'm going to take a few more pictures for you to take home, and some to give to the doctor," Kayla said.

I was too busy staring at my beautiful babies. They looked like ugly little blobs, but they were going to get Lee's good looks. I was sure of it.

"Here are your pictures," Kayla said, handing me a whole bunch. "Everything looks good. Two healthy babies. I'll be seeing you guys."

She gave me a towel and I wiped all the gross gel off me. A nurse came to bring me to the examination room. All we could do was stare at our pictures. The blobs had little stubby arms and legs. I couldn't believe we did something so amazing.

There was a knock on the door. A lady with her hair in a bun and a white lab coat came in.

"Hi there, I'm Doctor Andrea Andrews," she said, shaking my hand.

"Harper," I said. "This is my boyfriend, Lee."

"It's nice to meet you both. So after looking over your ultrasound pictures, it looks like you're five weeks along. You're due mid-January. But with twins, sometimes they come early. It could be a few weeks or even a few months early," Dr. Andrews said. "I know January seems far away, but it'll be here before you know it."

We talked about all my symptoms after that. She gave me suggestions on what I should be eating. How much exercise I should be getting, and what vitamins to take. I thanked her, and then we went to the checkout desk to set up my next appointment.

Sophia was waiting in the lobby. She looked up when she saw us.

"We have big news!" Lee said.

"Oh?" said Sophia.

"It's twins!" we said at the same time.

"Twins? Oh my goodness!" Sophia said, looking through all the pictures.

"I'm really excited but I don't really know how we're gonna do this," I said.

"With lots of help and support. Don't worry about a thing," said Sophia.

We got into her car and started driving to the local froyo shop to celebrate. I was dying for some chocolate. As we drove over, I just couldn't stop looking at those ultrasound pictures. I was having not one, but two babies. How could this get any more exciting?