Slumber party of eight

My mom was out of town for my birthday (Sunday, July 20th), so we celebrated on Saturday (Saturday, July 26th). We had a slumber party at my parents' house and stayed up playing cards until two in the morning (a rarity for me these days!). It was so much fun and it was exactly the celebration I was hoping for. Thanks everyone!

Noelan, our nephew, is starting to understand better that there is a baby growing in my tummy. He was adorable about it that night and as I was eating said, "Auntie, when the baby needs to eat does he open his mouth when you eat so the food can come in?" We found his question to be such a smart one but subsequently explained what we could on the process based on a four year old's comprehension level. He was also trying to talk to the baby through my open mouth. Even though I had to plug my nose from the smell of his garlic breath (as if I didn't have it myself, but I wasn't sending messages through another's throat either), it was all so precious. I am so happy our baby will have a wonderful cousin like Noelan.

This pregnancy has really been tiresome for Jeff, sucking the energy right out of him at times. I'm trying to be really understanding, so I chose not to draw on his face that night.

"You don't always have to drink to have a good time" ~Barb Price

I have become pretty darn good at being sneaky. I’ve learned how to “drink” champagne and peach nectar with my mouth sealed shut (but oh, the smell of that Bellini as it reached my upper lip---I really hated the temptation, but I did not succumb, not even for a taste). I’ve successfully worked in cahoots with wait staffs to replace Sapphire tonics with soda water or plain tonic and lime, leaded beer with unleaded beer, all while unsuspecting friends sat near. The whole beer thing could have been a red flag since rarely do I drink beer when cocktails or wine are around, but it has worked pretty flawlessly!

I managed to get through the 4th of July, fooling everyone around me that I was indulging all day and night on margaritas (limeade on the rocks with a salted rim and lime), Sapphire tonics (just water on the rocks with lime that day), Grey Goose raspberry lemonades (hold the Goose) and good old Budweiser Select out of the bottle (replaced by crafty hubby who drank the real beer ahead of time, filled the bottle with St Pauli Girl N/A beer and reattached the top perfectly). I remember stumbling by the fire pit that night and the words “Hey, Jen, have another!” being shouted humorously. All the while I thought to myself how I cannot wait to reminisce about this day when the secret is out.

Ha, I was stone cold sober and just like my mom had always said, I really didn't have to drink to have a good time. Although I did have to not be pregnant to go tubing and be totally up for a late night dance party shaking some "signature" moves over the Cha Cha Slide beats busting in the background. Luckily Jeff took out some signature moves of his own that night. We did manage to stay pretty late, but oh was this prego lady sleepy after a long day of sun, boating, fireworks and a lot of fake drinking.

It has been becoming more difficult lately to play the game and I find myself declining invitations I normally would not refuse. I feel like such a dud, and as anyone who knows me knows, that is just not like me! I hate to toot my own horn (toot, toot), but I love to have fun (especially over a few cocktails) and I am superb at it! So when I’ve been in this hibernation mode because it’s easier than trying to prepare for the next fake out, it blows. There is no fooling anyone if I just said, “You’re opening up a bottle of wine and Jeff and I should come over? Thanks, but wine just doesn’t sound good.” “I’m pretty tired so I’m going to make it an early night.” “A dirty martini? That sounds terrible!” No one would buy it, any of it. So my only option right now is trying to pretend and sometimes it’s more work than it’s worth.






I long for the day you will all understand, appreciate and encourage my alcohol-free policy and napping necessity. Please know that I really do miss being the life of the party (toot, toot)!

Haha, that one was for you, babe!

Eight weeks: Photos

I'm not sure there is any real good reason to post photos at eight weeks since not much has changed yet physically, but I did shower on these days (I think) so I figured, what the heck?

Excuse me…I’m in the middle of making somebody

It makes sense to me now. The absentmindedness, the forgetfulness…I get it. It is so difficult to concentrate when all I want to do is shout from rooftops that I am pregnant! The waiting period of keeping this secret is so tough and it becomes increasingly tougher as the days pass. Knowing that I’m making eyes, a heart, an entire body consumes me---how could it not? I mean, how can I be expected to INSERT ACTIVITY HERE under these conditions?!

So when I have wondered why it was that my mind was wandering or not quite all there, it’s because I have been, am currently and will be thoroughly distracted. That, and because I need a nap and/or I need to pee. Wait, was that a little cramp in my uterus? I think I need to eat something. Something real proteiny. Maybe some chicken, some bawk, bawk chicken. How much calcium is in that cheese anyway? I need to take my vitamins now. I’d love to shut my eyes for a few minutes. Was that a touch of nausea? It’s gone already. I’m feeling too well; is everything OK down there?

Hey little bean, are those ears coming in yet? Can you hear me? Are you OK? I am consumed by you and I need to know for my own sanity: ARE YOU OK??? My gosh, waiting three more weeks to hear your tiny heart beat seems like an eternity. I love you already. Are your ears on? Did you hear me? I said, “I love you already!”

Nobody speak. I'm making somebody.

Six week appointment

Please note: This was not our actual nurse

We have lab tested confirmation---I am pregnant! Whew. Man, would I have felt silly if they had told us to go home and keep trying! Our appointment on Friday (Friday, July 11th) went well. After my urine test, weigh in and blood work, Jeff and I went to our room to wait for the nurse. There was a knock on the door and behind the door a face peeked through with the official printout and said, “Congratulations Jennifer, you’re pregnant!” Even though there was no dreaded red, and sore boobs and exhaustion were in full effect, the reassurance was still much appreciated.

I hadn’t anticipated the blood work, which I suppose was a good thing so I didn’t get worked up about it beforehand. I just wish they wouldn’t have mentioned all of the things they would be testing me for later on during my visit. Seriously, couldn’t you have just told me a week later that I don’t have any ailments that may kill me or threaten my unborn child instead of leaving me to wonder for a whole week? I mean, of course I want to know, but I was taken off guard!

We met with a nurse at that appointment and went through our medical and family histories. It was so nice having Jeff there with me so we could discuss and absorb all of the information together. All of the lists of what to do and what not to do were brought out. Safe and unsafe medications, foods, drinks and paints were listed. Genetic testing and costs associated with them were mentioned. The schedule of events for the next nine months was laid out. Recommended nutritional servings for my diet were charted and displayed. Backrubs from husband to wife were encouraged. Yeah, I made that one up, but my gosh, there is so much to know, and these are just the very basics!

Tangent alert: I had heard about not eating unpasteurized products, including cheeses of that type, but blue cheese being off limits came as a surprise. I had heard to stay away from brie, but nothing about that veiny, blue, creamy, melt in my mouth masterpiece Bleu d'Avergne. I listened closely as the nurse said to avoid raw fish (no problem), raw eggs (I can do it), undercooked meats (makes my stomach churn anyway), some cheeses such as brie (fine), feta (easy) and blue cheese (pause, gulp and I start to salivate a bit). This may require some further research, but if that’s what they say, then that’s what I will abide with. I have actually wondered if my taste buds would turn on me during pregnancy and if the mere mention of blue cheese and cilantro (two things I love but can see why others do not) could suddenly make me ill. My world with no Chipotle is not a world I want to become acquainted with (although two times while pregnant when I had my favorite veggie hard shell tacos, I had an inkling of a fish taste, which I thought could have been the cilantro playing nasty jokes on my tongue). I will forgo the blue cheese for now, but a girl’s gotta have her some salsa packed with cilantro, especially when it’s encased in a Chipotle hard shell!

As I said, the appointment went well and we learned a good amount. My uterus was also checked to see if it felt as if it was expanding as it should and I was told it looked good. I thought she even said it looked especially sexy, but don't ask Jeff because I doubt he remembers. My next appointment will be in five to six weeks.

We came home from our visit and called Nana and Papa, Jeff’s grandparents, immediately and they were so happy for us. Now we’ll see if Papa can keep this a secret until we are more in the safe zone. Nana said she would do her best helping him to keep it quiet, but Papa’s statement entailing that he’s never been a very good secret keeper didn’t leave us so reassured! On Sunday (Sunday, July 13th) we had dinner at Jeff’s parents’ house and we were finally able to tell Tom, Jeff's brother, that he is going to be an uncle. Fun times!

Jeff, Tom and me

Revealing (and reveling in) the news

Just as we suspected, our families (minus Jeff’s brother who we were unable to tell yet) were thrilled by our news! Jeff and I had taken several photos the night we took our test, including photos of the test itself with the positive result displayed in the window. Our original plan was to put those photos in the birthday cards of my dad’s and Jeff’s mom’s. Then I thought they wouldn’t be as interested in opening their gifts right after if we did it that way, and I didn’t want to detract from that part of their birthday, so another plan came to light. I had found the most perfect books to give to them, the identical book for each set of parents. The book was titled “The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting” and when we celebrated the birthdays, I would tell my dad and Tricia that it was one of their birthday gifts. My plan entailed that the book would be the last gift each of the honorees would open. Due to the pineapple martini occasion coming the Monday (Monday, July 7th) prior to our planned celebration, Jeff and I brought it with then and told her it was an early birthday gift for her to open. It wasn’t suspicious at this point that Jeff had come too since we were both invited for dinner soon after the martini invite came.

The gift to our parents


The book: "The Joyous Gift of Granparenting"


Vince and Tricia's book wishes them congratulations on becoming grandparents for the first time


Steve and Barb's book wishes them congratulations on becoming grandparents for the second time



Sunday, July 6th was the reveal to my parents. They came over to our house at around 4:00 with my brother and Noelan, our nephew, to celebrate my dad's birthday. I had a margarita in hand (limeade with a salted rim which actually does an excellent job at tricking you into thinking you are really indulging in the real thing!) and we sat down together over some appetizers and drinks and casually chatted. Both Jeff and I had hoped to get the reveal out of the way as soon as we could, so before dinner, we suggested my dad open his gifts. The final gift was the book, as we had hoped would be the plan. We had asked my dad to sit on the sofa before he started opening all the gifts so we wouldn’t get a glare from the window for any photos we took. This was actually so he and my mom were sitting together there. He opened the box, moved the tissue paper away, looked a bit puzzled and said slyly with a smile, “Are you guys trying to tell me something?” Since my parents have one grandchild, it was possible that the book was geared for activities they could take part in with Noelan, so it took a second to click. At this point, the room fell silent and my mom began to share the puzzled look as I asked him to turn the page (which I had written on). My mom was even more confused at this point saying, “What? What’s going on? Give me my glasses! What are you talking about? Let me see that?” She got her glasses on and together they stared at the book and it sunk in as the words that came out of my mouth confirmed what they were realizing, “We’re having a baby! I’m pregnant!”

My mom was in shock because again, she still thought I was on my pill. She didn’t completely know what to make of it all, but excitement and happiness soon followed, for the entire room. Hugs and kisses, surprise, happiness and still a bit of shock. Happy shock! My mom was somewhat apprehensive wondering how we really knew if we hadn’t even been to the doctor yet, but we eased her apprehension by explaining all of our various reasons and that emotion faded and turned again to surprise and happiness. It was so much fun. Before my dad opened the book, Noelan was sitting on my lap and I asked that he pay attention because I had a secret inside Papa’s box. He paid attention perfectly, but had some trouble comprehending what was going on. He couldn’t see a baby in my belly and thus was cautious about believing me. Although when the discussion of baby names arose soon after the chaos, Noelan piped in with his suggestions. Princess if the baby is a girl and Pirate if he is a boy. Pretty cute for a four year old! Baby names were a big discussion for the rest of the night. What a lovely evening and we cannot wait to continue this journey with my family beside us throughout the way.

Steve and Barb, my mom and dad


Jason and Noelan, my brother and nephew


Jeff, Noelan and me


Self-portrait


The news just begins to settle in



Monday, July 7th was the reveal to Jeff’s parents. We went for happy hour at their house at about 4:15 and had plans to stay for dinner. Before I could have my pineapple martini, I would need to listen to Tricia’s short concert (which she thinks is a chore, but I happen to enjoy them) to see how she had come along since taking her piano lessons. She is quite good, but she is modest and will probably tell you otherwise! Once the concert concluded, the four of us congregated around the kitchen island. Since we were out of town for Father’s Day this year, we hadn’t really celebrated with Vince and had brought something for him to open in addition to the early birthday gift for Tricia. Once Vince was done, Tricia was just about to pour my martini when I said that it was her turn to open. I told Vince that he would even like this one in hopes that he would pay special attention. He did and Tricia opened the box, moved the tissue paper away and she and Vince shared the same puzzled look my parents had the night before. Briefly. It quickly sunk in and they sported the biggest smiles and exclamations of joy! Immediately they came with hugs and kisses, and after Tricia read what I had written inside, Jeff and I saw the tears well up. It was wonderful. This will be their first grandchild and the happiness on their faces was something I was fortunate to be able to capture in a photo on this post. We even got our first baby gifts: two outfits with the Bent Creek (our golf club) logo on them, one if we have a boy and one of we have a girl! She had bought them before they stopped carrying baby clothes, and it was so fun to receive them.

The night continued with some reminiscing of Tricia’s pregnancies, talk of baby names and how different things are with all the rules there are for pregnant moms now. When I passed on even a sip of a martini and talked about how I shouldn’t take ibuprofen, how we had been told from friends I shouldn’t get pedicures because of the pressure points on your feet triggering labor (which is still weird to me), how there was too much mercury in some fish and I could only eat very small doses of some and some I could no longer eat at all, etc., etc., etc., I think it gave them both a glimpse at how much things had changed---or at least how ridiculous they had become! I tend to agree with them on certain points, but I figure it’s not my desire to argue at this point (I do have a long list of questions for my doc though!). I think the only disappointment was that we didn’t agree to letting Jeff’s grandparents know just yet. Nana and Papa, soon we hope to share some glorious news with you and please know that the wait has been terrible on us! We at least want to see how our doctor appointment goes on Friday (Friday, July 11th) to make sure all is progressing as it should, and to appease my mom, to make sure I am really pregnant first! It was a fantastic evening with Tricia and Vince and we will look forward to sharing many more stories along the way with them.

Jeff's parents, Vince and Tricia, haven't yet comprehended the news


And the news settles in


Buh-bye pineapple martini


Husband takes one for the team and drinks wife's pineapple martini while she substitues with O'Doul's (clearly not my best photo, but it'll have to do!)


Our first baby gifts

Awaiting the anticipation

From about 20 minutes after the result of our positive pregnancy test, the questions arose: When are we going to tell our parents? How are we going to tell them? They are going to be overjoyed, but what will they say? How surprised will they be? We thought about jumping in the car that very night to spill the beans, but because it was getting late and we didn’t want to alarm either set, we decided against it. My dad’s and Jeff’s mom’s birthdays happened to be right around the corner; my dad’s is on July 6th and Jeff’s mom’s is on July 11th. Could we wait to tell them until those occasions came? It was agonizing, but we decided to give it our best shots and wait so we could make the occasions even more special.

Waiting was especially difficult since my mom is my very best friend and not only did I make the decision to keep the pregnancy news from her until my dad’s birthday (just shy of one week after we found out, which was almost impossible in itself), I also decided not to even share the news with her that we were trying to get pregnant. This was painful and even excruciating at times, but I really wanted the news to be a complete surprise. I wanted all four of our parents to only know the delight of pregnancy news, and to be sheltered from any sad or stressful news of unsuccessful attempts (if that is what the future held for us). I didn’t entirely expect that it would take so long for the news we wanted to share to come, but that is how it went and the more difficult keeping the secret got as the months went by. I wanted so badly the support, advice and guidance of our moms (and dads too) throughout that time, but I was still holding out for giving them the grand finale.

A big sigh of relief and after nine months, the wait was over! My mom, dad, brother and nephew were coming over for my dad’s birthday celebration at our house on Sunday (Sunday, July 6th). Finally we could give my family the news that we had been yearning to share so much sooner. These days went by as slow as the flow of molasses, and now the time had come!

We worried if Jeff’s parents would be OK with my parents knowing a few days prior to them, but because we really wanted to share the news in a special way, we reassured ourselves that it would be worth the wait. We hoped it would make celebrating Tricia’s birthday even better and that finding out that day would be extra fun for her and Jeff’s dad. Well that plan changed when my mother-in-law tempted me with coming over to join her for pineapple martinis on one of the nights prior to her birthday (fresh pineapple juice and all and as I salivated over the thought, all I could think about was how I could get myself out of this predicament!). She knew I could not refuse such an offer, and I did not know how to put her off until her celebration at our house on Friday (Friday, July 11th), so I accepted her invitation and Jeff and I decided that we would go over there together on Monday (Today! Monday, July 7th), the night after we shared the news with my parents. This was actually ideal for us since we wondered how we could possibly wait until Friday anyway!

The anxiety of keeping this from our parents for even a week has been driving us mad! Insane! We have been going out of our minds with anticipation and excitement! One down, one to go---and both sets of parents will know our big news once the evening concludes. More on the subject is to follow…

And the crowd (of two) goes wild!

In an effort to remember how it all happened, I decided to write down my experiences about the night I found out I was going to have a baby. I realized this was something I may want to do more often over the coming months, and that hopefully some of you will want to know more about these details along the way as well. So I made some changes to make what I wrote about that night more friendly for public viewing and born was this blog. I must say that it is definitely going to be more female-oriented, but guys, you are more than welcome if any of you find it interesting! I will apologize in advance for being overly detailed, for offering too much information, for anything that makes you squirm, gasp or cry…but hey, these are my experiences and I am very excited to document the details. So if you want to come along for the ride (thank you!), you have been forewarned, be prepared and please let me leave my filter behind! I’m excited! Yeah I know, I said that already.

Grab a cup of coffee and a newspaper. This could be a while.

For about a week and a half, I had cramps, my lower back was sore and my boobs were hurting (Yes, I said boobs. Please get used to simple, uncomplicated terminology. I am just learning all of the technical stuff on the subject that influenced my writing of this blog, so the simpler the better when it’s possible!) All of these though were not new things to me since I had had all of these symptoms before and still didn’t get the news I was hoping for shortly after. A few days to several days before my period was to come (or what I was hoping would be my period not coming), I would notice that my boobs weren’t sore anymore and I was so disappointed! All I wanted was for them to be in pain (the more intense the better) because if they were, it could be a very real sign of pregnancy. When that soreness would subside, so did my hopes that this was our lucky month. Every time I was correct in the sad assumption, and we would have to keep trying. Well this time, there were a couple things that had gone differently than before.

Although most months during the last nine, there was at least one thing that was different that would get my hopes up and trick me into thinking this was our time. Some of those things were as follows: back aches, cramping (these were fairly new to me since on my pill, I didn’t get those so much during my times of the month), weepiness, dizziness/lightheadedness, frequent trips to the potty, more migraine symptoms (which was weird I thought because those had become so much better since being off of my pill), weight gain (yeah, I guess all the excess food and drinks I was having was actually responsible for that---each month I think I drank a bit more in hopes that it would be my “last month” to do so!), looking at the credits of a movie and the only name I saw was someone with the word infant within his last name, even the smell of baby powder one morning as I woke up in bed (this my mind obviously made up---which was extremely cruel because when it didn’t pan out at the end of the month, I was devastated even more!). Thus, I was trying so hard not to read into anything, but as all those times before, I just could not help myself.

A bit over a week into these latest symptoms (which I now know was the day before my period was supposed to come; Thursday, June 26th), I seriously thought my boobs looked a bit fuller. Hey, it’s fairly easy to tell considering they are not that big to begin with. I pulled my hubby into the bathroom and he agreed. I mean, he truly agreed, and it wasn’t like the agreement of a husband just trying to be supportive! I should say that Jeff had been convinced that this was going to be the month for us. I found his positive thinking reassuring, but at the same time, it was good and bad. Good, if he was correct in his thinking, but really, really bad if my hopes were up too and it didn’t end up working out. The more you hope, the harder you fall when it doesn’t happen. This was something I (we) was (were) sadly very accustomed to.

The next morning, the glutton for punishment I am, I decided to ask again if he really thought “they” looked bigger and he whole-heartedly thought so! Well, that was Friday morning (Friday, June 27th), and some months lately, I have tried to convince myself that I don’t know when my period is to come (even though I pretty much do). This is to help me feel less stress thinking about it since every time I go to the bathroom, if I know it’s coming, I’m kind of in panic mode hoping not to see the dreaded red. So I try and deceive myself a bit, but it doesn’t work for too long. The suspense kills me and I end up counting the days out; this time I did just that and suddenly realized I was a day late. Good, if I was on my last month’s 29 day cycle, but not anything to get excited about if I was on the previous month’s strange cycle of 35 days (again, cruel that it could be so late one month and get my hopes up only to be let down again!). Well, now I knew. I should expect the red at any time. But MAN, my boobs hurt! They still hurt! I am overjoyed at this point! A little background on the boobs: Sometimes mine hurt. Sometimes they hurt at several times throughout the month. Sometimes too much caffeine triggers this, sometimes hormones, sometimes nothing does. Now at least if I was going to have sore boobs, couldn’t He have made them bigger?! Actually, there are times when they do not hurt, for long periods of time, and I really do like the way they look, so I am not complaining. Really. But when so many people have told me that was their biggest pregnancy warning sign, I didn’t flinch because the soreness was a semi-regular occurrence for my perkies.

Well, two days late…pain. Three days late…still pain. Four days and I am loving the feeling of sore boobs! I find times, many times, throughout the day just to cop a quick feel to make sure they’re still sensitive! Is that weird? Some of you may say yes, but those in my situation, who have hoped and prayed for such a long time to be blessed with pregnancy, I think it is completely normal. Several of you can attest I am sure. I could share some other things that some of you would think are really crazy, downright loony, but again, to those in my shoes, completely sane.

Also this month, I honestly noticed I was becoming forgetful, spacey and just not quite all with it. I had known this was a symptom of some pregnancies, and I really was not trying to blame my possibly usual characteristics on something, but it was not normal. I would have conversations with my boss and I would leave his office feeling like a complete idiot (even stating that I was sorry I was an idiot!), just on silly things luckily (at this point), but it was goofy. My husband was supposed to have put the new Coldplay album on my iTunes and when he was out of town this last weekend, I was so disappointed that it wasn’t on there. I even thought to myself how it has got to be there, and this cannot be another “blonde” moment, but nope, it simply was not there. Of course, when he got home, he found it, right with the other Coldplay albums. OK, Houdini. I didn’t know when you said you were going out of town on a golf trip that you really meant magic camp. There were so many things like that; too many to name and probably too insignificant to sound like anything. However, if you added them all up, I’m a little nuts I think. Was this insanity supposed to start so early? Who knew?

On Monday (Monday, June 30th) I could not take it anymore. I knew I was four days late, and even though I had been like six days late before, I had to test. It was killing me. I would not let myself think it was going to be positive, but I needed to know if I was to put down the vino.

That night started off fairly suburban routine; all the while anticipation of what was to come was in the midst. My husband went out to mow the lawn and has always been very clear on letting me know not to even consider taking a test without him there. The wait was just short of excruciating. He took a break from lawn mowing and we had a nice dinner together on the deck. He went back to lawn mowing and the agonizing wait that had subsided slightly during dinner had resumed and was in full effect. I did some cleaning and after holding off on going to the bathroom for quite some time in preparation for the test, my bladder was going to burst. He was done with the yard almost at that moment and this was it. Test time.

I was so incredibly nervous, only for the fact that if it was negative, again, I was going to be crushed. This was a sentiment Jeff echoed. My very loving husband would have been more crushed by my disappointment than his own, which is a testament to the extraordinary man I married. We said a prayer and Jeff’s prayer was that if we are meant to have a baby at this time, please let the test be positive. I guess I was hoping for a “no ifs ands or buts let this darn test be positive”, but I quickly grew to appreciate his prayer because I do feel that what is meant to be will be. Even if sometimes we are so disappointed by what comes, I believe in the meant to be.

I took the test and we waited our two minutes, actually four minutes because I was freaking out a bit. Hand in hand we approached the bathroom. I was dying. Sweating. Squeezing him so tightly. I wanted Jeff to look first, but he insisted we look at the same time. Before though, we checked the directions again to make sure we knew what it should look like (as if we couldn’t figure it out, especially since we had some experience, but oh well). We got closer. Closer. Negative…on the right…POSITIVE on the left!!! That meant yes! The tightest of hugs, kisses, loud cheers, jumps for joy and the biggest of smiles soon followed. I could not believe what I saw. It was the best feeling, even better than I expected I think---I guess because I had tried to prepare myself for the letdown. To utter (scream) the words, “I’m pregnant!” felt like nothing I have ever known, although the emotions paralleled those I had when my husband proposed to me. Pure joy, surprise, amazement, and a little uncertainty, but only uncertainty of what was to come---in a good way. Enjoying that moment together was bliss. All I wanted to do was talk! Weird, I know. We reveled in the moment, took photos and figured out our tentative due date, which is in early March. I really cannot explain the happiness I am feeling. I am so happy and I feel like we are due for having some really, really great news. We both had terrible times sleeping, waking up in deep thought, but with the morning brought the delightful reality back that this was our time.

That same morning (Tuesday, July 1st) I ran into our yard waste bin while backing out of the driveway. The bin's contents spilled everywhere. When I called inside the house, Jeff had seen it all go down and as I drove off on my merry way, he proceeded to let me know how thrilled he was to be in his suit and get to pick it all up. But we are just SO happy! Nothing could have ruined our day, right? Right. Let the morning sickness, heartburn, constipation, heck, even the migraines begin! I’m ready, and oh so willing (feel free to remind me of this post later on).

My doctor is out of town, but on my way to work yesterday I realized I didn’t know what to do next! So I called the clinic and they guided me through. The first appointment should be at the six to eight week mark and I will see a nurse first. That appointment is Friday, July 11th. It still does not make a whole lot of sense to me how I can be almost five weeks along due to the fact that they count your last period as being the first week. I hadn’t even ovulated until two weeks later so how could I be almost five weeks if I wasn’t really pregnant for two of them? Beats me, but it’s the way it works these days and I am OK with that. They say it is because it's easier to track when your last period was than to predict exactly when you conceived. Makes sense, but it still seems like a couple weeks should be shaved off, although because of this, pregnancy is now condisered 40 weeks.

I have been taking a multivitamin along with an extra folic acid supplement [Repeated studies have shown that women who get 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folic acid daily prior to conception and during early pregnancy reduce the risk that their baby will be born with a serious neural tube defect (a birth defect involving incomplete development of the brain and spinal cord) by up to 70%. ~cited from kidshealth.org] since long before we even started trying, so I am good to go there until I see what else the doctor may recommend. I also picked up a DHA/Omega-3 supplement based on a friend's recommendation and I will start taking that today.

We do know it is extremely early, so prayers are very much appreciated as we know there are concerns at this stage with this pregnancy going as planned. However, there is real hope and joy in knowing that whatever the plan is, we are able to conceive and that we are beyond grateful for. It is in that spirit that we allow ourselves to enjoy the happiness we are feeling right now. We hope you enjoy it with us. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. I have anxiously been awaiting the opportunity to share it with you.

Pre-test chaos


Is it really true?


Yes, indeed. It's positive!


Just in case anyone needed further confirmation


If only I could wear this thing around my neck (is that cleavage?)


All smiles (and no, that is not pee from the test on Jeff's shirt)


Self portrait: Enjoying the moment