Y A N G W O O D

13 September 2005
A busy baby weekend for us - we had the second of our designated four antenatal classes – this time about pain relief. The options are varied, from nothing, to gas and air, to pethadine to the dread edepidural. Damn! You should see the size of that needle. It is huge! Cat saw it, rushed to the loo, and feinted. She is not a big fan of needles but the sight of that one would have hardened men crying.The midwife knocked down assumptions that it was bad for the back etc. She stated that epidurals in themselves were painless when administered and not bad for you. Unfortunately, the not being able to walk for 10 hours was the cause of back pain afterwards. In any case, Cat instantly dismissed the thought of an epi.
Later on we went pram shopping. Like shopping for a car, buying apram is a considered affair with many visits to various‘showrooms’ and testing out, plus discussion of relevant merits ofdifferent models. In the end we found the model we liked in a littleshop on Chrisp Street Market, near Docklands. The Jane Carrera could fold into something like the size of a golfing umbrella yet could hold all manner of attachments and seating options. And, like a true vehicle purchase, the deciding factor for us was the colour –a deep Mediterranean red that we instantly fell in love with.Finally, after a busy weekend, we sat down to relax – until Cat noticed that her breasts were secreting a clear fluid. Oh my God surely the milk hasn’t arrived already??? We scanned our various pregnancy books for an answer and sure enough, described in medical detail, this was in fact very normal and quite expected at this point in the term. So that was a relief.