Monday, November 16, 2009

So last week I had to work on Saturday (was in by 7:45am, on a Saturday!), and then had a realllly long baby shower that same day after driving for an hour and a half from CT to Brooklyn. By the time I got to sleep it was waaaay past my bedtime!

And then P got the flu and couldn't move on Sunday morning. So I stayed late by P's house on Sunday night to take care of him and then I wound up driving back up to work at 5AM on Monday morning. Not a huge deal, I used to do this all the time. Of course being 7 months pregnant takes it's toll, and I was already sleep deprived from not getting to catch up on my sleep over the weekend, but I managed.

I get to work on Monday and find out that I need to attend a half day long meeting in Manhattan the next day. Fine, no big deal... At least I get to check in on P and see how he's feeling.
So I drive back down that same night, even though I'm exhausted from not having slept well the night before. I get up bright and early at 6:30am the next morning, trudge over to Manhattan for the stupid meeting, then trudge back to Brooklyn to get my car, and drive right back up to CT to get back to work after the meeting. Awesome.

Since P is still sick, he misses his classes (and an exam) on Tuesday, so he drives up to CT so that we can study together for his re-examination on Wed or Thu. Of course after not having slept well for quite a few nights now, I'm tired as hell, but we do what we can before I fall asleep.
Wednesday is uneventful, except for me being exhausted. I come home while P is still here. Was hoping I'd get in really early, but an issue at work makes me have to stay longer right about the time I was ready to head out the door. Not so good. I need sleep!
We eat, do some more studying, and P heads back down to Brooklyn so he can take his exam on Thu.

Thursday rolls around. P takes his exam and drives back UP to CT so that we can meet with our doula that night. Doula is late, and I'm almost ecstatic thinking she might not make it and maybe I can get some sleep! No such luck, she makes it.

Ok... no problem, I have Friday off for my prenatal appointment, surely I can get some rest. Plus I've been real lucky - Corey's been real sick all week and I haven't even got the sniffles even though I've been with him every single day!

The Friday appointment is early, so I get up by 6:45am so that we can leave by 7:30 to make the 45 minute drive over to the birth center. Shit, I wake up and my throat is all tingly. Not a good sign. P, of course, gets up at 7:20. Gets out of the shower at 7:40. We don't leave until 8:05am - CRAP. So I call them up telling them I'm running late. Of course, the midwife has another appointment scheduled after mine so there's no way I can just show up 20 mins late. They reschedule me for 11:30am instead and we drive back home.

Ok, a shitty start to my day off from work, but at least I can get some laundry done while we wait for my new appointment time right?

I gather all my stuff, thinking it's a weekday and early in the morning, so it should be completely empty down there. WRONG. All the washers are taken. Awesome.
I bring the laundry back upstairs, leaving it in the basket and leaving my laundry card in my pants pocket, thinking I'll just go down there again a little later.

Wow this is getting long so let me do the quick version of the rest of my weekend - I lose my laundry card, I get the H1N1 vaccine, I get really sick. I sleep all day Friday and get no cleaning or laundry done because I'm so sick. Then Friday night we drive to Brooklyn AGAIN for some tapings P had to do (don't ask). We go to bed at 2:30am, and up at 5:30 AM because I have to drive back to the birth center on saturday morning for breastfeeding class and since I have people coming over I also needed to clean the place up.

The only good part of this whole thing was actually hanging out with my friends Saturday, even though I was sick and my apartment was dirty and I was dressed like a bum.

So then up early again Sunday (8am), helping P with school work. Get no laundry done (it's full on a sunday night again! And I don't have my card! And the damn machine only takes $10 bills to buy a new card!). Shitty.

I'm still sick Monday (today), but I'm determined to get my laundry done so I go to CVS and buy some saline drops just so I can have a $10 bill. And they don't have any $10 bills, so they give me $5s instead. As you would expect, the machine doesn't take 2 fives. No, it must be a $10 bill. ARGH.

So I walk over to the corner gas station and buy some delicious lactose free vanilla creme milk and some chocolate cookies and cream ice cream. YUM! And the guy actually has a $10 bill! Hooray.

I'm so excited. I get home, and pop open the milk. You guessed it - SPOILED. Not expired - no. It's just been sitting out in the warmth apparently and has CLUMPS in it. So, on a hunch, I open the ice cream too. And yup, it's definitely re-frozen. The surface is icy and you can tell it used to be liquid. God knows how long they had it sitting out in the warmth. ARGH!

So let's recap -
7 months pregnant. No sleep for over a week straight, driving up and down from Brooklyn to CT. Sick. Dealing with little kids while tired and sick. Laundry room full TWICE. Lost laundry card. Can't get a damn $10 bill... and then.. of all things... SPOILED FRIGGIN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!!! Do you know what a pregnant woman can do to you in this condition???

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The first trimester

It's over. The first trimester I mean.
Tomorrow I'll be 14 weeks pregnant.
I don't know why I haven't written more in the last 10 weeks, I must be a bad person for not keeping a journal of this experience.

Whenever I thought about writing something about what's been happening to me so far, I always had something to say - in my head, away from the computer. Now that I'm actually trying to write, I can't seem to collect my thoughts and come up with anything meaningful.

So I guess let's start from the beginning.
I found out I was pregnant on a Monday night, April 27th. P was there with me when I found out. He drove up to see me that day out of the blue. I had been having really bad cramps over the weekend that I thought were just really bad PMS. In fact, along with a pregnancy test, I bought some ibuprofen that night that I still haven't opened.

So I bought the test, and I wasn't the slightest bit nervous. I was excited. P was at the apartment when I walked in, and I was just happy to see him, and showed him that I had bought the pregnancy test. He kind of brushed it off, still thinking that he was sterile for some crazy reason.
It was a digital test. I wish I had taken a picture of it that night, but I was too scatter brained.

After I took the test, I was all smiles. For one, it proved once and for all that both P and I were fertile, and that we could have kids together if we wanted to. I know it's strange to think of it that way, but I was really excited.

P was sitting at the dining room table on the computer when I asked him "what do you want it to be?" (the results). He seemed kind of anxious now, seeing my smile, probably wondering if I was messing with him. "I don't know" - he seemed torn. I showed him the results. No decoding necessary there - it was loud and clear. It was overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. He pulled me in and held me, we talked. Were we ready? Could we handle it? Was it the right time? He made it very clear that whatever we decided to do, he was 100% behind me.

I bought prenatal vitamins the next morning before work. I don't think I ever seriously considered giving up the baby. I'd never be able to get over it, especially since we both wanted a baby. We just didn't know quite when.

I told my parents the following weekend. There was lots of crying, by me and my mom.
We told P's mom on mother's day - by giving her a grandma card. That was exciting - she was thrilled, and has been ever since.

And the rest is history. Well, 10 weeks of it anyway. Nausea, vomiting, back pain... yep I've had the whole bunch. There were a couple of weeks where I vomited daily. Then a week or so where crackers seemed to help a lot. Then vomiting almost stopped. Then it came back with a vengeance for a couple more days.

So it's been on and off. Getting much better now - I'm no longer exhausted 24/7 (though I still do sleep a lot). I've been less nauseous too. I've gained about 5 pounds (last time I checked anyway, might be more by now). I've had 2 ultrasounds - both times got to hear the baby's heartbeat and got a picture to take home.

Recently I've told my manager, and the rest of the team at work. They've been very supportive and happy for me. So.. things are moving along fine. Though I don't think it has quite sunk in yet.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Decision

Just found the below draft of a post in my archives.  It was written 4-29-2009.  Spoiler:  we kept the baby.    He was born 12/3/2009.  He is now 2.  :)

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I think we made the decision to keep the baby tonight.
I'm excited. I'm scared.

The conception date is either April 10th or April 11th, and the online calculators so far are guessing a date of 01/01/10 --- not a bad date at all (and you always get a day off!)


Wow.

2 home tests later.

Preggo.

I'm pregnant.

Holy cow.