Finally Getting Caught Up

Well, it's taken several days to get settled enough at work to actually have some time to post a blog. I'm finally back from my vacation and I think I've answered most of the emails I need to by now for work, so here I am!

My vacation was great. I will post mini-blogs about each of our stops. Most of it is not too exciting! I did get pretty exhausted by the whole trip. I think we just tried to squeeze too much into 16 days. But it was worth it. I got to see some pretty amazing stuff!

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday at 16w1d. I went alone because John was out of town, but I was ok with that. All they did was listen to the baby on the doppler (it's still there! 154 bpm) and then measure my stomach. They took my weight and I did gain 3 pounds. My doctor wants me to gain 1 pound a month for 6 months, and then 1 pound a week for the last 3 months. That's only about 18-19 pounds. I thought normal was 25ish if you were of normal weight? I was annoyed that my doctor told me to slow down. I'm not even eating terribly! Oh well. I'm not too concerned about it. I'm not going to diet while I'm pregnant - he'll just have to deal with it.

So the baby is measuring fine (at least my stomach was) and John was glad to hear a confirmation that all is normal. About every day on vacation he would ask me "Is everything still flying in there?" That was his way of asking if the baby was still ok. All I could do was answer "As far as I know!". He admitted he was ready to get another doctor's ok that things were well. I never thought of him as needing those little confirmations too.

I decided against the triple/quad/whatever screening. I decided that no matter what the results were, I would not do an Amnio because of the slight risk of miscarriage. My doctor said that if I felt that way, there was no real reason to do the testing. I'm not sure John totally agreed with me, but he left it ultimately up to me. We don't quite see eye-to-eye on what we would do if there was a problem. But I don't want to talk about that.

Anyway, since I decided against testing, my doctor ordered a Level II u/s so they could get a really good look. I called today to schedule it and it is November 16th - just 19 days away. 19 days and we find out if Pea is a little boy or a little girl! I can't believe it's less than 3 weeks away for that. It's so surreal!

Just for the record, everyone who has ventured to make a guess says they think it's a girl. And I mean EVERYONE. My mom also had my aunt read the tarot cards (not that I believe in that) and they said girl. My gut instinct said at first a girl, but after my boy dream, I've starting doubting my gut instinct. I usually am wrong when it comes to dreams and the sex of babies. I predicted wrong for my best friend - I was convinced it was a boy because of my dreams. So wrong! John won't even give a guess. Party pooper.

Second Tri on the 4th Try

Today I have reached 13 weeks, the second trimester by most people’s accounts. It’s a little bit anticlimactic – I’m not sure what I thought I’d feel, but I guess I thought I’d feel something. Relief maybe? I still feel good; don’t get me wrong. I guess I just feel nothing. It probably has to do with work. I’m in the San Diego office and have been pretty busy and haven’t had much time to think about it too much. That’s probably good.

It’s been weird now that we’re actually spreading the news to some friends and family. As I have informed my mother, we are still “selective telling” – it’s not time to announce it to all the women at her nail salon and such. I still just want to go easy. But for those that do know now, it feels a little strange. It’s a lot harder to actually say the words than I thought it would be. I’ve also been strategically planning on telling a few people, knowing that they are good gossips and will probably spread the word without me having to be around. I’m finding it easier if I actually don’t have to say anything. I’m letting others do the dirty work.

I do have a funny story from Friday night. John and I were going to dinner with two of my very good guy friends, S & R. It was S’s birthday, so the four of us were just gathering to for a few drinks (in my case water) and dinner. I told John on the way there that I would probably tell S & R my news since they are very good friends of mine – they even know about my miscarriages. John was a little weary about starting to tell people I guess, and he asked me how I would bring it up. I said I wasn’t sure and we’d just see how the evening went.

So we eat dinner and have some drinks and we’re chatting away. Then my friend R was talking about someone looking pregnant and he goes “speaking of being pregnant, L [his wife] is due April 15th”. I was really surprised by this but immediately blurted, “I’m due April 12th”. It was pretty funny and everyone was happy. I called his wife L, and she was so happy for me. She was worried about how to tell me about herself – she knew everything I had gone through and knew it would be hard on me. But instead, now we can be due date buddies and go through this together. This is her first too.

Well, less than 2 days before my vacation starts. I’m ready to get back home so I can start packing and figuring out what I need to bring. So much to do and so little time! I can’t even begin to figure out the clothes thing. I think I’m just about to have to retire all of my regular pants and turn solely to maternity pants. I guess I’ll just bring a little of both for my trip – who knows. I can definitely wear the maternity pants now. I packed a pair to wear tomorrow and I’m a little nervous about it. :)

I apologize to my FF friends and to my fellow blogger friends for not being around much. I have been trying to keep up, but work is getting in the way again. And then I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks with pretty much no internet access. So don’t forget about me, I’ll be back soon – and hopefully will be very refreshed as well!

It's official - Pea is on the way!

I'm happy to report that everything went well with my 12 week appointment (really 12w1d) on Wednesday. Chickpea is doing just fine and measured 13 weeks already! I was so exciting to see Pea going so fast and strong. I couldn't be happier. John hadn't seen Pea since 6 weeks, so I was excited for him to see the difference. He couldn't believe how much the baby was moving around. It really surprised him.

The first question Dr. L asked was "so what did Dr. B do differently?" I told him about the gene mutation and the folic acid and explained that Dr. B didn't necessarily think that was it, but that we gave it a shot. Dr. L didn't really have an opinion. He was just happy that things were going well. Infertility is obviously not where his expertise lies, but that's ok. All he needs to do now is deliver my healthy baby :)

So we once again started the talks about the different tests and what we might want to do. There's no time for the nuchal test since I will be going out of town starting on Monday. I could have tried to squeeze in yesterday or today, but I just couldn't with my work schedule and such. So I might do the blood testing at 16 weeks. We haven't decided yet. Dr. L did say that if I wasn't willing to get an amnio if the results were bad, then maybe shouldn't do the testing. So now I'm not sure what to do. John and I have a lot of talking to do on our vacation. It's a tough decision to make, especially with the amount of false positives. I won't get into anymore of it here, because I'm sure people have different opinions and advice. But it's a choice we need to make ourselves.

After the appointment, I called my mom and officially gave her the "all clear" to tell her sister (the one who has two son's with pregnant wives right now). I told her that we're not telling EVERYONE just now, but that we will selectively be telling people. After 13 weeks and the official jump to the second trimester, I will let her tell anyone. Although I find it hard to believe she hasn't posted it in the Chronicle yet.

As for me, I only told one additional friend so far. It's just weird to be at a point where I consider it ok to start telling people. My boss knows already (I told him early because of all the doctor's appointments), but when I go to San Diego on Monday, I will officially tell his boss (who suspects it anyway and has told my boss he thinks I'm pregnant) and one of my employees going with us. So then pretty much the gossip will float through the office and I'll be out for 3 weeks and won't have to deal with it until I come back. I think it's a good plan :)

Speaking of being out, I start my vacation next week. First I go to San Diego for work on Monday and get back Wednesday. Then on Thursday, I leave for my fun trip. We're going to New Jersey (family reunion), New York, England and Paris. I'm soooo looking forward to it. But I won't be around much, so I wanted my lovely online friends to know where I'll be.

So at this point, it has become all very real to me. This is going to happen. Pea will be here in April. I'm excited - I'm ready - I'm thankful!