I'm NINE months pregnant!!

We're so excited to be at this point. SO. RIDICULOUSLY. EXCITED.

Today Dr. K said we are 100% the same; much to his amazement my cervix has held beautifully and is still only 50% effaced. My fundus is measuring 38 weeks and he said this little boy is PLENTY big enough to come out A-N-Y-T-I-M-E. I told him I was aiming for a 7lb baby - he said I just might get that... AND MORE!

I am staying on the medicine for one more week but Dr. K said to try to push my limits on being up and gaining strength back.

After a successful appointment I had a WONDERFUL full body massage. Not before having to call around to a BA-zillion places all of which refused to touch a nine month pregnant lady with a blunt spoon let alone palpate my body and risk throwing me into labor. Finally, a quaint little Aveda salon squeezed me in on the busy Valentine's Day weekend. I think I must have come across just a tad bit desperate and after I mentioned that I've been under house arrest for almost nine weeks - she finally caved. I have never in my life been more thankful for a massage. There were parts of my body I didn't know were sore, THAT ARE. One hour felt like fifteen minutes and for the first time in a long time I cleared my mind and focused on the beautiful moment when the three of us will become a family. Right now, that thought is my happy place, the idea gives me goosebumps that I know will be magnified by five hundred thousand when it actually happens. It was kind of hard to completely relax since my little one apparently didn't get the MAMMA IS TRYING TO CHILL memo and instead decided dark/tranquil/soft music/quiet time was the perfect opportunity to show off his ninja skills. The warm blanket draped over me was jumping all around, the lady must have though I was gestating an alien or something. Apparently, an alien who is doubly stimulated by hot towels and the aroma of mint lotion :)

This is a picture of me from this afternoon and I'm going to go out on a modesty limb and say that I'm glowing (don't comment if you disagree). I'm glowing because I've made it this far, I just had a massage, I'm looking forward to a romantic Valentine's day with my husband and because I just promised myself that if I am STILL pregnant in two weeks...

I'm getting another massage.

Snow and Showers

So much has been going on all around me, I can barely keep up.

Last Thursday, we put our house on the market, all of my husband's efforts to clean and remodel our home turned out beautifully. We're living in a home that looks more like a crate and barrel show room than an actual house. We don't know where any of our stuff is packed/hidden - but we're managing.

Friday, we had our 35 week appointment and we were still holding steady, much to Dr. K's surprise. I gained another 2 lbs so I'm up a total of 21 pounds from my pre pregnancy weight. His head is down, and was further down than last week - so he's getting ready. I'm 50% effaced and my cervix is closed.

Saturday, our childbirth class was canceled due to snow, but we did have our first house showing. Me and kitty waited in the car while Jeremy ran errands and strangers lurked around in our home.

Sunday, my mom hosted a wonderful baby shower at our house. I was actually quite overwhelmed as I haven't talked to more than two people at a time in over eight weeks now. It was so nice to see so many of my friends and co workers. We received lots of gear for our little cub and were so happy and thankful at the end of the day.

Monday, we had two more house showings, a second look for the Saturday person and an older couple. Jeremy, mom and I ventured out in the car with the cat. We ate dinner at BW3's and it was SO NICE to eat hot food SITTING UP at an actual restaurant (while our cat froze into a kitty popsicle in the car).

Yesterday, we received an offer on the house from the Saturday guy. The offer was lower than we wanted and asked that we be out by March 26th. With a closed cervix and a due date of March 11th - I'm not going to risk being homeless with a newborn OR a possible nervous breakdown just to unload this house on the first schmuck to walk through it. Let's hope more offers come in.

At 33.5 weeks, we packed me up in the car to drive across town and have our wedding photographer (and friend) Sandra Reed do a maternity session with us. We had talked about doing this long before I went on bed rest. She herself was on bed rest with her last child and knows how hard it is. She and her husband Shad found a studio without stairs, and accommodated me with a couch to lay on in between shots. I've posted some of our sneak peeks and it brings tears to my eyes to have such beautiful images of us awaiting our little one.

We've been snowed in for two days. It's still snowing. The good news is, those little neighbor kids shoveled our driveway and sidewalk again yesterday for a ridiculously low price. We're not going to challenge the going rate for child labor around here...just question their entrepreneurial futures :)

Tomorrow, I will be 36 weeks pregnant. Jeremy promises to take a picture of my belly very soon (it's getting BIG!) Our childbirth class is rescheduled for Saturday. My husband and I have a romantic Valentine's Day planned at a fondue restaurant and I might just take advantage of my laxed bed rest privileges to venture out for a massage! I'll continue with modified bed rest and stay on my meds until 37 weeks, hoping to buy ourselves a little more time since Jeremy's rotation is being so inflexible with him.

All the while, we'll continue to show our house, wash tiny clothes and get even closer to a full term baby.

Now THAT'S and update.

We can all take a deep breath

Today we are 34 weeks pregnant! If I were to go into labor, doctors would no longer attempt to delay things to give steroids. Our baby's lungs are developed and at most may need some supplementation with surfactant. I was tickled this morning when I opened my email, "Your Pregnancy: 34 Weeks" and it said this:

If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

We still want this little ninja to stay put, but at least this puts my mind at ease a bit. Speaking of staying put, we had our weekly appointment with Dr. K and he said things are THE SAME! Can you believe it? We've been holding steady at the exact same cervical consistency for three weeks now! I gained another three pounds in the last ten days (ahem, yikes) but I measured a little over 35 weeks and Dr. K was quite pleased.

We also had our breastfeeding crash course today, which was very helpful. We learned how to position a fake baby and more detail than you can imagine about nipple glands. She also told us that when the delivery is uneventful and the baby looks good they will lay the baby on your chest immediately after cutting the cord and then cover him with warm blankets. This helps mom/baby bond and allows for an easy transition when baby is ready to feed. Of course our goal is a healthy baby, and even if we have NICU/C-section/APGAR issues we'll work through them - but we're going to look at this as a bonus possibility. If we are able to have newborn slippery cuddle time, one more plus to the whole experience.

We asked Dr. K if this was something he approved of and, in usual Dr. K fashion, this is the response we got:

"Sure you can do that if you want - most moms just want them wrapped up and put in the french fry warmer for a bit."

This was right after he told us he usually isn't off on a baby's weight by more than five pounds.

Thankfully, he doesn't charge us extra for the sass! Lucky us.

Holding steady with a massive brick and side of carbs

Another successful appointment today with Dr. K. My cervix is still very soft, but again only minor dimpling. I've had to double up on my medicine the last few days to slow the contractions, but he is hopeful I can make it a few more weeks like this. The baby is measuring 33.5 weeks, so he is very happy with his growth. I also gained another 2.5 pounds last week (my first YIKES! moment on the scale), so I'm up about 15 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight.

Dr. K did say that he thinks once the medicine stops working, I'll probably progress fairly quickly. He said he is hoping to get me to 36/37 weeks on tocolysis but if I go into full labor at 35 he'll probably just let me deliver, rather than putting me on inpatient magnesium. We have about ten days left until optimal lung maturity, so things are looking hopeful.

We're really hoping to get to the end of February. February is Jeremy's last mandatory rotation, Neurology, and the attendance policy is very strict. He is only allowed to miss two excused days (including medical) or else the entire month has to be remediated. This late in the game, making up time is next to impossible and they could withhold his May diploma - thus making it impossible to start residency. The impending baby scenario has fallen on deaf ears, and to further complicate things he was placed at a site 45 minutes away from our house. Flexible right? About as flexible as the brick I'm going to use to pound someone crazy ninja style if he misses the birth of our son or they try to fail him. And, for the record, when it comes to pregnant women there's no such thing as an idle threat. NINJA BRICK FIGHTING I TELL YOU!

I kind of have it in my mind that this little one will come on February 25th. Not sure why, but I do. Which would be pretty darn okay with both of us, except for in our little world of trying to make the best of what's handed to us, things don't usually work out the way we think they will, so we'll see.

Speaking of taking what's handed to us... we find out our residency match ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! The suspense is mounting with each passing day and the only thing keeping us sane is inhaling massive amounts of double-stuffed Oreos and ice cream sandwiches. Fondly referred to by my husband as "breakfast sandwiches."

Put away the scale and let the countdowns begin!

My husband still thinks I'm sexy and I swear he's not blind

Monday's are exciting for me, mostly because I get to leave the house for my doctor appointment. It's the one day of the week that I brush the tangles out of my hair and strap my enormous breasts into a bra for a car ride. I even kicked it up a notch today by spreading on some mascara and eyeliner for the first time in almost two months AND topped it off with a little squirt of perfume. Fancy dancy!

We had another successful appointment today, Dr. K says we're still holding tight at status quo. He even said that my cervix felt slightly more closed. Hey, I'll take any little bits of good news I can get. I also gained TWO pounds since last week bringing my grand pregnancy total to .... TWELVE POUNDS! Go me! Go Baby! I've been on bed rest for about four weeks now and we have four more to go, I'm beginning to think I can do this.

I got a little boost of hope today when I read that my blog friend Megan gave birth to a beautiful little boy at 36w2d. She was put on bed rest at the same point in her pregnancy as me, was in and out of the hospital with preterm contractions and she was exactly five weeks ahead of me. She gave birth 20 hours after being taken off her medication, but not before enjoying her freedom from bed rest with a haircut and one last romantic dinner out with her husband, just the two of them.

If I'm lucky enough to be set free from bed-jail, after I've cooked this little one up real good, I want to:

Get a haircut (my bangs are MEGA OUT OF CONTROL)

Get a pedicure (my husband is currently cutting my toe nails. Yes. I'm completely serious.)

Eat Thai food AT THE RESTAURANT with my darling husband

Wish me luck!

Doctor update 30w 4d

We had an appointment today with Dr. K. He was hoping that the cervical length the resident measured was true, but he remained skeptical. I got the works today, internal exam, speculum exam, internal ultrasound and external ultrasound. He wanted to double check everything. Unfortunately, my cervix was still very soft and dilated to about a fingertip. I have a posterior cervix so that makes it a bit difficult to access and measure. From what he could tell on the ultrasound, it was mismeasured by the resident and doesn't have much length at all (1.3cm). His head is down and there is a small amount of funneling. Slight funneling means that the inside rim of the cervix is beginning to dilate a bit. It MAY be an indicator of the higher risk of pre-term labor, but many women have some slight funneling at 30-34 of pregnancy.

He said overall there haven't been any significant changes since I came home to full bed rest. So as long as we keep up with that and the anti-contraction meds we should be able to buy ourselves the weeks we need.

Every time Thursday comes around we'll thank our lucky stars that he's an inside baby. Here's to stable news, and Thursdays, and sweet little boys and puppy dog tails.

**On an unrelated note we submitted our match list! Now we wait three long weeks and then a computer will work it's magic to determine our fate. So many things are out of our hands right now, but lots to look forward to as well!!**

Twas the Night Before Christmas

and I was having lots of contractions. We called Dr. K, who IS ON VACATION UNTIL JANUARY 4th, and he told me to take my Procardia early (every 6 hrs rather than 8 hrs) and if it stopped the contractions within a half hour we didn't need to go to the hospital. This worked well, and allowed us to spend a lazy holiday with my family. We missed out on festivities in DC and Tennessee - but had a memorable holiday none the less, focusing on our most important gift right now.

Unfortunately, last night our luck ran out and around 4pm I started having contractions. They picked up, so I took my medication early around 745pm. Still not stopping. So after we scarfed down the turkey chili that Jeremy made, he cleaned up dinner, packed a bag and loaded us in the car. The roads were a little slick, and I've never seen him drive with such unabashed determination and caution.

When we arrived at the hospital we were sent directly to the perinatal triage area where they hooked me and baby up to monitors. Our little boy was thumping along in there, totally unphased by his mamma's uterine squeezes! My contractions were bothersome and in no way painful but definitely consistent. As each peak quickly approached on the monitor, we became more and more scared and tearful. Since Dr. K was out of town, the perinatologist on call for him determined that I needed a turbutaline injection to try to stop the contractions and a cervical length check. The doctor was trying to avoid coming in and when we heard the nurse say, "Okay so a resident will do the cervical check." Jeremy pipped up with "There are certain residents at this hospital who are not laying a finger on my wife." He asked for the Chief resident to care for us, otherwise we would wait for the doctor to come in herself.

The turbutaline made my heart race and my skin flush. I was trying to catch my breath and sob at the same time and could tell just how hard it was for Jeremy to stay strong for me when his mind was filled with fear and uncertainty as well. The Chief came in, remembered Jeremy and was happy to help us. She explained how we would proceed with an internal ultrasound to determine if the contractions were causing cervical changes and if I was in true labor. If so, they would do everything they could to stop it, giving us time for steroid injections to boost his lung development.

The ultrasound showed that I still have a good cervical length, and no funneling. His little head was down but there was little no shortening of the canal. The machine was brand new, so it was easy for us to see everything she measured. She felt confident that the contractions were not true labor and we could go home, especially since the turbutaline seemed to halt whatever contractions I was having.

Before she left, she honored a special request to see our little boy (scrotum and all) on the external ultrasound. We haven't seen him for over ten weeks, and that little peak helped give us the boost of hope that we needed. His tiny feet were crossed and tucked up under my right ribs (thanks for the bruising little one!) and his hands were in front of his face. He measured right on target for almost 30 weeks and that little monkey weighs 3 pounds 5 ounces already! They sent me home, back to bed rest and procardia with an appointment to see Dr. K next Monday. As long as I don't have bleeding or painful contractions - and stay on bed rest - we're hanging tight.

We drove home at 12:30am and I think we took what felt like the first deep breaths we've had in weeks. Our pregnancy with this wee one has made the two of us question the finite realm of science, while beginning to trust the infinite possibilities of faith.

And before I drifted off to sleep last night, all I could think about was that your prayers are working just as hard as my little body. And I'm thankful, truly, truly thankful for both.

When your wife gives you lemons

Yesterday the doctor gave us some encouraging news, there have been no changes since I was released from the hospital. He said I am responding well to the medicine and hopefully we'll remain like this for quite some time. I see him again on January 4th.

Then he told me I look like hell. What do you expect from a girl on bed rest with a cough,snotty nose and pink eye in BOTH eyes? He asked if I was taking plenty of cold medicine and Jeremy blabbed that I will only take half a dose. To which Dr. K replied:

"Do you want to cough out your baby?"

I explained that I was nervous to put all that stuff in my system and he reminded me that I am in my third trimester - my baby has ONE head and TEN toes and the only thing we're waiting on is for him to get bigger. So I've succumbed to being totally dosed up on cold medicine to avoid coughing out my precious little boy.

I'm sure most of you know this, but being pregnant and modesty do not coincide. The mere thought that I consent to having my cervix palpated every week despite the fact that I haven't shaved my legs since I HAVE NO CLUE WHEN. But Jeremy said that doctors see MUCH worse than amazon legs and he assures me I won't be judged. In my defense, I can't even see the tops of my thighs, let alone reach my ankles. And while our hospital stay was filled with lots of tears, we did laugh a little, mostly at my expense. We laughed about how my pee was being collected in a little hat and was on display for everyone to critique. We laughed about how the hospital gown was so big I could have fit two more people in there with me. Oh and I about laughed my baby out when Jeremy had to give me a shower! I sat on a stool in this really small shower with one of my hands covered in rubber gloves to protect my IV, so he figured it would be easier/safer if he just got in to wash me.

And if you're thinking that this is where the kinky part of the story begins, you are reading the wrong person's blog. Instead, the water temperature was totally messed up and would intermittently come out scalding hot and burn us while I screamed, "Hot! No, too hot, don't squirt me there!" Jeremy apparently has seen entirely too many Herbal Essence commercials and insisted on piling all of my hair on top of my head and scrubbing it wildly into a matted knot. But the worse part was when I had to pee, SITTING DOWN ON A GERIATRIC SHOWER CHAIR and he started dancing around yelling, "Not on my feet! Not on my feet!" We were laughing so hard we almost fell into the nurses call bar, which we were specifically instructed NOT TO TOUCH as it would send no less than five people rushing into the bathroom to crash our family scrub session.

Apparently my mom and our nurse were outside the door laughing at the sounds coming from our charade. And although it was a far cry from the steamy, romantic shower scenes in the movies - it was our way of coping, and smiling, and being together for better or for worse. Pee feet included.

I look like a pirate on bed rest

I had a dream the other night that I was six years old and my eye was matted shut with pink eye and I cried and cried for my mom to come bring me a hot wash cloth to melt the goo away. And then I woke up at 5:30am, with only one eye open and woke my husband to help me open my swollen eye.

After returning home from the hospital, I've developed quite the cold. Stuffy head, nose, ears and a terrible cough. Coughing only aggravates my already "irritable" uterus, so I'm doing everything possibly to avoid the gut wrenching hacks. The pink eye on top of everything else just brought me to tears. I needed drops for my eye but I knew if I showed up at the urgent care they'd take one look at my belly, see that I was being treated for preterm labor and send me straight to labor and delivery.

So we called my OB and primary care physician and by 7:30am Jeremy was back from the pharmacy with eye drops, cough medicine, and hand sanitizer. He hasn't been feeling good himself lately and on top of caring for me, he has to go to the hospital to finish up his radiology rotation. Thankfully we have lots of help from family and well wishes and support continue to pour in via phone, email and Facebook.

One day at a time is an understatement for us right now. Tomorrow we go back to Dr. K at 3:15pm to see if there has been any further progression or dilation. I am hoping so much that things are the same and I'll be here on my own couch for the holiday and not in the PICU with my exhausted husband sleeping on a rock hard fold out chair.

But each new day is another day that our little one is still growing inside me. For the last seven months, I've anticipated Thursdays as another milestone in my pregnancy - but now I sit here wishing for nine more pregnant Thursdays, wishing to be one more week closer. Our little ninja is still kicking away in there, so hopefully even though things are hard on the outside, he's warm and cozy in there for awhile longer.

Bumps in the road

I wish I had a fun, witty post for you today to make your heart smile or at least give you a good laugh over my boobs or pee habits. Unfortunately, today we're soliciting warm thoughts, prayers and chuckles from you.

I am 27.5 weeks pregnant - just into my third trimester, and as I've told you before my doctor is monitoring me very closely for preterm labor. We had an appointment two weeks ago and my cervix was high and hard (4cm). Today we were sad to discover it has shortened significantly over the past two weeks and is now 2.5cm and beginning to soften. This progression was seen as dangerous since our babe is still so small so I was put on full bed rest and on Wednesday morning I will have a cerclage put in (essentially sewing the cervix closed). This procedure is most effective during the 12-14 week mark in mothers with a history of cervical incompetence, but can be done later to prevent further progress. It's done in the hospital, I'll have spinal anesthesia and IV antibiotics (to prevent infection) and then they will monitor me and baby for contractions and hopefully send me on my way. I will be on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy, which means a quiet holiday at home and hopefully lots of thoughtful, optimistic blog posts.

This was very hard news this morning, tears were shed and I think I can speak for both Jeremy and I when I say we are sad and scared. We had our first glimpse of what it is like to make a decision on behalf of our child - and it was overwhelming and hard. We trust our doctor and want this little miracle to stay nice and cozy for at least 10 more weeks. We are thankful to have this option and I will do my best to take it easy to give our guy the best possible chance at survival.

The good news is:

My blood pressure is extremely low
I have limited to no swelling as of now
My uterus is still round and holding onto baby (no funneling)
I am NOT in preterm labor
We caught this early enough for intervention

The best news of all is that Jeremy is gearing up to pamper me for the next ten weeks and made me a batch of double chocolate cupcakes, which I think is a pretty good start. I'm going to take it easy, eat the cupcakes, and pray for our sweet little boy. I hope you will do the same. Cupcakes and prayer can't hurt any of us.

Doctor's orders.

Bittersweet

And no, I'm not talking about the massive amounts of chocolate I consume on a daily basis. I am happy/sad because tonight is my last night to teach spinning to a class full of sweaty overachievers. A beloved pastime that has helped me, get a free gym membership, be paid to work out, fit into my wedding dress, and make grown men throw up (sorry hun, I told you it gets hot in there).

A few weeks ago I started feeling some mild discomfort down by my lady bits. Mild as described by me as, "Well, it feels like a fifth grader kicked me in the crotch with a muddy soccer cleat." Like how can you possibly describe to someone that the BONE behind your LABIA is aching? Really? The joys of pregnancy.

I mentioned my encounter with said fifth grader to my doctor at my appointment last week. He checked my cervical length (um, uncomfortable much?) and said that considering my medical history,two cervical ablations in the past three years, he was thrilled with a high, hard 4cm cervix at 26 weeks. He then said he wants to be extra careful with me and watch for preterm labor so we'll start biweekly internal exams.

As he was leaving the room he told me to take it easy, to which I replied, "So is it still okay if I teach my cycling class?"

and his head started spinning around and around and then when it finally stopped and he pushed his eyeballs back inside of his head he said this:

And you're STILL doing that?!? Why, my dear, didn't we START OUT this conversation with that information? Of course that is why you are having increased pain in that area.

He then told me it was up to me and my best judgment as to whether or not I would keep doing it and then added, "We're not trying to be an Olympic athlete here - we're trying to have a healthy baby."

So, I used my advanced skills in deductive reasoning to conclude that, tonight will be my last class.

I'm already thinking about how soon I can get back into that cycling room after this little babe is born, but I want him to stay inside where it's nice and roomy warm for three more months. I don't want to do a single thing that would jeopardize the development of my sweet baby boy. Because although I've said a million times that I want him to have the biggest blue eyes and chubby cheeks that you've ever seen on a wee lad...

I'd settle for a nice big pair of healthy lungs.

17 weeks and I'm no longer a single mommy

Here we are at the seventeen week mark and we made it through the long two months apart and two 16+ hour car rides. I think our marriage is safe.

Today we went to see Dr. K and he gave me LOTS of sass. I'm getting the impression he thinks I'm a little nuts (pregnant moms have QUESTIONS?? WHAT??) but I like to plan ahead. It was great to have both of us at the appointment and we were able to hear the heartbeat on the dopler. Jeremy counted and told me it was around 150 beats per minute. We were both smiling really big. Dr. K says everything looked good and sat down to take on my pre-written list of crazy questions (I made Jeremy hold the list this time, so they looked like OUR questions). Here are my questions and the subsequent answers Dr. K gave me.

Q: How much Omega 3 do you actually need?
A: I don't know. Some is better than none, that's my motto!

[Kicker - then he looks to Jeremy and says, "Unless you have any more up-to-date knowledge about supplements from your studies that you'd like to share." HELLO?! HE'S NOT GOING TO BE A VAGINA DOCTOR! HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW BABIES WERE BORN WITH THEIR EYES OPEN - THIS IS NOT THE GUY WE'RE REFERRING QUESTIONS TO HERE PEOPLE!]

Q: What about back sleeping?
A: I prefer my stomach but that's just me.

Q: When can we schedule the anatomy scan?
A: 20 weeks is fine.

Q: What are you feelings about natural child birth?
A: It's stupid.

Q: WHAT!?
A: I'm just saying, if you want to bake bread, burn incense and float around in a bathtub - let's just say, I'm NOT your guy.

He always likes to lighten the mood because apparently I'm entirely too serious. He said there aren't specific recommendations for Omega 3 supplements by milligrams so the fact that I am taking 1 pill a day is fine. He said not to worry about back sleeping until about 24 weeks when the uterus can push on the vena cava and he said he is totally open to letting mom go without pain medication (just not all the granola, no monitoring type of stuff).

I'm not interested in granola, I'm interested in having options and experiencing the birth of my baby (more on this later I'm sure).

He left the room reminding me, "You're not exactly a big person and a baby is way bigger than what you're used to squeezing out of that area. Just something to think about."

My question to you Dr. K - What do I normally squeeze out of my AREA?

I'm starting to get a noticeable bump - good thing we're telling our parents this weekend!!

I'm still pregnant, 12 weeks pregnant

Tomorrow marks 12 weeks! Other than the occasional headache that I get once a week or so, and being tired, I'm doing really well. I just got back from a relaxing vacation in Mexico - but traveling back and hauling my luggage through customs was a lot for me.

I went to see Dr. K on Monday - he said everything looks great. Do you know I didn't even have to take my pants off? What kind of girl is disappointed when she doesn't have to get nekkid for the OB?? ME! That's who! After he palpated my belly, we had this conversation:

Dr. K: Do you have any questions or concerns?

Me: I still don't feel very pregnant. I even peed on another pregnancy test since I last saw you.

Dr. K: {laughing} Well you should save your money for diapers because there is a DEFINITE bulge in your abdomen that wasn't there before. You're pretty pregnant. About as pregnant as they get. You should consider yourself lucky that your first trimester has been this uneventful.

I guess just being that Jeremy is out of town and we haven't told anyone yet it's hard to be excited for myself, you know? Ugh! I am just DYING to tell my mom though. Every time I talk to her on the phone I just want to spill the beans. But we promised we'd tell everyone IN PERSON and TOGETHER. I just wish the first week in October would come sooner!!

Next week is my nuchal translucency screening, I might just get a picture of something that resembles a baby!

The doctor tells me I'm boring

Today was our first "official" OB visit and I'm SEVEN weeks pregnant. It was anti-climactic mostly because we already got to see our little pea on the ultrasound during the cramp freak out last week. Also boring because I make Dr. K's job easy.

Dr. K: Well, since I don't need to tell you to stop smoking or cut back on caffeine... what do you do anyway? Well, besides cycle?

Is this guy complaining about his compliant patient population? Just checking. But yeah, I haven't consumed caffeine in over three years and I don't smoke or drink. He did tell me to be careful cleaning out the cat box and be careful with my body temp while I'm cycling. But the take home message for the first visit was mostly to tell me NOT to have a 10-pound baby (yikes! apparently my pelvis is a bit small) and that my boobs will probably hurt for another month or so.

See you in 4 weeks!

Happily, my busy baby daddy DID make it to the uneventful appointment today. It was nice to have him there. He'll miss the next two, so I need to take really good notes. If they go anything like today, the notes will be short.

Very short.

In other news, I'm drinking sparkling water with a lime BY THE LITER. The fizz calms my belly. Also, the thought of eating ice cream makes me nauseous. I almost puked during a Sonic commercial. What is happening to me?? Is this really my kid?

Only time will tell...

Holy cramps!

Last Saturday I started cramping. On and off mostly, with no spotting. I'm up at all hours of the night, popping Tylenol and lying in a fetal position on the bathroom floor scared out of my mind that I am going to miscarry at any moment meanwhile wishing Jeremy would wake up and come lay with me for moral support. I think last night when he heard me climb out of bed he muttered, "wha? okay? hmm babe" {SNORE}. I'm pretty sure that translates to, "Oh babe, I'm so sorry, if I could carry our baby I totally would right now."

After a week of this, we decided I should call the doctor. My first OB appointment isn't until next week, so the nurse told me I should pop in, preferably within the hour, "just to be sure everything is okay."

Cue mental freak out.

I called J twice but he was in clinic, so I texted him and said if he could meet me that would be great.

When I got there Dr. K had a HUGE smile on his face, thrilled that Jeremy and I were pregnant.

Dr. K: Let's check this out and see what we've got here!

Me: Jeremy was going to try to make it but he's in clinic...

Dr. K: Trust me, this isn't the first time he's going to miss something.

Dr. K is great at reminding me that I married a doctor and all that goes with it. He used his magic wand to show me our little embryo which he said was a "perfect implantation, right where we want to see it and a strong little flicker [heartbeat] there too!"

Jeremy rushed in just as I was getting dressed,"I missed seeing our baby for the first time?" Dr. K congratulated him and said we did good. He also said with their first child, his wife had the worst cramping of her life and swore up and down that she was about to miscarry. Perfectly normal, and it soon shall pass.

It doesn't look like much but the poppyseed-sized heart was flashing away. And I have this...

6W1d
(the teeny tiny pea shapped blur is the embryo and the bigger circle is the yolk sack)