Tuesday, February 15, 2005

A telltale heart

Today the boy accompanied me to my second appointment with the midwife. Never again will I agree to an evening appointment - we got there at 5.15pm for a 5.20 appointment, and had to amuse ourselves with months-old Women's Weekly magazines until 6pm. And me with my out-of-control hayfever, too.

Once we got to go in, I felt I should try to take up as much of her time as possible, because after all that's what all the other couples must have done, eh? (It's irrational I know, and I can't blame it on the pregnancy hormones either).

There wasn't a weigh-in, which surprised me because it's mentioned in the prenatal section in all the books. It's probably just as well though, since it's easier to think I've put on a kilo than to find out for sure that I've put on three.

Then came the really exciting part. We got to hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was so much better than looking at the blob in my first scan, because it was so much more recognizable. Foetal heartbeats must be pretty quick, because this one sounded like he/she was having a workout.

This was the moment when it really struck home that there's a little life there in my burgeoning belly.

3 comments:

Frally said...

I didn't get weighed AT ALL for my second pregnancy. Apparantly it's pretty useless unless you are some kind of crack whore who might not put on weight due to all the crack. I get the impression you don't fall into this category, Violet.

Allister said...

I remember when my wife was pregnant with our son. I like watching those 3D ultrasound scans where you can see the face of your baby. It was a great experience for both of us, notwithstanding her mood swings. :-)

Violet said...

Frally: I thought they'd at least want to know whether I was about to suffer pre-eclampsia, of which rapid weight gain is a symptom.

Allister: I've see those 3D pictures in a magazine - they look really cool and just a little bit spooky. The boy told me he wanted to be at the birth as long as he can be more than an arms reach from me. Apparently a friend of his had his forearm broken when his wife gripped him a little too hard.