Friday 28 December 2007

End of Year

I listened to the baby's heartbeat yesterday.

It is December 28th 2007. Between Christmas and the New Year. Our baby is due sometime in the next 12 days. It has been great to be at home, we've been very quiet. Eils resting a lot and I've just been pottering about. Putting up the odd shelf, fixing the intercom, hanging the bathroom cabinet. All very low key. Waiting.

Our visit to the midwife was cosy. I think they like Eils, she's very organised and on top of what is happening - although I think she is worried about the birth. It will be her first child.

Alongside the baby's heartbeat which must run at around 160 bpm you can hear the pulse of the placenta which is a sort of rhythmic 'swooshing' sound. It all seems balanced.

Back in Edinburgh in the seventies I wrote a poem about 'the first insidious vibration of my mother's gentle heartbeat'. It was about how that basic rhythm sets you up for life. It winds you up and sets you free.

Time. The school bell. Clocks and watches. Clocking on and clocking off. Time and motion. Film at 24 frames per second. The beat. Music.

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