Ho-hum

Nothing much to report these days. Some heartburn. More nausea than before but today that seems to have gone away. Tired tired tired. Girls are killing me. I'm trying not to worry so much which is helping. Still, I can't wait for my appointment 2 weeks from now. Seems like such a long time. I just want to hear that little heart beating away again. It was a truly awesome experience. And I mean that not in the "right on, awesome dude!" kind of way, but rather in its traditional meaning ... an event that inspires awe.

Last night I had my first "gender" dream. I dreamt very vividly that I gave birth to a baby girl who immediately started talking and asking me why I was not using skype as I took a picture of her with my cell phone. Apparently she's a smart little cookie!!!

I try to be a positive person and count my many blessings. So here is the first installment of Things I Am Thankful For:

My incredible husband. I am so fortunate to be in love and after all this time too he still likes me. Amazing.

My incredible in-laws. Apparently they still like me too. I REALLY lucked out there with all of them (extended in-laws included).

My incredible family. If I go in-depth here I'm going to start crying (and since I'm writing this at work, probably not a good idea).

I got a free day off for producing massive amounts of work.

My housecleaner is coming today (Tatiana to the rescue!!).

Tomorrow is my day off.

I'm pregnant!!

And I haven't gotten sick yet!! Yay!!

You are getting verrrrryy sleeeeeeeepppyy...

Fatigue. I didn't know it could be this bad. It just hit over the past couple of days and it's been KILLING. ME. I know, I know, I can hear all the moms out there going WAIT TILL THAT LITTLE BUGGER IS BORN!!! But he/she is not born yet and I can still sleep in on the weekends. And I really need to. This is bone-crushing fatigue that I've only experienced during jet lag. And I don't even have the pleasure of being in Europe.

I'm also in copious amounts of pain, most of it of my own making. Aside from "the girls" KILLING me which has been a constant since I found out I was pregnant, I slipped on a ramp at the post office the other day and pulled a left shoulder muscle trying to steady myself. (damn ghetto ramps at the post office, what the hell do they expect people in wheelchairs to do?!? slalom right into the PO boxes?! eeesh!) So that hurts. And then yesterday I bashed my right elbow into the car door at whole foods and it's been letting me know its frustration with that ever since.

So in short, I'm super tired, but all the upper body pain keeps me up at night. Dammit, isn't this supposed to be the time when I can catch up on my sleep that I will never get again for 20 years as my dear mother keeps reminding me?

On a counting-my-blessings note, I am still not sick, thank GOD. I hope it doesn't come on late.

My next appointment is July 3. It's my first appointment with my new obstetrician, Dr. Susanne Bathgate at GW Hospital. (yay i'm giving birth at GW!! whoo hoo!) I am a little petrified that I am going to get there and they are going to tell me something has gone wrong. It's still the 1st trimester and anything can happen. I don't think it's a totally irrational fear, because in my heart I really think that this little guy or girl is going to be just fine, but still ... I worry. I think a major part of it, though, is being totally spoiled because my old doctor, Dr. Sacks monitored me so closely (I had THREE ultrasounds in two weeks!!) and now I have to wait almost a month between my last appointment with him and my 1st appointment with Dr. Bathgate. Wish I had a time-speeder-upper ...

Oh and I have an NT scan scheduled for July 7. At that one, they will definitely do a sonogram (yay!). They are measuring the back of the baby's neck to see if it's abnormally big, because apparently that can sometimes be a marker for chromosomal abnormalities. And they are also running a major genetic screen with loads of bloodwork. I know it will be fine, but for me, that will be the last hurdle to overcome before we can finally share our big news with the world.

First Post

So I am 7 weeks pregnant with our first child!! We are so excited but trying to stay a bit cautious. The reason we haven't announced it to the whole world ... aside from the whole unwritten 3-month rule ... is because it's been quite an eventful first trimester so far, not always in the best of ways. I won't go into the down & dirty here, since people may be grossed out, but if you want to know, email me. Everything seems to be fine now though, thank God, and I can finally relax a bit.

So here's the deal: Found out May 18 at Mary Jane's apartment in NYC. (Yes, I was traveling with a pregnancy test. Sue me.) Things went great for a couple of days then quickly appeared to go south ... it really looked like I was going to lose it, but after a zillion blood tests, it became obvious that it was, in fact, sticking around at least for the time being!!

I first saw our baby (or what would eventually become our baby) on ultrasound at 5 weeks 1 day. I was so relieved to see ANYTHING at all, and in the right place too. Here's his/her pic from then:



Will said it looked like a chocolate chip, which it totally does.

Things went along and then around 6.5 weeks, guess what I started spotting AGAIN. Gahdammut!! Thankfully I had the most incredible understanding doctor in the entire world who agreed to give me a sonogram just to set my mind at ease. Everything looked fine, and at 6 weeks 2 days I got to see its little bitty heart beating away!! I cried my eyes out. Pic of Potato Chip to come.

Today (June 11) I had my regularly scheduled ultrasound, and I got to hear a nice strong heart beat of 130BPM!!! My doctor, who happens to be a reproductive endocrinologist (I've had endocrine issues in the past) said everything looks fantastic and has released me to an obstetrician. Although I got an appointment with a woman who is supposedly one of the best in DC, I am so incredibly sad to leave Dr. Preston Sacks's practice. If anyone from DC is reading this, Dr. Sacks and his staff are hands-down the best health care providers I have ever been to. I will really miss them. But hopefully I like my new OB. My first appointment with her is on July 3!

Here's today's ultrasound picture. Sorry for the crappy pic, I had to take a picture of it with my cell phone.

Apparently I'm giving birth to a triangle!



In case you're wondering, I feel fantastic. No morning sickness at all!! Whoo hooo!! I do have dizzy spells every so often, and slight waves of nausea but never feel like i'm going to puke. Thank God, too, because the bathroom at work is a good 50-second walk from my office. I'd never EVER make it. A little tired at times. I'm also on a truckload of progesterone supplements (600 mgs of Prometrium a day) since my progesterone was dangerously low earlier, and those contribute to my fatigue.

Poor Will has got to be asking himself who I am and what have I done with his wife ... "old" Simone would never EVER have fallen asleep on the couch during a Red Sox or Celtics game but that is pretty much par for the course for now.

I am elated but scared to death. I don't know thing 1 about pregnancy or motherhood. You think you do when so many of your friends have been pregnant, but when it's your turn, you find yourself incredibly daunted by what you've just done to yourself and to your life. Don't think that I am not thrilled, because I am, but I damn near fainted when I actually saw those two pink lines on a test. (Ask Mary Jane, she'll tell you all about it). These are uncharted waters into which I've hurled myself and my husband with no preparation or swimming lessons. Eeeek!!