Duh...duh... Duh...duh Duh...duh
Still own nothing
Penny had been leafing through the most recent issue of Bride's Magazine. She had not yet approached Leonard about the prospect of getting married before the Babies were born. They would need to do it soon if she was going to fit into a regular dress. The Doctor said she would start to show soon. And as if on cue, she swore she could notice the beginnings of a bump. She put her hand on her stomach and started to rub her bump in a circular motion, then turned to the Maternity dress section.
As she was turning the pages, her phone rang. It was Dr. Johnson's office. The day before, they had done another HCG test and she hoped this result would really nail down the due date. "Hello, this is Penny".
"Hi Penny, this is Katie from Dr. Johnson's office. Dr. Johnson would like you to come in to discuss the test results".
Penny smiled. "Does she have a date for us"?
Katie looked at the instructions. "She just indicates that she wanted to see you as soon as possible. She has an opening at 1:00 this afternoon if you can make it".
Penny thought about the afternoon. Leonard would be working until 6:00 tonight with his new laser experiment. She had the dinner shift, so she decided to go in to the Doctor and then surprise Leonard with the news when she got home. "I can make it, I'll see you then".
Penny had to get up and get going. She had been lazying around and hadn't showered. She quickly picked up the pile of magazines and went off to get ready.
Dr. Johnson was going over a record with one of her colleagues. "Jack these results never did make sense, now with the image data it does. This is going to be a very high risk pregnancy. How far in advance can we schedule with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit"?
Dr. Jack Billings was the Chief of Obstetrics at County General Hospital. He had dealt with multiple births before, but this was truly rare. "Wendy, we will be ready whenever you need us. This will be touch and go for some time. This woman is only sixteen weeks in. We need to make sure twin two makes it to twenty four weeks minimum.
Penny was just finishing up and ready to go out the door. She wanted to surprise Leonard with the date information, but she was working the dinner shift. It was Tuesday Night, so the guys would all be coming over to the Cheese Cake Factory for dinner. So instead of waiting until she got home, she thought that the perfect time to surprise Leonard with the news would be when she served their food. She could leave a little note on Leonard's order. She wanted to make sure they came, so she left Leonard a text. –Miss ya tons. See ya at dinner. Remember, the waitress really needs the tips-.
Leonard was eating lunch with the guys when his phone buzzed. "It looks like Penny is a little short on cash. She says the waitress needs tips tonight".
Sheldon looked up from his lunch, "Here's a tip for her, be more attentive and get the order right".
Penny entered the reception area at Dr. Johnson's office. Katie saw her as she came in. "Penny, how are you? Dr. Johnson is expecting you. Come this way".
Penny followed Katie into Dr. Johnson's office to see Dr. Johnson and another Doctor speaking. She was immediately embarrassed. "I'm sorry I'm probably early, I'll wait outside".
Dr. Johnson stepped forward. "Penny, Hi. You are not late, this is my colleague Dr. Jack Billings. I asked him to come and answer any questions you might have. Is Leonard coming"?
Penny was now getting a bit nervous. "No, he is at work. Was he supposed to come? Questions, I don't have any questions. I thought this would be just to tell us the due date. I figured I would surprise him later with the date. Is there something wrong"? There was a little catch in her voice with the last question.
Dr. Johnson led Penny to a chair and sat her down. She could see that Penny was becoming upset. "Penny, the babies are both fine. We are here to help you and make sure that everything progresses as well as it can".
Dr. Billings could see that Penny was getting more upset. He stepped aside and requested that Katie contact the Leonard that Dr. Johnson spoke to Penny about.
A knock on Leonard's lab door interrupted his concentration on the Laser project he was working on. It was Dr. Gabelhauser. "Dr. Hofstadter, we will be having a teleconference with the Hawking group to finalize your determinations. Please get Dr. Cooper and meet back in my office…turn off your phones, we don't want to be interrupted".
Leonard rushed to Sheldon's office. "Sheldon we need to meet with the Hawking group in Gabelhauser's office. Turn off your cell phone and let's go".
Katie went to the reception desk to call up the contact information for Penny on the computer. She found Leonard's Cell Phone number and dialed. There was no answer. The phone went directly to voice mail.
Dr. Billings was now sitting with Dr. Johnson speaking with Penny. "Penny, as Wendy has said, the babies are fine now. We have studied the HCG results and they are of sufficient levels. We have a concern however".
Penny tried to calm herself. She listened intently. She wanted Leonard, why didn't she wait for Leonard to be available.
Dr. Johnson looked Penny in the eye. "Penny, you know that we have been having trouble nailing down your due date. The problem has been that we have not seen the pattern of HCG levels we would expect, even with twins. There are different kinds of twins, Identical, which occur when the forming zygote splits into two embryos, and fraternal which occur when two eggs are fertilized by two sperm at the same time. In each case the babies are at the same developmental stage because fertilization occurred at the same time. Rarely, fertilization can occur of two eggs by two sperm at different times from different menstrual cycles. This is called superfectation. The babies develop normally except that the second baby is at a more immature developmental stage compared to the first.
Penny was listening intently, but confused. "What does this mean for my babies"? Dr. Billings responded. "We think that, after analyzing the images, your babies were conceived at different times. That is why the HCG levels are not where we think they normally would be expected to be".
Penny was getting very nervous at this point. Dr. Johnson went to see Katie. "Katie, were you able to get hold of Leonard Hofstadter"?
Katie turned to face Dr. Johnson. "No Doctor, his phone keeps going to voice mail".
Dr. Johnson was not comfortable with Penny driving alone. "Katie, call John's office and see if you can get Penny's friend Bernadette's number". Dr. Johnson had rejoined Penny and Dr. Billings. "Penny everything is fine now. The babies are developing normally. One is just smaller than the other because it is younger".
Penny was on the verge of tears. "That doesn't sound too bad, what could happen"?
Dr. Billings had Penny's attention. "The danger is always to the younger baby. When you go into labor, the younger baby is born premature. The danger increases as the length of the pregnancy decreases".
Bernadette answered her desk phone. "This is Dr. Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, how can I help you"?
Katie answered. "Dr. Rostek... Dr. Roster... Bernadette, your friend Penny is here at Dr. Wendy Johnson's office and the Doctor feels it is not wise for her to drive alone. Could you perhaps come get her"?
Bernadette didn't even ask why. "I'll be right over".
Penny was starting to fidget. She haltingly asked. "H... Ho... How far different are they"?
Dr. Johnson answered. "We estimate five or six weeks. If the first baby goes full term we should be ok".
Penny squeaked out. "What if it is premature"?
Dr. Billings answered. "The greatest danger is always to the lung development of the younger baby".
Penny was speechless. She was staring blankly ahead. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. Penny then broke down.