It was so much fun telling my New York friends the news! And you can see by Caroline's face that she loved being in on the action. We did the old "let's take a picture" trick, then 1... 2... I'm pregnant! CLICK!
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Monday, July 28, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Week 11 - Doctors, dramas and celebrations (oh my)
This week, we went to our 11 week doctor's appointment. We had decided that once we heard the heartbeat at this appointment, we'd let the cat out of the bag and officially celebrate. No pressure, right?
When we arrived, the med tech came in with a Doppler to hear the heartbeat, and after fishing around for awhile, she said she couldn’t hear it. So my favorite nurse Bree came in to try, and she couldn’t hear it.
So we had another unplanned sonogram. We had to wait 15 minutes – which seemed of course MUCH longer. But it was worth the wait. The baby kept waving at us (at which point, the doctor would exclaim, "Hi Mom!"). Then it started doing summersaults, flipping all around, and waving its arms around like it was beating a drum. (My dad called “him” little drummer boy.)
At first, the screen was facing away from me, and it was amazing watching Kirk’s reaction. I’ve never seen eyeballs that big. But finally, I was like hellooooo, and I got to see too. Here s/he is:
When we arrived, the med tech came in with a Doppler to hear the heartbeat, and after fishing around for awhile, she said she couldn’t hear it. So my favorite nurse Bree came in to try, and she couldn’t hear it.
So we had another unplanned sonogram. We had to wait 15 minutes – which seemed of course MUCH longer. But it was worth the wait. The baby kept waving at us (at which point, the doctor would exclaim, "Hi Mom!"). Then it started doing summersaults, flipping all around, and waving its arms around like it was beating a drum. (My dad called “him” little drummer boy.)
At first, the screen was facing away from me, and it was amazing watching Kirk’s reaction. I’ve never seen eyeballs that big. But finally, I was like hellooooo, and I got to see too. Here s/he is:
Tonight, I'm telling my extended family that I was too nervous to tell at the family reunion. I'm so excited! I am sending out a JibJab greeting that I'll post in a few minutes.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Funny Gender Predicter
I just found a gender predicter online; it's based on the Chinese Birth Chart. Anyway, here's what it told me:
It's not scientific, but you never know!
It's not scientific, but you never know!Sunday, July 13, 2008
Week 10 – Counseling, clothes & predictions
We've reached double digits! I must admit I'm starting to feel almost cocky! We had a couple of milestones this week.
We had our genetic counseling appointment and found out our odds are 27/28 of having a baby without chromosomal abnormality. We do a test in a few days that will "move the dial" hopefully to show our odds are even better. Depending on the results, we'll decide whether we'll have an amniocentesis or another test called CVS. This is not my favorite topic, but I feel good that we have the facts.
I also had my first bout with too-tight pants. I've got to say, this was not a highlight. So I did my very first maternity shopping yesterday with my college roomie Melinda and at least made a start at remedying that situation. It freaked me out to even walk into a maternity store, but Melinda kept it fun and light (begging me to buy these huge overalls, etc.)!
Two people have very strong predictions for a girl. One is Melinda, who had been calling the baby Melinda but has now switched to Abby. The other is my bro-in-law Scott, who had a dream last night that it was a girl with dark hair. My parents-in-law don't have a prediction, but they have put in an "order" for a girl. Oh, and my dad put in a request for the name Reagan, which I know is to offset Tracy and Scott's son's "democratic" name Truman. It was too funny.
That's it for this week. Friday is our next doctor appointment, at which point, we tentatively plan to start telling people (if my belly hasn't given it away already). So excited to see the little muffin again on ultrasound!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Week 9 - Reasonable redefined
I hit 9 weeks! It was really fun to celebrate pool-side at Tracy and Scott's. Tracy confirmed that my belly is in fact getting bigger (sisters are good for that).
This week, I realized that when you're pregnant, you have a whole new definition of reasonable.
The most important "new reasonable" thing is that in your first trimester, feeling "great" means feeling sick. (It means your hormones are increasing, etc.)
Another thing is, you have these weird thoughts. This morning, I thought, I'm feeling good! I think I'll just get up and go to the bathroom. Then 30 seconds later, I thought, while I'm in here, I may as well just barf. (Thank goodness I didn't and haven't.)
Other "reasonable" thoughts from the week:
- If I crawled to the pantry to get the Ritz, maybe I could get there without getting sick?
- Maybe I'll just get up and make some macaroni and cheese (at 5 am).
- I think I'll eat breakfast… for the third time.
The best part is that I'm totally able to laugh about it. Sense of humor is key. Till next week…
Monday, June 30, 2008
Week 8 - A little scare
It is week 8! And what a difference a week makes. Early last week, I couldn't imagine how I'd get through the day. But then mid-week, my morning sickness improved improved to where I almost feel normal sometimes. I was mostly grateful, but this morning, some other things weren't quite right, so I called my fabulous nurse Bree, and she said come in.
I just had an unscheduled ultrasound. Luckily everything is fine. Heartbeat is 169 (118 last time), and the length is what it would be at 8 weeks 5 days (I’m only 8 weeks, 2 days). So all is good. Here's the picture of the muffin (as if you can't tell, the head is on the right, body to the left, and arrow pointing to the heart in the middle; s/he is just starting to get arms and legs):
I didn’t tell poeple I was going, because I knew I wasn’t prepared for a bad outcome, and I knew I’d need time to process, etc. But it was great news, and s/he even squirmed a little for me. So cute!
I just had an unscheduled ultrasound. Luckily everything is fine. Heartbeat is 169 (118 last time), and the length is what it would be at 8 weeks 5 days (I’m only 8 weeks, 2 days). So all is good. Here's the picture of the muffin (as if you can't tell, the head is on the right, body to the left, and arrow pointing to the heart in the middle; s/he is just starting to get arms and legs):
I didn’t tell poeple I was going, because I knew I wasn’t prepared for a bad outcome, and I knew I’d need time to process, etc. But it was great news, and s/he even squirmed a little for me. So cute!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Week 7 - The start of the belly
Every Saturday marks another week. This week is week 7, and my belly looks like it did when I was 20 lbs heavier! I’m only 7 weeks! They confirmed I’m not having twins. Could it be triplets? Good grief!
You know how they say you need 300 extra calories per day? I think I get all mine in the middle of the night. Since Mexico, I have been up for two hours every single night. I've watched LOTS of bad TV and Sex in the City. Last night, I lay in bed thinking it would be perfectly reasonable to get up and make mac and cheese. But showing restraint, I waited till 7 am.
I started getting morning sick on Sunday. I’m learning survival techniques. Slow movements in the morning, gingersnaps in bed, lots of food early in the day, preggie pops, etc.
I have a prescription for anti-nausea drug, but I’m going to hold off as long as I can.
You know how they say you need 300 extra calories per day? I think I get all mine in the middle of the night. Since Mexico, I have been up for two hours every single night. I've watched LOTS of bad TV and Sex in the City. Last night, I lay in bed thinking it would be perfectly reasonable to get up and make mac and cheese. But showing restraint, I waited till 7 am.
I started getting morning sick on Sunday. I’m learning survival techniques. Slow movements in the morning, gingersnaps in bed, lots of food early in the day, preggie pops, etc.
I have a prescription for anti-nausea drug, but I’m going to hold off as long as I can.
The heartbeat!
On June 18th, I was in bad shape. I had been so sick with a virus I no doubt caught in Mexico. I still didn’t have my lab results back saying what was wrong with me. Melinda came over. She sat with me while I cried (literally into a beach towel - it was what you might call a low moment).
Melinda gave me something called the miraculous medal, something from a Catholic church in France where Mary appeared. Less than 10 minutes later, my nurse called and said they wanted to work me in today. Melinda was in the background saying, I TOLD YOU! It was awesome.
I called Kirk and said please come home immediately. He cancelled his appointments before realizing he’d taken the shuttle and didn’t have a car. His boss Kim drove him all the way to Austin so he could make the appointment. I called mom and asked her to call Tracy and Craig and please all be praying for the little muffin at 2:30. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such desperation.
The significance of this appointment was undeniable. It was literally “do or die” for the little guy.
And thankfully, we saw a heartbeat. Here it is on the ultrasound. The arrow points to the heart. It looked like a tiny area of "static," like on an old TV. But still more exciting than I can put into words.
It was a little slow, 118, where they like 120-160, but it was there. I made a conscious decision not to worry about the low heart rate. I didn’t think I had tears left, but as it turns out, I did. It was “the most dramatic ultrasound ever.”
The highlight is when Dr. A said she’d see me in a month. Clearly it was all up to the muffin now.
Melinda gave me something called the miraculous medal, something from a Catholic church in France where Mary appeared. Less than 10 minutes later, my nurse called and said they wanted to work me in today. Melinda was in the background saying, I TOLD YOU! It was awesome.
I called Kirk and said please come home immediately. He cancelled his appointments before realizing he’d taken the shuttle and didn’t have a car. His boss Kim drove him all the way to Austin so he could make the appointment. I called mom and asked her to call Tracy and Craig and please all be praying for the little muffin at 2:30. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such desperation.
The significance of this appointment was undeniable. It was literally “do or die” for the little guy.
And thankfully, we saw a heartbeat. Here it is on the ultrasound. The arrow points to the heart. It looked like a tiny area of "static," like on an old TV. But still more exciting than I can put into words.
It was a little slow, 118, where they like 120-160, but it was there. I made a conscious decision not to worry about the low heart rate. I didn’t think I had tears left, but as it turns out, I did. It was “the most dramatic ultrasound ever.”The highlight is when Dr. A said she’d see me in a month. Clearly it was all up to the muffin now.
The best reaction ever
Another super fun group to tell was the Kathy Katz’s and the Lisa Katz’s. We were having a dinner party, our last birthday celebration. Here are the girls, although we let the husbands come too:
Melinda knew the secret, of course, and I thought she’d love a piece of the action telling. She was so nervous before we told that she was texting me while she was right next to me!!!
Melinda got Kirk a teddy bear that said “#1 Dad.” Kirk opened it and held it out for everyone to see. Everybody just sat there shocked, not getting it AT ALL for what seemed like a half an hour.
FINALLY, I am so grateful that Melinda had her camera on as Lisa gave what will go down as my favorite reaction of ALL time:
Melinda knew the secret, of course, and I thought she’d love a piece of the action telling. She was so nervous before we told that she was texting me while she was right next to me!!!
Melinda got Kirk a teddy bear that said “#1 Dad.” Kirk opened it and held it out for everyone to see. Everybody just sat there shocked, not getting it AT ALL for what seemed like a half an hour.
FINALLY, I am so grateful that Melinda had her camera on as Lisa gave what will go down as my favorite reaction of ALL time:
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