I repeated the test once, then twice and only then believed what the first one confirmed. The two pink lines were awesome news. Finally. After months of trying.

I went to the doctor to get all corresponding tests done and for advice on pregnancy. I was given a list of blood tests, urine tests and an ultrasound examination.

This incident relates to the ultrasound exam. My appointment with the radiologist was in the 5^th week.

The radiologist while performing the scan asked – “why are you in so early? We generally do the scan after 6 weeks.” Me – “because i was asked to.”

Anyway, the scan result read – “single intra-uterine gestational sac visualized without fetal pole/ cardiac activity. Advised review scan at 11-14 weeks.”  I took the scan result to the gynae for him to translate the medical jargon to sensible everyday language. He looked at it and asked “why is there no cardiac activity?” I was speechless. “Am I supposed to have one? “ I had no clue. The doc concluded “We’ll have to go in for a D&C. Get a PA checkup done and take the results to the OT.” With that he called for the next patient in the waiting room.

I was too shaken up to say anything. Later up I called a friend of mine (a doc – not a gynae though). He told me that heartbeat in the baby generally starts by 5^th week but there could be a lot of reasons why I was not showing any. He also told me to get a second opinion before going for the PA checkup which meant a pre-anesthetic check up for an operation. That doctor (I used the dirtiest words of profanity I knew at the time) had not even bothered to explain what a PA checkup meant and what a D&C was. Google to the rescue for the latter (broadly translated it meant abortion). In any case I refused to accept his diagnosis. It was too early. I did not even go to another doctor immediately – I was panicking but it was too early. Definitely too early. At least my gut feeling said so.

I finally went to another doctor at 8 weeks of gestation. He did another scan and told me the baby was perfectly fine and had a distinct heartbeat. Thank God. I even thanked the doctor while my eyes teared up. He smiled and said – “Its best to wait as long as possible in delicate situations before finalizing any permanent measures.”

Baby R is almost 10 months now and I am so glad I went in for the second opinion and listened to my inner voice. I am sharing this painful memory in the hope that people in similar situations may realize that doctors err too. Listen to your instinct and ALWAYS take a second opinion if you are not convinced. Some actions cannot be undone.