"You're going to have twins!" She announced, showing Mom, Dad, and me a composite photograph of the ultrasound. It was no wonder why Dr. Jurgens came to her conclusion so quickly. Sure enough, I could see two distinct, bean-shaped 'blobs' in the picture.
"Isn't that wonderful?" Mom gushed, clasping me by the shoulders and hugging me. Dad took the picture and examined it in admiration as well.
My face blanched and I suddenly felt very nauseous. Any appetite I had built up prior to the results was gone. "Tw-Twins? How is that possible?"
"Only 2 or 3 percent of all pregnancies involve twins. And since this is a surrogate birthing, we know that you had intended to fertilize just one egg; therefore, it's most likely that they are identical twins. Shortly after conception, Michael, the egg can sometimes split into two different fetuses and develop in the same amniotic sac. Their genetic material is the same, since they received the same sperm before splitting."
"So will they be boys or girls, then?" Asked Dad.
"Examining the physical features shows that they will be baby girls," The doctor said, pointing at a part of the picture, "But we can be 100 percent certain with an amniocentesis. You should feel very blessed to provide two gifts to the Webers, instead of only one." She added.
"That's right! Do you think the Webers will be okay with that, Lindsey?" Asked Dad.
"I don't see why not. I wouldn't mind it if I were them." Mom smiled. "I'll call them on the phone when we get home and tell them the great news!"
"An amnio-what?" I asked, prodding my belly gently, still in disbelief that there was not one but two living things inside of me. The conversation of adults buzzing above me making me feel like my life role had been reduced to a vessel. A non-human, baby-making vessel. Which had been my life for the past month, sadly.
"Amniocentesis, where we draw fluid from the amniotic sac for DNA testing." Explained the doctor. "But I can tell that you're quite exhausted after today's events. Lindsey, Jonathan, since he does have twins, I recommend that we schedule appointments more frequently than before. Once every two weeks to ensure that the babies are both continuing to develop without any problems. Delivering twins as opposed to single babies also comes with greater risk. Not only physical injury during childbirth, but also the chance of developing gestational diabetes later in Michael's third trimester. In addition, it's more likely we may need to perform a C-section."
"That's fine!" Chirped Mom, not caring to ask my opinion on the matter. "We'll make sure Michael takes good care of himself and the baby girls. We can switch over to a two-week appointment schedule. Jonathan occasionally travels on business during the weekends, but my weekends are free."
"That's great, I'll reserve a time for the Saturday after next." The doctor then took a notepad out of her lab coat, scrawling something on it, tearing off a page and handing it to Mom. "And one more thing. This is a prescription for folic acid tablets. Michael should take one of these tablets per day with a glass of water. It doesn't matter whether it's before or after meals."
Mom and Dad looked over the prescription, it appearing more like medical gibberish than intelligible words. "He can do that." Said Mom, placing the note in her purse. "Thanks for your guidance today, Dr. Jurgens."
"Please, call me Melissa." She replied. "I will arrange the payment schedule with the Webers, so you don't need to worry about that. Take care, Michael! See you in two weeks!"
We said goodbye and headed back out to the car to drive home. I smoothed out my dress and stared out the window, the streets still quiet this early in the morning. Being pregnant with one baby was far enough. There was no way I was going to give birth to two of Mary's babies! It is imperative that I find a solution to this head-swapping madness. And time is ticking...
We arrived home and Mom forced me to eat something for breakfast. So I sat at the kitchen table, listening in on the phone conversation Mom was having with Mary Weber. She dialed the phone, tucked her hair behind her ears, and held the phone up ready to speak. It went a few rings before she started, in the sickly-sweet voice that only my mother could do:
"Helloo-ooo? Mary, this is Lindsey. Good mo-orning!" She said in a sing-song voice.
"Good. We just got back from the obstetrician. You're going to love this news, Mary. It's identical twins! Aaahhhh!"
...
"Yeah! Can you believe it?"
...
"You'll be the proud mother of a couple of baby girls. I know you and Josh were expecting one ch1ld. Yes. Are you and Josh okay with that?"
...
"Nothing wrong with a two-for-one at all! I'll be sure to tell Michael. By the way, the doctor advised that he should have bi-weekly checkups from here on out. Just wanted to run that by you in case it changes our surrogacy plan."
...
"All right."
...
"In a few days. You should get it in the mail."
...
"He's doing fine! A little surprised like Jonathan and me, but he's excited as you are about the twins. Do you wanna talk to him?"
...
"He's eating breakfast right now. Poor thing was starving when he woke up this morning!"
She handed me the phone. I plopped my spoon back into the bowl of cereal I was munching on and placed the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Michael!" Mary's mellifluous voice came through the line. "Your mother was telling me all about the results of the ultrasound. Very cool, huh?"
"Um... it came as quite a shock, actually." I said. "I can't wait until this is over." Of course, I was referring to the head swap rather than the pregnancy, but it made no difference to the woman whose head resided on my own body.
"Josh is with me right now, and he's got an idea for the baby names." Continued Mary. "We thought it over before your appointment, and we had planned on naming the baby girl after my grandmother Helen."
"That's a good name..." I echoed numbly.
"I know, right?" She beamed. "Anyways, since there's another girl on the way too, we had a second name in mind after Helen. Josh wanted to go with Faith. Does that sound like a good name as well?"
I don't care, she's your baby after all. I replied, "Sure, I like Faith too. Helen and Faith Weber it is, then."
"I love it! Thanks again for being such a trooper, Michael. Without your willingness to help, we could never be able to have children of our own." She sniffled, tearing up a little on the phone. I felt a twinge of sympathy for her, as it was through no fault of her own she ended up with my body below her head. In this reality, Mary and Josh would never be able to naturally produce children. She might have seen that as a personal failing on her part, rather than the obvious biological consequence of having male reproductive organs.
Lost in thought, Mary repeated another question to me: "Michael? Are you there? I was asking how was the appointment with Dr. Jurgens today?"
I ran a hand over my belly, sighing, "Oh, you know. I got the ultrasound. The procedure was kind of boring but it was over quickly."
"Tell me more, I'm so curious about it!" Insisted Mary. "I wouldn't know what it's like."
So I explained all the details to her, from the moment I met Colleen, the doctor's assistant, to the moment we walked out of the clinic. Mom corrected me whenever I mispronounced certain medical terms or procedures, and I wished she would just leave me alone for once!
"Wow, that's a lot of information to take in all at once!" Mary remarked. "I wonder what it's like to be so close to the babies like you are. I wish I had the chance to know."
"Yeah, well, me too." I replied.
"Okay, Michael, I'm taking the hubby with me to the gym in a little bit. Gotta go! Can't wait to see the full results! Byeee!"
I said goodbye and hung up the phone, handing it back to Mom who put it on the receiver. She hummed about in a positive mood, in decided opposition to my own mood. I wasn't getting any less pregnant, that's for sure! There's got to be some way to fix this... now!
What happens next?
