Clare in disappointing midwife appointment shocker...

I seem to remember in the distant past when O was a wee grub in my tum that midwife appointments were exciting. The peeing on a stick thing, reading Hello whilst waiting to be called, the taking of blood pressure and most of all, the heart-beat listening (OK that bit was still quite exciting).

Having only seen a midwife once during the whole pregnancy prior to Friday's appointment, I was - justifiably I thought - excited about seeing her again. I was certain I had loads of questions to ask and that we'd have a long chat about... well, about being pregnant. I was met by the student midwife, Lara, who is sweet but obviously not a mum herself and a real novice. Mary turned up a bit later after I had peed in a pot (O was with me and it went all over the shop!) only to discover that my HepB result wasn't in the file and then spent 10 minutes on the phone.

Of course, it's wonderful that everything is boringly fine. Measurement of bump spot on for dates, heartbeat steady and strong, blood pressure good (although Lara asked if I ever felt faint with a blood pressure like that! Meaning?), blood test results all negative and positive in the right places. But something of the magic of the first time is missing. Is this unfair? Am I being a cow to my unborn babe? Will I feel the same when he/she actually turns up?

In short, it's all rather weird. Oh, and my mum arrives tomorrow evening for three nights. Hmm.