The first antenatal appointment

We had our first antenatal appointment at UCH on Thursday.

First of all, the EGA wing at UCH has like fifty different maternity and baby-related departments, so even if you know what floor you're going to, that doesn't really help. Finding the right building was easy, especially since I went to UCL next door and have been up and down Gower Place hundreds of times (though that was before the renovations). But finding the right room... I guess they don't realise that to someone not used to the whole having children thing, that every single department is a synonym for pregnant, child, or mother (maternity, fetal, antenatal, etc).

We found the right room after a small diversion in the ultrasound waiting room.

About 1/4 of the women there were accompanied by men. I definitely plan to go with the wife to all her appointments. It's not that I don't trust her, I just want to know what’s going on with my offspring and what we should expect.

I also know how easy it is to get swept up in things and never get a chance to ask those burning questions which have slipped your mind. With two of you, there's more of a chance to not miss anything. It's like when one of us sees a spider – the one who sees the spider freaks out, and the other one mumbles "Oh, FFS" and just deals with it. It doesn't matter who sees the spider first. I guess it's the whole "I must protect my partner" instinct that kicks in. The same thing happens in doctors offices. The one who's being seen is intimidated by the doctor and the other one asks all the difficult questions.

They took blood and urine and a bit of a family history. Eventually they asked some questions about me, so at least I didn't feel too much like a fifth wheel. Then came the shedload of paperwork and information. I've only made it most of the way though one of the pamphlets, so I'll likely post about that later.

Apparently she needs to be seen every fortnight or so, alternating between our GP and UCH. We set up two more appointments and I suppose we have to sort out the GP ones ourselves. The next is the 12 week ultrasound which is coming up soon. I'm really looking forward to that since, so far, we have no idea if things are going well or not. I mean, the wife seems healthy and getting by just fine, but, beyond the sore bosoms, there's really no active sign anything's going on.