Don't Be Nice When Pregnant

OK, maybe that's a little harsh, but don't be nice when it comes to food when you are pregnant.  Thursday night, my brother and sister-in-law came over and we took our dogs to the off-leash dog park.  This place is awesome because it's not just a tiny square of grass with a fence around it.  It is huge!!  It probably has three or four miles of walking paths and one of them guides you down to a lake that the dogs can swim in.  Our pup absolutely loves going there and actually knows the word "park."

Anyway, after the park my BIL suggested dinner at a local bar that has two for one burgers on Thursday night.  The mere thought of eating at this place made my stomach turn, but I didn't want to be that pregnant lady who made everyone else change plans because of her nausea.  Instead, I went along with it, ate half my burger and a few fries.  They didn't taste awful going down, so I thought I'd be okay.

Within minutes of getting home, I was over the toilet throwing up the whole meal.  Gross.  Lesson Learned: it's okay to ask people to cater to your cravings and aversions when you are pregnant.  The alternative is much worse.

Not Knowing

I'm not sure if I've posted it on here, but we aren't planning to find out the baby's sex. I told the ultrasound tech and midwife that we don't want to know and they both seemed surprised, as most women find out. The midwife seemed particularly excited that we weren't finding out. She kept saying, "I love surprises!"

We aren't finding out for a few reasons:

1. I'm way too practical to want a gender-themed nursery. My sister-in-law had a son two years ago and spent a boatload of money on her nautical themed nursery. One and a half years later, she was popping out a little girl and spent $300 on nursery bedding alone. I want to do the nursery in classic Pooh, which is gender neutral. I think this will save us time and energy since the same nursery will work for any future babies (ok, the one future babe that we are planning on).

2. I think it's more exciting for our friends and family if we don't find out. I had a friend who knew the baby's sex beforehand and even started sharing the baby name a couple months before the baby was born. When the baby girl finally arrived and they called to tell us, there wasn't any new information to learn. We knew what the sex and name would be and, let's face it, the weight and length really aren't that interesting of tidbits.

3. I want our shower gifts to be necessities. I know it's less fun to shop for bottles and carseats, rather than cute little boy/girl clothes, but we really need bottles and carseats more. I think if people know the gender, they tend to buy clothes for shower gifts. I'd rather get the necessities than the cute stuff.

4. Lastly, I really don't care too much what it is. We are planning to have two kids, ideally a boy and a girl. The order doesn't matter to me, so I'll be happy with whatever it is. For the second baby, I may find out the sex, but for this one, we are just happy to have a little one of our own.

My Weekend in Five Moments

This weekend was so very full of life.  Too much to cram into one post, so I'll relay it in the five moments that I'll remember most...

1.  Us handing my mom and mother-in-law wrapped books.  I prefaced the big reveal with, "This is an early Mother's Day gift but something you can use this weekend."  They see the children's books at about the same time.  My mom looks completely confused that it wasn't a spa gift certificate, but Brett's mom is searching through the front pages for an inscription.  She must've suspected something, but wanted an inscription to confirm.  Once they both realized it, they were screaming and crying.  It was such a fun way to share the big news.

2.  The two funniest people to tell were our little brothers, both of whom are 24 years old.  I called my little brother whose instant reply was, "Does Brett know?"  He must be pretty full of himself if he thought the first person I'd call after a positive pee stick would be him.  Brett's little brother's response was, "Was this planned?"  To which Brett replied, "Hell, I'm not even sure it's mine."  It was all quite comical.

3.  I was hosting 15 girls and mothers for my book club on Saturday.  I asked my mom and mother-in-law to help me make lettuce wraps and spring rolls to which my mother-in-law replied, "No thanks."  Uh, yeah, that pissed me off.  Couple that with my father-in-law loudly asserting Saturday night that our fridge was out of ice, so someone needed to go to the store. And now, cut to me in our bedroom sobbing.  Hello, pregnancy hormones.

4.  The absolute finest moment of the weekend was after all the houseguests left and Brett snuggled his arms around me, saying, "Now I can give you your mother's day present."  A very sweet card and a gift certificate for two prenatal massages were just what I needed to cheer up.  He really is an amazing husband, but I know he'll be an even more fantastic father.  I'm so proud and lucky to have him in my life.

5.  Last, but not least, my cousin, who I've been worried about for awhile, showed up at our family mother's day event looking so very skinny that I thought she might tip over.  Her cheeks are sunk in, ribs are poking out, veins are popping, and her arms no longer have hair on them.  It is very clear to me that she is anorexic, but her parents don't seem concerned at all.  I've been talking with one of her mutual friends and we are working out a plan to get her the help she so clearly needs.

Tonight's the Night

I am so excited to share this news with our moms and siblings. We are going to give our moms their Mother's Day books tonight, then head over the my brother and sister-in-laws for a barbecue. That's when we'll tell them and start the phone calls to tell the out of town family.

It all feels a lot more real knowing that we get to share this great news.

We also found out that my insurance covers an NT scan and cystic fibrosis scan. Since I'm young and have no family history of CF or Down's syndrome, I didn't think my insurance would cover them, but it does! I really don't think we're at risk for much, but it seems like another chance to see Cashew dancing around on an ultrasound monitor, so I'll take it.

Resurfacing

This has been a whirlwind week so far and I think I'm in for even more craziness, but I've got enough of a break to check in.  Our ultrasound Monday morning was fantastic.  They found Cashew right away with the transabdominal ultrasound.  A strong 176 bpm heart was flashing up there on the screen.  They turned the sound on so we could hear the heartbeat.  It seemed like the ultrasound happened really fast.  When she finished, I was sad because I wanted to just sit and observe Cashew hanging around in there.

The other surprising news from the appointment was that I somehow lost a pound since my first visit.  I am not preoccupied with my weight right now, but I was surprised to find out I'd lost a pound.  I feel like I've been eating A LOT.  Granted, I'm eating lots of healthy stuff, but at such incredible quantities that I feel like I should be gaining lots of weight.

I've thrown up twice this week and dry heaved almost every day.  That is not my favorite part of pregnancy.  It seems to happen more in the evening.  I have this theory that my stomach is like a gas tank, except that if it ever gets below 1/2 full, I puke.  Needless to say, this results in me eating a lot to keep full/semi-full.

On Monday, we also got to tell my dad.  He loves making jokes about me being pregnant, so the plan was to wait until he referenced me being pregnant and then spring it on him.  Sure enough, within five minutes of seeing our new car, he started in, saying, "Oh, so this little compartment is where your kids can store their crayons."  I chimed in, "On that note, I'm pregnant, Dad."  He must thing I'm a big practical joker, because he said about three times, "You're joking. Are you joking?  Brett, is she joking?"  Once I showed him the ultrasound picture, he believed me.

The rest of this week is so busy for me.  I am hosting book club Saturday, in addition to having my mom, mother-in-law, and father-in-law here for Mother's Day.  We are planning to tell them Friday night.  I have to get groceries, do laundry, and cook about five dishes in preparation for the weekend.  Oh, and I have to do it all Thursday night.  I'm really so exhausted that what I most want is an entire day to nap, read, get a pedicure, etc.  

I leave you with a snapshot of the absolute most adorable blob ever witnessed.  I know the head is on the left and the rump is on the right, but I'm not sure whether it's facing the bottom of the picture or the top.

Great Visit!

I can't post much because I have lots of work to do and my entire morning was consumed by my midwife appointment.  Here's a brief recap:

• After working all day in the yard yesterday, I doubled over and had my first pregnancy puke.  It was horrible and I hope there are no more.
  
• Got a transabdominal ultrasound today.  They found baby right away with heartbeat of 176.  For the first time yet, I felt 100% excited about this pregnancy.  No fear or anxiety mixed in.
  
• Based on the ultrasound, baby is 8w2d, making my due date December 12th.
  
• Had 4 vials of blood drawn, causing me to almost faint.  Got a smoothie afterwards that tasted so yummy.
  

I'll try to post more later and upload the sono pic, but I have to read 330 pages of grant proposals in the next 24 hours.  Ugh.

Can Time Fly Please?

Tomorrow at 9:30 am CST is our ultrasound!  I'm so excited (and a wee bit scared) to see that little heartbeat on the screen.  I'm looking forward to having an official due date for my pregnancy because my BFP chart wasn't super clear and my previous bloodwork had such high HCG that I think I'm a little further along than I thought.

I'm scared out of my mind of not seeing a heartbeat or finding out that I've had a missed miscarriage.  I keep trying to reassure myself that these are rare and I've had no spotting at all.  On the other hand, I've been feeling pretty well, which should make me feel lucky but actually makes me a bit nervous.  I've felt nauseous on and off and been pretty consistently tired.  My boobs have been tender and I've been hungry almost all the time.  Despite all this, if I go a whole day feeling too good, I start getting paranoid that it's because something's wrong.  

I am looking forward to tomorrow and taking consolation in the fact that the only reason I worry about a miscarriage is that I haven't felt consistently shitty.  I'll post an update and pics tomorrow.