BLOG 22 – BABY HAS LANDED

Recap: Zani experiences the tell-tale signs of early pregnancy and buys no fewer than three home urine test kits. With nerves on end, she looks at the outcome of the first test.

Finally, after a lot of mess, there they are: the little lines that say: “You’re a winner! Congratulations, you’re pregnant!”

While the thrill of excitement rises, I am also feeling a little faint. This is it. This is that life-changing moment when time stands still, the one you’ll remember for the rest of your days, the one you will recount to your grandchildren one day. It takes every ounce of strength not to just crash to the floor and wail like a banshee. The journey has begun.

Jake.

Jake, still blissfully oblivious to the momentous event unfolding just metres from the bed, lies sprawled on top of the duvet in the next room, his breathing heavy and comforting.

I just have to fly through to the bedroom, leap on the bed and bounce and bounce and bounce like we did when we were children. Jake opens one eye, and then the next, a broad smile spreading across his face like the sun rising over a lake at dawn. We don’t exchange a single word. There is no need. All he needed was one look at me, and his chest expanded.

“I’m the man, right? I’m the man!”

“You’re the man, sweetie. You’re the man!”

We hug, we laugh, we cry a little and then laugh a lot – we’ve done it!

We are having a baby!

But, as Newton said – what goes up must come down. After the initial euphoria of what just happened has sunk in, there is a stunned silence. Suddenly, we are quiet. The reality of the situation starts to dawn on us. We remember everything we have read, everything everyone has ever told us, that everyone – yes, everyone – said our lives would never be the same again.

“So …,” Jake kicks straight into project mode, “what happens next?”

“Uhm, I think I need to have a blood test done to confirm the pregnancy and then … I don’t know!” Truth is, I have been caught a little off guard.

There is a brief silence.

“Well,” says Jake as he moves straight into practical mode, “let me know when you get an appointment with the GP. I’d like to go along. Just so … well, just because.”

And then it is back to Real Life. For both of us.

Back at the office, I call Dr Belinda Cohen the moment the clock strikes 8.31am. I can’t believe I can’t get an appointment before next Monday!

I phone Jake right away to let him know and he, ever the level-headed one, assures me that the baby won’t be going anywhere before then. Then, as soon as I’ve emptied my Inbox – and made sure no one is hovering over my shoulder – I Google How to calculate your due date and Now that you’re pregnant.

Calculating the due date is easy if you’ve marked the first day of your last period. I was never that good at maths at school and asking me to add 280 days to the first day of my last period feels a bit like Grade 12 higher-grade mathematics, but out comes the diary where I circled 1 August. It takes me nearly all of teatime to calculate that the due date will be 7 May. Wow.

Notebook, pen and Now that you’re pregnant has to wait for lunchtime, but I have managed to jot down quite a few important points during this hour.