A few days later, I received another call from my doctor after one of my infamous blood tests. He said that my HCG level had peaked, it still wasn’t a viable pregnancy and that he was worried I might have a heterotopic pregnancy… where there’s a baby growing inside and outside of the uterus. He was sending me to a perinatal specialist to get a better look.

My appointment was scheduled for a Wednesday morning. As my husband and I sat in the waiting room and filled out the endless paperwork, I became increasingly sad and angry. “How many pregnancies have you had?” was one of the questions. “What’s the reason for your visit?” was another. I just wanted this nightmare to be over.

The tech finally called us back. She said she was going to start with an external ultrasound. I lied back, she put the cold gel on my stomach and as she started to move the wand around we heard a noise, at which point my husband shouted, “What’s that??”. The tech replied, “That’s your baby.”.