Last night, as I lay down to sleep, I felt the unmistakable twitch-flutter in my belly that, for the first time, I was 100% sure was the Kid and not the result of my ever-slowing digestion. It was an exciting end to an already exciting day.
Yesterday morning, at 15 weeks 4 days, I finally heard that wonderful whoosh-whoosh-whoosh that, in spite of having three* (silent) scans so far, made this pregnancy feel more real and viable than ever. Before she applied the gel, the midwife insisted 16 weeks was still early and it could take some time to find the heartbeat, but within moments, there it was, loud and clear, and nothing could have pried the smile off my face.
And then, in the evening, after tucking Missy into bed, my friend NK picked me up for what she had dubbed our “office” Christmas party. For two hours, she and I and five other moms laughed and ate and thoroughly enjoyed the brief respite from 24/7 mommy-ing. It was the first time some of my good friends were in the same room together. It felt like the beginnings of a tribe.
No wonder I was too excited to sleep.
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*About that third scan….Last Sunday, I took Missy to the playground. It had rained earlier, and most of the play equipment was wet. We hadn’t planned to stay long, but she did convince me to climb aboard the pirate ship. Getting up was not a problem, but on the way down, I slipped, landing hard enough to knock the wind out of me. And apparently I had bumped myself in other places during the fall, most notably, my right eye, which is still sporting quite the shiner more than a week later. (“That’s what I get for trying to be a pirate,” I attempted to joke when one of the other moms at nursery pick-up asked me what had happened.) Once I had caught my breath, I didn’t think the fall had been that serious, I had no cramping or bleeding, and planned to call the midwives the next day, rather than going in to A&E. When I woke up Monday morning, I could feel–but not see–a bruise on my belly, above my uterus. When I reported this to the midwife, along with my rh- blood type, she got me an appointment to come in, have a scan, and get the anti-D injection. Everything looked fine, the baby was dancing around, but all together, it took hours! I was told to report to the wrong department, they couldn’t figure out how to get the injection I needed from the lab and finally decided I needed to have blood drawn first…and on and on and on. At one point, I had to leave to pick up Missy from playgroup, come back, get her a snack, and wait some more. My husband ended up coming after work to take Missy home, give her some dinner, and get her to bed, all while I waited for that injection. But after all that, everything seems to be fine. And no more pirate-ing for me.
Something Out of Nothing 