Getting to know you...

Since I have nothing of much interest to write about these days - a very good thing! - and Irrational Exuberance over at So Much for Simple and Easy "tagged" me, I'll share! These are all non-hormone, IF or any of that crapola related questions. So here ya go:

1) What's the best dish you can cook?
Oooh, that's a toughie, as I cook a lot. Like almost every day, at least 2 meals. And I think I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself! But I am also a fickle cook, and go through phases with what I'm cooking. And I don't generally follow recipes. So I don't have a classic - aside from a killer tomato sauce - that is always in the rotation. But with the fall weather starting up, I am looking forward to breaking out the chicken pot pie again, mmmmmm, with olive oil herbed biscuits on top. Yum in a bowl.

2) Have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper? What for?
I have to say I am proud of myself for remaining fairly un-google-able. But if you do google me, aside from stuff from my old job, you will only find me quoted in an article about ice cream. Several years ago, Mr. P and I had walked to a newly opened ice cream store one afternoon, and were interviewed by the local paper. I think I am quoted as calling him "Ice Cream Boy" in the article. This article was apparently picked up nationally, so we are quoted in all sorts of newspapers. Nice.

4) When you were a teenager, at what age did you envision getting married?
Honestly, I'm not sure if getting married was even on my radar as a teenager. I was so focused on going to college, then working a few years, then going to grad school for another 5+ years, that marriage was never high on my list. And even when Mr. P and I started dating, we did it all backwards. First we bought a house, then got a cat, then years later got engaged, then got married. And I was very surprised when we got engaged, it just wasn't on my radar screen. I guess I never saw marriage as necessary for being in a committed adult relationship, or having kids. But Mr. P did, and here we are!

5) What's your most hated household chore? What's your favorite?
Hate, hate, hate doing floors. Even swiffering gets on my nerves. I don't mind doing laundry, and I don't even see grocery shopping or cooking dinner as a chore. I like to do those things!

6) What's your earliest memory?
It was a month before I turned 4 years old, and it was Christmas. Santa came to our house and I sat on his lap and told him what I wanted for Xmas. But what really stands out is more of a sense memory, of using my fingers to look through his beard to find his mouth. So that I could give him the straw so he could drink his scotch on the rocks. As I later found out, this was our neighbor's father dressed up, and he would hang out and have a cocktail or three with my parents after the Santa stuff was over. Apparently my dad did the same thing for his kids. Nothing like a boozy Santa. Ahhh, the 70's. How did we all survive? :)

Passing this along, to some lovely ladies who might need a distraction from their hormones right about now:
Patience at Searching for the Missing Piece
R at One Egg Please
Cassie at Try, Try Again

Stats, Sugar and Sniffles

My mental milestone was reached - 24 weeks! This has been a big one in my mind. I've always read (and therefore equated with truth) that 24 weeks = viability. But looking at the real data, that's not 100% true. I looked at the numbers - and numbers don't lie - we've reached the threshold of 50/50. 50% of babies born now would survive. And these odds go up every week. So while the stats aren't as good as they will be at say, 37 weeks, they are much better than they have been. But I'm still pulling for the 37 weeks!

I had my monthly OB visit yesterday. And did my glucose screening test. I had to "chug" (exact wording from the nurse, it must be a technical term) the sugary drink, which was fruit punch flavored and not too bad. At least not bad going down. But it had some aftertaste, and all I wanted to do was chase it with some water. But I was a good girl, waited my hour, had my blood drawn (it had been so long since a blood draw! WOW!), then chugged the water. Results either today or tomorrow.

The rest of the OB visit was good, although I think I am gaining too much weight. The doc did not say anything to me about it, but I think I've already gained like 20+ pounds. And I was not underweight to begin with. More on the high average end. More salads, less burgers. The critter girl is growing well, fundal height is right on, and her heart was thumping away. I also had a manual cervix check, and still long and closed. So all is well and I go in another month.

The weather has turned cooler here - that could be the best news I've ever written (non-critter related, at least). But I was outside all day Saturday and caught a cold. Damn. So I've had the sniffles/stuffies for the past few days. Blech. And I am feeling militant these days, and don't want to take anything. I did do a home-made neti pot thing, and it really seems to have cleared out a lot of the snotties. Not pleasant, but effective. I hope this goes away soon. Sleep is hard enough these days, without the fact of not being able to breathe.

That's it for now. Have a good week!!

23 weeks

23!! Can you believe it? Pinch me! I don't think I ever really thought I'd get this far. Fingers remain eternally crossed this quiet-ness continues.

The critter-girl is doing well, and really getting strong. She must have a weight room in there, in addition to her busy import/export business (via her u cord, of course!). Or maybe she has those TaeBo DVDs. Either way, she has been getting stronger this week, and her latest trick is kicking/punching/twitching so hard that you can see her move from the outside. My belly actually visibly moves. It could be the neatest thing I've ever seen, and I now spend a significant portion of my day staring at my belly.

I've also begun to think nursery stuff. This is big progress for me, as I've been very scared to really admit a baby might be coming, and that said baby might need stuff. Like a place to sleep. But I think in the past week, especially with her strong movement and reassuring u/s, I'm ready. I think I've settled on a crib style, and changing table/dresser. I went to a big baby store to look at bed linens too. Big progress for me.

It is funny, I've read other blogs of pregnant people, and they have the nursery done or close to done by now. Or at least really well thought out. I'm behind the game I guess, but really, I just can't believe this is real.

But I'm starting to. I'm becoming slightly more convinced this might actually work. Fingers still crossed though.

So stubborn!

I think I might be in trouble. This little girl I am carrying around is one stubborn girl.

We went for our 2nd u/s this morning, to get the 2 heart views Miss Stubborn Girl would not show us last time. Well, today we got 1 of the 2 shots, but the final shot was still elusive. She had her arm up, casting a shadow, and when we did catch a glimpse, she immediately rolled over and wouldn't move back. She is still breech (not that I needed an u/s to tell me that, my bladder is well aware).

While we (me, Mr. P and the tech) saw all 4 chambers of her heart (the elusive shot we're missing), Miss Stubborn Girl did not stay in position long enough to snap a picture to show the doc. So while we know she is ok, the proof is in the picture.

We will go back in 3 weeks to try one last time.

And secretly, I love this little smart, tricky girl. I whispered to her at the end that she did perfectly! She knows Mommy wants to see her again, so she let me see just enough not to worry about her health, but not enough so the doc is satisfied. I can have another peek at her. Good girl!

22 weeks

Yay! Another uneventful (pregnancy-wise) week down! I am so happy to be ticking these weeks off, and I really hope things continue down this smooth path. Smooth = Good.

Major symptoms this week: hip pain/leg cramps when sleeping most nights, more frequent critter movement, cravings for spicy food, lower abdomen achiness from gut-stretching. And I have the Sponge-bob Square-tummy look that Jill sported. My belly button is getting shallower, but hasn't popped yet. I look like a tufted pillow. And TeeJay, no belly pics for me. I'm just too shy and self-conscious. Trust me, I got a belly. :)

We had such a fun weekend of birthday celebrations with my niece. She had a big party (for a 3-year old) on Saturday. I think this is the first time I did not have the IF pangs while around so many kids. I actually felt that I might belong there. With all those parents and kids. It really hit me during the party, that I didn't have those feelings of dread, shame, envy. A big first for me.

Could I be beginning to heal? Wow, a deep thought.

We also went with my niece to see a friend's band play in a local park. Hippie music, but fun to dance to in the sunshine. And my niece, she loves the loud music, loves all the people, loves to dance. She even had a Grateful Dead t-shirt on! Sooooo very cute. She is so her father's daughter (my brother) who loves nothing more than going to rock concerts.

So that's it. We have the follow-up u/s tomorrow morning, which I am really looking forward to. May be the last critter-lady peek for a while. I'm not too worried going into this u/s, not like I was the first time. So hopefully I can enjoy it even more.

Have a good week!!

21 weeks (I'm legal!)

Whooo-hooo! Break out the shot glasses - I'm at 21! Weeks. Not years. And that would be shots of milk. Oh well, not as much fun as it sounds.

21 weeks (well, at this point, 21 and a half!). Things are chugging along here. Critter-lady is bouncing around, enjoying her new-found muscles. She likes to stand up (breech) and jump around on my bladder. Loads of fun for her, not so great for me. But it still makes me happy every time she moves. I just LOVE feeling movement. It is the coolest thing.

I am officially in maternity clothes. I broke down and bought some maternity jeans and fall tops. Honestly, it looks so much better than what I'd been trying to get away with. Mr. P said, now you look like a pregnant lady, not someone who is trying to hide how fat she has become. It's true, baggy clothes do not flatter a preggers lady. I say, show off the bump, and it has the nice effect of making everything else look smaller. Works for me.

I've been feeling pretty good, sleeping a bit better than in past weeks (less leg cramps). My stamina is still crap, but I have a feeling that is not gonna change. I do what I can, and take it easy the rest of the time. My ankles are beginning to swell a bit, as are my fingers. My engagement ring feels tight all of the sudden. Not sure if there is anything I can do about this. Any suggestions?

We go next Tuesday for the follow-up u/s, and I'm looking very very forward to it. Can't wait to see the critter-lady again. And I'm not sure when I'll get to see her again - no one has mentioned u/s after this. Will I have none til she's born? I'm not sure, I need to ask at my next OB visit.

So that's it. I have family in town the next 2 weekends, so a busy stretch is coming up. And my niece's 3rd birthday party! I think time flies faster for these little kids - they grow up so fast!

Have a good (short) week!!

Touchy

Good lord, when did it become ok to touch someone else's body? Just reach out and touch them?

I got touched so often this weekend, I feel like my stomach is now community property. No longer belonging to me.

Granted, it is with good intentions. But geez! It's not all baby, some of that is my leftover IVF/DL/FET fat. So random people are rubbing my fat. Nice.

We had a party at my brother/SIL's house on Saturday, where the news of "It's a girl!" spread like wildfire. It was actually all that anyone wanted to talk to me about. Have I become that one-dimensional? All I can talk about is babies? I kept thinking how I know there are women at this party with IF woes (some who I know about, I'm sure others that I don't) and how me being pregnant must be hard for them. It hurt me to think about, and remembering clearly being on the other side. But everyone else kept bringing up the baby thing, so it was forever talked about. So I'm sorry, people-at-the-party for all the baby-talk. Trust me, I wanted to talk about the Cubs (well, not really, they are terrible, but you know what I mean!).

And even more insane was a wedding of one of Mr. P's young (gosh, they seem so young to me! but they are like mid-20s I guess) cousin. So a huge Irish/Italian wedding. And this was the first time I've seen this side of his family since getting pregnant. Ooooh boy, I was touched. By everyone. People I'm not really sure who they were. Touching me. Mr. P at one point said we should charge a dollar for every belly touch, we'd be rich already. Seriously, I felt a bit violated. But what can you do? They all mean well. I know this. But again, it just seemed excessive, and I kept thinking there was someone out there who was hurt by seeing me.

It is a strange place, being the person I used to shoot eye-daggers at. And while I tried to keep things low-key, the world does not allow this. The majority of the world, the fertile world, are baby-crazy. They don't get that some of us have struggled.

Mr. P's mom (who could be the most baby-crazy of them all, we are her only shot at grandkids, and she is surrounded by her gazillion nephews and nieces) made some comment about a biblical passage she read at the wedding, of the man existing because of the bones given to him by a women (or something like that, don't ask the atheist to understand) and she gestured to my belly and said, "Like you, little baby, the combination of the man and woman" and Mr. P and I both laughed and said, "Yeah, that, and several doctors, a lot of science, and even more money!"

I guess we can still be a little touchy about this ourselves.

Surprise, surprise!

The Level II was awesome!!! I want to do that every single day.

So I'm not accused of holding out on you guys, I'll get right to it - SHE is healthy and growing well. Yup, that's right. SHE. It's a GIRL!!

Apparently my maternal intuition is complete crap. My predictive pregnancy dreams also lie. And my fantasies of a baseball-themed nursery have been put on hold.

And I could not be happier about it! Shocked, surprised, stunned - but also really really happy! So my fantasies of cute dresses, tea parties, all-girl rock bands (she'll play base), and all things purple have kicked in. So exciting!!

The scan itself took almost 2 hours, with several breaks of me just laying on my side or moving around in an attempt to get the girl-critter to move around too. She was very active at the beginning (I fed her sugar of cookie and apple juice ahead of time) and we got most of the measurements. But after about an hour, she got bored, curled up, and took a nap. So we are missing 2 heart measurements (of 6 total). So I get to go back (WHOOO-HOO) in 2 weeks for another peek. Which delights me to no end. The doc and tech are not concerned, but just want a complete report. Fine by me.

I am also incredibly relieved that she is healthy. We looked at most parts of her, measured bones, skull, brain, kidneys, heart, lip, and all sorts of other things - and everything was perfect. Huge sigh of relief. And they also did a quickie vaginal u/s (can't escape the dildo cam!!) to check on my cervix, which was long and closed. Hallelujah! I can now relax a bit and begin to plan for the future. Which I had not let myself do much up until now.

So a happy day of surprise and relief. :)