Chapter 109
It was early morning. Lindsey opened her eyes and saw Tegan lying in the foetal position with her back towards her breathing heavily. She put her hand on her side. "Baby… are you awake?" she asked softly. "Mm mm" confirmed Tegan as if keeping emotion inside. Lindsey snuggled up to her and put her arm around her. She could feel Tegan's ragged breathing under her arm and it concerned her. "Are you okay?" she said. "Yup" said Tegan but started crying softly. "Heeey… what's going on. Sweetie look at me" said Lindsey. Tegan turned around and buried her face in Lindsey's neck. "Talk to me Tee" said Lindsey softly. "I'm okay… I'm just nervous about today" said Tegan. "I'm sorry, I'm a wimp I don't know why the fuck I'm crying" said Tegan. "It's okay to cry... Crying gets rid of all those nasty built up stress hormones" said Lindsey softly while stroking Tegan's back. "It's alright. You're gonna be fine my love. Everything will be okay" said Lindsey. "I know… just hold me" said Tegan becoming calmer in the arms of her wife.
"Morning everyone" said Lindsey as they walked into Erin's kitchen where the rest of the gang were having breakfast. "Hey" mumbled Tegan absentmindedly. "You all set to go?" asked Kate sipping her coffee. "I guess" said Tegan grabbing a muffin. "Tee we need a fasting blood glucose so no eating just yet bud" said Kate. "Oh... okay... I'm not hungry anyway" said Tegan looking a bit shaky. "I actually want you to eat, let me draw some blood here and then you can eat something okay" smiled Kate. Tegan rolled her eyes. "You need something in your stomach before you leave Tee" said Kate trying not to sound too bossy. "Whatever" said Tegan dejected. She led Tegan to the lounge, sat her down and tied a tourniquet around her arm and tapped it a few times trying to find a vein. Tegan looked away. Kate stuck a needle into her arm four times before successfully finding a vein. "Ouch what the fuck Kate" said Tegan annoyed. "Sorry... Make a fist a few times please, slowly. Wow… your veins are pissed off at us" said Kate running her fingers over the bruises on Tegan's arm. "What do you mean?" asked Tegan. "Well… they're collapsing all over the show from all these blood draws and IVs. Guess they're just sick and tired of being poked all the time. It's okay though don't worry about it, they usually repair themselves over time" said Kate as she watched the two vials fill with blood. "There we go… easy peasy. I'm going to keep this port in so we don't have to traumatise another vein when we take more blood today" said Kate as she taped the needle in place. "Great" said Tegan softly closed her eyes. "You okay bud?" said Kate. "Yeah… I just want to get today out of the way" she said rolling down her sleeve. "Well at least you're seeing your kids today" said Kate smiling. "Yeah… that's adding to my nerves though" said Tegan. Kate knew very well that Tegan had anxiety issues and she thought about ways to keep Tegan calm today… she couldn't find any. "It's going to be fine Tegan. We're going to take good care of you and your new little family. I promise" said Kate. "I know you will" said Tegan with a half-hearted smile. "Thanks K-dawg… you're okay... you're a good egg"
The mood around the breakfast table was sullen. Everybody deep in thought. Sara was pushing around the food on her plate unenthusiastically. "Sar... Try and eat something please, you have a long day ahead of you" said Kate softly into Sara's ear. Sara didn't appreciate being treated like a child but she smiled none the less and took a bite of toast. "So, are you looking forward to the ultrasound?" said Alex trying to lighten the mood. Tegan and Lindsey both smiled and nodded. "Maybe they'll do a 3D for you today so we can really see what these two look like!" said Kate. "I hope so, that sounds great" said Tegan trying to sound excited but her nerves were just eating her alive. She brought the glass of orange juice to her mouth with a visibly shaky hand. Sara looked up. Seeing Tegan anxious like this killed her, she instantly forgot about her own worries. "It's going to be okay Tee" she smiled at her sister. "I know... you ready for today?" said Tegan trying to change the subject. "Yeah. We're ready. Little nervous but it's fine. It's not a big deal really" said Sara. "Okay time to go" said Kate and got up. "Call me if... if you need me okay?" said Sara to Tegan. "Ditto" said Tegan and gave Sara a hug. "Give 'em hell you two..." winked Tegan. "Good luck guys, love you" said Erin and gave them all a hug. "Kate..." called Sara. Kate stopped and turned to Sara. "Bye... call me if there's anything I should know about please... anything. Take good care of her okay" said Sara, her voice breaking. "I will Sar... hey... look at me. Good luck. Call me if you need me... I'm here for you okay?" said Kate and kissed Sara goodbye softly.
Tegan and Lindsey were sitting in Dr Montgomery's office waiting for her to join them. Tegan's leg bounced up fast as she stared out of the window in silence biting her thumb nail. Lindsey put her hand softly on her thigh without a word. Tegan's leg stopped bouncing and she looked at Lindsey and swallowed hard as Adison entered the room. "Good morning! Look at you! You guys both look so great! Oh and congrats on the wedding!" said Adison. Tegan smiled shyly. "Thank you" she said. "How are you feeling Lindsey?" asked Adison. "I'm great. Tired a lot of the time but good, so happy I don't even mind it" she said and smiled at Tegan as she squeezed her hand. "No other symptoms? No cramping? Light-headedness? Spotting?" asked Adison. "No... little bit nauseous sometimes, my back's killing me and my feet look like an elephant's but nothing serious" said Lindsey. "Well, you're over the big 24 week hurdle! Almost 26 weeks. Not long before you're in the third trimester. Let's go have a look. After I do an exam and we'll know more" said Adison calmly.
Adison examined Lindsey first, checking her BP, heart and lungs, weighing her, taking some blood for tests. "Everything looks okay Lindsey. Your BP is a bit high... It could be stress related but it's probably not. Maybe we shouldn't have scheduled this appointment for today. I'm going to ask Kate to keep an eye on that BP for me" said Adison. Lindsey shrugged. "I want you to just take it easy over the next few weeks. Plenty of rest please. You also need to pick up more weight. Especially now when your babies are making that baby fat" said Adison as she put the ultrasound probe on Lindsey's belly. "You guys want to do the 3D today after this?" she smiled. "Yeah! That would be awesome!" said Tegan, now becoming a bit more relaxed. She squeezed Lindsey's hand and mouthed "I love you" to her wife. The image came on the screen and Tegan's mouth fell open. "Look at that... isn't it beautiful" said Adison. She rolled the probe around and focussed on the boy first. "There's your little tyke. Nice strong heartbeat. Never get tired of seeing that! There you can see the spine forming perfectly, the skull, legs, arms, genitals. Ahhh look at those little ribs!" said Adison. She measured everything she needed to and seemed happy. Tears were rolling freely down both Tegan and Lindsey's faces. "It's beautiful" whispered Tegan and kissed Lindsey's hand. "Let's have a look at the heart and lungs" said Adison and moved the probe around. Tegan exhaled deeply, her anxiety threatening to spill over. "You okay there Tegan?" asked Adison. "Yeah, just a little overwhelmed by all this" said Tegan. "Perfect cardiac development. Four chambers filling just fine" smiled Adison. She rolled the probe over to the girl. "There's your princess" she said. She did the same measurements and checks on their little girl. "Everything is looking great, they're a bit small for their age but then again bio mom and carrying mom aren't exactly the biggest people in the world" said Adison. "Neither is dad" said Tegan.
"Okay now that the work is done let's have some fun with the 3D" said Adison and smiled. Images of their babies appeared on screen and they could not believe how much they could see. "Oh my God Tee... look at that! I think that looks just like you" said Lindsey. Tegan was struggling to contain her emotions and let out a happy sob. Adison calmly explained things as they looked at the images of little noses, little fingers, little ears, little feet. "By now, the twins are proportioned like new-borns but thinner, as their baby fat hasn't yet developed. They're getting heavier every day though, but their skin will still be wrinkled because they need to gain more weight. So mommy... eat a lot of nice and healthy food please." said Adison. "I'm trying my best to fatten her up" laughed Tegan. "Well you can do with a bit of fattening up yourself Tegan. Keep up the good work though! Okay, where were we? Your twins' lips are distinct and their eyes are formed. Their pancreas, liver, thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands, essential for producing hormones, continue to grow and mature. Tiny eyebrows and eyelids are now visible. Your twins' internal ears are now formed and they'll start hearing the sound of your heart and other internal sounds Lindsey. This includes your voice, which is transmitted via your spine. They will also hear sounds from outside, such as your voice mommy Tee" smiled Adison. Tears were rolling freely over Tegan's face. "That's amazing. I'm speechless" said Tegan. "They have probably started forming hair, they can hiccup and you'll probably be able to feel it." said Adison. "I hope they have lots of hair like their moms" said Tegan. "I won't mind two baldies" laughed Lindsey. "The vocal chords are developed, let's hope they have mommy Tee's talents" smiled Adison. Lindsey grinned and put Tegan's hand on her cheek. "They'll also be practice breathing by now, breathing in fluid but going through the motion. Here's the cute thing... they can grab on to the umbilical cord, they can stick out their tongues and they can suck their thumbs! In fact look at that, baby girl is sucking her thumb right now" said Adison. "I'm melting! I'm so in love with them already. So they'll be sticking out their tongues to each other across the womb" smiled Tegan. "Yeah and then they'll probably kick each other" said Lindsey laughing. "Your babies will respond to touch so touching and playing with the babies is possible now. They'll be very active in the womb now. The most active weeks are typically between weeks 24 and 28" said Adison. Lindsey winked at Tegan and grinned knowing exactly what she was thinking about.
"Lindsey, you may begin feeling your belly tighten and relax at odd moments or irregular intervals. These are Braxton Hicks contractions. They are painless and help the uterus prepare for the birth. Many babies have developed a predictable routine for sleep and active periods by now. Twins may have entirely different routines from each other though so they may tire you out a bit. If your back is feeling the strain of your growing belly, try doing some pelvic rocks like I showed you last time to relax it. Tegan, you can help her with this. Lindsey, you may experience shortness of breath as the uterus is very close to the rib cage at this stage. Some moms are not able to fully expand their rib cages; however, this does not negatively affect the babies in any way. Are you guys starting pre-natal classes next week?" said Adison. "Yeah we're looking forward to it. Um... doc we wanted to speak to you about birthing options" said Tegan her eyes still on the screen, not looking away for a second. "Okay Tee. But let's do that after the 3D, you're a bit distracted right now." Adison switched the 3D machine off. "No can we see a bit more please!" begged Tegan. "We've been doing this for the last thirty minutes Tegan. Don't worry, we'll put all of this on DVD for you and we'll send you a file for your phone and your iPad so you can show everybody! We need to wrap up, I have some other patients waiting and Kate has you booked for a CT at 10" said Adison.
"We want to do home birth" said Tegan where they were sitting in front of Adison's desk again. "Guys... I know that sounds so great and under normal circumstances I would totally encourage that. But considering the fact that you're expecting twins, and Lindsey's size, I would like to play it safe and do this in the hospital. I mean... Lindsey is tiny! This may be a difficult birth. Our birthing centre is really special and it feels almost like home. Let's play this safe and make sure you have all the help you need Linds" said Adison. Tegan nodded "Okay, I understand. Whatever is best for Lindsey and the babies" she said. "I'll see you again in a couple of weeks. We can make a final call then. You're doing great Lindsey. Keep up the good work of taking care of her Tegan" said Adison as they walked to the door. Tegan smiled proudly. "Thank you doc... Thank you so much I am so happy right now. That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen!" said Tegan and spontaneously hugged Adison. "You're welcome Tegan. Call me any time if you have questions or concerns" said Adison.
Tegan pulled Lindsey into one of the empty waiting rooms as they walked down the corridor. "I love you" she said and kissed her passionately. "How beautiful are they!" said Lindsey. "Gosh I'm proud and excited" said Tegan grinning taking Lindsey's hand. "That was exactly what I needed to pick me up. I'm so fucking ready for this now – bring it on" said Tegan as she confidently walked to Kate's office holding Lindsey's hand.
A/N: Yay the babies are fine! Let's hope Tegan is too! Review please!