Family Goals

**March 9th, 2016 Kallie’s POV**

Well, the last few weeks have been a huge whirlwind for so many of us. Talbo is back, which the guys are thrilled about, and Jass and the kids have been here since Sunday. Today is my 32 week appointment and I am so happy that Jass is going to be going with me to it. Auntie and Vero will be watching the 5 monsters so we can go without kids. Jass says I look like I did with her two, but who knows really. My 20 week in depth ultrasound was done with me not seeing anything, I had fallen asleep due to not enough sleep the night before.

Waddling into Dr. Waltner-Toews’ office I signed in and then went to give what I could of a urine sample. It wasn’t a lot and it was dark which concerned me slightly. Soon enough we were taken back to a private room. Jass had volunteered to come back with me so she could hear and talk to the doc.

Today, surprisingly I got both of my doctors at this appointment. “Morning Kallie and her friend.” Dr. Rebecca and Dr. Susan closed the door behind themselves. “I know it feels like you might be attacked but you’re not. I promise.” Dr. Susan was one of the best people I have ever met, really she was!

“Well then why are you both here?” I asked, a bit confused.

Dr. Rebecca chuckled. “Simply because we wanted to see how you were really doing and to warn you about the possibility of an HG relapse.” Dr. Susan was on the stool and checking my cervix for dilation and effacement. She patted my leg as she stood up. “My other HG patient has had a relapse and I thought if I warned you it might not be as big of a shock if it does happen.”

Dr. Susan chortled. “What she isn’t telling you is that it was a shock to her as well. To have two beautifully fluffy ladies and have one relapse was not a pleasant wake up call. You might not relapse but it’s better to be ready in case.”

Jass smirked. “I keep telling her she’s as big as I was with my twins too and she’s only partially ready for that just in case.” I smacked her. We hadn’t really prepared for more than one kid but she kept telling us to be ready for more.

Dr. Susan nodded. “That might not be a bad idea. By everything we can figure Kalllie’s HG is worse than her mother’s was at the same stages. Fortunately we got control of hers much faster than we used to. In fact Kallie you’re just above pre-pregnancy weight, with everything you lost and have had to endure this is good news.”

Dr. Rebecca now had to tape to measure me. She actually measured me twice. “Susan, can you triple check this. I’m getting 40 weeks.” She handed the tape over and again I got measured.

“You’re right, that’s unusual but not unheard of. Just keep a close eye on her and I think we’ll be fine.” Now I was a bit worried.

Jass sighed. “Yep, exactly like I was at the same stage. I know you have been treating her HG with medications but are there more natural ways to help if she does relapse. Something we can have on hand maybe?”

I had to laugh. “Jass, I have a lot of the non-prescribed meds already. They’re in my bathroom. We didn’t get rid of them when I was deemed fluffy.” I then looked at Dr. Rebecca. “Kris and I have decided this will be my only pregnancy so if we can schedule getting my tubes tied it would be easiest.”

She nodded and made a note on my chart. “Sounds good. I can understand why this would be the only one with how badly you have felt. It’s something we can discuss at our next appointment more in depth. Why don’t you sit up slow and we’ll go make a check on where the placenta is just to be sure.”

I didn’t bother really getting dressed, just tucked the paper gown around me as best I could and went for it. Once on the table I got as comfy as I could and then got the semi-warmed goo squirted on my belly. Then the wand was begun to be moved. After a few minutes Susan made a surprised noise. “Dr. Rebecca have you seen this?” She moved over and then gasped.

“No I hadn’t. That would explain a few things though.” She leaned over and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Your friend is right and we just noticed. Do you want us to look for who is joining you or is that still a no?” My eyes went wide. Twins?! My hands went to my phone and texted Kris. ‘Dr. Susan found another baby! Max and Jass are right! Do we want to know now?’

It took Kris 2 minutes to text back. ‘YES! Need to know now. Twins do not run in my family, yours?’ I laughed. “Ok, Kris says twins don’t run in his family, and they don’t in mine either.”

Susan chuckled. “That would explain why your HG has been so bad, twins always make it worse.” She moved the wand around checking out the now surprise baby. “Ok, I’m going to check this one out and see how things are moving with both. Dr. Rebecca didn’t you say the baby you measured 12 weeks ago looked odd to you, it could have easily been because of this hidden one.”

I watched as they checked and measured both of my surprise twins. Yes they looked smaller than one would have been but not by a lot. Doing some measuring of legs, arms and bellies we found that they were only a little behind where a single baby would be. “Well, will they cooperate and let us see who they are?” I asked when we got close to the end.

In the time that it took to check both twins over Kris had finished practice and raced to the office. He opened the door trying to catch his breath. “Do we know yet?”

Dr. Susan just chuckled. “No, we’re about to check. I have a shot on baby A.” She put it on the monitor. Dr. Rebecca moved to the monitor and turned with a grin. “That’s a girl, no doubt.” Kris grabbed my hand and squeezed harder than I would’ve liked. As the wand moved around trying to get a good look at Baby B we were hardly breathing.

In what felt like forever but was only a minute or two Dr. Susan chuckled. “Gotcha!” Then there was a group exhale. On the screen was a very up close and personal shot of our new son’s testicles. I looked and found the wand nearly in my face.

“Are they both head down already?” I asked confused. The wand moved and checked, sure enough they were.

“Looks like it, but they could flip still so don’t be surprised if they do. It’s not likely the bigger they gets but it can happen.” Dr. Susan was all business as she moved around to see if she could get both in one picture. “Hold still you two.” I held my breath and heard a quiet click. “There, got it.” Pictures were printed out and Dr. Rebecca sighed as she handed them to us.

“Well this officially makes you a high high risk pregnancy. HG and twins. We’re going to pray hard that you don’t relapse and that you can make it to 37 weeks. Now we go back to the other room and talk about how we treat you from here.” Again we moved and then she sighed. “Ok, for one I’m going to see you every week from now until delivery. Secondly, the more help you have the better now. I know your aunt is here and now I see how your friends are. As much rest as you can stand.”

Dr. Susan sighed. “Relax, just because we missed something doesn’t mean we need to go overboard with care now. It does mean you need to try hard to gain weight to avoid NICU time, but you have done so wonderfully so far that I’m not as worried as I could have been.”

NICU time?! No that was not what we wanted. Kris put a hand on my shoulder. “So how do we work on that? We want to avoid the NICU if possible of course but is it the worst thing if they do need some?”

Dr. Susan shook her head. “No, here is one of the best NICU’s in the state. If they do need time they will be kept together as well. First I would concentrate on just trying to get them as big as they will grow, when they get here in about 5 weeks hopefully we will reassess the need. For now we have enough on our plate with a possible relapse and not overdoing it.”

I barely remember the rest of the appointment, although I do know we went home with more paperwork than before and orders to visit the NICU and if we hadn’t already preregistered for the hospital to get it done quick. It turned out that Max and Flower were in the waiting room as they boys had all carpooled this morning.

We said goodbye to the rest of them and Kris guided me through the hospital. “Dr. Rebecca called and asked if we could take a tour of the NICU, they have time right now.”. I nodded blankly and continued on. “Relax love. We have time to get everything ready for the two of them to come. And if we only have some of it when they get here, we will fix it as we can.”

We were met by a NICU nurse outside. “You must be our surprise twin parents. I'm Nurse Dawn.” I heard her, but it didn’t register, not really.

“Hello, I’m Kris and this is my wife Kallie. Forgive us if we seem shell shocked, we found out just how high risk we really are not long ago.” Nurse Dawn nodded and smiled. “We have HG and are having twins.”

Dawn winced a bit. “That’s rough. HG and then finding out this later that it’s twins too. Well, let’s take a tour of this place and hope you won’t need it.” She opened the doors and motioned us to go inside. “The first thing everyone has to do when coming into the unit is wash their hands, up to the elbow.”

We did so under her direction. Then we moved further into the unit. “We have the largest NICU unit in the state and go up to a level 3. This unit is our level 2 unit, the sickest babies are in level 3 and these aren’t quite ready to go home but they will all get there.” The positivity in her voice helped me start to feel better about this potential.

“What’s the difference between 2 and 3 as far as babies go?” Kris asked as we moved into a room without a baby in it.

Nurse Dawn smiled. “That’s easy. Staying in the Level 3 unit means that they need as much help as we can give them, including life support for the very youngest of them. Staying in Level 2 means you don’t need the highest level of care, the most hands on, you still will have our high standard of care just not if the baby doesn’t need us right there all the time. It extends to breathing support, helping them learn to feed and growing them up to go home.” She moved us to one of the beds. “This is one of the first beds that we use here, it’s a radiant warmer. It helps us keep the little one warm and gives us access to put in whatever lines we might need to, be it IV and or feeding.”

I squinted. “It kinda looks like the baby beds in labor and delivery.” I said, as I started coming out of my daze.

Nurse Dawn pounced on the glimmer of hope I had. “That’s actually what they are. Most full term infants don’t need to be on them too long, but the ones coming to us do need it. From here, if they need even more warmth, they move to an isolette. Otherwise known as an incubator.” She moved us over to the one in the room. “We happen to have one of each in here right now, we store them wherever we can if they aren’t in use.”

Kris sighed. “How long do babies stay in these typically?” He was caressing the hood lightly. I think preparing himself for the reality of our children in them.

“Everything depends on the baby. The ones who need help to learn how to feed well and grow sometimes don’t spend any time in one and other times, like when they need the Level 3 care, it _is_ their world.” Dawn said seriously. “They are to help them regulate their temperature and help by keeping the baby at the right humidity.”

Another nurse leaned in. “Dawn, we’ve got a 34 weeker coming in.” The change I saw touched me.

“Do you think we can let these fine folks watch us bring this little one into the fold?”

The other nurse leaned out and looked over her shoulder. In hushed tones there was a conversation and then she leaned back in. “Ben says as long as they don’t get in the way.”

Dawn nodded. “Understood.” She smiled at us. “Ben is our charge nurse for today. He’s also one of 2 male nurses in this unit.,” she leaned over, “He’s also a huge Pens fan.” Ah, I knew we wouldn’t stay unknown for long.

Kris chuckled. “I always have time for fans, especially if they might be caring for our little ones soon.” I rolled my eyes at him as Dawn started to lead us out of the room.

Sure enough there was this rather good looking man, directing traffic as to where to put the newest patient. “Ok, we have everything?” He got an affirmative and sighed heavily. “Ok, we’re as ready as we can be.”

Dawn coughed which brought his attention to her, and subsequently to us. “Ben, they’re expecting high risk twins and I think we should find a spot for them to watch so they have a clue.”

Ben looked over at us and I saw his eye widen. I knew why, we hadn’t gone public with our issues with this pregnancy. “Uh, sure give me a minute.” He said roughly, clearly trying to figure out what one of the Penguins was doing in his NICU.

Dawn chuckled and spoke softly. “They’re parents to be Ben, his job has nothing to do with it.” I saw the flash of red at the top of Ben’s ears as Kris stepped forward.

“Thank you for letting us have a clue as to what might happen with our little ones.” He held out his hand, because it was reflex to shake hands.

Dawn stifled a chuckle. “We bump elbows in here. It cuts down on how often we have to wash our hands.”

There was no time to change as the doors opened and suddenly Ben took charge. “Ok, let me know what’s going on.” I couldn’t listen, instead I turned off my ears and watched at how they expertly and carefully got this preemie set up on a radiant warmer and started assessing him. Then there was a stunned dad coming in to watch helplessly as his newborn son was handled and gotten settled.

Kris came over and held me while we watched from a distance. The other dad came over to us when he saw that I was still pregnant. “Be careful when you’re out and about.” He said in a shocky voice. “My wife slipped while we were walking outside.”

I smiled. “I’m being as careful as I can. Including not walking too much outside. I think my doc would have my head if I did.” Kris just cleared his throat. “And there’s no telling what this one would do if I did.”

Quickly the baby was set up with several tubes and lines and then the father was direct where to sit so he could at least see his son. Dawn was then back with us. “I hoped that didn’t scare you too badly.” I felt myself shaking my head. I hadn’t been scared, I’d been fascinated.

“No, not scaring. It was amazing to watch. You were all so careful and so precise. It was like watching dancers on stage.” It was well coordinated and nearly artistic in the elegance that they moved with.

Dawn flushed. “Well, I’d love to continue your tour but this little one is mine now and I need to stick close at first. Ben said he’d take over though.” She motioned behind us to Ben.

Once we were in another room, empty just like the first, Ben continued. “Sorry about all that, stealing your tour guide and all. Where were you?” We explained and he nodded. “Ok, well there’s one more bed type we have and that’s an open crib. That’s where the babies who can regulate their temp and only need to gain weight and grow stay. Have either of you been in a hospital before?” We both kind of snorted to which Ben sighed. “Ok maybe that’s a dumb question. You probably recognize most of the rest of this from a normal patient room. The only thing that we have that a normal room doesn’t are our phototherapy lights. We use them on little ones who are jaundiced. The lights help them get better.”

We went over some other things that were normal but specialized for newborns, like just how small the IVs really were. Then I asked about something that had been bugging me. “What about our older son, can he come in and meet his siblings if they are in here?”

Ben tilted his head. “How old is he?”

I sighed. “He’s 3 and has been with us through the entire process with HG. He knows that it’s only until the baby is here. We haven’t told him there will be two yet.” Kris rubbed my back as I spoke.

Ben nodded and sighed. “Honestly it will depend on how the babies are doing and how mature he is, how well he listens. If he were older, 8 and above, it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Kris rubbed my back even more. “So, we should have another adult with us just in case. I am guessing from visiting another new mom that even they will have to be escorted back here by someone who has access. Either of us and maybe Aunt Jayne.”

I saw a look of confusion pass across Ben’s face. “She’s my aunt and been our rock through this HG pregnancy. She’ll be my support so that Kris, if we’re lucky enough to have him here, can be with Alex in the room too.”

“So he’s done the Children at Birth program then?” We nodded. “Then it sounds like you have a handle on everything you _can_ have a hold on.” We moved towards the doors and I felt lighter. Now I had to keep these two in for a few more weeks and try like hell to avoid this place!

We went downstairs and made sure all of our paperwork was correct. Fortunately they worked with us on some of it as I couldn’t remember a few items I had already put on another copy of the paperwork at home. “Just bring us that one too and we can finish it up.”

We finally got home, much later than we thought, and found everyone at the house waiting for us. I took Alex up to the room we were preparing for the baby. “Come here ma loutre.” I sat with him in the chair we had found. “Papa and I got some news today that is very exciting and kind of scary.”

Alex’ eyes went round. “No scary mama.”

I chuckled. The first real chuckle I’d had in the last few hours too. “Not bad scary.” I brought out the ultrasound pictures. “You know that mama has a baby in her belly.” He nodded. “But today we found out that mama really has _two_ babies in her belly.” I showed him both pictures. “One is your new sister and the other will be your new brother.”

Alex gasped. “Two?! How they fit mama?” I laughed and showed him the other pictures. “They squished!”

“Yes mon fils, they are but now we have to help them grow big so they can be safe outside mama’s belly.” There was Kris with the hope I needed.

Soon enough Kris has sent out a mass text to the guys and then got asked if _now_ they could throw us a baby shower. I sighed and gave in. The shower was immediately planned for the weekend. God help me, twins!