Thursday last week we had our first midwife appointment for our brand new bump. It was our first time meeting her as we’ve changed doctors surgeries since having Dexter. I suspect she was probably running a little late as we were called in a good half an hour late into the appointment, which meant the session was mostly ‘all business’. Adding to the sense of urgency was the fact that we had Dexie with us. Before we even went into the appointment, he’d been behind the front desk chatting up the receptionists, following strangers into doctor’s rooms for their appointments, routing through stranger’s handbags in the waiting room… he just wants to explore everything at the moment and has one of those cheeky faces that means he gets away with murder.

In the waiting room, he had a right time of it, crawling over the midwife’s scales, pulling urine sample pots out of her drawers, and inventing new uses for her blood pressure cuff. Craig and I struggled to keep an eye on him and natter to the midwife at the same time. Lesson learnt - maybe we’ll grab a sitter next time.

Our midwife was really lovely - chatty but informative. She gave Dexter a cuddle when it was time to leave which was a relief - he clearly hadn’t given too bad an account of himself.

We received our (rather disappointing) Bounty Pack and set of notes, and briefly discussed the plan for the next 30 weeks. Due to high BMI count and Dexter contracting Strep B in his first few weeks she mentioned the likelihood of an “Elective” C-Section but reassured us that nothing was set in stone at this stage. She also managed to fit in all our blood tests so we wouldn’t have to make any additional appointments before our scan date. It was all very easy and we’re pleased we changed doctors surgeries to get access to a community midwife.

Of course there are a few disappointments. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to test to hear baby’s heartbeat. Given this is our second pregnancy, we won’t see her again until week 16 so have a long wait to hear it! I also didn’t make big enough deal out of my morning sickness in my opinion so we’ll need to book in a session with the GP if I decide I need anti-sickness medication.

In a bid to provide more reassurance things are going well, we’ve gone ahead and booked a private scan for this Thursday to finally answer the question of whether this is twins or not. Hopefully we’ll leave that appointment feeling a little more ‘pregnant’ and excited. As we’re off on holiday in a few weeks time, we’ll have plenty of time to sit around the pool to get our heads around the c-section issue. Our hospital doesn’t routinely offer VBAC’s (particularly given the other risks mentioned above) so we might well have to fight for a natural birth if we want one.

I think we’ve reached a turning point this week. I feel less stressed and anxious, but also less connected to this pregnancy. It doesn’t feel very real and I regularly forget I’m even pregnant at all - I nearly ordered wine at a restaurant this weekend! When pregnant with Dexter, I kept a notebook on my bedside table and Craig and I rarely discussed anything else. This pregnancy started off the same, but seems to have tapered somewhat. Compared to last time, the midwife appointment was anti-climatic. It all went smoothly, but that bubble of excitement was missing. Given we’ve worked so hard to create this new life, and can’t wait until he or she gets here, the pregnancy itself feels less chaotic and (dare-I-say-it) fascinating.

Did anyone else feel like this second time around?