Introducing Pip

Yes, it was the dating ultrasound today and young Pip posed beautifully for pics, lying head down. We're guessing he/she was asleep, as there wasn't really any movement, but at least we got to see plenty of identifiable body parts. It's absolutely unbelievable how s/he has changed in a mere 4 weeks since our early scan (when it was a vaguely turtle-shaped blob). This time - a baby! In case you need scan pic intrepretation, that's the head bottom right, and the bump that seems to be growing out of it is actually a hand (we could see the five fingers, but they're not very clear on the pic). The white bones of the spine curving up the LHS (that's also where the placenta is) were really obvious - as K said, they looked like piano keys! And you can just see a leg/foot curving out at the top. Awwww.

It was great to be reassured that everything is happening just as it should - inevitably with these scans, you always worry beforehand that something dreadful may have happened. Thankfully, after all the traumas of ttc, the pregnancy seems to be going relatively smoothly so far - long may it continue! Pip measured right on target for dates, so our EDD was confirmed as 1st March 07. We're actually having another scan next week; a private nuchal fold/translucency test to look for Down's. The midwife at the clinic said that this gives a more accurate result than the blood test, so we won't be having those done at 16 weeks. Obviously we're hoping for a low risk result from the NT scan; but unless the odds are very high, we wouldn't have a diagnostic test anyway.

Yesterday was my first midwife visit; my "named" midwife, Lisbeth came to see me at home, which was very relaxed. She's Danish, bright and breezy but friendly. I told her straight off about me & K, as it's so much easier to be clear from the outset (and it's not like we live in a gaybourhood, so I knew it would be fairly unusual). She was completely cool about it though, and said it made not one jot of difference; the most important thing is that the baby is coming into a loving environment. Hopefully the other 4 midwives who make up the team will be just as blase about the situation, when I/we get to meet them. Apparently though, we'll be only the second lesbian couple they have had; the first was a much more complicated situation as both women left their male partners during their pregnancies, to start their relationship. Doesn't sound like they can have been very calm pregnancies!
Throughout the antental care, I'll get to meet all the midwives, and there's a 75% chance that Lisbeth will be there for the delivery - if not, one of the others will take her place. Until we were assigned to this midwife team, I had been thinking strongly about having a doula, but now I'm not so sure that it will be necessary. M, I will get around to answering your question about birthing plans soon!

In other news, the house is in desperate need of a clean (we're not untidy, but our cat Toohey sheds hair like you wouldn't believe. And I don't feel I should be lugging the Dyson around at the moment). I just can't summon up the energy, even to dust, despite the fact that I'm at home with not a lot of work on this week. K has been trying to persuade me that we should get a cleaner in, and I think that it's finally time to give in. She works such long hours that the last thing she wants to do is clean in the evening/at weekends, and the state of the house is getting us both down. Ahh, the mundanities of home life.