33Natalie held Adrian's hand tightly as they walked up to the obstetrician's office for her first ultrasound appointment. Because of her age and recent health issues, she was considered to have a high-risk pregnancy, so they would give her special physical and dietary instructions while she was there. It was with excitement and apprehension that she brought him with her, knowing that she would forever regret it if they didn't share this moment together.
Holding the door open for her, Adrian winced the moment he entered the office. It wasn't the room itself that made him uncomfortable, for they had made every attempt to give the waiting room a homey feel - with plush couches, a decanter with fresh lemon water, and a television which played some talk show that appealed mostly to women. No, it was all of the other stuff that had been placed in the room. Specifically, the brochures and magazines, that spoke of private topics such as sexual disfunction and feminine dryness and the latest birth control methods, were what made Adrian want to crawl out of his skin. As hard as this was for him though, he kept telling himself that he was doing this for Natalie, and that he just needed to 'deal' with being uncomfortable for a while because she was going to be 'dealing' with being a bit uncomfortable later on. The little self-pep-talk almost worked.
He took her jacket for her and held her by the hand as she sat down. She could already tell that she was going to be facing an over-protectiveness unlike any she had ever seen, and had resolved just to ride it out. She tried to remember that this pregnancy was taking Adrian far out of his comfort zone and tried to brace herself that the results of this fact might be somewhat unpredictable. She needed to be patient.
"Do you need anything? Are you comfortable? Can I get you some water?" he said in rapid-fire nervousness.
Deciding that indulging him a little might calm his nerves, she asked him if he would get her some water. He happily accommodated that wish. Walking over to the credenza, he picked up a plastic cup and began to dispense water into it. As he did so, he looked up and saw a poster on the wall which illustrated, in graphic detail, how a woman should perform her monthly self-exam. He froze and just stared straight ahead, not blinking or moving until Natalie's voice broke the trance.
"Adrian! Are you alright?! You're spilling water all over the floor." She said, standing up and taking the water from him.
He looked down at the floor, ashamed and embarrassed – not so much because he had spilled the water, but because he had actually looked at the poster. Natalie put her hand on his arm and asked him again, "Adrian, are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine. Sorry." He said, looking down.
She looked over by the credenza and spotted what had so distracted him and bit her lip to avoid bursting out in laughter. Oh, this was going to be a long several months.
"Come on over here and sit down by me." She said, looping her arm through his arm, in her comforting manner, and walking him back over to the couch.
For the next ten minutes, he assiduously avoided looking around at anything, but rather just sat there next to her looking down at his hands and the floor and occasionally looking over and smiling at her.
As they entered the exam room, the nurse asked Natalie to undress and put on a little paper gown. Adrian turned his back and began to stare at the wall, only to see a similar poster as the one before. He quickly rushed over by a window and began looking outside through the blind.
"You okay there?" she asked, as she folded her clothes and hopped up on the exam table.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just never realized there was so much pornography in a woman's lady-doctor office." He said.
"Adrian, that's not pornography. That's science." She said.
"Natalie, the woman in that picture was nuh-nuh-nuh-nuhnuhnuhnuhnuh…." He said, with an out of control stutter.
"Adrian, I get it. It made you uncomfortable. It's okay. Why don't you come over here and sit by me. In just a few minutes, we are about to see your offspring." She said, patting the chair next to the exam table.
He walked over to her and sat down.
"About this procedure…tell me, is there going to be blood? Because you know how I do when I see bodily fluids…" he asked.
"No. It is a simple and painless procedure. She will spread a little gel on my tummy and then our babies will appear up on that screen right there." She explained.
"Right there?" he asked.
"Yes. Or at least their image. The babies will stay inside." She said, in case there was any doubt.
A knock came on the door and a young woman, not much older than Julie, walked into the room.
"Hello, Mr. Monk! I'm Emily Baker, Natalie's doctor." she said, sticking her hand out to shake his hand.
He twitched his neck and reluctantly shook her hand. As he walked over and used the Purell dispenser, she turned to Natalie and said "I was so excited when I got the endocrinologists report. How have you been feeling?"
Natalie answered. "Great. I feel better right now than I have in months. Thought maybe the medicine was doing it." She said.
The doctor flipped through some charts.
"Looking at your thyroid levels, they appear to have normalized so you're probably correct. A side effect, or benefit, of getting those levels normalized is that previous problems with fertility can resolve, especially with the use of Levothyroxine. In fact, sometimes the drug is administered along with other treatments for women with fertility issues. Looks like you got lucky and didn't need any additional treatment at all." said Dr. Baker.
Putting the charts down, she pulled up a chair and Natalie motioned for Adrian to sit down as well.
"I'm guessing your doctor explained to you that the elevation of hCG levels at this stage in pregnancy is a possible indicator that we're having twins? Right?" Dr. Baker asked.
"We're?" asked Adrian.
"Figure of speech honey." Natalie said, patting his hand. "Yes. She said there was a good likelihood."
"Well, let's see what we have going on in there." Dr. Baker responded.
As she rolled the ultrasound cart over by Natalie's bedside, Adrian's eyes drifted between the machine and his wife. How could she be so calm? It about one minute, they would receive confirmation that their lives were changing forever. Were they ready? Well, if they weren't it's too late now. Adrian's stomach was in knots.
Dr. Baker pulled out a bottle full of gel. "This might be a little cold." She said apologetically.
As she squirted the gel all over Natalie's belly, Adrian couldn't help but notice how flat her tummy was. She had always had a lean frame, but she looked absolutely tiny in that moment as her tan skin was exposed and the doctor rolled the device all over her stomach.
In a moment, his thoughts were interrupted by the doctor's voice.
"There they are!" she said with a little awe.
"Ohhhhh" Natalie gasped. "Honey, look!"
Adrian squinted at the screen for all he could see was a grainy grey surface and two black circles with undefined grainy grey rounded shapes inside of them.
"W-what am I looking for?" he asked.
"There! Don't you see them! It's the twins." Natalie said, trying to make him see what he simply couldn't.
"Oh. Yeah. They are right there." He said, trying to fake that he knew what he was looking at.
Natalie rolled her eyes. "You don't see them."
The doctor grinned with recognition. "Here, just a second. I'm going to do something that will make it clearer." She said.
Adrian breathed a sigh of relief andwatched the doctor pull out a longer wand-shaped object.
"What is that?" he asked.
"This is a transducer." She responded. "I'm going to use it to get some images from Natalie's insides and take some measurements."
"Um…w-why do you n-need to do that?" he said.
"Sir, it's standard protocol. We need to check and see where the babies are in their growth." She explained.
"B-but…c-can't you just do that from the outside?" he asked.
Natalie looked up at him. "Honey, the doctor needs to do her job."
"Natalie, I don't want her to hurt you." He said.
Natalie smiled at his innocence and sincerity.
"Sweetie, she isn't going to hurt me. She just needs to get closer to the babies to make sure they're okay. It's okay, Adrian. Really." She said holding his hand.
"Sir, this is entirely painless. Only a little pressure." Dr. Baker said reassuringly.
Adrian took a deep breath and nodded his head. Looking at the screen he watched the same grey grainy surface move around until it was pierced through by a black circular region.
"That is the gestational sac. It is filled with fluid. That is the black part." said the doctor, as she zoomed in even closer. In a short time, a more well-defined shape appeared. "And there is baby number one."
This time, Adrian could make out more of the baby's shape, particularly as the doctor pointed the different parts out.
"Right here is the baby's little head, and that's its body. And right there, you can see its arm buds, and its legs, and if you look closely, right here, you can see its heart beating…ooop…did you see that? The baby moved!" she said as Natalie bit her lip and Adrian stared silently in amazement.
"Oh, Adrian! That's our baby." Natalie said with tears in her eyes.
He looked briefly down at her and smiled, gripping her hand even tighter, then looked back up at the screen.
"I'm going to get some measurements here. Just a second…" the doctor said.
As she took the measurements, Natalie asked,"Is the baby healthy?"
"Looks good so far." Dr. Baker answered. "Just a second, we're going to listen for the heart beat."
Adrian and Natalie looked at each other as the excitement grew. Soon, they heard a distinct sound, like a rapid whooshing and tapping sound going of in an even succession. That was all it took. Tears began to flow down Adrian's face, and then Natalie's as she saw how overcome with emotion he was and as she witnessed that they were indeed parents of what appeared to be a very healthy baby.
As the doctor repeated the procedure for the other baby, Adrian had to retrieve his handkerchief since the tears kept flowing. Down his cheek, off the end of his nose, it was simply the most precious and amazing thing he had ever seen. There were no words to say that could express the overabundant love and joy he felt in that moment for not only those two little ones but for their amazing mother. And to think, they made those two little beans together. He had once seen this with puppies and wondered what God was doing. In that moment, he knew that God was bringing his much-loved creation in on his own Creative process – and it was amazing. Consider it, "mind blown."
After the appointment, they took a little time to walk along the bridge overlooking the Bay. Holding hands, they were both immersed in a feeling of sweet amazement, as they thought about the enormity of all that they had just experienced. It was one of those moments where saying nothing at all was more than enough. In fact, words would have spoiled the moment, since their souls communed together like inseparable segments of the same beating heart . As they walked close enough to the railing for Adrian to touch each and every lamp post, a soft breeze caressed their faces and enveloped them in a delightful warmth. When they reached the pinnacle of the bridge, Adrian wrapped his arm around Natalie's shoulder and they stood quietly overlooking the water.
Soon, they would say goodbye to this city that they knew so well, but the memories would remain. This was the town where Providence would have them meet, fall in love, and where their children were conceived. It would be sad to say goodbye. But they knew that such changes were inevitable and embraced the adventure which would soon unfold. For Adrian and Natalie, this was only the beginning.