Monday Oct 3rd Alcohol units: o (vg); Cigarettes: 0 (vg); Pregnancy tests: 2 (better);
Baby outfits purchased 5 (excellent). Hurrah!
Have found lovely soothing website about prenatal paternity testing,
featuring joyous black and white picture of pregnant madonna-like woman
(as in Virgin Mary, not country-house falling-off-horse pop goddess),
with swarthy mysterious sex-god in the background: "If you have had more
than one partner, it's natural for you to want to know who the father
is." Love
the way they put this: as if this is a completely normal dilemma which
every woman faces at one time or another. Find self hurriedly
double-checking that website is not called "Pregnantslag.com" but it is
just "i-awomanhealth.org". "You
may feel the need to collect financial or emotional support," it goes on
encouragingly. V. keen on idea of going round to "collect" emotional
support, like on Poppy Day with a tin or for Comic Relief with a plastic
bucket. Would be handy to be sick in, anyway. "...or
simply for the piece of mind which accompanies knowing for sure." Whilst
worrying that the "i-awomanhealth" team don't know how to spell, I do
find this a curiously apt image: pieces of my mind all over the place,
some of them accompanying knowing for sure, others collecting emotional
support in buckets, others accompanying Tory leadership hopefuls to
conference events in shiny Tory-wife dresses. Aha!
There is a DNA test they can do at three months. "Results are usually
given in 14 business days or less." Hmm... 14 business days. Does that
mean... Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Was
bloody Richard Finch, leaning over my shoulder, peering at my screen as
I hurriedly pressed Force Quit. "What
was that? It was a pregnant woman wasn't it? Does that mean you're..." "...researching
the new report about the effects of alcohol on unborn babies," I said
smoothly. "Why yes, Richard, I am!" (I mean sometimes I literally think
I am a genius). "That's
a good one," he guffawed. "Well, we'll find out in nine months, won't
we?" The
phone rang. I lunged at it gratefully. "Bridget,
it's Magda. I assume you haven't told either Mark or Daniel that you're
pregnant or worked out which one is the father," a Sloaney voice boomed
out of the earpiece." I want you to know that we're all sick of you
behaving like a child." Because
I was feeling sick and having a child the whole concept she was trying
to put across got mixed up with what was happening in real life and made
me want to be sick with Richard Finch still standing there trying to
listen. "Thank
you so much, Dr Fletcher, I'll whizz over to the fax and grab those
figures!" I said, putting the phone down and heading off in the
direction of the loos/imaginary fax, flashing a backwards smile over my
shoulder at Richard whilst praying that sick wasn't squelching through
my teeth like in The Exorcist. When
got back to my desk Magda was on the phone again. "Now listen, Bridget.
You're in denial. I've made contact with a friend of a friend who's
going to help you." "Not
a backstreet abortionist?" I said, horrified. "No,
Bridget. She's a medical/legal expert in these sorts of cases." ‘What
sort of cases?" I said, indignantly. "Honestly, I mean I've been to the
doctor, haven't I? And I've bought loads of baby clothes." "Paternity.
I've arranged for you to see her at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning." Suppose
had better go. I mean, it would be useful to know who is the father. It's
just that now I am actually having the baby it doesn't seem all that
important. Oh goody, Lunchtime! Think will just pop out to John Lewis
and look at Moses baskets. Tuesday Oct 4th 8.45am.
Actually Magda's paternity woman was quite nice. "I'm
glad you don't think I'm a crack whore," I said. "Heavens,
no. You'd be amazed how many people get themselves into this sort of
situation. Now: timing," she said, crisply whipping out her Palm Pilot. "It
would be nice to be exact about dates, but if we could, we wouldn't need
to be doing a paternity test. So we're going to err on the side of
caution and make it a week on Thursday. Think you're up to it?" "Isn't
it risky to the baby?" "Oh,
God no. They don't do the amnio needle thing any more. DNA science is
moving so fast these days. No risk to the baby at all." "How
am I going to get the DNA?" I said, suddenly realising it might be
difficult to get both Mark and Daniel to turn up to meet me in the first
place, let alone covertly extract DNA from them. "The
first choice is saliva, of course. Clean, sterile swab inside the cheek.
Next best is blood." "Blood!!?" "And
then hair." "That
might be all right," I said doubtfully, wondering if Mark or Daniel
would buy it, if I said I needed a lock to remember them by. "The
important thing with hair is that the follicle should still be attached.
Fifteen to twenty strands, pulled straight from the head." "Any
other options?" I gulped. "A
tooth would be good." Jesus.
"Oh, that should be easy enough!" "Some
people hold on to their baby teeth," she laughed. Yeah,
right. I could really see Mark Darcy or Daniel Cleaver peeking fondly
into a little box looking at their old baby teeth. "...
or you could go for a toenail or a fingernail or a skin sample. Pop it
in this bag. Oh, I was forgetting. You'll need two bags, of course, for
both potential fathers! Get them over to us as quickly as possible. I've
put you some swabs in as well." "Jolly
good," I said, wandering out unsteadily. "Right" What am I going to do? Lunge at Daniel, knock one of his teeth out and then swab the wound with a sterile cotton puff? Invite Mark Darcy to come for a mani/pedi with me? Oh fuck it. Wonder if Baby Gap will be open at 9am? |