Leila had decided that in the wake of the incident to truly give him another chance not just with their baby, and so far he hadn't let her down. He made sure she took her prenatal vitamins and that she got at least eight hours of sleep. He held her hair when the morning sickness came day and night. He joked that it wasn't even morning sickness when the bouts of nausea came unexpectedly at midnight.
Jackson rubbed his thumb on her palm to attempt to settle her nerves. She continued to fidget. He looked up her leaning against the table with his elbow. "It's going to be okay." He said in a docile tone.
"What if there are some delayed complications from when I blacked out!" Leila frowned at her belly, the bump wasn't much yet, but she could see her stomach beginning to round out. Caitlyn told her that she could not see any difference. At first it seemed like her abs were toning, but now her belly began to soften. She was officially two months along. Only Jackson, Caitlyn, and her parents knew about the baby, but they hadn't started telling other people yet. Leila could only think about the ‘what if's.’ She'd already been hospitalized at the beginning of her pregnancy.
"Leila," Jackson stood up and kissed the top of her head. "We are fine, the baby will be fine. I read that we may be able to hear the heartbeat today." He placed a hand on the top of her midriff. The nurse tech knocked on the door in that moment and came in.
"Hello, Mom and Dad. I'm Sheila!" She smiled at them. "Are you ready to see your baby?" Sheila picked up the chart and sat it on the counter as she pulled over the ultrasound cart. "I see that you're eight weeks along! With any luck we'll be able to hear that the baby's heart." Jackson looked down at her smirking as if to say I told you so.
"Great, thank you." She bite her lip, worry heated the top of her hairline with dread. She was not convinced that everything was going to be okay.
"This will be cold, I'm sorry." Sheila lifted the top of the paper top exposing Leila's stomach. She squirted the gel generously on her lower part of her abdomen. The scanner felt strange against her skin. The screen flicked to life with the Doppler device's reading. "Okay, let me show you, this is your baby. It's very small, just the size of a bean. I'm going to try to find the heartbeat now." She moved the scanner some more and Leila's fear spread the pit of her gut. Jackson squeezed her hand, watching the screen intently. The pause was long, they both started to worry they were going deaf the silence was so loud. Then suddenly it happened. Leila was almost sure that the machine was picking up her own heartbeat; the pounding in her chest was so hard. "There it is." Sheila said at last. "That is your baby's heart." It sounded like music, angels singing throughout the room. She held the device in place for a long moment. "Okay, let me go get your doctor to go over everything with you and answer any questions you may have."
When they were left alone, Leila looked up at Jackson and saw that he'd been crying. She reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek. He smiled down at her and leaned in to kiss her. "I told you everything was okay." He pressed his forehead to hers. Leila nodded closing her eyes. Enough though the machine was now turned off, she could still hear the beating of its heart. It felt as if the whole world dissolved and only left the three of them. Their little happy family, even if their happiness ended up being short lived Leila felt grateful.
Another knock came to the door and the doctor walked in. "Hello I am Dr. Ross and I am your OBGYN. The last time that I saw you, you were unconscious so it is great to see you again!" She strode across the room turning the machine back on and placing the reader in various places along her belly. The heartbeat played again through the speakers. "Good. All right, so I don't want to keep you both here too much longer. I just want to go over the results." Leila nodded, placing her hand on top of Jackson's. "Everything looks great, the baby is healthy. Do you have any questions?"
"Should we expect any long term effects from my passing out?" Leila asked right on cue.
"At this point, I would not worry about that. Everything is okay; the baby is developing right on schedule. If we start to see any declines or delays from here on out, it would be safe to say that it is not caused by the accident." Dr. Ross supplied. Leila nodded, finally allowing herself to relax. "Is there anything else?"
"I don't have any questions, do you?" Jackson asked Leila who just shook her head. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth again, she might throw up.
"Okay, wonderful. If you think of something just call my office and I'll be happy to help you. We will be seeing you in four more weeks." Dr. Ross smiled before leaving the room.