Quadruple Duty: All or Nothing

“Okay then,” he said. “Six months is six months, but I’m not worried just yet.” He smiled up at me. “Are you?”

I shrugged. “To tell the truth, yes.”

“That’s understandable. But it’s okay. We’re here to find out what’s wrong,” he held up his hands rapidly “if anything.”

I watched as his eyes moved from Kyle to Ryan and finally to Dakota. He looked back down at the paperwork.

“You’ve been on the pill for quite some time.”

“Six years. Maybe seven.” I scratched at my head. “Could that be a factor?”

“Anything could be a factor Ms. Madsen,” he said. “Doesn’t mean it is though.”

There was a kindness and gentleness in his voice as he spoke. I could tell as far as doctors went, his bedside manner would be old-school. The type of person who would give bad news when he needed to, but also dispense it with a hug where necessary.

“So what do we do?” asked Dakota. He obviously couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I mean… what does she do in order to—”

“Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said the doctor placatingly. “Right now she doesn’t have to do anything. Anything except eat right, get regular exercise, and keep a healthy sex life in conjunction with her best ovulation dates.” He looked at me and winked. “And it wouldn’t hurt to go a few days before and a few days after those dates as well,” he added.

Kyle and Ryan nodded, almost imperceptibly. But I could tell Doctor Hill picked up on it.

“In the meantime we can run some preliminary blood tests,” he said, “to determine if you’re predisposed to fertility problems. Not saying that I expect you to be, but we’ll want to be sure.”

I let out a long breath I didn’t know I was even holding. “Okay.”

“Good,” the doctor smiled. “Of course, the problem doesn’t necessarily have to be on your end.”

Here we go…

“In conjunction with testing you, we’d also need sperm count and motility analysis on your partner...”

Oddly enough, he looked at all three guys again. Not just as if he suspected, but as if he knew.

I swallowed hard. I’d thought this might be the case going in, and I was prepared to bite the bullet.

“And if for some reason…” I paused to chew my lip, struggling with the wording. “If for some reason I need multiple analysis in that regard…”

Doctor Hill eyed me shrewdly before folding his hands on the desk.

“Then we could run separate sperm and blood compatibility testing for each,” he said carefully. “If that were required.”

I nodded while maintaining eye contact, showing him I appreciated his candor. His return smile was nothing but warm and understanding.

“Ms. Madsen, may I speak frankly?”

I settled back in my chair. “Please do.”

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” the old man said. “And in that time I’ve seen… many things. Many circumstances. Many scenarios I might not always understand, but circumstances in which a mother-to-be is simply trying to have the blessing of a beautiful, newborn child.”

He stared at me, holding his smile a moment longer before laying his hand over mine. “No matter what the circumstances might be, I’m happy to accommodate. My goal is to help you get pregnant. My only wish here, is healthy babies.”

He waved an arm at the wall behind him. Scattered across a vast bulletin board were hundreds of photographs — all of adorably-swaddled, newborn children. Most with little hand-written notes attached to them, from happy parents.

“Our goal is to get you on this wall,” he said. “Agreed?”

“Yes!” There were practically tears in my eyes, but I choked them back. “Agreed.”

“Good. And I’m prepared to do that no matter how many tests I need to order…” he looked up at us as a group now, rather than individually. “For however many people.”