"Um, See, Boss-Lady, I kind of...that is to say, I've found myself...Eric and I, that is, we...Oh, dear."

"Her pulse is only eighty-four," Barbara mumbled. "How can her pressure be so high?" Eric volunteered to have his blood pressure taken, and it, too was high. Then Joy, the other midwife, held out her tiny arm, and hers was also elevated. We blamed it on the cuff, thought it had behaved fine for the pregnant woman whose appointment had preceded mine, and I agreed to have my pressure monitored at drug stores and fire stations until my next appointment.

I was quite surprised and elated when they asked me if I'd like them to try to find the heartbeat with a Doppler. I hadn't expected them to have one! So we tried and tried, but in the end had to admit defeat for the time being. Both Barbara and Joy had thought they'd heard something at separate points, so I'm not as worried as I might otherwise be. Anyway, I've got an appointment in a few weeks with the backup nurse-midwife, so we should definitely be able to hear something by then.