Oh, I see, we just switched

Out with the old, in with the new.

Well, most of the old symptoms are coming back, nausea rearing its head every so often as well as fatigue. However, we are graced now with tears! Over what? Well in the last 24 hours:

1. Lack of symptoms
2. News that it is ok to have decreased symptoms
3. Going home after work to rest while I pick up the dog from daycare
4. Going out to eat
5. Green olives
6. Shrimp tails
7. Hummus
8. Finding water glass
9. Lack of groceries

Since I don't work with S I'm probably missing out on a few as we speak! Fun fun! Welcome, old and new symptoms! I better go buy some tissues for the new one!

Where did it all go?

So our morning started out with a little bit of a scare. S has had a few pretty good days as far as symptoms go. Yesterday, we passed the 8-week mark. Today starts week 9 (don't quote me on this because I can't seem to wrap my head around what week we are in or what week we are).

S woke up this morning realizing that for the first time in a week she hasn't had to get up in the middle of the night to eat to keep nausea at bay. Alarmed by the sudden decrease in symptoms she started to analyze all remaining and previous symptoms. Here is the low-down:

Breasts:
Then - Painfully sensitive
Now - Slightly tender

Nausea:
Then - Constant
Now - Only every 60-90 min with dramatic decrease in intensity>

Fatigue:
Then - Like hitting a brick wall
Now - A little tired

Appetite:
Then - Nothing sounds good
Now - Can stomach just about everything (aside from what I am eating)

This sent S into a bit of a panic (especially after Dr. Google said a decrease in morning symptoms could be a sign of miscarriage), which in turn sent me into a little tizzy. I called the NPs office, as we don't really have an OB or Midwife (the MBC is closed till 1 pm on Thursdays). The triage nurse's response to me giving the list of changes was priceless.

Nurse: "That is great!”
Me: "Um, I said she HAD morning sickness and symptoms and now they are disappearing."
Nurse: "Yeah, that is good. Her body is getting used to being pregnant."
Me: " but we are only 8 weeks."
Nurse: "Yeah, some people see improvement during weeks 8 and 10. She will have some more bad days though."
Me: "So we should stop freaking out?"
Nurse: "Yes, we only worry if she has cramping and/or bleeding."
Me: "Phew, I'll call her now and tell her."

I call S and tell her the above story. She cries out of relief.

So there you have it, our first major panic about the pregnancy.

What this has done though is convince us to keep our original appointment with the OB for Oct. 5. Since the MBC seems to be closed and/or not able to make our first appointment we would like to see our other option. Not that this means we will not stay with the MBC (we assume they become more accessible after the first appointment considering they will likely give us a contact number for after hour concerns). So there you have it, we may go back to medical. The good thing is we may be able to see the NP and office staff while we are at the OB's office (same office really). We haven't seen them since we got pregnant. We may even be able to see the tot on Oct. 5 (see we aren't anti-ultrasound).

Get a load of that Tot!

Do you see that picture on the right? I know it's not an ACTUAL photo, but our baby is so cute! It's also starting to look more like a baby, according to our ticker over there. Wow! According to our sources, Tot is now able to fit inside of a peanut shell; our little peanut. S/he is growing so fast!

We're starting to accumulate some things. This weekend, we found an excellent deal on a crib and dresser (matching) on crai.g's l*st. We're going to pick it up tonight. We also used crai.g's l*st to sell our treadmill for the same amount we bought the new furniture. It's like it was free!

My symptoms may be easing up a litle bit. I think I'm finally getting the diet right: lots of yogurt, grapefruit juice, beans and a protein bar fortified w/ iron. I'm still dead tired at night, but the nausea creeps up just every 60-90 minutes now. Last night, I even had energy to walk Gladys AND make dinner!!!! (then, bed before 9.)

My poor sweet E is working very hard at home. She bears the brunt of getting everything done. I know, of course, that my body is working very hard, but E must make up for the other things I cannot do. I can't be thankful enough for her. She is amazingly patient (and excited) - in spite of being very tired of lunches consisting of tomato soup and a side of refried black beans. Poor, sweet E!! Thank you, E, for being so wonderful and working so hard to keep our lives organized, fed, clean, and ready for weekend company. You are my favorite person in the world today, tomorrow, and forever. I love you.

And it's all for that gorgeous Tot!

Cancelled - Postponed

Our Birth Center had to attend to a home birth this evening (they can't plan those things better?), and they canceled our appointment. Big bummer. We're going to have to wait for another week. Next week Monday is our new first appointment.

First appointment

Today is our first appointment with the Midwife. Now, most of you get an ultrasound during this appointment but not us. The MBC where we are (fingers crossed that there is no need to go medical) giving birth provides all of our pre-natal check ups as well. They do not do ultrasounds. They can order them though so we plan to ask for one around 20 weeks to see what we are having. Otherwise, blood work and "touchy feely" medical input for us only.

Why, go so non-medical? Well, since we had to be so medical for the last 2 years we are looking forward to fewer invasive procedures. This all considering everything is looking "normal" and proceeding, as it "should". We are not against the other forms of giving birth, pre-natal care, or whatever steps others need to take to ensure their pursuit to the same final goal as ours ends with a healthy baby (or two for some of you)!

So, here we go to our first appointment tonight. What happens at this appointment? I don't have a clue, probably many many many questions and "get to know ya" conversations. I am not even sure they will do any blood work. The first appointment is supposed to be 2 hours but we had to split it into two days because we needed an after 5 pm appointment.

Here we go, well at 6 pm!

Fabric

Finally Friday

This week has been a bit long, and I'm glad we've finally made it to Friday. After a busy day at work, we have plans to focus on the house this weekend (cleaning out the office/nursery for one!!), for the first time since we found out about baby!

In preparation, we went out last night and purchased some fabric. I'm going to attempt several sewing projects including a crib quilt, curtains, pillows and a lap throw. Our colors are light blue and chocolate brown with other creams and tans. We are going to have a (very subtle) letter theme. I use the word "theme" very lightly, meaning we have one fabric with subtle letters on it. The rest are paisley and flourish-y. E is going to work on the art for the room.

We know it's early to purchase things. Since working on this room is something we're doing nearly from scratch, however, we have to get an early start. Neither of us are particularly superstitious; the only worry is that if something did go wrong, we'd have to look at partially finished baby items that we put work into. I think we decided we aren't afraid to forge ahead; we have a lot of belief in this baby sticking around. We're already in our 8th week!!!!!

I'll have to post some fabric pics later on. Have a great weekend!

7 Weeks

Today starts the seventh week of pregnancy. Wow! I can't believe it was three weeks ago today that we saw that famous line on the tests! I was telling S that I'm already ready for the tot (as my dad so affectionately calls the growing fetus)to be big enough for me to feel it. I guess it working as hard and fast as it can. We are reading the Pregnancy Journal which helps us everyday to envision all of the amazing progress our little one is most likely making! I can't wait to read it tonight!

In other news, I know another couple that is graduating to the second trimester this week! Congrats!!! It must be a big relief!

Blech

There, I did it. I achieved my first pregnancy vomit this morning while brushing my teeth. Check that one off the list, and let's hope we just move on to a different symptom.

in the faces of friends (family)

We had a great weekend. S's sister and her clan came to visit us. We went to the farmers market, watched UW pull off a victory against the Citadel, and grilled. The girls Leah (2 years old) and Rachel (6 months) seemed to enjoy it almost as much as rest of us! It is always amazing to me to see our nieces growing up and I can't help but wonder at the things they have learned since we last saw them. Leah is such smart and happy little girl. Content to play with wooden frogs, hide from us, and give us pretend things (including 50 bucks, a million bucks, pizza, and cows)! Rachel smiles and laughs and is inches from crawling. Our house was full of love and life this weekend. It was such a wonderful feeling.

This morning as I sit at my desk at work, dreading another day spent doing the labors of arrogant, egotistical, narcissists I am still full of the love and life spread by our families visit. Some of my favorite Ani DiFranco lyrics comes to mind from her song, Good, Bad, Ugly:

it is good
good to be back home
how I missed this time zone
strangers are exciting
their mystery never ends
but there's nothing like looking at your own history
in the faces of your friends


Granted we are not back home or in our old time zone but home came to us! Thank you to B's clan for such a wonderful visit and for sharing our joy!

To extend the wonderful feeling and love my dad arrived for a visit about 5 hours after B's clan left! He is here till Tuesday and is ecstatic about being a Grandpa to our baby! We are so fortunate to have these wonderful people to remind us of our history and our future by looking into their faces!

Soooooo confused....

Ok, numbers are not my strong point but this is confusing.

1. According to most calcuators from first day of last period, Aug. 2 S is due on May 8.

2. NP told S we would be due May 10.

3. Our journal counts Lunar months and says we are due May 7.

So, S tells me we are starting our 7th week today. The ticker (set for May 10 due date) says we are about to start our 5 weeks 5 days. Our journal says we are starting our 5th lunar week (second month) today. Would some one just help me focus. I think I'm following S's logic (she is the smart one) and I'm changing the ticker to due date of May 7. *****S I hope you don't mind****

So confused....am I the only one that doesn't get this?

Not much to report here

I think E and I are starting to believe it. Of course, it's still VERY early. My tiredness quotient has increased exponentially in the last few days. I'm now exhausted all day long - lucky to have a good morning. And, here, it sounds like I'm complaining. I'm not - it's just that the exhaustion is very real. I'll take it, if it means baby... I just wish I could be a bit more productive at work. Other than that, the nausea that creeps up is kept well at bay with a few crackers here and there. Not too bad at all. I do need to avoid Mili.o's sandwiches, though. I'm not the biggest fan anyways... now, seemingly even less so.

Busted

Well, our secret is out... apparently my decoy glasses of wine and sudden affinity for "vodka" tonics wasn't particularly convincing. Our first "outing" came from a fellow sneaky pregnant couple. They happen to be pretty good friends of ours, so the fact that they are 2.5 weeks ahead of us is kind of fun. They spotted us b/c they were doing the exact same thing.

I think the best question we got was, "So, you don't really have to tell, but should we be expecting an announcement in 8-10 weeks?" As neither E nor I are particularly good liars, we admitted that an announcement might be on its way.... by the end of the night, we didn't have anyone left to tell. Oh well. the good news is that we had the perfect excuse for heading back to the hotel after the reception, no need to go to the bar. Phew.

So, we are home safe and sound. I think I slept around 10.5 hours last night. That's been my new requirement. Other than quite a bit of tiredness, I'm feeling pretty good as long as I'm able to exercise - something that Gladys demands anyways. Any other symptoms are mild and not worth complaining about. We're just so happy to be as far as we are.

We have our first appt with the midwife on 9/24. We are going to have lots of questions for her (for example, can I have ANY tea at all? All of the books and websites seem to swear off all herbal teas like they are black death.) The birthing center was really neat - we'll leave that for a different post. Suffice it to say for now that we decided to go there rather than the hospital.

As far as our embryo goes, s/he now should have a beating heart. A heart that actually beats! AND it even pumps blood! Wow!!

Outta here

We are heading to Cincinnati for a wedding! Check you all on Monday!

Sesame Seed

Sandra, our baby is a sesame seed. Isn't that CUTE!!!?

Telling our families we're PREGNANT

Keri asked if telling our families was cute - it definitely went well. We have been very up front with them that we were trying over the last two years as we wanted them to support us when we were successful. Of course, we didn't realize it would take so long, but -for the most part- our famililes have been quite supportive through everything.

E called her dad about five minutes after our positive test, and her brother and sister in law shortly thereafter. We told our friends C&C that morning too. I also told my sister B the morning we found out. I called her a few times and then started calling her husband's phone b/c she didn't answer. When she finally answered his phone, she said, "what's wrong" b/c I'd called so many times. I lost my ear drum when I told her the news; she was so excited.

I did consider not telling my mom right away because she sometimes responds in ways that hurt my feelings, but I certainly didn't give her enough credit this time. I called her on Saturday, and her response was fantastic. She said it worked this time because she's been praying "extra hard" this month for us. News to me that she had been praying (or thinking of us) at all, and it certainly meant a lot to me. She said she was so happy for us over and over again. I told her on her birthday, so I feel good about that too.

We told K&B when they arrived on Friday, and we called my sister P after I told my mom. So, that's it. The cat's out of the bag. We are pregnant and our families all know. Rumor has it other people we know in real life read this blog too. To you - and anyone else in blogland that reads us - I ask that you delurk and leave a comment, so we know you know. We'd love to hear from you!

Labor Day

Everyone is still sleeping here. My sister and her husband are visiting this weekend, and I am the only one up... likely due to the fact that I'm the only one that didn't drink last night. :-) We are having a fantastic weekend, and we are so happy they were able to come this weekend. We've also now told our immediate families, and we even got to tell our weekend guests in person, which was a special treat.

Strangely, E and I aren't too nervous so far. I really thought I'd be much more uptight, waiting for bad news. It hasn't yet been a week and we have a long way to go, but we are feeling very good. I have a few minor symptoms. I am pretty tired, but I am also anxious, which means I'm not sleeping well. I have significant soreness that seems to fluctuate throughout the day, but is getting worse on average. I have some very slight indigestion after eating, but it seems that eating food that is good for me tends to lessen this (note to self: avoid waffle fries and donuts. And, no, I did not eat them at the same time, let alone on the same day.)

Quite frankly, I've never been filled with so much joy. It's so early, we know. We know too, how easy these things can slip away. Still, I think both E and I feel an amazing sense of contentment now; something we've not been able to accomplish before. The world feels like a different place than it did last month - hopeful and peaceful yet exciting with big unknowns. I'm all choked up just thinking about it...

We have our first Dr's appt on 10/5. I was so out of it when I was talking to the NP's office that I didn't even ask what we would be doing there. It seems that heartbeats can be heard at 12 weeks, so we probably won't have that opportunity. It's only a month away, though, so very close! We are also going to take a tour of the birthing center next week or the week after, to look into options other than hospital births. We have a good relationship with our NP's office, but want to investigate our choices and make the best decision for us.

So, that's as far as we've gotten. We bought a few books, and I won't be eating any more of that delicious chevre in our fridge. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and support. Thank you for being there for us.

Have a fantastic holiday if you are in the U.S. and a great Monday if you are elsewhere!