Balancing Act

8

Rory had been to Dr. Norton's exactly eleven times when she'd been expecting Finny, now from what she'd read she had a feeling these visits were going to be even more frequent. They waited for Dr. Norton in his office until he finished talking to a colleague in the hallway, both settled into the white leather armchairs, the office having been recently redecorated. Rory always pondered in cases like these how much redecoration was really necessary and how much of it was splurging to show how well he earned from his clientes, themselves included.

But despite having done this before, they were still both a little anxious. To Logan the idea of childbirth was still terrifying but the grace of which Rory had done it last time, despite it having taken 30 hours, made him ever in awe of the woman next to him. He observed her carefully, still not quite grasping how she was dealing with it - she'd been not too keen to discuss these things, hardly ever bringin it up herself, and she seemed to be in a sort of early mourning process of her career which had only just begun to gather its bearings.

"Welcome Mrs. and Mrs. Hunztberger, I apologize for that," Dr. Norton added, gesturing towards the door that he closed after him.

"Good to be back," Logan commented, a proud look on his face, while Rory simply nodded.

"So, Rory, how are you feeling?" he asked, recalling Rory telling her once a lengthy story about why she didn't like being called Mrs. Huntzberger.

"Tired, a little nauseous, been sick a few times - usually brought on by certain smells or when the car takes a rapid turn. I'm showing a little already," Rory explained, placing her palm on her belly.

"Well all that sounds perfectly normal as you surely already know yourself. Your blood- and urine test labs came back good, blood pressure is fine, iron is on the lower side, but it's nothing some added supplements won't fix, I'm sure. I'll make notes for you so you know how much to increase your folic acid and iron intake," he explained.

After some more information concerning the tests he was planning to take, making her groan inside of the idea of becoming a pin-cushion, he led the two to the examination room for her ultrasound.

The moment leading up to the ultrasound lacked it's novelty, and it was more Logan who seemed anxious to see them. Rory wasn't really sure what she felt, but what was obvious was that her excitement didn't reach that of Logan's and in a way she felt bad for not keeping up to his level. Maybe she should just fake it until she felt it?

That changed thought once she saw them - each in their own amniotic sacs, their little heads, bodies and legs, their heartbeats audible. It was then her mouth curved upwards, the whole concept of not only being a mother, but becoming a mother of quite a large family hit her, feeling a sense of panic and joy at once. She had no idea how she was going to do this - even without considering her career. The idea of being responsible for so many little creatures, even now - by nurturing them right by her own food consumption, doing what was best for them, seemed daunting. In a way she felt envious of Lane even - because the way she'd had her twins had been in a bliss of ignorance. Rory knew too much already, and she knew how loss hurt, and there was nothing she wanted more at that moment to meet those two little button-nosed creatures. She stared at the screen for a while, speechless, Logan observing her reaction carefully, making him smile in return even more.

"So that's good right, the two sacs - or what does that mean exactly?" Logan inquired, while Dr. Norton continued to take measurements and explore every side of her belly.

"Yeah, and the fact that they have separate placentas is a good sign as well," Dr. Norton replied pointing at the placentas.

"Can you tell whether they are identical or fraternal?" Rory asked, jolting out the initial haze.