A knock came at the door and a trim woman with long, curly red hair entered the room wearing a white lab coat. “Ms. Langford.” She shook Anna’s hand. “I’m Dr. Wright. It’s nice to meet you.” She turned to Jacob. “I take it this is Dad.”
Jacob cleared his throat, seeming uncomfortable. “Jacob. Lin.”
Dr. Wright wheeled over a rolling stool and scanned Anna’s chart, nodding and humming. Lord only knew what she was thinking. She didn’t show a reaction of any kind. Was that a good thing? A bad thing? After a few minutes, she closed the folder and stood. “All right, Ms. Langford. Let’s have a look at you.”
Anna lay back as the doctor took out the stirrups. Luckily, Jacob was following orders and had retreated to the far corner of the room. In all actuality, he’d created as much distance between them as possible. This was likely not a comfortable scenario for him, and she did have to admire him for not complaining or excusing himself.
Dr. Wright completed the exam and helped Anna to sit up. “Well, I’ll be honest with you both. This is a tricky situation you’ve gotten yourselves into. I’ve seen the ultrasound images from your appointment with the fertility doctor. As to how you two got pregnant, I’m mystified. You must’ve been trying very hard.”
Anna’s face flushed with heat. Jacob snickered.
“Now, our hope is that this is a big, strong baby like Dad and that as he or she grows, the scar tissue has no choice but to give way. The worst case is that the baby gets stuck in a bad spot and the umbilical cord is squeezed or the baby simply can’t grow.”
Anna sat frozen. Dr. Wright dealt with dire situations every day, so it all came out of her mouth as if it wasn’t a big deal. For Anna, this was a very big deal, and she was trying so hard to keep it together.
“Either way,” Dr. Wright continued, “we’ll have to watch you very, very carefully. You’re most likely to lose the pregnancy early on. I’m guessing from your chart that you’re almost eight weeks along, which is great. I need you to watch for spotting. Call us right away if that happens.”
Anna sucked in a deep breath. “Okay.”
Jacob stepped closer. “Dr. Wright, I’d like to know how many cases you’ve handled like Anna’s and what the outcomes were. I want to make sure that Anna and the baby have the best of the best.”
The doctor looked down her nose at Jacob. “I don’t know the exact numbers, Mr. Lin. I assure you that I’ve handled many cases like yours, and I know what I’m doing. If you’d like to seek a second opinion, my nurse can provide you with some referrals.”
Embarrassment flooded Anna. How could he do this? “No. Jacob, Dr. Wright has exceptional credentials.”
“And I’d be a bad dad if I didn’t ask about them.”
“If you have concerns, Mr. Lin, you and I can talk about them some other time.” Dr. Wright’s voice was calm—almost soothing, but there was no mistaking the firm hand she was using with him. “We don’t want Anna upset or experiencing any undue stress. It’s not good for her or the baby.”
“Oh. Okay.” He nodded. “Good to know. No stress.”
“That’s probably the most important thing you can do, Anna. Avoid it at any cost. Jacob, you need to buffer her from it as much as possible. Sex can help, since it’s such a good stress reliever.”
Jacob coughed. “Did you hear that, honey?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows at her.
Anna pursed her lips. First he’d pulled the wife thing in the waiting room. Now this. “Is that really safe for the baby?”
“Actually, yes. The baby’s so small right now.” The doctor pulled a funny-looking instrument, like a tiny microphone, from a drawer near the exam room sink. “Let’s see if we can find the baby’s heartbeat.”
Anna had read about hearing the heartbeat with the fetal Doppler monitor. The notion both thrilled and terrified her.
“Just lie back,” Dr. Wright said, lifting up Anna’s exam gown to reveal her bare belly. She squirted some liquid on to her skin. “Just a bit of gel. It’ll help pick up the sound.”
A crackling sound like an old transistor radio broke out in the room. Jacob inched closer to Anna, bewildered. “We’ll actually hear the baby’s heartbeat?”
The doctor nodded, moving the instrument over Anna’s stomach. “The heart forms and starts beating from a very early stage.”
More static came from the small speaker the doctor held in her hand. Pops. Snaps. A rapid, watery sound rang out—likes waves at the beach on fast-forward. Whoosh whoosh whoosh. A smile spread across Dr. Wright’s face. She nodded, consulting the instrument. “There’s your baby.”