The week begins with an appointment with Maria’s midwife. These meetings are always kind of odd, I feel like an interloper at a medical – all the questions are obviously directed at Maria and her well-being and I have no real input apart from being there for her support. It’s a role I have no problem with, after all I want to be involved in any way I can.

The most comforting aspect is hearing the baby’s heartbeat – a great moment. Second time round it’s still magical to hear the first murmurs of a new human life from within Maria’s body.

Later in the week Maria comes home from work and reports that she’s told her work-mates. I’m relieved, her policy of trying to keep it secret until week 20 was an unnecessary burden to carry, they would have found out sooner or later.

The reaction she gets from work is one of surprise and joy from colleagues, and a cooler "that’s nice for you" from Management. Although no one could deny her maternity leave, she worries how difficult the bosses could make the run-up to her departure. The workload before she left to have Sam was relentless.

Read week 19 >>

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