“Something is going to happen.”– Dave Bowman. “What what’s going to happen?” — Dr. Heywood Floyd. “Something wonderful.” — Dave Bowman, 2010: Odyssey Two
We did something wonderful yesterday. We listened to our baby’s heartbeat for the first time.
It was our second official visit to see the midwife, and it was part of the standard check-up at 13 weeks. The midwife smeared a little jelly on Sue’s belly, and then put the microphone up against her skin. At first, there was nothing. And then there was a soft, quick pttt-pttt-pttt-pttt sound. To me it sounded like the heartbeat of a rabbit on speed. Sue thought it sounded like panting. Either way, it was very, very fast. And it was utterly amazing.
Not since seeing that little pink line on the pregnancy test two months ago had we had such proof. And now it was proof we could hear! Sue cried. I stood there holding her hand with an idiot grin on my face. And then it was over. The midwife took the microphone away, and the heartbeat went with it, dropping back down to an inaudible pitter-patter secreted away in Sues womb.
They say that hearing the baby’s heartbeat for the first time makes the entire pregnancy that much more real. And you know what? They’re right.