Ante natal or anti natal?

It’s all pretty quiet on the western front here at Avalon this week.  No Willing Workers, husband gone from dawn til dusk, and just the sound of silence and my ligaments and muscles stretching to encompass the growing boy.  He literally grows overnight!  I had another visit to Antenatal (where they do seem to be very Anti-Natal!!) to go through the registration process.  Actually, I had a very nice midwife who checked us out (all fine) and had a good chat to.  My blood pressure raises 20 points every time I go near that place – you have never seen so many scary people in your life.  It’s like one of those 1980 horror movies – the day of the living dead.  Ugh!

We went to the dentist as we both had a feeling that fillings were required and it had been a long time between inspections.  Just picked one out of the phone book.  Oh my God – what a mistake!  The registrar, when taking my medical history asked if I had any medical issues.  ‘No’ I said, ‘but I am pregnant’.  ‘When are you due?’ he asked.  ‘September the 20th,’ I replied.  ‘This year or next year’ he asked????
Do I look like an elephant????
Then the dentist was a sort of modern day Frankenstein, more concerned with yelling at his assistant that the CD cover wasn’t showing on the computer screen to indicate which song was playing.  Eventually he asked me why I was there and I explained that because I was pregnant my gums were receding rather more than normal and I had a couple of sore spots so just wanted to check they weren’t cavities.  ‘What rubbish’ he exclaimed.  I should have walked out there and then, after all every pregnancy book on the market verifies the scientific research that pregnancy softens gums as well as everything else.  Good thing it has slightly softened my idiot tolerance ratio or he would be in the dentist’s chair and I would have been the one with the drill!  Needless to say, we won’t be going back, and the hunt is still on for a nice, friendly, normal, preferably human, family dentist for the three of us . . . .
We have been asking everyone we know who they use and each time get a grimace and a graphic horror story of that person’s last Port Macquarie dental experience.  Apparently there AREN’T any nice dentists up here.  Maybe it is the place that bad dentists come when they’ve been thrown out of every capital city in Australia . . . .
Good thing there are such nice Complementary Therapists up here.  We have been having some Bowen treatments which have been lovely.  Incredibly relaxing and long-lasting.  Both Ged’s and mine posture has definitely improved since we started and what with the acupuncture and the Bowen, I have been pretty good through the pregnancy.  My varicose veins have been fine, the reflux is annoying but it’s not critical, and I have kept very well and active throughout.  I am very lucky to have access to these wonderful resources and to have the emotional and physical support through this amazing time of transition from single and selfish to married, sharing and Mum!
The potential painter came today with his wife and kids to assess the work needed on the windows and eaves and the kids had a ball catching the chooks, chasing the ducks and petting Daisy and Paddy (still no sign – phantom pregnancy, maybe?).  He seems nice so he starts next week and hopefully we can get all those annoying little finishing touches jobs done so that the house is really a family home at last . . . . (is this the longest renovation in living history, I wonder?!)