Twina and Twinby

The ultrasound technician informed us we were having twins. Or more accurately, informed Jill. I was half-way through an intensive two-week Head Start management training program at UCLA when Jill went to a "routine" doctor's appointment. The technician said to Jill, "well, Twin A's heartbeat looks good." Having been several thousand miles away, I do not know Jill's specific reaction. However, insert mental image of best comic double take here. Spitting out water; saying "I'm sorry, did you say TWIN A!?!?!"; babbling incomprehensibly, etc.

Those are all valid examples, because I engaged in all of them a bit later when she called me on my cell phone. The program I was attending went about 12 hours a day, with one break on the first Friday night for the attendees to do a boat trip and eat Greek food. I was about two ouzo's in when Jill called. It was a loud environment, so I actually heard that I was to be the father of twins in the men's room of a Los Angeles Greek restaurant.

The rest of the evening was full of ouzo and "Opa!" My one regret is that I did in fact call Jill back later and asked if she was joking. Calling people and telling them we were having twins was very much the type of joke I would engage in. In fact, Jill believes having twins was kharmic, because for years I HAD been joking that we were having twins (especially when someone asked that awful question "when are you going to have kids?") Fortunately, she forgave me quickly for questioning her truthfulness and sounding less-than-excited.

One of the first orders of business (besides panicking, figuring our the house was way too small, and buying toys the babies wouldn't need till they were three), was coming up with names.

We had four potential naming opportunities (including middle names), and needed four boy names and four girl names (and combinations therein). To minimize the work and maximize the revenue potential of this event, I tried selling naming rights. Five thousand for one name, ten thousand for a first and middle, and for fourteen thousand the kid would even take YOUR last name. Oddly, there were no takers.

We thought about names that would reflect our mixed heritage: Christian and Jew-lie, for example. We talked about naming them One and Two, or First and Second. The names that stuck through most of the pregnancy were given to us, again by the ultra-sound technician. Jill had to go in twice a month, and we collected a stack of ultrasound pictures, each one labeled either "Twin A" or "Twin B." So, they became Twina and Twinby.

Eventually, we learned they were both girls and we focused on girl names. We both liked the names "Alexis" and "Abigail." We thought Alexis Kathryn was a pretty name. And my five-year-old, Kaileigh, provided the final middle name, for Abigail - Elizabeth.