Friday 29th November 2013

After an odd suggestion she'd found on the internet, Jac had begun to start every day with a nice soak in the bath rather than spending 20 minutes in the shower, and she would just have a quick rinse off after and then get ready for the day. Because of the suggestion, she hadn't felt better in weeks. How having a bath in the mornings was helping, she had no idea but her back only caused her pain towards the end of the day rather than all day and she was generally feeling better about herself. That was, until she had a patient puke all over her bump on Darwin and the stench of it had nearly made her vomit herself.

"Come on, let's go and get you changed." Jonny said as he carefully put his hands on Jac's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The patient apologised.

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Adele smiled as she set about clearing the patient up whilst Jonny walked away with Jac.

"Ms Naylor are you alright?" Guy asked confusedly as she walked towards him on Darwin with her dark blue scrub top and bottoms drenched with vomit from her navel downwards.

"I think we might have a bug going around." Jonny stated. "We've got three patients vomiting so far this morning but it's strange because they're all in separate bays." Jonny explained. "Come on, let's get you out of these. You look like you're gonna be sick." Jonny said sympathetically as he walked Jac into the locker room. "Don't pull it over your head." Jonny said quickly as he remember he had a pair of angled scissors in his pocket used to remove patient's bandages or clothing in an emergency. He cut from the side where there wasn't any vomit from the bottom of her scrub top all the way up to the end of the short sleeve so that she could let the back fall off of her and then she had to peel the front bit off of her stomach. "Tell you why don't you go for a quick shower?" Jonny suggested as she put one arm across her chest to cover her clean black bra and she put the other arm across the top of her bump so that she didn't touch any of the sick. It was also on her trousers too. "Otherwise you'll probably smell of sick all day."

"I'm due in theatre in half an hour." Jac sighed whilst the maintained eye contact with the door to ensure that no one was coming in.

"So? Just tie your hair up in a bun so that doesn't get wet, jump in the shower in the oncall room now and I'll get you a towel, some shower gel, set of clean scrubs and some disposable undies from the store room because I'm presuming you need to change them as well. You wanna be all squeaky clean for your scan later on." Jonny grinned and Jac rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, you've got to be excited." Jonny protested.

"The scan I don't mind, it's the peeing in a pot, having my blood pressure taken and Mr T stuttering about how they'll be here soon." Jac moaned.

"Well Mr T only stutters because he's nervous around you. If you weren't so intimidating, he wouldn't be such an idiot when he's in your mighty presence." Jonny quipped.

"I love watching them on the screen." Jonny admitted as he and Jac waited for her 31 week appointment. She was wearing her dark blue scrubs from work because they were comfortable and one of the few things she could fit into without finding them tight. She was being offered an additional scan because it was a high risk pregnancy and they wanted to monitor the positioning of the babies in the coming weeks to determine whether Jac could have the natural birth that she was demanding. "It's so cute if you catch one kicking the other's foot." He grinned. "I just wanna tell her off for bullying her sister." He smirked.

"Jac?" Mr T announced as he walked into reception. "I hear we've got the go ahead for the foetal cardiac unit on Darwin from Mr Self." He began as he lead Jac and Jonny to his consult room.

"Yeah, he's secured funding for it but the plans are on hold until I return from my maternity leave." Jac stated.

"Oh right. Well, I'm happy to help with any planning." He offered as he opened the door.

"I don't need help to do my job." Jac stated bluntly as she entered and climbed onto the bed but halfway she groaned and Jonny quickly ran over to her and placed his hand on her back.

"You okay?" He asked worriedly.

"You try carrying around 40lbs on your stomach and tell me your back doesn't hurt." Jac retorted as she got onto the bed properly and Jonny just smirked as he sat down on the chair besides her whilst Mr T set up the computer.

"Right, you know the drill." Mr T began as he took out a small clear tube but Jac took out of her hand bag a pharmacy bag containing a similar clear tube that was filled with a pale yellow fluid. "You've come prepared then." He chuckled nervously before he put the sample pot in a tray ready to be tested for protein. "Right, have you completed your birth plan yet?" He asked.

"I managed to get her to fill it out." Jonny stated as he handed over the plastic wallet containing the sheets of paper.

"Right let's just have a look..." He glanced through at Jac's choices and paused in the last sheet. "You don't want the injection to speed up the delivery of the placentas, no?" He asked.

"No." Jac replied bluntly.

"It's just, well for a multiple pregnancy I must strongly recommend that you have the injection because with two placentas, the chances of you haemorrhaging or having heavy bleeding are a lot higher. And if you do have heavy bleeding then you will probably have a longer stay in hospital." Mr T explained. "Plus, given that your uterus will have to contract to push out two babies, it's unlikely you will be able to deliver the placenta without any fragments being left behind, or without it taking over an hour both of which are scenarios that we want to avoid."

"There's no risk to the babies if she has it right?" Jonny asked.

"No, no not at all. Even with breastfeeding it's safe, the medication will be passed out through your urine without a couple of hours anyway." Mr T stated.

"Oh… I'll have it then." Jac nodded.

"Okay, I'll just change your birth plan. Now then, I just need to take your blood pressure, then measure the size of your uterus and then we can get on with the scan." Mr T smiled.

"Just roll your top up for me then." Mr T said as he squeezed the lubricant onto the transducer. Jac reluctantly pulled her scrub shirt up to just under her bra and Jonny smiled at her amazing body. He couldn't believe how big she had gotten and he knew she wasn't happy about the two stretch marks she had on either of her hips but in his eyes, they were signs of being a mother. "Right, let's have a look at your little girls then." He began as he gently placed the transducer on her bump towards her rib cage so that he could get a good look at the first baby. She was used to the cold lubricant so she no longer reacted - all she had to do was prepare herself mentally for something much colder than it actually was.

"Can we listen to their heartbeats as well please?" Jonny asked eagerly.

"Er, I wasn't going to but yeah sure. I'll need to use a separate Doppler machine though so let me just do the scan first and I'll do it after." He replied. "Right, there we go." He announced as he showed Jac and Jonny the screen. "This is baby A, who is probably causing most of your back pain because she's tucked against your spine." Mr T stated. "But don't worry, that's a good sign, obviously she's bound to move a bit before the delivery, but at the moment, this baby is in the perfect position for birth." He stated happily. He then printed off a couple of pictures before he moved the transducer around Jac's bump. "Here's baby B. Now she's not breeched so I don't want you to worry but she is lying a little bit too far forward for my liking. In her position, it's still possible for a natural birth and she could move before then, or she could move once the first twin is born so it's nothing to worry about, it's just something you need to know."

"Just out of curiosity, if all goes well and there's a perfect natural birth, how long would there be between the two of them being born?' Jonny asked curiously.

"Well, the average length of time between the birth of twins without complications is about 17-18 minutes but it could be as short as a couple of minutes. And as long as the second baby isn't showing any signs of distress, there isn't any need to speed things along so there could be up to an hour or two between them." Mr T explained.

"Oh, could you imagine if they had different birthdays?" Jonny laughed. "In fact, I don't want them with different birthdays because that'll mean paying for two different parties." Jonny added.

8pm

Jac was lying on the sofa holding a cushion against her stomach for comfort with Jonny sitting with her swollen feet in his lap when his phone buzzed. Jac watched his face light up as he read it.

"What?" She demanded.

"Mo's on the night shift and she says it wasn't a stomach bug on Darwin; it's food poisoning." He laughed. "Everyone who had the chicken broth has vomiting and diarrhoea and your whole theatre list tomorrow is cancelled because all of your patients are ill."

"And that's funny because?" Jac questioned.

"Because Mo deals with vomit about as well as you do so she'll be in a state of disgust right now."

"I bet she hasn't been puked on." Jac grumbled.

"Maybe not but she's not getting a very good foot rub right now." Jonny said smugly and he watched as Jac rubbed her hands over her stomach before she twisted her lips and he knew exactly what that expression meant. "You're hungry aren't you?" He smirked.

"Oi, I only had a slice of toast for dinner." She protested.

"Because that's what you asked for." Jonny laughed. "What do you want?" He asked.

"Possibly a pizza, possibly some grilled Parma ham." Jac stated sheepishly"

"Would you like a pizza with some grilled Parma ham on top?"

"And where are you gonna get that from?" Jac demanded.

"I can order a plain cheese pizza from Pizza Hut and we've got Parma ham in the fridge so I'll grill that and put that on top of the pizza. Simple." Jonny concluded. "You want that yeah?"

"No, your children want that." Jac stated as she rubbed her bump and Jonny smiled as he got up to get the pizza menu. "But I only want a small pizza." She added.

"Of course, because you've only got a little tummy." Jonny said mockingly as he leant over and patted her belly but she quickly swotted him away before he got up to get the menu.

"Thin Italian crust, made with half the cheese with crispy grilled Parma ham on top." Jonny announced as he handed Jac a plate with a small pizza cut into 6 pieces on it.

"Thank you." She smiled as she laid the plate on top of her bump.

"Oi, eating when you're lying down is gonna give you heartburn." Jonny warned as she took the biggest bite she could out of the first slice.

"Mm and watching TV is gonna give me square eyes as well." Jac retorted before she took another big bite.

Midnight

Jonny rolled over in bed to wrap his arms around Jac to make her feel safe only he awoke when his face hit the cold mattress besides him and though he normally argued for some more space in their bed, he didn't mean he wanted the whole bed! He peered across in the darkness because when she got up in the night to use the bathroom, he could always see a small strip of light escaping from underneath the door but it was pitch black; he couldn't see anything.

Out of confusion, despite the fact that he hated getting out of the warm bed now that winter was on the way, he climbed out of bed because Jac was far more important than getting a bit cold. He flicked the bedroom light on, walked into the dark living room and then noticed a breeze. He looked to his left and saw the curtains blowing in the wind and as he pulled one of the curtains back, he revealed the doors to the balcony were wide open. Jac was standing on the balcony with a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she looked out over Holby.

"What on earth are you doing up at this hour?" Jonny asked as he went and on the balcony rail besides her. It was a good job neither of them had a fear of heights because at 21 floors above the ground, they had an incredible view of the lights around the city.

"I needed some air." Jac shrugged.

"Well why don't you just open a window? C'mon, get back into bed. You'll catch a death out here."

"I can't sleep." Jac admitted.

"Why?" Jonny asked worriedly. "Is it your back playing up again?"

"No it's... Forget it."

"No, I can't forget it now. Just tell me, I won't laugh. Honest." Jonny pleaded.

"I might, have heartburn from that stupid pizza." She grumbled slowly.

"Don't blame the pizza. It's because you ate it lying down." Jonny protested. "Have, you had some Gaviscon?"

"Yes and it's not working." She growled. "And if you say I told you so-"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Jonny said innocently. "Just come and get back into bed. We'll get you propped up by pillows and you can sleep sitting upright, that should help the problem." Jonny advised. "Please?" He added as he held his hand out for her. "You must be freezing."

"Actually I've got quite a bit of insulation." She quipped as she rubbed her bump. Jonny smiled as she turned around and he escorted her inside. He closed the doors, grabbed the decorative cushions from the living room sofa and followed her through to the bedroom to get the mother of his unborn children comfortable for the rest of the night.