Have you ever been hit by a truck?

Jayna and I have known for several weeks that we were pregnant.  This was no big surprise, we have been trying for some time.  We were very happy to find out and immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor.

This is our second time through this so we felt better prepared, more calm and very confident.  We have this down.  Our first child is almost 3 and she seems to be somewhat normal, as 3 year olds go.

We have been waiting until our first doctors appointment to really tell anyone.  Needless to say, it has been very difficult to keep our mouths shut.

Well, the day finally came.  We sauntered into the doctors office full of swagger.  A slight smirk at the “first timers”.  They all looked terrified.  I remember that feeling.  I can barely raise myself much less some little helpless crap factory. 

The nurse calls our name, we remember her from our last pregnancy and catch up as we are escorted back to the ultrasound room.  You know the drill from here; weight, blood pressure and the doctor will be in to see you in a few moments.

We like our doctor.  He thinks he’s a real funny guy.  We trade some friendly banter back and forth and he begins the ultrasound.  Jayna has her screen and I have mine.  I’m sitting down, thank god.  As the picture comes in to focus I see the first glimpse of my second child.  Then my third…

Wait….Go back……Was that what I thought it was.  The doctor isn’t so funny now.  Our nurse is doing cartwheels behind the doctor, apparently they were getting low on twins and needed another one in the pipeline.  Great.

I’m not breathing at this point.  Slowly hyperventilating in my little chair.  The doctor and nurse are laughing at me.  Jayna has this wide eyed stare and is having difficulty breathing also.  We both have multiples in our family so I’m not sure why we are so shocked.  It’s just not supposed to happen to us.

“See you in two weeks” the doctor exclaims, shakes my hand and exits stage left.  We gather ourselves and stagger from the room.  You remember that swagger and confidence I mentioned earlier.  GONE!!!!!!  I’m just like one of those “first timers”.  Hope they didn’t see the smirk.

We stumble to the receptionist desk to schedule our next visit.  The receptionist can see the fear on our first time faces and I catch a glimpse of a quick smirk.  DAMN!!!  We’ve done this before, really.  Ah who am I kidding, I’m now terrified.

My wife and I leave the office, kiss each other and go to our respective vehicles.  We arrived separately not expecting this to be a big deal.  I am physically shaking.  It’s now 4 hours later and I am still physically shaking.  Jayna is sitting on the couch staring at our ultrasound pictures with this far away look on her face.  We don’t even know what to say to each other.

But our 3 year old always has the answers.  Following our appointment I had a massage.  This was a complete coincidence as I had my appointment scheduled before we even knew we were pregnant.  Jayna came home and had a moment.  She broke down crying.  I’m telling you, hit by a truck….  Our daughter, in her 3 year old infinite wisdom, pats her on the shoulder and says:

“Mommy, it’s ok, cause daddy will be home in a little while to hold you.”