Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

***Caleb and Lila, Caleb’s point of view****

“Hey mom, how is she doing?”

Her voice was hushed on the other end, “She’s sleeping right now, but she had a rough morning. Saltine crackers and gingerale just don’t do the trick anymore.”

My heart broke, “I wish there was something I could do to take the pain away.”

“I know sweetheart and Lila knows it too. Do us both a favor and focus on work, I’m here if she needs anything.”

“Okay, when she wakes up will you tell her I called to check up and that I love her?”

“Of course. See you this afternoon. Good luck.”


Lila was on her eigth round of Clomid, each dose significantly increased from the previous one. In the beginning it was just stomach cramps that she pushed through, unfortunately now her reaction to the infertility meds had become so severe that she was home on bed rest. She had taken a leave of absence at work and was on short term disability. Because of the decrease in her income I had to pick up extra hours at work. The worst thing was that all I wanted to do was be by her side while she was going through all this, but I couldn’t or at least Lila wouldn’t let me. Thankfully my retired mother was able to help out by staying with Lila until I got home from work each day.

We had definitely had the conversation about what line we wouldn’t cross. It’s true Lila and I desperately wanted to be parents, but at what cost? If it were up to me she would have stopped the treatment when it rendered her so sick she could barely move. But Lila explained she was built "Ford Tough". We agreed we would stop at the one year mark and then discuss our other options.

Anxiously we waited for our ultrasound results in the exam room. Lila was squeezing my hand so hard her nails were digging into me. I didn’t care, it paled in comparison to what she was going through. Our eyes perked up when Dr. Moon came in. She assumed her usual position on a small stool across from us. This woman had the best poker face I have ever seen, no indication of what she was holding in that thick folder of hers.

She cleared her throat, “We’ve been on quite a journey, haven’t we?” Just shut up and give us the results already. “How have you been feeling Lila?”

“I’m good.” That was my trooper.

Dr. Moon continued, “This is interesting.”

Why was she dragging this on. Interesting was one of those obnoxious words that could be good, bad, both, or neither. Come to think of it in all our previous visits "interesting" had never been used. Maybe this really was a good thing.

Dr. Moon put down the folder and looked at both of us head on, “The Clomid worked. It worked very well actually. Did we previously discuss the possibility of multiples?”

Lila’s face lit up, “Twins? We’re having twins. Ohmygod. That’s wonderful!” She pulled me in for a huge hug. I was caught between pure joy and shock.

Dr. Moon shook her head, “No, not twins. The ultrasound showed triplets.”

This time I spoke up, “Are you sure?” Dr. Moon pulled out the slide and pointed to three heads.


On the car ride home our conversation was like a fast paced tennis match where questions just produced more questions. What are we going to do with three babies? Boys, girls, a combination? One big nursery? Should Lila be a stay at home mom? How was her tiny frame going to hold three babies? Do we register for triple the amount of supplies? Is breast feeding still an option? Should we upgrade the civic to some sort of SUV or minivan? What will we name them? Three babies?


That night we lay in bed together as I gently rubbed her belly. “Hello babies. This is Caleb, um I mean daddy. It’s so weird to think of myself as a daddy.”

“I know what you mean. I’m still kind of in disbelief that this is all happening. Should I start lifting weights in anticipation of carrying all three of them at once?”

We both laughed. “When do we tell people?”

“I think we should wait until we get passed the first trimester. Believe me I want to shout it from the roof tops, but there’s just so much that can go wrong this early on. In the meantime this is something special just for us.”

I kissed her on her forehead, her lips, then three small kisses on her tummy. “I like that.”