The arctic gel was soon forgotten when Dr. Ross came back over and started the ultrasound. He moved the wand around my abdomen, searching for something. Courtney and I watched the monitor, trying to make out what we were seeing. Then we heard it––a fast, rhythmic, beautiful sound. “Is that what I think it is?” I asked the doctor.

“It’s your baby’s heartbeat,” Dr. Ross confirmed, smiling at us.

“It sounds fast. Is it supposed to be that quick?” Courtney was obviously worried.

He reassured us that it was within the normal range, and then he turned his attention to the monitor next to me. “Everything looks good. There’s your baby.”

He pointed, and Court and I both leaned forward, straining our eyes to see what he was trying to show us. “Oh, okay,” I finally said, pretending like I saw what he was pointing out. The nurse told us that she would print some pictures from the ultrasound that we could take with us. Before they left the room, the doctor indicated that I could get dressed and that he would be back in a few minutes to talk to us.

He barely had the door shut before Court turned on me and asked, “Did you see anything? All I saw was a little tadpole looking thing. Is that what I was supposed to see?”

“I don’t know. It looked like a jellybean to me. Is that what it is supposed to look like? Dr. Ross didn’t seem worried. Was that heartbeat the best sound you’ve ever heard?” I was probably rambling as I put on my clothes, but this was the first time that my baby had seemed real. I couldn’t contain the excitement.

Court was evidently on the same page. “Yes, it’s so amazing, Ab. There is a living being with a heartbeat inside you right now.” We both had tears pooling in our eyes, so she lightened the mood by adding, “It looks a little like an alien, but I’m sure it will be cute by the time it comes out.”

I swatted at her playfully, but couldn’t help laughing. We were both giggling when the doctor came back in, but we quickly turned serious, so we could focus on what he had to say. He gave us all kinds of information, but not the answer that we had been wanting.

When he started listing the benefits of eating right and getting plenty of rest, Court interrupted him. “I’ll make sure she takes her prenatal vitamins. Will you please tell us what the conception date is?”

“Well, the calculation is a little trickier, considering the irregular menstruation.” We both nodded, waiting for him to go on. “I do have an educated guess about when the baby was conceived, though.”