An almost forgotten document November 25 2009

Ariel 2

This is a record of the pregnancy of Ariel Dunne. At the time of commencement of writing Ariel is at ~14 weeks gestation.

On August 1 this year Selina miscarried at five weeks gestation. We were deeply upset at this, this baby was the first child for either of us. Having been told to go back on the Pill after Selina had had a natural cycle, we resumed an active sex life….without using any form of contraceptive. We did incidentally buy a packet of the Pill for when it would be needed.

In early October Selina came to me and said that she thought she was pregnant. She had been feeling “odd” for the previous three days. She had also noticed that her breasts had begun to change. She was also feel queasy when she ate. The final proof for her was her inability to eat much of anything at a party we attended on the 3^rd of October. It should be noted that Selina generally eats like a horse.

The signs of pregnancy continued to grow. As in the first pregnancy Selina’s breasts began getting larger, her areola darker and the appearance of a shadow areola and the appearance of linea negra  all of which happened in the first pregnancy. In addition to these signs there were new ones: her pulse rate rose, veination appeared on her breasts and hands, there was nausea when Selina’s blood sugar levels dropped past a certain level, a dislike of certain smells (pumpkin, Woolworth’s roast chicken, fried onion),  and at least one doozy of a mood swing….she went from ticking me off for telling people just how quickly the pregnancy test showed to crying in the bathroom over fears of losing this pregnancy inside an hour.

I sent our GP George Zaharias an e-mail where I listed no less than ten signs that Selina was pregnant. He wrote back saying that a urine test was still needed. We were quietly pleased but anxious, we had been overjoyed when Selina had fallen pregnant the first time only to lose the pregnancy. Eventually I insisted one Sunday afternoon in October that we simply buy a home pregnancy test. We had every sign that Selina was pregnant, we were just being “gun shy”. Selina dutifully peed on it and a positive test showed in an amazingly short period of time. I promptly notified the world via the Internet. I even e-mailed a photo of the test to everyone in my gmail address book.

At the end of October we finally got to see the GP. George does the urine test and it must have lit up as quickly as ours had….he didn’t even hint at the prospect of a blood test. We are then given a referral for an ultrasound. We had almost no idea of when Ariel was conceived. We knew Selina was very late in having her period, but beyond that we were in the dark. It’s weird, we tell people she’s pregnant and then when asked how far along is she, we have to confess ignorance. Half the purpose of the ultrasound is to get an idea of just how along this pregnancy is. The technician takes about six measurements of Ariel from crown to rump….a careful one this girl. Ariel is 4.3 cm from quite literally top to bottom. The date May 24 appears on the screen. This is the due date for Ariel. It means that this pregnancy is already nine weeks old…nearly twice as old as the first.

Earlier in the year....around January or February we took bets on exactly when Ariel would be conceived...it was a bit of fun. I guessed August 30. It turns out that on August 30 we went for a walk along part of the O'Shanessy Trail, came home, had something to eat and then made love. Ariel was conceived in the post coital snuggle...or we simply fell asleep in each others arms.

    Yesterday, November 24 we had the second ultrasound. The technician took his time and all up must have taken easily 15 or more images of Ariel. We looked inside his head, his abdomen, at his bladder, the vertebrae in his spine, counted toes & fingers and saw very clearly that Ariel has Selina's nose. There was a collective letting out of breath as we realised that Ariel is a perfectly normal foetus. The technician reassured us that Ariel fulfills all the measurements expected of a baby at the end of the First Trimester. I got a bit silly after that.

The relationship between Selina and myself is changing. It is deepening. There is a peace and a gentleness to it...not that there wasn't before, it's just deeper.