Midwives clinic

Had my "first" appointment at the midwives clinic yesterday. That is, I've had one where I had to do paperwork, and one where the doctor checked my blood tests, but this was the first one at the midwives clinic. I was going to join the primary care midwives program (PMCP) where you see the same midwife on each visit, and then she's there for your birth. But apparently I can't join it now, because it's booked out, and I didn't do my paperwork for it. 6 weeks ago, when there were spaces, I said I'd like to join it, but noone gave me any papers to fill in! Oh well... The midwives at the clinic seem friendly enough.

This one asked me how things were going; told her my stomach was sore at times, as though it were being stretched by... er,... someone inside. She said that's perfectly normal, and, of course, that is exactly what's happening. Then she took my BP (perfectly normal) and listened to my stomach with the u/s probe. I heard his fast little heartbeat for a second, and then 'whoosh'... "Oh," she said, "I had it nice and clearly, but the baby turned!" After that, every time she thought she'd found the heartbeat, he would 'whoosh' around again! Funny! She said he was a very active little thing, but I can't feel anything definite yet. Apparently it feels like bubbles moving, but I felt that before I was pregnant, too. Don't know what's bubbles in the guts and baby doing backflips. Nice to know that he is doing backflips, though.

I've finally finished my 6 days in a row, and now I have 3 off! Can't believe what a tired old granny I've turned into! I used to do 6 days all the time. And it's not like I'm working that hard; Brooke, my extremely organized preceptee, hardly needs me (and doesn't want my help) at all. She feels confident because I've let her do everything herself, something most nurses struggle to do, she says: they always start interfering when it gets busy. (I struggle, too, because I feel guilty, but I try not to help too much!) But now I only work 2 of the next 8 days, and then I have 5 in a row, two off, two on, and I'm finished! (Louise couldn't give me the week after Christmas off, so, as we've booked in our holiday, I had to resign again; she didn't mind at all, but told me I had to name the baby Louis or Louise!)

Am still reading silly "Don Quixote"! It's so silly that I don't feel too compelled to read it often. Thus, it's taking forever. I stopped for a while to read "The bronze Horseman", which Liz said was a good look at Russia during the second world war, but turned out to be a mushy romance and the first of a series! How many half-read series am I waiting to finish now! He he. Never mind.

Well, I must go clean the kitchen. Then, when the sun's a bit lower, I'll drag 4 or 6 buckets of grey-water down to the garden. I've got a row each of corn, lettuce, pumpkin, cabbage and tomato, in 5 ditches covered with mulch. So far so good, but watering them is a chore. Then I'll move the guineas. There are 17 now. I had Luna, Lupin, Lily, Padma, Parvati, Minerva, Poppy, Hokey, Seamus, Dean, Charlie and Heidi. Then Poppy had triplets, Fred, George and Snape, and Heidi just had 2, which I called Nick and Myrtle. Think I'll have to sell some soon!

One of my nurse-friends, Tam, has just started again, after being in England for 6 months. She says I'll call my baby either Harry or Harriet!