Never Giving Up (Never #3) by Anie Michaels Read Free Book Online Page B

looked intimidating. “Don’t worry, Ella. It will be over before you know it, and in just a few seconds we can see the baby. Trust me. Now lie back and open up your knees for me nice and wide.”
    Well, ok, since she asked nicely. I tried to act like I didn’t feel violated as the wand was inserted, but all my uncomfortableness was forgotten when my eyes found a little round blob on the screen. The doctor stilled the wand and used some buttons on the machine to zoom in and she tapped away on some keys. I was lost though, eyes glued to the fuzzy, quarter-sized, picture on the screen.
    “There we are. That’s your baby right there,” she said, pointing to the area of the screen that I already knew was my child. I felt Porter take my hand, but my eyes could not leave the screen. “It looks like you are at eight weeks and three days, putting conception around the last week of November.” That information was enough to bring my eyes to Porter, thinking that he was right, a honeymoon baby. But my breath caught when my eyes landed on him. He looked at the screen, looked at the first sight of our baby, tears welling around his red eyes, in total awe of everything. I fell in love with him a little more in that moment.
    “Are you ready to hear the heartbeat?” The doctor asked, as if we weren’t having the most wonderful and intimate moment we’ve ever had. Before I had a chance to look at the screen the room was filled with the weirdest and most wonderful sound I had ever heard. It was a rhythmical swoosh swoosh , which sounded a lot like water. The doctor pointed to the screen and right above her finger there was a little fluttering. “That’s the baby’s heart, and it’s working perfectly, a steady 160 beats per minute.”
    “That’s so fast,” Porter said, his voice sounding thick with emotion.
    “Babies’ hearts beat very fast in utero. It’s completely normal and healthy. Everything looks very healthy.”
    My throat began to close up and the familiar prickling behind my eyes triggered my inability to keep my emotions in check. I let out a sob, staring at the screen, watching my baby’s heart fluttering away. I felt Porter’s head rest on my temple and my hand came up to cradle his cheek. We stayed like that for a moment, just listening to our baby’s heart. After a minute I felt Porter’s head lift and his hand moved my face to look at him. Our eyes met and he pressed his lips to mine, whispering “I love you” into our kiss.
    “I can print off a few pictures for you, for scrapbooks and such,” Dr. Bronson said, probably used to couples having breakdowns while seeing their baby for the first time.
    “Thank you,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes. When she was done messing with the machine, she removed the wand and told me I was free to sit up.
    “Your baby is due on August 15 th , a summer baby. Congratulations.”
    “Thank you,” I sniffled. She handed me a tissue.
    “Now, you’ll need to take folic acid and prenatal vitamins every day. Stay away from tuna and other raw fish, and everything else can be explained in these pamphlets.” She handed me a prescription and a few thick pamphlets. We had some reading to do apparently. “Now, what questions do you have for me that I can answer?” She sat on a little rolling stool and looked at us expectantly.
    Porter immediately reached into his back pocket and produced his list of questions.
    “I have a few,” he said, unfolding his paper. Dr. Bronson didn’t bat an eyelash. She was obviously used to people asking her questions. We must be typical first-time parents. “Should Ella cut back on work?”
    “No. There’s no need to cut back on work at this stage. Ella’s healthy. The pregnancy is healthy. Life goes on as normal.”
    “Yeah, but she tends to lift up boxes and bends down a lot.”
    “She’s pregnant, not crippled,” Dr. Bronson said with a smile. I wanted to kiss her. “You shouldn’t lift anything over twenty pounds and if