Today we had our first ultrasound for baby number 2 and he or she was sleeping comfortably, little heart pumping away. This was our second contact with NHS and it went incredibly smoothly. We were there early, they let us in early, and we left within 15 minutes of arriving. The due date, according to the scan was May 13th, so depending on whom you believe...
It's funny to see the baby at this stage because you have so little connection to it. It's just the thing that is making Yoko sick all day, every day, but to see it as a person with hands and feet and a beating heart helps you start to move towards accepting him or her as a person. It's a weird psychological experience to go from hearing your wife is pregnant to holding a baby.
We are making our way without a car and figured out (during a lecture yesterday) that even if we were to take a taxi twice a week, ride the bus once or twice, and rent a car for three weeks out of the year, we would still come in about $1000 less (at minimum) over the four years. So I think we are going to stick to our guns, ride the bus and take the taxi when we need to. The taxi system is nice though. You text them and they text you when your car is about five minutes from coming. It's expensive (about £4.70 to go maybe 4 miles), but again, it is cheaper than owning a car.
Plus, I feel freer not having a car, like our expenses are a bit more fixed and less chance for something to go wrong. So if we can do it, I want to do it.