"Poppy. I'm her best friend."
"Nice to meet you both." Dr. Byers settles onto a rolling stool, pulling up my file on a tablet. "So, you took a home pregnancy test that came back positive?"
"Yes." My voice sounds small.
"And when was your last menstrual period?"
I have to think about it, counting backward through the chaos of the past few weeks. "Mid-March, I think? Around the fifteenth?"
Dr. Byers nods, tapping something into her tablet. "That would make you about eight weeks along, give or take. We'll be able to get a better estimate with the ultrasound." She looks up, her expression kind. "How are you feeling? Any nausea, fatigue?"
"Both. A lot of both."
"That's normal for the first trimester. It should start to ease up in a few weeks." She stands, moving to the ultrasound machine. "Let's take a look and see how everything’s going, okay?"
I lie back on the examination table, and Poppy moves to stand beside me. Her hand finds mine again, squeezing tight. The paper crinkles beneath me as Dr. Byers adjusts the table, positioning the ultrasound screen so I can see it.
"This is going to be a transvaginal ultrasound," Dr. Byers explains, pulling on gloves. "It's the best way to get clear images this early. You'll feel some pressure, but it shouldn't hurt."
I nod, staring at the ceiling tiles and trying to breathe. This is just information. Just confirmation of what I already know. Then I can make a plan, figure out next steps, regain some kind of control.
The pressure is uncomfortable but bearable. I focus on Poppy's hand in mine, on the steady rhythm of my breathing, on anything other than what's happening.
Then Dr. Byers goes very still.
"There we go," she says quietly, her eyes fixed on the screen.
I turn my head to look, and my heart stops.
The image is grainy, black and white, hard to interpret. But in the center, there's a tiny shape. Barely there. And inside it, a flicker of movement.
"That's the heartbeat," Dr. Byers says, and there's warmth in her voice. "Right there. See it?"
I see it. A rapid flutter, fast as a hummingbird's wings. Proof that this is real, that there's something alive inside me, something that's going to grow and change and turn my entire world upside down.
I feel like I’m going to throw up.
Dr. Byers moves the wand slightly, adjusting the angle, and her brow furrows. She leans closer to the screen, her expression shifting from pleased to ultra-focused.
"Interesting," she murmurs.
Interesting. That's not a word you want to hear from a doctor.
"What?" My voice comes out sharp with panic. "What's interesting?"
She doesn't answer immediately. Just keeps staring at the screen, moving the wand in small, deliberate motions. The silence stretches, and Poppy's grip on my hand tightens until my knuckles ache.
Then Dr. Byers turns the screen toward me more fully, pointing at the image.
"See that?" she says, indicating the flickering shape I saw before.
"Yes."
"And see that?" She points to another spot on the screen, slightly to the left of the first.
I stare at where she's pointing, trying to make sense of the grainy black-and-white image. There's another shape. Similar to the first. And inside it, another flicker of movement.
Another heartbeat.
