What's your favorite holiday?.... Well, after Christmas and Easter, I choose April Fool's Day! ... What?
I could be wrong, but I don't think many people would choose today as one that brings sweet memories pouring in from the past. As of 2008, though, that's exactly what this day has become for us.
Elissa and I had our normal routine that morning of breakfast and playtime. She was almost 14 months old and was about to spend some time with my mom while I ran out to a doctor's appointment. I had an 18-week check up during my second pregnancy that day. April 1, 2008. I hadn't really even thought about the date, but was excited to go hear the baby's heart beat and make sure things were going well. I had spent Spring Break the week before in Florida and had the stomach flu, which included gloriously vomiting on the beach. Yuck. Jason had talked me into going on a run with him, Julie, and Justin. I had no energy and felt pretty gross when finished. And just over all, I was feeling not so great, and hoping that everything was fine with the baby.
Dr. Matekevich came in with her usual upbeat attitude and asked how I was doing. After a short discussion, she said, "Well, lets take a look and listen to the baby." I lied down and she pulled out the tape measure to check the baby's growth. She sort of paused, and measured again as she pushed around on my stomach. Then she said, "Wow. You're big."
I know I've been gaining weight faster than I did with Elissa, but people say that happens with the second pregnancy... I think that's an insensitive way for you to tell me I need to back off on the food, though. I responded, "I'm sorry. I guess I must be eating too much." She said, "No. You're measuring big. Like we're a month off on your due date, or there's more than one baby in there."
You know those moments when your brain sort of sticks? That's what happened to mine. I muttered, "You're kidding, right?" because we were pretty sure about the due date. She was smiling from ear to ear and said, "I'll be right back. I want to see if we can pop into the ultrasound room and get a head count." And away she went.
What? A head count? How many could possibly be in there? No wonder I've gained more weight. Oh man, I wish Jason were here with me! No one's here with me. Not even the doctor. Who drops a bomb like that and leaves you all alone. Alone. Wait, I'm not alone. God's here. Ok, God, I have no idea what's going on right now, but You do. I trust You. This is exciting! This is crazy. Maybe this isn't really happening. Maybe she's wrong. There's no way I'd be this far along and they wouldn't know, is there? Maybe that's why I was so sick last week. Oh my goodness, I just want to tell someone what's going on!
About that time, Dr. Matekevich quickly re-entered the room. "Come on. There's a quick break between appointments. This is so exciting!" And off we went, around the hallways and into the ultrasound room. I had been in there a lot with Elissa toward the end of my first pregnancy. Nurse Nadine remembered me and also seemed elated that we were there for a head count. I remember saying something like, "This is crazy. I can't believe I might be finding this out and I'm here without my husband. He'll never believe this." That's when Dr. Matekevich said, "OH! Today's April Fool's Day! No one is going to believe you."
You've got to be kidding me.
It only took a few moments for Nadine to locate the baby. "Here's one baby....and yeah, there's the sac and there's another baby!"
Oh my gosh, two babies. Two. Not one. Two. She showed me Baby A and Baby B and laughed as she typed "April Fool's Day" on the screen. The two of them continued to talk about how exciting and great this was, and they really seemed to believe that no one would believe me. Not having tried to pull a prank on April 1st since I was a child, I was sure they were wrong.
As I walked out of the office and turned my phone on, I could hardly wait to call Jason.
What do I say, though? How do I tell him this huge news? Oh, should I do it in person? Should I try to meet him? He's driving through the west side in about an hour after a meeting. Maybe I should invite him home for lunch with me & Elissa on the way. Ok, pull yourself together! He's going to answer any second. And then, he didn't. It went to voicemail, at which point I awkwardly asked him to call me, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Jason had to be the first one to know this news, no doubt. That meant that if I couldn't tell him somehow before I got home, I had to face my mom and make it through her goodbye without telling her the big news. She and Elissa were playing in the office when I got home. I remember walking in and she asked how things went. I think I said something like, "Good. Everything's good."
Keep it simple. No details mean fewer things to question. She said later that she thought I had a glow about me, but assumed it was normal pregnancy glow.
With Mom out of the house, I quickly tried to call Jason again. This time he answered and said he had just left his meeting. I asked, "Could you come by the house for lunch with us?" He replied, "No. I really need to get to the office." I continued, "Well, could you drop by for a quick bite maybe?" He must have picked up on the tone in my voice or wondered about my persistence because his next response was, "Well, not really. Is everything ok?" I answered, "Yes. I just wanted to talk to you about something." He continued, "Well, can we talk now? Is it something good or something bad?" I snickered to myself, "Oh, it's good." He said, "Well, then just tell me." "Ok," I said. "We're having twins." "
What?"
We both started laughing in a sort of joyous but nervous laughter. I quickly went over the details of the appointment and assured him that this was not an April Fool's joke. We laughed some more, said we loved each other, and he agreed that I could start calling family to let them know. I called Mom and told her next, of course. She hung up and called my stepbrother, who asked her if this was an April Fool's joke. She called me back for reassurance. I called my grandma, whose tone of voice was so skeptical and almost sounded mad at me because she was afraid I was trying to prank her. She and my mom talked, and my mom called me again to make sure I wasn't joking. "Mom. Am I really the kind of person to make something like this up? As an April Fool's joke? Really?" Finally, she left me alone, but I found out later she still wasn't 100% convinced that night.
How funny, God. Not only are there twins, but You just had to let us find out on April Fool's Day, huh?
That day was by far one of the craziest and most joyful ones of our lives. Two weeks later, Jason's hand holding mine, we found out that Baby A was a boy and Baby B was a girl. And forevermore we will look forward to April Fool's Day.
