A/N Hi all, just want to say that I'm really struggling, physically with pain, the last couple of weeks. I have done no writing (on the first draft) at all, and even doing the editing has been a struggle lately (Hence, why this is late today). However, the last couple of days I have been feeling a bit better. And, even with no writing and publishing this chapter today, I'm still four and a half chapters ahead. So, hopefully, I'll be doing better next week, and can get back to writing the first drafts I need to finish this. I look at it this way, I estimated last week that I would finish around chapter 75, that means I need 13 chapters to finish, and I have four of those done, about one-third of them. Now, we'll see if that's all I need. Enjoy.
Chapter 62
Monday 27 April, 9:30 AM
Leonard was writing out the final changes he was planning to make to the machine. He would pass these out to the run team, as they would start physically making those changes tomorrow. His mobile phone rang and after glancing at it, he picked it up, accepted the call and said, "Hello Patsy, what's up?"
"Good News. The title cleared, we can schedule the closing," said Patsy.
"Really? That's great," said Leonard sounding excited.
"So, when do you want to close?" asked Patsy.
"When can we close?"
"The earliest would be next Monday," said Patsy. "Mr. Ash wants this week to clear out the house."
"That's fine with me," said Leonard. "What time?"
"What time do you want?" asked Patsy.
"Well, Penny has her doctor's appointment at one, every Monday," said Leonard. "How about 2:30? We are usually done well before that, but even if we run late, we get done at 2:15, and we can get there by then."
"Let's make it 2:30," said Patsy. "I can have the Ash's come in at 1:30 PM, and they can start signing. They should be done by 2:20-2:30, so they would be done and gone, before you even start signing."
"And when would we be able to move in?" asked Leonard. "Any time after Monday," said Patsy. "Just remember to change the account name on the electric, water, cable, and internet."
"Can you have him call about those," asked Leonard. "Have him shut everything off on Monday, and I'll have it turned on, on Tuesday."
"Yes, I can do that," said Patsy. "But, he doesn't have to turn them off. I'll have him tell the companies to take his name off the account on Monday, the day of closing. He will mention your name as taking over, so when you call, the companies should be able to change the name on the accounts showing you as the account owner on Tuesday, the day after closing. That way everything will be working when you move in."
"That would be great and makes it so much easier," said Leonard. "This way, I can get my home wi-fi set-up and get my internet up and running. You can have him cancel the cable, we get our TV through the internet"
"Oh, okay, I've made a note for that," said Patsy.
"Okay, thanks, you've been so helpful to us," said Leonard. "I'm so glad we got you when we looked for a realtor.
Patsy grinned, "Thanks, it's what I'm supposed to do, but I thank you for letting me know. I guess we'll see you next Monday."
"See you then," said Leonard. He thought for a few minutes, then decided to go see Dr. Gablehauser, so he could get Monday afternoon off and would talk to Penny at the doctor's office.
Monday 27 April, 12:45 PM
Penny walked into the office to find Leonard already there. He had texted her that he had news about the house, so, after she told the receptionist she was there, she sat down with Leonard asking about his news. He told her about Patsy calling, with the news of the title clearing, and then explained about when the closing would be and changing over the utilities. He also suggested that she ask for the afternoon off, next Monday.
She agreed, then smiled.
"What?" asked Leonard.
"Remember what I told you? It will be Star Wars Day, Leonard," said Penny. "May the fourth be with our home."
"Our home," said Leonard grinning, "Think of Star Wars day, five years ago."
"Five years ago?" said Penny, puzzled.
"We went to Professor Proton's funeral," said Leonard.
Penny nodded, smiling, "We weren't even engaged."
"We did get engaged the next week," said Leonard. "But, now, here we are married, closing on a house and expecting twins in a couple of months."
"I would have never thought that five years ago," said Penny. "Heh, Bernadette wasn't even pregnant with Halley, yet."
"Yeah," said Leonard. Both of them went off into a reverie.
The nurse came over, "Penny!"
Penny looked up, "Oh, what?"
"I called you several times," said Sue.
"Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something," said Penny.
"Well, let's go get your tests and weighing done," said Sue, walking back toward the door. Penny followed and was gone for about ten minutes. When she came back, she looked perturbed.
"What's wrong?" asked Leonard.
"I think my blood pressure is high again," said Penny. "She took it four times."
In about five minutes, Dr. Samuels came out and called for them. She led them back to her office
Dr. Samuels had them sit and then looked over the paperwork for a few minutes. Finally, she straightened up and said, "Your hemoglobin is at 12.4, so we'll end the supplements. The babies won't be taking as much iron from you, from here on out, so you should have a normal reading, without supplements. However, your blood pressure 135 over 85, so we are going to keep you on the current dose for now. I would like to see it come down, but if we can keep it below 140 over 90 you should be fine. If it gets higher, we'll increase your dosage."
Then, Dr. Samuels asked, "Are you having heartburn?"
"Yes, I am, at times," said Penny. "It can be a real bother to me."
"Well, then I would like you to try changing your meal schedule a bit and eat up to six, small meals a day," said Dr. Samuels. "A light breakfast, a mid-morning snack, a light lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and then a light snack at night. With the uterus growing, it's pushing on your stomach, so you don't have a lot of space in there. The smaller meals won't fill you up as much, so the smaller meals should cut down on your heartburn. You may also start to have breathing problems shortly, as there is now less room in your lower chest to expand your lungs. You may also start getting what feels like cramps in your legs, this is due to your increasing weight. There's nothing we can really do for that, except keep you off of your feet. Now, did you get a chance to look over the delivery part of that site?"
"Yes, I did," said Penny. "And I have a couple of questions."
"Go ahead."
"It talks about how multiples can come very early," said Penny. "Would my babies be in trouble, if they came in the next few weeks?"
"While if you delivered now, they would be premature," said Dr. Samuels. "I'll be honest, they would probably have to go into the neonatal IC for a while, but at this stage, I would say they would both eventually come through."
"I read that if they are in distress, it's imperative to get them out as quickly as possible," said Penny. "Would that mean a Cesarian?"
"More than likely, yes," said Dr. Samuels. "In the case of getting them out quickly, we would normally do a Cesarian. You have to understand, there is much less stress, by doing a cesarian, instead of a normal delivery. Especially if they are struggling and in distress, it's safer for them to deliver them through a Cesarian."
Penny nodded, thinking about what Dr. Samuels had said. "I have one more question," she said.
"And, what is that," said Dr. Samuels.
"If the first one is delivered, but the second one isn't in the right position, will you do a Cesarian?"
"That will depend on what kind of position the baby is in," said Dr. Samuels. "It will also depend on how much distress the baby is in. If it is doing fine, we may wait for a bit, to see if it will get into position on its own, or we may even be able to help it get into position. If it doesn't look like it's going to move, or it starts having some distress, we do the Cesarian. It's a call we have to make at the time."
"Okay, that's it for me," said Penny.
"I have a question," said Leonard.
Doctor Samuels nodded.
"You probably told us, but how long is a normal twin pregnancy?" asked Leonard. "And, when would you have to induce?"
"Normal is around 36-37 weeks," said Dr. Samuels. "After that, we have to watch for several conditions, that could cause problems. But, forty weeks is a normal pregnancy. So, if we don't detect any problems, I personally would let the pregnancy continue, but recommend inducing at the beginning of the fortieth week. Anything else?"
Both Penny and Leonard shook their heads.
"You ready for the ultrasound?"
Penny said, "Yes," then moved over to the exam table, pushed down her pant's top, and pulled up her blouse. Dr. Samuels prepared by turning on the machine and then putting the lubricant on the wand. She started moving the wand along Penny's belly. The heartbeats could be heard, Leonard thought it was interesting to hear the differences. Finally, Dr. Samuels stopped moving the wand and turned off the machine. She gave Penny the paper towels, wipes, and a cloth towel and said she be back shortly. Penny cleaned up and then they both moved to the chairs, waiting for Dr. Samuels to come back.
As usual, she returned with a bunch of papers, and said, "Everything looks good, but there were no noteworthy pictures today, sorry. The babies are both right around 15 inches long, and Baby A, the one that is head down, near the cervix weighs 29 ounces, and Baby B, who seems to like laying sideways, is at 27 ounces. They are about the size of a large eggplant."
Penny was looking at her phone, "They haven't grown at all this week."
"Penny, remember, this is an inexact measurement," said Dr. Samuels. "Also, they won't be growing much in height for the rest of the pregnancy. Most of their growth will be in adding weight. They each added four ounces this week. And, while that may not seem like much, that's a lot of weight gain when you weigh under two pounds. Adding four ounces, when you weigh under two pounds, would be like adding 17 pounds, if you weighed one hundred twenty pounds. That's what you weighed at the beginning of your pregnancy. Think about gaining 17 pounds at that time."
Penny smile ruefully, "I don't have to imagine it, I've gained thirty pounds. But, I get it."
Dr. Samuels chuckled, "Don't worry, both your babies are doing fine. They are about 15 inches long and will be around 18 when they are born. So they will only grow an inch a month. But, they weigh under 30 ounces now and should weigh about 70 ounces when born. They will gain just over a pound and a quarter in each of the next two months."
Penny nodded her head.
"Is there anything else?" asked Dr. Samuels.
"I don't have anything," said Penny. "Do you?"
"No, I don't," said Dr. Samuels. "So we're done for today. I'll see you next week, oh wait, you're both coming to my class on Thursday, aren't you?"
"Yes, we are," said Penny. "I'm looking forward to it. What are we going to be learning?"
"We have a printout of what we'll be doing in each of the six classes," said Dr. Samuels. "We'll pass that out in the first class. Each class has a small booklet that goes into detail for each night. So, I'll see you then. Please stop at the counter and schedule next week's appointment."
With that, Penny and Leonard left the office, stopped to make an appointment for next week, and they both left, to go back to work.
Tuesday 28 April, 4:45 PM
Leonard finally made it back to his office. He had been in the lab all day, working with the run team, making the changes to the various modules, hoping to get the experiment to produce 14 entangled photons, every run. It was going to be a while yet, as they would have to finish making the changes and then run tests on each module, before running tests on the entire machine. Only then, if it passed every check, could they try to run the actual experiment, to get data.
He ran through his email, and voice mails. Answered some of them, tossed the others, and was just about ready to leave for home. But, he thought he would call Penny. So he selected Penny on his cell and waited. It was only seconds when he heard, "Hi sweety, what's up?"
"I was just getting ready to leave, and you said you may work late, are you?" asked Leonard.
"Not really, I have a few more emails to answer," said Penny. "But, I was going to stay later. But, then I thought about my high blood pressure and decided I really didn't need to work any later, so it shouldn't more than thirty minutes or so before I leave."
"Okay, then I'll see you at the apartment," said Leonard.
"Only for another couple of weeks," said Penny.
Leonard smiled and said, "And on every third Wednesday, when Sheldon and Amy host. I love you."
"I love you, too, sweety, goodbye," said Penny.
They both disconnected.
Wednesday 29 April, 4:45 PM
Penny and Bernadette were waiting in 4A for the guys to show up with the food. Amy had begged off, saying she had work to do. Penny suspected otherwise but wasn't going to push it. So, she and Bernadette watched the kids and talked about work.
The guys arrived, and with them, Amy came over. The food was passed out, the kid's plates made up, and as they ate they talked. Howard was enjoying being back in classes, although, because of his research, he was teaching the professor, almost as much as he was learning. Bernadette was enjoying her new job. Going through and determining which possible drugs they should work on, along with deciding the best method for making new drugs. Raj was enjoying his new job, working as the liaison with Griffith Observatory, while assisting post-graduates in getting their higher degrees.
Sheldon said he was actually starting to enjoy talking to and instructing those that were coming to Caltech, to learn about Super-Asymmetry. Amy explained that her work was moving along quite fast, with two assistants. She said she was having to plan further ahead, as her grad students were pushing along faster than she could come up with new experiments, that's why she could come over this evening.
Penny felt some regret about her thoughts that Amy didn't come over because of the housing situation. Then she told everyone how she had come up with several new ideas to improve sales, and so far, the one territory she was testing it in, was doing far better than that territory had ever done. Of course, she said, it was partly because she knew her old territory so well, and her replacement, Karen, was also doing very well and making some good suggestions. Only Leonard, it seemed, was moving along slowly. But, that was because he was trying to push the equipment farther than it was originally designed to do. He explained that the new changes should allow him to get the equipment where it needed to be, to prove his ideas.
Everyone pitched in to help clean up, and soon everything was cleaned and put away. Everybody came back to the living room and before they could all break up, Penny cleared her throat.
"We have some news," said Penny "A couple of pieces actually. First, I want to let everyone know that we have picked names for our daughters."
Everyone leaned in expectantly.
"A few weeks ago, we came up with five names each," said Penny. "Then we got together talked about each of the names. We both picked Savannah as a name, but we also each had another name we liked."
"Mine was Annikka, my grandmother who came over to the states when she was young. Leonard's name was Jessica, named after his uncle Floyd's wife. They both supported us when we were younger, so those are the names we're going with."
"However," said Leonard. "We wanted similar names, so we made some changes." Leonard explained those changes and everyone, even Sheldon, approved of the names.
"Do they have middle names?" asked Bernadette.
"Well, yes they do," said Leonard. "Since we both like the name Savannah, we decided that would be both their middle names. So, now you know the names of our daughters."
"What's the other piece of news?" asked Raj.
"Well, we found out Monday, that we will close on our house, this coming Monday," said Leonard. "We will move in the weekend after. So, next Wednesday, at Howard and Bernadette's, we'll take you through the house."
There was excitement and congratulations for almost everyone, even Sheldon. Penny, however, was watching the face of Amy, and she looked crestfallen.