The scene: in town or similar, bump into an acquaintance I haven't seen in a while.

Her: Ooooh! Look at you! I didn't know you were expecting! How exciting!
Me: Oh, yes, I guess I haven't seen you for a while.
Her: Oooh! How exciting! When are you due?
Me: July - a couple of weeks after S (the friend through whom I vaguely know this person)
Her: Ooh, how lovely! You'll have little ones together!
Me: Yes.
Her: So what will the age gap be between Groover and this one?
Me: Three and a half years.
Her: Ooh! That's great, a really nice gap - I bet he's looking forward to having a little sister or brother!
Me: Yes, a few friends with the same sort of gap have said they found it works well.

At this point (so far in each case) something has happened to stop the conversation (a bus or husband has arrived, someone realises they're late, a child has distracted us, etc). But it's a tricky one. There are three categories of people in this scenario - the ones I'm obviously going to put in the picture (most of them already know), the ones I'm not (I hardly know them, it's just bus-queue conversation or similar) and the ones where I just can't work out which of the preceding two categories they fall into so I chicken out and don't say anything.

I do have to keep reminding myself that I don't HAVE to tell people stuff if I don't want to, or if I just don't feel up to going through the whole tale again right now. The worst thing is that I know that at some point the person I met today is going to have a coffee with our mutual friend and say 'I saw birdie, I didn't know she was pregnant - and due the same sort of time as you!', and then S will tell her what's happening, and she'll be mortified!

I often find myself feeling very sorry for the person I'm telling, when I do tell people. I mean, who knows what to say in this situation? I know I don't, and I'm one of the people it's happening to! Also, a lot of my friends seem to be pregnant at the moment (a few weeks ago at toddlers there were more pregnant mums than not - it was wierd), and it's hard in particular to tell them. If they're early on and haven't had scans etc yet you can see them go a bit pale and think 'please don't let this happen to me' - and then feel bad for thinking it - although it's a perfectly reasonable response. Those who are further on tend to feel guilty if they are having a straightforward pregnancy - which is bizarre but sort of kind!

A switch flipped a bit in my head the other week though when I realised that I don't have to talk about it if I don't want to. (Says she, spewing it onto the internet.) I tend to feel, if people are asking how I am, and really caring, I have to say something to them - but actually I don't - it's perfectly legitimate to say 'actually, I don't want to talk about it right now', and if they have a problem with that, that's their problem. It was quite a liberating realisation, that!

"I love Easter Day - it feels like anything is possible on Easter Day. Come to think of it, I suppose anything is possible because of Easter Day."

Amen to that, as Stenneth Flushpool would say.

*That would be because he is a Proper Writer, whereas I am a Gibbering Loon.

Actually it depends when you ask. Taking the day in about 10 minute periods seems to be working for me.

Back for another scan on Thursday (what is it with Thursdays?). This one is with a cardiologist so he can have a proper look at what is going on with the heart. I don't think we'll be finding out anything new, particularly, just more details.

I am now off to watch the first episode of Black Books, having treated myself to the first series on DVD yesterday.

I will go to bed soon....

I know that normally wouldn't warrant a :D but it means that I can now get an eco kettle, which I have been coveting for some time, but not getting on the basis that it's not very green to chuck away a perfectly functional appliance, even if you do replace it with a better one.

The eagle eyed among you will notice that this is not the first (or even, I think, the second) time I have written here about kettles giving up the ghost. I am not sure if we just buy dodgy kettles, or we work them so hard they expire within about a year. Either way, I am hoping for Great Things from this one.

Seriously, I am Inappropriate Giggling Woman.

Hopefully will post here again in a few days, but we'll have to see how it goes. Next hospital appointment, next Thursday.

When you're pregnant, all the notes and books and whatnot you get are unanimous on one thing: If you have any bleeding AT ALL, contact your midwife IMMEDIATELY. One of them even says "you will be admitted to hospital until either the bleeding stops or your baby is delivered" but I do think Miriam Stoppard is a bit of a drama queen in this area.

So, when you do as instructed and contact the hospital (not your community midwife or GP because it's 7.30 on a Sunday morning and the maternity ward is the only place you can get a reply) you expect the response to be a bit more constructive than "well... see how it goes and you can go to A\&E later if you want."

What does 'see how it goes' MEAN in this context? Also, when she says 'are you having any pain?' the only possible response is 'not until you mentioned it, but now you've said that, I can feel all manner of twinges which I probably would otherwise not have noticed, and you are now convincing me that this means imminent doom.'

Gah.

Thank goodness for sensible friends who are midwives that's all I can say. The sequence of the morning was basically:
1. Aaaaagh! (not an unreasonable response on not much sleep and doom-filled pregnancy information)
2. Calm down a bit
3. Phone hospital
4. Less calm
5. Phone C
6. Oh, that's all right then.
7. Get on with day.

The moral of the story is to phone C first in future, methinks.

bah.