Heartbeat

Another exciting milestone moment. Today, I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time. I rolled down my new pregnancy skirt (courtesy of e-bay) and my funky purple tights to expose my belly, momentarily distracted by a couple of unexpected hairs by my belly-button (where did they spring from) and braced myself for the 'doppler'.

I think when I was imagining my ultrasound scan, what I actually had in mind was this intriguing doppler device, a sort of blue and white wand to which a large dollop of cold jelly was applied before it hit the belly.

It being an NHS device, there was a lot of crackling and white noise before the distinctive whung-whung noise of the baby's heartbeat came out. Just like I was imagining it would. The ultrasound, by comparison, was disappointingly quiet. Anyway, I don't think they really did any counting or anything, but they reassured me and my husband (I brought him along as he has been desperate for continued proof that I am indeed still carrying our child, not just fat and lazy)that it all sounded very happy, healthy and normal.

They also reassured me that I do not have HIV, syphillis or hepatitis, so that's good news. Who would have thought, all those years on the game and not even a touch of chlamydia to show for it? Obviously, I'm joking. Blood pressure normal, wee normal, boobs normal - actually, they didn't comment on the boobs (which have now swollen to a massive 36F and are only getting bigger).

So next stop, anomalies scan. When we'll actually be hunting for whether or not sproglet has a teeny penis. By then, I should look quite preggers (right now, I just look a bit fat I reckon) and should be feeling the baby move - still waiting for that first kick.

Knowing me, I'll probably think it's wind.