After Hardin

43

~ TESSA ~

Hardin and I remain in the nursery talking about the new revelations of the day until we hear Kim and Christian get home. I sent a text to Kim asking her to bring Christian to the nursery because I needed some help. Hardin and I waited for them nervously. I rubbed my hands up and down on my thighs while Hardin bounced his legs up and down.

When the door opened, I held my breath, waiting to see who would notice first. "Hey guys. Hardin and I think something doesn't look right. We're hoping you could help us figure out what it could be." I say as they both looked at me like I was crazy.

Kim and Christian look around the room for a bit before Christian yells out, "Wait. Who put another crib in here?" He looks to us for an explanation. My response was to hand them the new ultrasound pictures from today. It doesn't take long for them to realize what we found out today at our appointment.

"Shut the fuck up." Kim whispers. "Triplets? Christian do you see this?" Kim hands the ultrasound pictures over to him and sits down in one of the rocking chairs.

"Wow. Well this is another shocker. You two don't seem to do things small, do you?" Christian says laughing, but his face has paled some.

"Your reactions are better than Hardin's was today. He fainted and needed to go to the Emergency Room to have thirty stitches put in the back of his head. There was blood everywhere." I laugh and then continue. "We have some other things to discuss, but we can do that over dinner."

"I actually picked things up to make dinner tonight when I was out getting the crib and other baby things." Hardin says as he stands up. "Let's move into the kitchen and we can talk while I start cooking."

We all move to the kitchen and sit around the island while Hardin cooks dinner with Christian's help. I start telling them about the appointment. I tell them about how the boys are still developing on schedule, but Baby B is a little on the smaller side. I then explain the complications that we need to keep track of with the boys since they are sharing a placenta and amniotic sac.

"So the boys will be identical because they split from one fertilized egg after it implanted in Tessa's uterine wall." Hardin adds to my explanation.

"Wow. That's really cool, but also sounds like it's dangerous too." Kim says.

"It is. The boys need to be monitored closely. I'll be going in for a check up every two weeks now that we are aware of the situation. The other baby has their own placenta and amniotic sac. The only complication that we need to watch for is the baby's size. Since they are all sharing the space in my uterus, they could be small."

"Do you know the gender of the third baby?" Christian finally speaks. He hasn't said much since we told them about the third baby in the nursery.

"Yes." Hardin says. "The third baby is a girl." When he announces the gender Kim squeals in delight and Christian can't contain his smile.

"Finally a girl in the house." Christian says as he wraps his arms around Hardin first and then me.

"I think Hardin bought one of every baby girl outfit at the store. The closet is now full." I laugh. "There are some things that have changed now that we're pregnant with triplets." I say and then proceed to tell them about how I will need to have a scheduled cesarean section and that the babies will be induced sometime between 33 and 36 weeks. "I'm also on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. Do you think that I would be able to do my work from home?" I ask Christian.

"Tessa, you don't really have to work if you don't want to." Chritian says and when I insist that I need to continue to work up until I have the babies he agrees that I can work from home. "I'll make sure to bring your work home at night for the next day and any meetings that you're involved in you can either call into or do a video call. I'll bring a laptop home from the office tomorrow for you to work on." Christian ensures me that working from home will work out just fine.