A young mum has told how a phantom pregnancy almost destroyed her dream of having a second child. Pretty Tracie Shannon was desperate to have another baby with her husband James, 25, but was devastated to learn the "bump" growing inside her was actually a kind of tumour. Having already endured two miscarriages in her quest to provide her first son Taylor, three, with a sibling to complete their little family, Tracie was overjoyed to learn she was pregnant again. But despite experiencing all the usual signs of pregnancy, from a swollen tummy to morning sickness, her hopes were crushed when she went for a scan at 11 weeks. Tracie, 26, from Cirencester, Gloucs, had been eager to see the first scan of her unborn child, but instead a "snowstorm" appeared on the ultrasound monitor
It's incredible to think anyone could live in such horrendous squalor - yet two men have been prosecuted for keeping their homes in such revolting conditions that it was no longer fit for their animals .
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .
With the vivid red smoke billowing into the sky amid the misty sand dunes, these are the blissful views provided at the break of dawn at a volcano .
SQUABBLING over the last piece of grain, these hungry squirrels are determined to stock up on as much food as possible .
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .
A cheeky owl fancies a game of hide and seek as it peeps out from behind a tree .
SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .
FLAUNTING its new accessory, a fashionable green dumpy tree frog poses for the camera while wearing a SNAIL as a hat .
A photographer has captured stunning photographs of the Milky Way above picturesque landscapes in the UK and Italy .
Here's a collection of art for the DIGIT-AL age as these fascinating illusions of landmarks, places and even a banana are made using just a pair of hands .
WITH the mystical clouds forming a thick blanket and the electrifying lights below, these stunning pictures provide a unique view of the cityscape of Dubai taken from the tallest building in the world .