“It’s good to see you again, so: are you ready to see how it’s going?” she asks with a smile. It takes her a second to notice Jack sat so patiently in the chair next to me, but when she does her smile doubles. “And this young man must be Jack,” she says as she glances at my notes. “You ready to be a big brother?” she asks in a faux serious tone that my son falls for straight away.

“Yes ma’am, I’m ready, I have to be gentle and kind when the baby comes but Mummy said if I am just myself then the baby will love me because I am easy to love,” Jack speaks with so much conviction you would think he was under oath. My eyes mist at the sight of my little baby boy looking so grown up and excited.

“You, young man, are going to do just fine. So, who do we have on FaceTime?” she quizzes, eyeing my phone a little sceptically as though she were worried about asking. But Jack must still think he is under the spotlight because he tells her.

“That’s Liam, he is the baby’s dad but he isn’t my dad… but that’s okay, because I have Mummy to be my dad.” I grit my teeth to swallow the lump in my throat as I turn the phone for Liam to introduce himself to Dr Horne. I hesitate for a second – she could recognise him as a star ice hockey player and let it overshadow the appointment, but it would be rude to not allow him so much as a hello.

Even if I want to keep him to myself for a little while, there is an ever-present fear that word will get out. People will find out that Liam Ruinsky has gotten me pregnant. As much as I wish we could keep it a secret forever, that wouldn’t be fair to either of us, nor realistic. I do see a spark of recognition in her eyes when she fully takes in my phone screen, but ever the professional she doesn’t ask. Instead she moves her eyes back up to me with a small nod before moving the ultrasound wand and the jelly to my awaiting stomach.

“You know the drill mom – I’m just going to talk it through for the boys. So, there won’t be a lot to see here so far because you are still so early on, we are estimating around seven weeks since conception. But with your medical history and fibromyalgia, we just want to be sure we have a viable pregnancy and detectable heartbeat, especially with the medication you are taking – it’s better to be safe and check now rather than later,” she explains delicately.