Page 136 of Finding Hayes
I chuckled. “You do? Why?”
“Because I call you Shortcake. So there you go.”
I took off my clothes, and he put them on the chair while I slipped into the gown and hopped up onto the table. “I love you, Hayes Woodson.”
“Love you, too, baby.”
The door opened, and a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties, with shoulder-length brown hair and warm brown eyes, walked in. She extended a hand to me first and then to Hayes. “Hey, I’m Dr. Shorting. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Woodson.”
“It’s great to meet you. You can call us Savannah and Hayes,” I said.
She leaned her back against the counter and flipped through the file that she held in her hand. “So I’ve got a copy of your blood work that was done in Dallas, and I can see why they hadreason to believe you were carrying more than one baby with how high your HCG levels were. I’ve got your ultrasound report here, as well, but I’d like to do my own now, just to see what’s happening here first.”
I nodded, and she guided me to lie back. Hayes moved beside me and took my hand. She opened my gown, exposing my belly, and poured the jelly-like substance onto me. She turned on the monitor and used a hand-held device, which she placed on my stomach. She rolled it around and studied the monitor.
The sound had me leaning up a bit to see the screen.
“There’s the first heartbeat, and it sounds strong,” she said, her voice calm and soothing. She continued moving her wand around and paused. “And here’s the second heartbeat. You’ve definitely got two babies in there, and it looks like they each have their own placenta and amniotic sac, which will give them the best chance of growing well.”
She pointed out their positioning and told us some technical stuff that I was trying to focus on, but I was just relieved that there were two heartbeats and all was still going well.
A part of me worried that I’d come here today and find out I was no longer pregnant. I was prepared for the rug to be pulled out from beneath my feet.
It’s amazing that you can find something out and feel completely panicked in one moment, only to realize that it’s everything that you wanted.
And now that Hayes was on board, this was everything I wanted.
Everythingwewanted.
She printed out a few pictures, cleaned the gooey stuff from my stomach, and helped me sit up.
She went over all the things we’d need to be aware of. Twin pregnancies tended to be higher risk, so she’d be keeping a closeeye on me and the babies. She said we’d have more ultrasounds done than you normally had with a single pregnancy. She guessed I was around ten to eleven weeks along, and everything was looking good thus far.
She asked a bunch of questions about how I was feeling as far as morning sickness and breast tenderness, and I shared that though my breasts were sore, I hadn’t experienced any morning sickness yet. But I was definitely tired, which she assured me was completely normal.
“Do you have any questions for me?” she asked.
“I think you’ve covered everything on my end,” I said, glancing at my husband, who looked like he was ready to burst. “But I think Hayes may have a few questions.”
She smiled. “Of course. You can ask me anything.”
“She’s determined to work through her pregnancy. Do you think it’s safe?” he asked.
“Yes. There’s no reason for her to quit working, at least not right now. With Savannah carrying twins, we will be keeping a closer eye on her. So this first trimester I’d like to see you every two to three weeks. We’ll do screenings at weeks twelve and sixteen. Your second trimester, I will ask to see you twice a month, and your final trimester, we’ll meet weekly. So we can determine along the way how you’re feeling and adjust your work schedule accordingly. Does that sound okay?” she asked, her eyes soft as she looked at Hayes, making it clear that she understood his concern.
“All right. And we have a dog. Should we get rid of him?” he asked, and I gasped.
“Get rid of Roddy? What are you talking about?”
“I love Roddy, but he’s a puppy, and he likes to climb all over you.” He shrugged.
Dr. Shorting chuckled. “You don’t need to get rid of Roddy.But you can definitely insist that he doesn’t jump up on you.”
“Savannah’s father is in a cancer trial in Dallas, and she travels there every couple of weeks. Is it safe for her to continue flying?”
“Yes, absolutely. You can still travel through your first and second trimesters comfortably. But you will have to listen to your body. If you’re exhausted, then maybe you skip going that week. Does that make sense?”
“Yes,” I said. “I can do that.”
