Baby Bag

Today

Lizzie's friend Ruth was getting in a tizzy today. Her baby is due in three weeks and she was uncertain about the wisdom of a trek into Birmingham with no mobile phone. Suppose she went into labour in a public place? And she hadn't even packed her hospital bag.....

In My Day

Knowing when to expect the birth of your baby was an even less exact science back in the '70s than it is now. There were no scans and doctors relied on the date of your last period, your size and a bit of prodding around.

When I was carrying Lizzie, all these factors were in conflict. As I am one of those women whose cycle was very variable indeed, the expected birth date was at best a guess. I quickly became very large, but the usual signs (baby's first kick etc) were rather later than normal. Pauls' mum took to phoning every day or so to ask whether I'd felt any movement which wasn't very reassuring.

When the due date approached I, too packed a little bag. I trotted along to the hospital each week for a check-up. "If I call from the clinic," I told Paul "just pick it up and come in with it." Each week I'd unpack the daily essentials from the bag.

Lizzie's head engaged at the right time but after that.... nothing. I began to wonder whether my pregnancy would ever end. When I was three weeks overdue they ran a test to see whether the placenta was still up to the job. This unsophisticated test involved my carrying a sort of demijohn with me everywhere I went for a day and  putting every drop of wee I did into it! Not very dignified, especially as we'd agreed to meet my parents for a day out in Horsham.

Placenta just fine. "I think we'll wait for nature", said my genial obstetrician, after he'd taken an X-ray to make sure that there weren't two Lizzies.

So the bag remained in the corner of the room, looking more and more forlorn, for six weeks after Liz was due, while nature had a bit of a think about it. Which is when she eventually, with the help of a bit of a pull from the obstetrician, decided to make her appearance.

Maybe this experience explains why Lizzie is very, very rarely late these days.