148

Thanks for all the kind thoughts about the kitty. I am adjusting well. But every now and then I see her out of the corner of my eye before I realise it's just a blanket or a piece of furniture, or nothing at all! But maybe it is her, just a little bit.

We had our second midwife meeting yesterday. D came again, which was surprising since I didn't think he would want to come to them regularly, but when he found out I was going, he was quite keen to be there. I don't think he'll come to them all, but it's nice for him to at least meet each of the midwives in the practice. The woman yesterday was older and very nice. She had a really calm presence. I liked the first one a lot since she was young and hip, and I knew I'd feel comfortable around her, but it was great to know that I think I will feel comfortable around this woman too - just for different reasons. She's been a midwife for 30 years and exudes experience.

The last visit was really just an intro where they did a health history, but this time we started doing the urine and weight checks that will keep happening. They ask you to test your own urine - so you take a little strip and then use that to check for glucose, protein etc. It's really easy since you just hold the strip up to a colour chart to make sure everything is the right colour, but it did strike me as kind of hilarious to be in there, assessing my pee. But I guess it makes sense, since unlike a doctor's office there's no nurse on staff.

In the waiting room, D and I found a retro '80s book with all sorts of tips on dressing stylishly during pregnancy. All of the suggested "looks" involved very large, baggy articles of clothing, many with shoulder pads. And preferably a vest.

After all of that, it was Doppler time - that anxiety inducing moment when they see if they can hear the heartbeat. They tell you they can't always hear it, but that they will refer you for an ultrasound if there isn't one. Which is code for, "if we don't hear it, there's a possibility something bad has happened."

The student midwife put the Doppler on - first we heard my blood flow, a slow lub-dub. She moved away from that, and then just for a moment we got the rapid pace of the baby's heart. It ducked away and they found it again, and we listened for a good minute. Such a wonderful sound - and nice and fast as it should be at 148 beats.