Anton knew that Marlysa wouldn't be carrying their eggs for long. There were some species of lizards that gave birth to live young, but green iguanas weren't one of them. Still, it surprised him that Marlysa would be ready to lay her eggs so soon. He had though they'd have another week or more. Still, as soon as Marlysa felt her first contraction, Anton quickly escorted her back to the car and drove towards the hospital.
It took a lot of effort for Marlysa to resist her urge to lay her eggs in the car. But she wanted to make sure her eggs would be in a healthy, clean environment. She clenched at her tightened stomach, feeling the orbs inside wanting to get out. Before she knew it, she was at the hospital and on top of a gurney. Anton was walking besides her as she was wheeled to the delivery room. "Just a few minutes longer," he said, "The pain's almost over."
"There's not that pain," said Marlysa a little weakly. It wasn't a complete lie. Unlike human women who practically have to split themselves open, her eggs will exiting her very smoothly. Still, this backup was making her feel very uncomfortable.
As soon as she was in a hospital gown and in a bed, the doctor approached, wearing sterile gloves. "Alright then, now just try to push them out," he said gently.
Marlysa grunted and finally stopped holding back. Very soon, an egg rolled out, followed by another and another. With one last grunt, Marlysa pushed out the fourth and last egg. "Phew, what a relief," she said.
"That was it?" asked Anton. He was expecting it to be a long struggle to lay her clutch.
Marlysa gave her husband an annoyed look and asked, "Did you expect me to scream for an hour like a human? I'm not a mammal."
Anton looked down at the eggs, each about the size of a volleyball. "They're so small," he said with concern.
Marlysa gave Anton an annoyed whack with her tail, "Did you expect me to have just one big egg? That'd stretch me way too much."
"Bird eggs are rigid and fragile," said the doctor, "Reptile eggs are leathery and durable. They'll get larger as it gets closer to them hatching."
"Are you certain?" asked Anton.
"Well, we've still a lot to learn about Animalians," said the doctor, "With mammals, their pregnancy terms should be the same as humans. But with egg-laying Animalians, you might take a bit more after your feral versions. From what we've seen of the amphibians so far, there's probably a chance that your hatchlings might go through a metamorphic stage. They might start out resembling normal, if oversized, iguanas before developing their human traits as they progress to toddlers. We don't even know how the bird chicks will develop. There's too much conjecture right now."
"So, do we just incubate them until they hatch?" asked Marlysa. Normal iguanas care very little for the eggs. Once they've buried them, they move on and let the ones that manage to hatch to fend for themselves. However, Marlysa's uplifting made her care a lot more for her offspring, even if they weren't fully born yet.
"With normal iguanas, it usually takes 10-15 weeks," said the doctor, "Your human genes might slow down the development, make it closer to 6 months. I assume you haven't got an incubator the right size for these."
"We weren't really sure how big they'd be," said Anton, "Besides, incubators aren't usually designed for eggs this size."
"Well, we've got an incubation room that will keep them warm until you've acquired one," said the doctor, "I've heard that new incubator designs have been developed for Animalian parents. I don't think it'll be too hard for you to get one when they've been released."
"It's ok, we've already got one built in the nursery," said Marlysa.
"Took quite a bit of work, putting it together," said Anton, "I might need to adjust it if these eggs are gonna grow."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," said the doctor, "Well, if Marlysa would like to stay here one night to recover, I think we can send her and the eggs home tomorrow."
"I feel fine," said Marlysa.
"You better rest anyways," said Anton, "I don't want you to overexert yourself."
"Don't worry, you won't lose me that easily," said Marlysa, "I'm not going anywhere until my babies are hatched."