“Okay, I see the little bean of a baby.”
Relief floods me. “Really?”
“Really.” Rosa clicks around, and suddenly, the ultrasound pops up on a TV screen in front of us. “This right here is your amazing uterus, and this little blob right here is your baby.”
For the first time in weeks, the tears in my eyes are from pure joy.
“Do you want to hear the heartbeat?”
“Yes,” both Adam and I say at the same time.
A few clicks and then a rapid little beat fills the room. It’s so fast and beautiful. I can feel Adam place a kiss on my hand, but I can’t look away from the screen.
“And everything’s okay? Like that heartbeat’s good, right? It sounded good, but?—”
Rosa chuckles, turning off the sound, and I almost protest to have her turn it back on, but I know I can’t have her do this all day. Even though I’d be perfectly okay with it.
“It sounds great. The heartbeat is strong at 162. I’m going to take a few measurements, and I’ll get you some pictures. Before you leave, I can do the heartbeat again, and you can take a video if you’d like.”
“Yes, please, we would love that.”
“We’ll do it.” Rosa rolls the little wand thing around and clicks on the screen with the mouse. “It looks like you’re measuring seven weeks and two days, which is great. The doctor will give you a due date.”
She rolls it around some more and takes different measurements of black and gray blobs all around, but when she gets over to my side, she pauses.
“Okay, Mia, this is no major cause for alarm, these are fairly common in the first trimester, but you do have a cyst on your right ovary. You said you’re not feeling any sort of discomfort or pain similar to period cramps or pressure?”
“No, not all.” Maybe now I have a blood pressure problem. I know she said no cause for alarm, but a cyst isn’t exactly in the good column in my brain.
“That’s great.” Rosa takes a very upbeat tone as I’m sure the anxiety is not hidden well on my face. “Doctor Harper will touch on it more, but these typically resolve by the second trimester. I’m going to measure it, so we have accurate documentation, and we’ll keep an eye on it.”
That helped me very little.
Adam’s hold tightens around my hand. “But she’s okay?”
“Like I said, Doctor Harper will go into more detail, but there’s typically no harm to the baby. We’ll just measure to make sure it’s not getting bigger over time.”
“That’s good, but I was asking about Mia.”
Rosa’s pressure on the ultrasound eases, and she gives me a proud grin before looking at Adam. “She’s okay. It’s great that she’s not feeling any pain with it. Doctor Harper will explain itmuch better than me and will hopefully give you a little more peace of mind. But if it helps, I’ve seen a lot of these with pregnancy.”
After getting all the measurements, Rosa lets us hear the heartbeat one more time for a video, then prints us off some pictures before letting me get dressed again and moving us to a different room.
I’m having a hard time pulling my eyes away from the gray bean in the photo. I can’t believe I’m actually growing a baby.
“I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl?” I ask, still staring at the photo.
Adam steps up next to me and brushes my hair behind my ear and over my shoulder.
“I don’t know, but hearing that little heartbeat was one of the best sounds I’ve heard in my life.”
“One of?” I laugh. “It was perfect. The best sound by far.”
“It’s up there, no doubt, but I really love the sound of your voice.”
His words hit me in my chest. Turning, I see him simply looking at me—watching his own hand glide through my hair. I can tell right then that he wasn’t saying that to get a reaction out of me or to be overly cheesy—he just meant it.
Signing the marriage agreement after this is going to be the easiest thing I do today.
