Anti-cravings?

Baby says chicken is off the menu! I could live on sardines and anchovies right now, luckily it's on my recommended list and I loaded up at the grocery store..mmmmm! But I always love that stuff, it's just amplified. Still not overly interested in chocolate, but the occasional desire for coke, which I never have, has surfaced. I found my seasonal soy eggnog which is pretty tasty and the preferred alternative to the artery buster version which I'm a total junky for.  I'm upset about having the recipe for grandpop Detrick's homemade eggnog in my hands this year and it being on my un-pasteurized no no list. maybe just a taste:) Mom went 9 months on fresh cow milk and I'm mostly fine, what's a teeny tiny bit of risk!

We're getting a bull-snake!

We're getting a bull-snake!

Chinese zodiac snake

click the links to read up on Taurus and the year of the snake.

Taurus (April 21-May 20) is the sign of musicians! We've read that a few places now, so I better get back on the wagon practicing for the family band. If we actually get what's on the Taurus label, I'll be thrilled, sounds like a good family match for Doug and me...if not, c'est la vie.

All the familiy knows!

What the un-crumbled cookies looked like (untouched by the U.S. Postal Service).

Week 11

[caption id="attachment_68" align="alignright" width="300"] The weekend of October 20th at the Cavagnero wedding in New Jersey.[/caption]

We're just 2 weeks shy of clearing the first trimester! Since the last post I've been through the battery of blood tests clearing me of all illicit diseases and parasitic infection from Wally (Doug keeps up on litter box detail with military routine.) Not that expected different results but after 7 vials taken and seeing the check list for syphilis, hepatitis, HIV.... all of a sudden you feel a little paranoid. My Iron level is at an above average starting point but my vitamin D is the one I have to catch up with...I drink a lot of milk, I blame my basement job. Anyway, I've adapted my morning pill pile to fix my deficiencies. All is well. Although I have had to buy some Clearasil for the first time in years...pregnancy has caused and unusual breakout pattern along my hairline and neck, no shiners on the face so I'm thankful for that! No more sour stomach, but I'm still tired, though when I start returning home in the dark I'm pretty sure this is an annual tired phase and not special for pregnancy. Well, except for the insomnia that has been blooming in the last 2 months; I blame the bed. Do not get a bed from IKEA. It creaks and groans with the slightest head turn, and the mattress... 2 nights in the hotel for the New Jersey wedding this last weekend was the best I've slept in weeks! I'm proposing a replacement for our anniversary/Christmas gifts to each other.

Our next appointment, October 31st, is the special detailed ultrasound and genetic screening, the standard testing for all of your worst fears. It's 2 hours long at Stamford Hospital and I heard a rumor it's so clear they can inspect all organs and spinal cord for any issues. I saw a 3-d photo of this from my friend's daughter, it was pretty wild to see. Hoping for the best, I keep expanding so I assume things are moving along and growing. I've gained about 6 pounds so far and am ready to start adding some bigger waistbands into the mix.

I got my first flu shot this year. I've never been an enthusiast for them, but Dr. Zino is using a scared straight story to convince all her patients without having to threaten them. They apparently did have an expectant mother die of H1N1 flu last year and did a c-section to save the baby! So, Doug and I went out Monday night to CVS for our shots. The pharmacist wouldn't give it to me because the kind they have had a preservative in it, and God knows you feel like you just have to breathe wrong to wind up with a kid with autism these days. Anyhow, 2 phone calls later and I found a Walgreens with the right version. Inoculation complete. Now I just heard how they want pregnant women to get whooping cough vaccines because it's coming back and will kill your newborn.  It's so cheery contemplating all the "what ifs" every step.

The first ultrasound

Here is the image from our first ultrasound. We've labeled the "important bits" for your convenience. : )

From Doug

Here I am with my Playskool Guide for Expectant Fathers because, as you've heard, I'm now an expectant father. This has been an exciting time. Its been hard to imagine myself as a father--the vision of my 18-year old self in my mind's eye just gives me a confused look and says "huh?" As we've gotten more encouraging signs from the doctor that this pregnancy is going to take hold, the prospect of fatherhood has become very real. I've been both excited and terrified, and I can give you some examples of each.

I'll start with the excited part. The most powerful moment so far was during our last ultrasound when we could clearly see what is already the baby's heartbeat. I've also been so happy to see Jenny have some good news in this department after a doctor in Eugene told her that her prospects for pregnancy weren't good due to her fibroids. The idea of a little munchkin running around here is so exciting to us both, and I've been really amazed to see the changes it has brought about in us as we prepare for this little guy or girl.
Now we can deal with the worries. Just like with Jenny's descriptions of the several "hitches" that we've already run into as we've been dealing with doctor appointments and so on, I've had a few hitches of my own. As most of you have heard by now, the internship I took this summer, the one that was promised to turn into a job in the fall, didn't materialize. So, I'm now back to figuring out how I'll support this child, but I'm confident that whatever path I choose will work out. The job search has been difficult here. There are many opportunities, but there is also steep competition, and my resume looks great for music-related work, but we all know how much of that there is these days. I'm staying positive doing everything I can do make this work, and I'm confident that it will. I know that Jenny will make a wonderful mother, and that as long as we're together we'll work everything out.
So, those are most of my thoughts at this time. There will be more I'm sure, but for now we are just happy to see what happens, to get ready for the future, and to enjoy each other in the mean time. Until later!

We're having a baby, for real: the 8 week recap.

I'll spare you the romantic details, but we smiled while telling my doctor (Dr. Zino- best Dr. ever) that my "womb overhaul" last winter was well worth it and apparently restored my fertility to the teen mom level. We were lucky on the first try! Of course this was utilizing all advice from mom friends, mom cousins, and mom books, optimizing our chances to get this show on the road.  Doug sacrificed a rehearsal on an important day, so here we are at week 8 with our first absolute confirmation of a baby and a heartbeat....after 2 frustrating appointments unclear if this was a go or not. Back August... I had a suspicion from the very beginning. I woke up one morning with the strangest sensation. It reminded me of this incredible Dayquil buzz I had in sophomore year geometry, feeling like I was floating in my desk with every cell in me vibrating. It was incredibly pleasant and slightly outer body feeling. Well that was my waking state and I just felt a bit off all morning. Fast forward to a "test 5 days earlier" pregnancy test..negative. Fast forward 6 days to September 5th...positive!

Now, everything you read says schedule an appointment right away. Doug and I know now as long as you're not living under a rock and are able to google a few key lists of things not the eat or drink while pregnant and are taking some form of prenatal vitamins from your 25 choices, call in a little bit and enjoy your time in blissful ignorance.

Hitch #1: made my appointment, they gave me one the following week. The day of, the office manager called and said it was a new girl who took my appointment and there would be nothing to see for another week. It turns out, unlike in my mom's 1976 edition of "A Doctor Discusses Pregnancy," a pee test is not enough to congratulate you and give you the "You're Officially Expecting Manual." You get ultrasounds from the absolute beginning to make sure you qualify. So, when we had our actual appointment at 6 weeks and 2 days we didn't get to leave with the manual. We didn't cut the mustard and had 10 days to dwell on it until the next look to see if our gestational sac and yolk had transformed into what she was looking for. It turns out that, by "the book", at 6 weeks 2 day she was supposed to see an "embryonic pole" which she did not...though she emphasized she's seen plenty of things not by "the book." She sent me for blood work to see if my hormone levels were consistent with a viable pregnancy for the next appointment and told us not to let it ruin our weekend and not to google it all weekend and worry ourselves. I don't believe the 1976 manual mentioned a thing about the microscopic embryonic pole and which week it should be visible via the invasive version of ultrasound.

Hitch #2: 10 days later, October 1st we waited 30 minutes to be told the ultrasound was blown out by a power failure (I work in the same building and I lost lights about 3 times the previous day, too). Unbelievable, rescheduled for October 3rd but meanwhile said my blood work came back with great levels. Of course, then I asked is this a good sign that we have a baby? Because honestly I didn't realize it was an option to have a positive pregnancy and by the initial pictures have it be noted as just a yolk. I'm bloated and queasy while incubating an omelet, doesn't seem fair. she answered neutrally that I could have all the right hormones and it still may not turn into an embryo. Meanwhile, almost in protest to that first nothing ultrasound, I became queasy about 8 hours a day for a week and the most unexpected feeling of hiking in the Utah high altitude for about 6 miserable days. Then WHAM! last Wednesday= Baby, 4.5 cm head to rump and a heartbeat 160 beats per minute. I don't know about Doug, but Dr. Zino and I teared up a bit considering she knows what we went through to deal with the fibroids and until now I've always been the one with giant lumps on the monitor while listening to other heartbeats in the room next door. This was a good day. Oh, the big day is May 15th, but unless I want to kiss my uterus good-bye, I have to have an elective C-section which she says is done at 39 weeks (the week before). At 8 weeks, 2 days we're not in the worry-free zone yet, but we're hoping to stay on our lucky streak!