It has been so beautiful outside over the last several days.
I got home from work a little later than usual this week, as it was my first on the job and I have a lot to learn! But starting on Wednesday, the weather was so nice that as soon as I was home, I was changing my clothes and grabbing Tessa’s leash. Every night, we’ve been enjoying a long walk route which takes us a little over three miles—which is a long way for little legs like Tess has! In turn, she has been one tired girl, and we’ve been tired, too—that fresh air is good for all of us.
Hopefully nice weather + new job is a worthy excuse for my lack of blogging the last few days?
Thanks to my new job, my husband and I work less than half a mile from each other now. It’s pretty awesome. Yesterday, he came over to my office and we ended up walking a couple of miles on our lunch break. It was nice to get out into the sunshine in the middle of the day like that, and nice to spend some extra time with Michael, too! And we STILL took Tess for a walk after we got home from work, too! Lots and lots of walking for this pregnant lady. :)
This morning, Michael went skiing with his dad while I stayed home and did some spring cleaning. My energy really is coming back (although I do find that I am still quite tired in the evenings!) and I decided to take on some areas of the house that have been seriously neglected throughout the past couple of months. What I really want to do is give this place a good, thorough vacuuming (edges, couch, blinds, ledges, etc.) but our vacuum cleaner is a piece of crap and there is hardly any suction in the hose, making all of the attachments virtually useless. We are getting ready to invest in a Dyson, but have yet to pull the trigger on that. You know you’re an adult when you’re excited about the purchase of a vacuum cleaner.
Anyway, by the time I was done scrub-scrub-scrubbing, it was early afternoon, Michael was home from skiing, and we decided to go on another long walk. Fourth day in a row—it feels nice to be active!
I want to get down on my knees and beg Mother Nature not to take all of this away from us, but it’s no use—the weather is supposed to be back to the “typical March” cold and dreariness early next week. Still, I know it’s only a matter of time now before we get this nice weather more consistently, and I just. can’t. wait.
Sometime after we were married, my husband and I started talking about timing for the “next step”–when we would have a baby. Although I started to have inklings of “baby fever” just a few months after the wedding, we agreed to enjoy the first year of marriage and revisit the subject around our first anniversary.
I don’t want to get into all the nitty-gritty details of our journey to have a baby. But I do feel like fertility problems are sometimes a little “taboo” or something, so I feel a certain responsibility to at least be honest about our experience. As we were going through it, we didn’t share our troubles with anyone. We really held onto the ideal, and wanted our families and friends to be surprised. Plus, I didn’t think I could handle people asking me about it, because some days, it was the last thing I wanted to think/talk about. There were days, sometimes weeks, that were extremely hard. In the end, our problem paled in comparison to the problems of others, but when you’re in it, every problem seems difficult to deal with–no matter how small or large.
Essentially, after being off birth control for 7-8 months (we weren’t trying during this time), my body decided to stop ovulating consistently. Coincidentally, my body stopped working right at the time we had decided to start trying to get pregnant. Last summer, I went 100 days without a period before my doctor gave me drugs to have one. We thought perhaps it was an anomaly, but in the fall, it happened again, and it became clear that we weren’t going to get pregnant if I couldn’t get my body working like it was supposed to.
After some evaluation, my doctor suggested Clomid. By this point, we were pretty frustrated since it had been months and we hadn’t even had a chance to get pregnant yet. In order to move forward and get the show on the road, we agreed to give the Clomid a try. My doctor told me that we had three cycles of Clomid to get pregnant before she would refer us to a reproductive endocrinologist (fertility specialist).
Long story short–Clomid was my miracle drug.
Our first Clomid cycle was a bust, and I was tremendously disappointed and discouraged. When the end of the second cycle was drawing near, I took a pregnancy test and got a negative–again. For whatever reason, I was more relaxed about the results this time, and went on with life. The next day, I tested again: another negative. Life continued to go on. Two days after that, my period was officially due. I took a third test, waited for two minutes, didn’t see anything (another negative, I figured) and went back to bed until the alarm.
When I got out of bed half an hour later and went to shower, I took a second look at the test and saw the faintest of faint second lines. I thought perhaps it was an evaporation line, and knew I couldn’t trust the results since the “testing period” had long gone, so I really didn’t think much of it at all. But I did say to Michael–“This is weird. There is something there, and that’s never happened before. If I don’t get my period today, I’m testing with the GOOD test tomorrow.” (So far, all the tests I had taken were Dollar Tree tests.)
I never got my period. (Oh, and my chart? Possibly the most beautiful chart EVER, if I do say so myself.)
On Tuesday morning, we woke up together and I went into the bathroom to test. I broke out the “big guns”–a First Response Early Response. I took it, opened the door, and waited for the results with Michael. After a minute or two, I turned around, picked up the test, and started laughing. There were two lines, and there was no question about it. We knew then that we’re having a baby. I think we were both in shock. We laughed, we hugged, I cried.
Of course, I still wanted to “confirm” with a digital. Because I was apparently too giddy to read directions correctly, I accidentally wasted two digitals. They came up with invalid results. I was pissed! I just wanted to see the word “pregnant” pop up, was that too much to ask? Thankfully, the third (and last) digital test in the box worked, and I got my wish. “Pregnant!” From then on, it was real.
January 12, 2010 = Life will never be the same.
I have a couple of book reviews I need to catch up on here, but I’m currently not reading anything. I usually have a “queue” of some sort–a list of books I’ve been wanting to read. Or sometimes I’ll just stumble upon something that sounds good and read that. But right now? Nada. Zilch. Zip. Nothing.
I need some new recommendations! I’m not too into chick lit (at least not the “extreme” chick lit stuff–no Nicholas Sparks, for instance). If you want to see some of the things I’ve read and enjoyed to get an idea of my taste, see my books label.
What have you all read lately that you’ve loved?
I need to get myself to the library!
My first day at the new job was pretty insane. It was unlike any other “first day” I’ve ever had, that’s for sure.
Usually, you kick back, get acclimated with your new workspace and computer, meet with HR, fill out a trillion forms, shake a lot of hands, and putz around for most of the day. In fact, in my past experience, that’s really how the first week goes.
Not for me. Not here. Not today!
I got a call from my new coworker last night at about 8:00 telling me that I actually needed to be at work an hour early this morning. Yikes! It was fine, and it’s not something that will happen often, but it was still quite an interesting way to start things off.
Plus, I had to wear a suit. But it was also fine and won’t happen very often. It would’ve been more fine if my suit pants still fit. HA! Well, I could button them, but not comfortably. I totally had to bust out the Bella Band today. :) My suit pants never had a lot of wiggle room in them, so it makes sense that they are the first to be sacrificed to the growing baby belly. (I’m still not officially “showing”–still waiting for that to happen!)
Anyway, I was out of the office at the special event until around 11:00 a.m., when we finally went back and I was actually able to sit down at my new desk. I had enough time to catch up on my (already full) e-mail inbox before my coworker and I headed out for lunch. Back to the office a little before 2:00, and it was time for training with IT, meetings with HR, and then a meeting with my coworker so she could hand off a bunch of writing assignments. Assignments that are due Wednesday. Awesome. (Truly.)
I’m not used to being so busy! For the past 3.5 years, I’ve grown accustomed to the slow pace that was my old job. I like the feeling of being occupied again. It certainly made the day go by faster.
Everyone I’ve met seems really great and I’m excited. Oh, and probably the best thing I found out today–my new company offers short-term disability insurance coverage! Can I get a “WOOHOOO“? I’ll pay a small amount out of every paycheck to cover the premium, and when I’m on maternity leave later this year, I’ll get paid 60% of my salary. I repeat, WOOHOOO! I was going into it expecting for the entire leave to be unpaid, so this was fantastic news.
For those who asked or may have been curious, my new company was fully aware of the pregnancy prior to my taking the job. Even though I knew I wasn’t required to tell them in advance, I felt badly entering a job with what I felt was such a big secret. I told up front, and I’m so glad that I did! They have been really great about it. I’m lucky to have entered such a supportive environment.
I couldn’t sleep last night. I think it was a combination of being messed up from daylight savings and being anxious about starting the new job. I couldn’t shut my brain off. Couple that with the fact that I had to get up an hour early and I am TIRED! I’ll be ready for bed tonight, that’s for sure.
Tomorrow: Day 2! :)
During my 13 weeks of pregnancy, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to see our baby twice already.
Actually, the first time was not fun. I had a miscarriage scare that sent us rushing to my doctor’s office. I was shaking, I was bawling, and I feared for the worst. I kept thinking, “This is not how I wanted to have my first ultrasound.” But then the tech brought an image up on the screen and said, “There is your baby. And that flickering is its tiny heartbeat.”
Awesome. So, so awesome. I laughed; I have never been so relieved.
This is what the babe looked like at 7 weeks. Pretty funny to look back at now! After this, I was routinely calling it “The Blob.” :)
At our first doctor’s appointment at 8 weeks, we were presented with the option to do an NT scan (an ultrasound and bloodwork that tests for the probability of Down’s, and the Trisomy disorders). After some research and conversation among ourselves, we decided to go for it and scheduled the scan for the 12th week of pregnancy. We figured that it was an opportunity to see our baby, and also hopefully get some reassurance that it’s healthy.
We went in for the NT scan ultrasound and bloodwork on Monday, and that was when we got this lovely profile shot (the one I posted to announce the pregnancy on the blog!):
The baby had its hands up by its mouth a lot (like it does in this shot). I wonder if this means it’s going to be a thumb sucker.
It’s amazing how much development happens in the first trimester. Look at what a difference just five weeks makes! We went from a Blob Baby to a “real” baby, with facial features, arms, legs, fingers and toes. I’m constantly in awe of what’s going on inside of my body right now. Every week, we read about the development and it’s just incredible. During the ultrasound, I couldn’t stop giggling, just because I couldn’t believe that we were looking at this thing that’s growing inside of me.
The baby was really active. It kept turning, rolling, and bouncing around. It kept moving its arms and legs, too. Here, the tech got a really good shot of the baby’s hand and fingers. It was waving at us, like “Hi Mom and Dad!”
Here, the baby rolled over to face us. This is a straight-on shot of the face, but I know it’s hard for most people to make out. Even my dad, who is a former x-ray tech and should be able to read these things, couldn’t see the face. I think I’ll have to draw him a diagram!
The baby kept showing of its legs, too. Baby kept sticking them up straight in the air. I can’t wait until I can feel those little legs kicking me! :)
Our next ultrasound (and probably our last) is scheduled for the end of April, when we’ll have the anatomy scan. I’ll be around 18-19 weeks pregnant then. This is the ultrasound where we would be able to find out the sex of the baby, except we’re not going to. ;) I’m looking forward to seeing the little bugger again!
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
