Latency Period

Quiet afternoon, really.

I've spent the last few weeks in a funk, mostly sitting in front of the computer either writing or playing games. Tuned out, really, for two reasons. Partly because having a highly-strung husband sawing at his nerves in your ear is unlikely to help keep a wife calm. Also, more selfishly, because I'm not going to have the luxury of sitting in front of a computer, piano, painting desk or other hobby area quite so much in the years ahead.

Keep walking round, the midwife said. Advice passed on by my mother, as well, who used to teach NCT classes. And my mother in law, who's a midwife herself. But we've been sitting in front of the telly, dozing. Does that predispose you to sudden infections? Or a prolongued labour? Shouldn't we be eating heavily spiced food or having very athletic sex? Not because we'd enjoy it, obviously, purely for obstetric reasons.

I had a quick dash out to a local baby clothes shop, who called to say a special pillow we'd ordered had arrived. It has supportive foam that prevents your newborn's fontanelles from fusing into a flat plate, or something. And cute little bear ears, which I suspect may be the main reason we're buying it. It was a dash because I didn't want to leave my wife at home without someone to fetch/carry/prod her anxiously and ask her how she's doing every five minutes.

But the shop was shut, so I dashed home again. It's very cold and dark today. Well, it's winter. Saying it's dark basically means it's not the fifteen minutes on either side of noon when the sun's remote glow can be seen, shimmering rosily behind the lips of the nearby hills. There's also a light dusting of powdery snow. I like snow, it feels like a good omen.

If something doesn't happen fairly soon, I'm going to start poking her with a chili, see if that helps. That's not a euphemism, by the way, I mean something like a scotch bonnet. Actually, that's not helping, I think I'll just abandon this while I'm behind.