Over Spring Break

The rest of spring break I spent with David, except Monday. He had come my way on Tuesday and we went back to the city that night. I hung out with him, his brother, Jenny, and pretty much the rest of the guys who had a significant other. David claimed I was starting to get cravings and that was the night before my doctor’s appointment with the doctor that Abby Sharp saw.

We got up Friday, me with my head in the toilet, and than had a quick shower before heading to Doctor Meade’s office. We arrived early to fill out paperwork and were taken to a private room.

“Mr. Toews, Harper, I’m Doctor Katherine Meade. I’m just going to ask a few questions and than we’ll try doing an ultrasound. When was your last period?”

“December, I don’t remember the dates.”

“Were you on birth control at the time of conception or afterwards?”

“No, I’ve never been on birth control before.”

“Did you have protected sex?”

“We were drunk, so we honestly can’t tell you.”

“Have either of you been introduced to STD’s at any time in your lives?” when we shook our heads, she smiled. “HIV or AIDS?” again, we shook our heads. “Alright, I guess all I need is family history and than we are ready.”

“There’s diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure on my side of the family.”

“Just high blood pressure for the Canadian family,” David added. She entered it into her computer and had me get on the table for the ultrasound. David stood next to me, holding and kissing my hand as she got ready. I rolled up my shirt.

“Now, this will be cold and if we don’t get a good picture, we can try the other tool.” I just nodded and sighed as the cool gel was placed on my tiny bump. The screen popped up and it showed us our baby. “Now, it’s too soon for heartbeats, but they look fine. A healthy size, you are at a good weight for roughly three and a half months.”

“Did you say they?” David asked.

“Yes, it looks like triplets to me,” she pointed each baby out. “I’ll send a nurse in to clean you up and we’ll talk in my office, alright?” we nodded and she was gone.

“Would you like pictures?” the nurse asked as she entered. I nodded because I was just speechless.

“Triplets,” I mumbled. David kissed my forehead.

“Maybe you should take some time off from school,” he dumbly suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” I sarcastically responded. I got up after the nurse had cleaned me up and went to follow her to Doctor Meade’s office when David stopped me.

“Harper, I know that’s not what you expected me to say for the first thing after learning we are having three kids and not just one, but it’s the only thing that popped up.”

“Okay,” I replied without emotion.

“It’s obviously not okay, Harper.”

“You’re right, but this isn’t the place to have this conversation. Let’s talk with Dr. Meade and we’ll finish this at Jon’s.” I found the nurse in the hall, waiting to escort us to the office.

“While Nurse Hannah prints out those pictures for you, let’s talk expectations. You are having triplets and so you’ll need to eat well, by well I do not mean junk food. Your basic food pyramid is a great place to start. May I ask if you have consumed alcohol since conception?”

“Just around New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, not a drop since,” I honestly remarked.

“That’s good, but were you one to drink regularly or once in a while?”

“Once in a while, that was just a rough weekend for me this year,” I responded.

“Have you used illegal drugs?”

“None, ever,” I quickly answered.

“Are you on any prescription medication?” I shook my head. “Great, I’ll write you a script for pre-natal’s and we’ll get back to the expectations. Most mothers carry triplets 30-35 weeks, the closer to 40 weeks, the better.”

“Alright.”

“Average weight gain is between 20-35 pounds depending on your eating habits, your babies’ builds, and each babies’ weight. Average triplets weight between five and six and a half pounds. Again, the longer you carry, the more they tend to weigh.” She paused. “I would like to see you in six weeks, that will put you just shy of six months and done with school. After that, we should see each other every couple of weeks.”

“Will we know the sexes than?”

“If they are in the right positions, it’s possible. Here’s your script, do you have any other questions as new, first time parents?”

“I think you answered them all. If one comes to mind, we’ll call.”

“Of course, Hannah will help you schedule your next appointment right outside.”

“Thank you, Dr. Meade,” we shook hands and I got an appointment for May. We headed to the local pharmacy and dropped off the prescription to pick up before heading home.