Aunt, brother and walking down the ward.

1. My aunt brings: a shiny new spade; a heated propagator; a badger handpuppet and a bright orange blanket on which BB and I can play. She also brings my cousin Amy, who brings a card showing us waiting for BB; and a cheerful yellow flower from my cousin Laura.

2. Robert rings. We discuss baby names. I tell him we've already chosen. "So this has been a pointless conversation, then." But I like it better than the conversations about whether we're going to find out the baby's sex.

3. Nick comes back from the hospital with news that his mother is walking down the ward without a flotilla of nurses attending her.