a first

During last Friday's Normal Prenatal class, I had the special privilege of feeling an actual pregnant woman's actual pregnant belly, for the first time in the role of student midwife rather than simply a curious observer. And, for the first time, I heard an actual foetal heartbeat through my foetoscope. A real pregnant belly with a real baby inside, with a real beating heart!

I performed Leopold's manoeuvres to figure out the position of the baby (LOA at 22 weeks), auscultated heart tones (I forget now what they were precisely, but they were perfectly normal!), and chatted merrily with S, the cheerful, blooming, gracious mama-to-be (who is a farmer and kundalini yoga instructor).

I felt two more pregnant bellies after that, a transverse lie and a breech (what variety!), and then we students all had a potluck lunch with the five pregnant mamas who'd come to offer up their bodies and babies for the betterment of our education. Thank you to all of them.

I spent the weekend researching hypothyroidism in pregnancy for a paper and presentation I had to give the following Monday in Physical Assessment class. I took my skills exam with my friend C that Monday morning at 11, which went incredibly smoothly. (The purpose was to test our proficiency at the complete well-woman physical exam with Pap smear and breast exam.) That night, H, C, and I went to Duck Fat on Fore Street to eat fries (cooked in duck fat, served with garlic aioli, truffle ketchup, and sweet chili mayo) and drink lots of red wine to celebrate the completion of our skills exam and the wrapping up of Physical Assessment class. We walked along the Eastern Prom in the freezing cold, arms interlinked, then sat on the rocks overlooking the starry water in a state of utter giggly bliss, before walking back to our cars and heading home.