She had a warm smile, Emily noted, and she shook each of their hands with a firm, confident grip. Emily got the distinct impression that Doctor Arkwright was an intelligent, no-nonsense kind of person. She felt like she was in very safe hands.
“Thank you,” Daniel said, smiling shyly. “We’re over the moon.”
Emily was glad to hear him say as such. She wasn’t entirely sure how he felt since he’d seemed a mixture of shocked and stressed yesterday.
“Shall we get right to it?” Doctor Arkwright said. She flipped over the first piece of paper and looked at Emily. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a lot of detailed notes to begin with. Forms, forms, and more forms.”
“No problem,” Emily said. “Fire away.”
“The first thing we need to determine of course is how far along you are. Are your periods usually regular?”
Emily nodded. “My last one was just before our wedding. So it’s been about eight weeks.”
“So this might be a honeymoon baby?” Doctor Arkwright said with a smile. “How romantic.”
Emily blushed.
Doctor Arkwright continued. “The way we work out the due date is to initially take it to be thirty-eighty to forty-two weeks after the end of the last period. So currently we’re looking at December eleventh.”
Emily and Daniel looked at each other, their eyes wide. So close to Christmas!
“Then when you have your first sonogram and the baby is measured that can be adjusted slightly,” the doctor added. “Can you tell me what symptoms of pregnancy you’ve been having and how long for?”
“She was feeling nauseous and faint,” Daniel explained. “From right after the wedding really, wasn’t it?” He looked over at Emily for confirmation.
“I thought it was stress,” she said. “There was a lot going on in our lives at that point of time.”
Doctor Arkwright nodded. “They’re the two most common symptoms to have early on. And often confused with stress. No fainting, though? Just feeling woozy?”
“Yes,” Emily said.
Doctor Arkwright took notes as she spoke. “Good. It’s not dangerous to the baby if you do faint because it’s too small at the moment and in a protective sac of fluid. But for you it can obviously be a bit distressing, particularly if you hit something on the way down. Keep an eye on that going forward. It’s likely to resolve over the next few weeks but for some women the symptoms do persist. If you’re naturally prone to low blood pressure it could continue into the second trimester. So make sure you take it easy. Stand up slowly. Eat regularly. Best to keep a banana in your purse. And a bag of nuts.”