Our first graduation

No more embryo, hello fetus! Although this is somewhat of a scary thought, the most critical window of development is now over and our little guy/girl has graduated from an embryo to a fetus. Tissues and organs are going to start growing like crazy and apparently the little over an inch-long creature is beginning to have little finger nails and peach-fuzz is beginning to grow on the skin. One cute little fact I read on babycenter.com: apparently its little hands now meet right over its little heart. Cute!

We're taking creative liberties with the name this week. Babycenter says that its the size of a Kumquat, but we can't call it a Kumquat (try to make a nickname out of that!), and What to expect when you're expecting calls it a Prune. While I may like prunes every once in a while - and I'll never forget Kendra's and my road trip in the fall of 2002 when we decided to have a prune eating contest, during a road trip (IDIOTS) - I don't want to call our little baby a prune. My husband has suggested a Walnut, because that's about the same size. I liked it because we can call it Wally, so Walnut/Wally it is this week!

We had a great weekend and I'm said it's over - it was busy, but then there was plenty of time to lay out by the pool and relax. It felt SO nice to relax in the sun and swim. I fell asleep so quickly both Saturday and Sunday night after full days and lots of fresh air, and it felt great. Now it's a busy, but luckily short week! With Friday off and the Lake Placid I love Barbeque Festival this weekend, we definitely have fun things to look forward to in order to push through the way too many projects that need to get done this week.

If you can't tell, I got a great night's sleep last night and I'm full of energy this morning. Three or so more weeks and I should be back to feeling like this for a while. Woo hoo!

Week 9 ... Olive

Not a lot of news coming out of upstate New York this week, but no news can be good news every once in a while. We had a fun time in Maine, Olive should be about an inch long, and with any luck, his/her tail should be gone. I'm still feeling tired, but that's to be expected for another three or four weeks, and then my energy should be back with a vengeance! I'm looking forward to that :-)

That's obviously not the only reason why I'm looking forward to life in three to four weeks - at that point, we should be pretty much in the clear that little Olive is going to come along. That means we can stop keeping this secret and start getting to work! I'm a planner, I'm excited to start thinking about the nursery and everything else that we need to work on before the end of January. It's going to be FUN.

Short post, but I need to get to work. More to come later in the week!

First prenatal appointment

I have to preface this post by saying that today was a lot less exciting than I thought it would be. I think part of it had to do with the fact that the doctor's office seemed to be running very behind, so my physical exam was put off until my next appointment (in four weeks - July 17 to be exact). What was left was providing a urine sample (to confirm I was pregnant), having my height, weight and blood pressure checked, and then talking about nutrition and any questions or concerns we had.

One very good piece of news came out of the hour and a half (most of that time spent waiting, either in the waiting room or in my exam room): I need to be eating ice cream! Based on my current height and weight, and my current very healthy eating habits, the midwife said I could probably use more fat in my diet. She also said I should gain between 30 and 40 pounds over the next seven months. 30 I can deal with, 40 sounds like a TON. I know I'm annoying when I say this, but I've never had to try to lose weight before - well, that's not 100 percent true. I had to lose a few pounds to fit into my wedding dress, but I've never been overweight and had to lose weight and I really don't want to be in a position where that's the case. Oh well ... this isn't about me, it's about Razzle and Razzle needs some mint chocolate chip ice cream tonight. I might as well enjoy it!

I did find out today what my next appointment will consist of: I'll have my first ultrasound where they'll date the baby (tell me exactly how far along I am, even though we have a good guess now) and we should hear a strong heart beat. The ultrasound should take about a half hour and then I have to have a typical annual physical exam (pap smear, etc). In the meantime, I will visit the hospital to have blood taken so that they can run some normal prenatal labs. I am very much looking forward to the first ultrasound! If I had had one today, I guess we wouldn't have been able to hear the heartbeat. I'm willing to wait for that :-)

This weekend we head to Maine, where my brother, his wife and their 17 month son are vacationing for a week from Colorado. We haven't told them yet, we've been waiting to see them in person, so that should be fun. Other than that, we're still keeping this news primarily on the DL ... five more weeks and then this can be public info!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get a bowl of ice cream.

Our first cold

Today is day three of having my first pregnancy cold - apparently they're a common occurrence because pregnancy makes a woman's immune system go down. This seems bizarre to me because I would think that my body would want to keep me as healthy as possible right now, but anyway, the fact remains that I am sick as a dog, and since little Razzle (the nickname we have for the Raspberry-sized, eight week embryo inside of me) is still in the first trimester, there's basically nothing I can take to relieve any of my symptoms. I've been drinking what feels like gallons of fluids each day and hoping that I can kick this soon!

Tomorrow is our first prenatal doctor's appointment and I'm very excited! I think I'll have my first ultrasound and there's a possibility of being able to hear the heartbeat tomorrow. Full post to come following the appointment.

We're also meeting with a financial advisor about life insurance tomorrow - now that Razzle is in the picture, we want to be sure that we're prepared for anything and everything. I hate to think about needing life insurance, it's such a grim thought, but life is not just about me or my husband anymore.

Gotta get to work!

Feeling great

It's a big day for me tomorrow at work and I've just finished practicing my slides for the last time - woo hoo! I'm ready to present this bad boy and then hit the road for home so that I can get a bridesmaid dress altered. As background, I'm in my friend Christine's wedding in July, and while I admit to not being a fashion guru, it is absolutely impossible for me to understand who on earth they have designed these dresses for. Even with my abundant bosoms, the boob compartment on this dress is HUGE. You could easily fit a couple more of my D/DD boobs in there with no problem. Other than that, the dress is cute. It's a pretty taupe color (European taupe to be exact) with an ivory sash, strapless, A-line, made of thick figure-forgiving material.

Even though I didn't sleep that well last night - I had weird dreams where I was living in a cartoon and having to rescue people - I think the adrenaline associated with a big presentation is starting to kick in because I've felt energized all day long. I haven't felt like this in about three weeks and it feels great! I'm sure I'm not in the clear as far as the exhaustion goes - everything I've read says that will last through the first trimester and I'm only seven weeks in - but I'll enjoy it and appreciate when I can get it!

I'm guessing it's because Blueberry is growing a little bit each day inside of me, but I've started noticing pregnant people everywhere. Just today, I saw half a dozen in and around Harvard Square in a very short amount of time. Since we would like to continue to keep Blue a secret for the next six weeks, I'm happy that I don't look pregnant and can therefore live in camouflage, but it also makes me wonder how many other people did I see today that are pregnant and just don't look it. I think my pregnancy radar is about as heightened as my sense of smell these days.

Tired in Cambridge

I'm writing this blog post from the Sheraton Commander Hotel in Cambridge, MA - it's a pretty nice room and the room service dinner I had was decent, but I never sleep very well when I'm traveling for work and this is not a great time to not get enough sleep. I can't look as tired as I feel when I'm with colleagues (I usually work from home, I don't think I've mentioned that to date) and I definitely found it a challenge today to be my usually perky self! My goal is to be in bed, lights off by 9. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, prepping for an important meeting with prospective clients and I need to be on my pre-pregnant A-game.

Bra shopping this weekend was successful! I bought three bras that I like and that are comfortable (two 34D's and one 32 DD). The DD was a bit of a shocker, but it's the prettiest one of the three and I definitely want to feel pretty these days, especially since it's easy to feel a bit like a hog with my gigantic breasts! I have to admit that I'm not looking forward to going up another size, which I'm hearing is likely. There aren't nearly as many pretty/sexy bras when you get up that big!

The little thing inside of me is as big as a blueberry this week and is sprouting hands and feet. My first doctor's appointment is a week from tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm hoping that they do an ultrasound so that we can see the spec that we've been imagining for the past few weeks! Thinking about all that has changed in the last few weeks leaves me speechless. We just hope that all continues to go well so that one day we can finally meet Blueberry!

So far, I've been lucky and haven't been plagued with any of the dreaded morning sickness. A few things have certainly changed though. I used to get out of bed in the morning, wanting nothing more than a cup of coffee. Starting this past weekend, I haven't wanted anything to do with it and haven't had a sip the last two days. Part of it could be the heatwave that we're experiencing, but even the thought of an iced coffee doesn't make me excited. Since I'm supposed to be limiting my caffeine intake, I'm actually happy that my body doesn't want what my husband calls the nectar of the gods. It's a relief, although I think my all day headaches for the last two days may be a direct result of this change of habit ...

May 3, 2008

Most people probably remember May 3, 2008 as a Saturday, and maybe more specifically, as the day of the 2008 Kentucky Derby. For us, it's the day we got pregnant.

It was pretty much a perfect day. We were in Palm Beach, FL for one of my husband's friend's weddings - we spent the day exploring the city of Palm Beach, enjoying the sun on a gorgeous, sandy beach, and then hopped on a trolley to attend a memorable wedding at a sculpture garden. The reception was back at the Colony Hotel and was a lot of fun , complete with drunken dancing and watching the dynamics of the five single people at our table decide who was going to end up snogging with whom (in the end, the old, balding, mustached stockbroker lost out).

We woke up the next day and went to brunch with the rest of the wedding goers thinking nothing big had happened. Yes, we were trying to get pregnant and yes that Saturday should have been around the right time, but did we think we'd had anything more than a good time? Definitely not. We were hoping that I was as fertile as Jamie Lynn Spears and as lucky as a leprechaun, but you don't go into trying to get pregnant with a huge amount of confidence. We just wanted to make sure that the process stayed fun and what would be would be. Luckily for us, a fun and relaxing weekend in Florida resulted in my current delicate situation :-)

Time to go bra shopping!

I have to preface this post by saying that I have reached a new level of exhaustion tonight. I've been tired for the last couple of weeks, which I read is completely normal for the first trimester, but today is different. I'm sure having been travelling for the last five days has played a big role, but keeping my eyes open and actually being productive at work felt like unachievable goals for much of the day. Luckily, the work day is done!

Ok, so now onto the real reason for posting - being six weeks pregnant and needing new bras. There's no doubt that my boobs have grown larger over the last couple of weeks, but I seem to have blossomed even further overnight, making my 34C bras look and feel a bit ridiculous. Bra shopping is one of my least favorite activities, but it's definitely a necessity for this weekend or else I'm going to be carrying two muffin tops under my shirt for the next several months!

The reason for this shopping trip is our growing little Lentil. He (I say "he" because Lentil sounds like a male name) should be about 1/4 inch long and growing eyes, ears and a nose. When I first found out we were pregnant, I signed up for weekly emails from babycenter.com, which provide me with updates on the developmental activity going on inside of me, including how big the little tike is (so we can determine the name of the week). This week's email:

The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

It's no wonder I'm tired! I'm growing bones for crying out loud!

Besides growing bones, ears, etc. this week, I'm also revamping my diet to make sure I'm getting what I need, including drinking a lot more milk and eating more fruits and veggies. I don't think I'm a terrible eater, but I think it's safe to say I could certainly be better!

One more thought before I sign off and get a bit closer to giving into these heavy eyelids - I promise that I will never ask a woman that I do not know if she's taken a pregnancy test. I was at a bachelorette party this past weekend for one of my best friends, and one of her soon to be relatives asked me that exact question when I said I was drinking seltzer because we were trying. It was in front of a bunch of people and the question was TERRIBLE for a couple of reasons. 1. I had to provide some sort of answer, which meant that I was continuing to lie to many of my close friends. 2. It felt rude, invasive, personal - I don't know this woman, what on earth (besides lacking social skills, manners, a filter) possessed her to even ask? Some people are just plain weird I guess.