I panicked, but tried not to let it show outwardly. “You’re Dr. Tracy Ross?” I asked him, my voice a little shrill.

He smiled kindly. “You were expecting a woman?”

I nodded. I had been prepared to discuss my current, mortifying situation with another woman. I didn’t know if I could admit my embarrassing transgressions to this grandfatherly-looking man. I would probably shock the argyle socks right off his feet.

“Not to worry,” he continued. “This happens all the time.” He leaned in as if telling me a secret. “It seems that there are some women named Tracy.” He laughed at his own joke, but then turned serious. “If you would prefer to visit a female doctor, we can reschedule you with one of my colleagues. I should let you know, though, that we all cover for each other in this practice. So, even if your primary obstetrician is female, if you go into labor when a male doctor is on-call, he will deliver your baby. For that reason, we like for all of our moms-to-be to have at least one visit with each of our physicians during their pregnancies.”

I was about to chicken out and say that I would come back for my initial visit with one of the female doctors when Court spoke up. “No, this is fine. We’d like to find out the date of conception at today’s visit, if possible.”

“Certainly,” Dr. Ross assured her. “Let’s see what we can figure out here.” He smiled kindly before looking over my medical history that the nurse had just completed. “Irregular periods, huh?” When I nodded in confirmation, his brow furrowed, but his only response was, “Hmmm.” I wondered what that meant.

Court chattered away during my pelvic exam, trying to distract me from the indignity of being in the stirrups. When it was finally over, Dr. Ross said, “We might be a little early, but there’s a chance we could hear the heartbeat today, if you’re interested.” He smiled with his last phrase, knowing that we would want to try.

“Yes!” Court and I exclaimed simultaneously. He chuckled at our enthusiasm as a peppy nurse popped into the room, right on schedule. Dr. Ross entered some information into a computer while the nurse fussed with the ultrasound equipment. The nurse placed a modesty blanket over my lower half, and then she lifted my paper gown to reveal my belly.

“This is going to be a little chilly.” She made the understatement of the year as she squirted a big blob of icy gel on my tummy.

I sucked in my breath at the shock of it. “Whoa, do you keep that in the freezer?” She smiled as if I was joking, and I bugged my eyes out at Court.