Went to see the midwife today, she got her little tape measure out and started measuring this way and that all over my stomach, then when we sat back down by her desk, she told me that I was measuring small. Small, how the heck was my bump measuring small? I could barely see my own feet!
"We'll just keep an eye on you," she said. "Maybe we could send you for another scan just to check up on him."
That sounded weird, when people said him, like he was an actual person already. I still haven't decided on a name, maybe I'll just go with Sam's suggestion, I mean it's better than Bertie which my mum said was a lovely name. "All these old names are back in fashion now," she said, trying to justify herself.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" I asked her because I was really worried. It's not like I'm going to forget what happened the last time.
"Yes, yes. He's probably just laying in a different position, we'll measure you again at your next appointment and we'll go from there," she said with a smile.
It was okay for her to say that. That was her job to reassure people that everything was going to be okay even if it wasn't.
26 Weeks Pregnant
Your baby has grown a lot in the past few months, weighing around 1.6lbs, and is approximately 35.5cm long.
If your baby was born now they would stand a very good chance or survival with specialist care. Your baby will begin to practice breathing movements, breathing in the amniotic fluid, ready for when they take their first gasps of air after birth. From twenty-six weeks your baby will also be able to open their eyes although their vision is still underdeveloped. Your baby may also respond to certain noises with increased activity.
Has your nesting instinct kicked in? Nesting is your way of preparing for and protecting your baby. Some women have the urge to clean the house top to bottom, while others will want to paint the entire house. Just don't overdo it!
Dr Miranda Carr
Pregnancy Matters
Well, Miranda, no my nesting instinct hasn't kicked in. I'm still the same lazy bastard I always was. I still put the bin out on the wrong day — I guess we can blame 'baby brain' for that one — and I have a shit ton of empty glasses beside the bed and don't even get me started on the pile of washing.
My mum made me go shopping with her today, apparently, we can't keep putting it off forever; she said we needed to look at prams and moses baskets and cots and everything that Mothercare stocked in the colour blue.
After that, we had lunch at some little cafe place in the shopping centre. "Did you have a nice day?" she asked me as I stuffed a massive bite of chocolate eclair in my mouth.
"Uh-huh," I nodded. And then I nearly choked because walking towards us was Will with his mates. "I need the toilet," I lied, but I didn't want him to see me, and I definitely didn't want my mother seeing him. But I got my foot stuck in one of the bags and I thought shit, I'm going to fall over and take the whole table with me, there would be no hiding then.
"Elsie, are you okay," my mum shouted at the top of her voice all in a panic. "She's pregnant," she said to the bloke sitting on the table behind us who caught my fall.
There was no way Will wouldn't have heard her gob. And c'mon there aren't any other Elsie's around town, well, if there are I'm pretty sure their days of baby-making well behind them. "Thanks," I said to the middle-aged man who'd stopped me from falling flat on my face and then looked in the direction of where I'd seen Will, he looked at me and then I ran off to the toilet. I say run, it was more of a waddle.
I don't think my mum saw him, I mean, she can't have, otherwise the whole of the shopping centre would've heard gob when she was shouting at him. Because she definitely would've shouted, and really bloody loudly too. He was gone by the time I got back from the toilet anyway.