Princess Leonor : Viva la Reina! (English Version)

15. The Preparation

"You don't have anything planned tomorrow afternoon, right, honey? I've already booked a consultation with Dr. Gonzalez," said Leonor as she walked to her bed that night.

"No. But why do you want to consult tomorrow? Are Sofia and Alex coming?" Umberto said as he put down the book he had just read.

"They didn't come. I just wanted to ask a few things to prepare for our children," Leonor replied as she turned off her night light and prepared to sleep.

"Hey wait, honey. I have a lot of questions too. Maybe we should write them down first."

"Okay, I'm not sleepy either actually."

Then Umberto took his tablet and prepared to write down questions for the doctor tomorrow.

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"Good afternoon, Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness," said the doctor as he greeted the couple.

"Afternoon, just call Leonor and Umberto, doctor." Leonor answered modestly.

"Then, call me Rafael. Haha." said the doctor to lighten the mood. "So, what do you two want to consult about?" continued the doctor.

"About Sofia's pregnancy. Can she have a vaginal delivery? Or does it have to be a cesarean section?" Umberto asked.

"The pregnancy is Monochorionic-Diamnotic . You can see here where both fetuses have two separate sacs of amniotic fluid but share a common placenta," the doctor said while showing a chart of the types of twin pregnancies.

"What does that mean?" Leonor asked impatiently.

"This means that both normal and operative delivery can be done. However, to avoid risks, we usually recommend surgery. Moreover, Princess Sofia's first delivery was also by operative delivery."

"Yes, that's right, Sofia gave birth to Carlos by caesarean section. Moreover, Sofia was originally afraid of twins," Umberto replied.

"Doctor, you know exactly that one of these children will be a king or queen in the future. But we haven't decided about how to determine who will be the heir if their birth is by caesarean section," explained Leonor.

"Has there ever been a similar incident before among the nobility? Sorry, I'm not very familiar with that."

"Yes. We've done some research. In 2009, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley from England gave birth to twin boys by caesarean section. To choose the heir to the title of Marquess of Cholmondeley, they chose the heavier baby."

"Well, that's a method I think is fair. You can try it," the doctor replied.

"But, can't babies choose their weight? That's not fair, doctor."

"Hmmm.. Forgive me, Your Majesty. We sometimes need to choose, and the choice is not necessarily one hundred percent fair. No baby can choose parents like you, Queen Leonor. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, at the same time, there are babies who are born but are less fortunate because of the fate of their parents. So, you both have no choice but to choose."

Doctor Gonzalez's answer shocked Leonor and Umberto. As people who were born into nobility and wealth, they sometimes forgot about the differences in their conditions and other commoners. They both looked at each other and finally agreed. The baby with the higher birth weight would be the one they would choose as their heir.

"I have one more question, doctor. But this is for myself, not about Sofia's pregnancy," Leonor continued.

"Okay, go ahead."

"I want to do induced lactation . I want to be able to breastfeed them even though I'm not pregnant with them. Is it possible to do that soon?" 

"Usually the induced lactation procedure is done about 3 months before giving birth. Meanwhile, Princess Sofia's pregnancy is still in the first trimester, just a little over two months."

"But, doctor, this is a twin pregnancy. Two babies. I have thought far ahead. I want to have enough breast milk supply before they are born. Because I know, breastfeeding twins after they are born is certainly not easy."

"Okay. I'll prescribe you domperidone for that so your body will act like you're pregnant and need to produce milk. But I warn you, you'll have to pump every few hours and that could interfere with your job as Queen."

"It's okay, doctor. I know the consequences. I will do this for my children." Leonor answered confidently. Umberto looked at his wife with emotion.

"Okay, you can start pumping right away. But remember, you probably won't get results for a few weeks. And that's normal, it's okay. You just need to be patient."

"I understand, doctor."

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A month later, Leonor still had no results. But she did not give up and continued pumping regularly in between her busy schedule as a queen.

Until one night, after a tiring day visiting the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation), Leonor still took the time to pump. She held back her sleepiness.

But the drowsiness disappeared when she saw a drop of liquid wetting her pump.

"Umberto, Umberto, darling. Wake up."

Leonor did not want her husband to miss this milestone. She shook Umberto's body.

"What's wrong? What time is it?" Umberto yawned as he forced his eyes open.

"I did it," whispered Leonor.

"Did what?"

"Here." Leonor held out the pumping result to the pumping device.

"What do you mean?" Umberto was still gathering his thoughts and didn't understand.

"I can produce breast milk now. Look at this. It's only a little bit though." 

"Oh my God. You're amazing, honey." Finally Umberto understood. He hugged and kissed his wife. That night, the couple's happiness soared.