Drumroll, please....

It appears that little Ziggy is ... a BOY!!

So, as you know if you've been reading this blog, WE'VE known with 90% probability that he would be a he for several weeks now from the blood screening test. But I wasn't totally believing it for a couple of reasons. First, I was pretty sure he was a girl (guess my intuition's off a bit), and secondly, 10% is a lot of room for error, at least I think.

But we're having a boy. And I can reveal to you one aspect of male behavior already. We went in for the ultrasound, and the technician said "well, I can't really see what it is, because the hand is covering it." She tapped my belly with the ultrasound wand a few times (he didn't want to let go of that thing!), but finally he revealed his jewels for us. So I can prove that a boy's fascination with his tool begins as young as 13-weeks of gestational age. :)

So it's probably a good thing that Ziggy is a boy - since I think Ziggy is more of a boy's name anyways. :) Just kidding, we will be giving him a different name when he's born (and we've already selected one). But I have to admit, he's just so Ziggy to me - it's hard to imagine calling him anything else. Although one new name did come to mind during our ultrasound. After the technician was finished showing us Ziggy's jewels (which are, btw, well photographed - perhaps I can use them in the future to embarass him when he's girlfriend is over?) she showed us some face shots. Now, you have to understand that an ultrasound doesn't show much detail - so we're looking straight on to a very skull-looking object (ie you can see the eye sockets, but now the eyes), then he started opening and closing his mouth. The technician was acting like that was very cute. All I could think of was "Skeletor" (from He-man I think?)

Here he is! This view is looking at him from above. You'll see his head, with his legs sticking out - and also his nice little boy parts. :)

Our own Skeletor!

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas/Hannukah!

A Good Day to Be Me

So yesterday was a really good day. Because THREE good things happened.

1. I don't have to go to Milan! Now I know for most sane people that does NOT sound like a good thing - but for me, it is an overjoying thing - so much so, that I called Mark when I found out and he said he hadn't heard me quite that giddy in a long time. There are quite a few reasons I don't want to go. First, it takes a heck of a long time to get there. And while my doctor assures me it is safe to do so, I am at increased risk of DVT - so I worry about that. And I also worry about something going wrong with the baby while I am there, and I'd have to find my way to a hospital and explain to a doctor in Italian, etc. Secondly, I still get feeling pretty miserable if I don't get enough sleep (which is about 9 hours per night for me now), and I don't constantly keep my stomach in the half-full state. I'm going to be working while I'm there, so I wouldn't have all day to wander from store to restaurant every time I thought I needed to eat something. Thirdly, the first two days I'd be there, I'd basically be on my own because the guy I'd be working with is tied up in meetings (we planned this trip a while ago before he knew of these, I guess) - so I'd be sitting at some table on my laptop all day long - which won't be ergonomically correct (I'm still sensitive to that) and frankly wouldn't have that much to work on - since I need this guy's input on the stuff I"m working on for him, and most of my normal work now is training my replacements (since I'm headed to a new job in a couple of weeks). Also, it's cold there and I don't have many clothes that would fit - so packing would be a hassle (I already hate packing for trips) - and I'd have to get laundry done while I was there. And finally, I really think traveling alone for business is NO fun - you don't have the luxury of getting lost, you have to find everything yourself (I'm awful with getting oriented in a new place), eat by yourself, and if you decide to go sightseeing, that's by yourself too. I'm a bit of an extrovert (wink), so all this doing stuff by yourself is no fun. Oh and finally (I know I already said that), I'd lose half of my weekend, as I'd have to leave Sunday (tomorrow) morning

Now that I've explained why I don't want to go in excruciating detail, I'll tell you how I got out of it. I've been working with this guy via conference call/ Netmeeting for the last couple of weeks, and have gotten a good amount of the work done. With his meeting on Monday/Tuesday, we'd only have two days together in the office - so I explained that it seemed like a lot of travel and cost (he has to pay for my airfare etc, plus I bill my hours to him as well - it's ExxonMobil funny money, but they take it very seriously nonetheless), and I felt confident I could complete the work remotely. He thought about it for a moment and then agreed! Yippee!!!! This was by far the best part of my day.

2. I gave a 4-minute speech to my entire division (a couple hundred people) during our year-end luncheon. And it went well!! I was asked to talk about my work on one of our recent safety initiatives and how it related to the objectives of the division. I'd been working on the speech for about a week, and pretty much could recite it in my sleep - which is necessary, because my brain pretty much turns off during public speaking. I got good comments afterwards, and people said I looked natural and calm (neither of which I felt - I hoped they couldn't see my hand shaking violently). On top of that, I had to speak into a handheld microphone - so it was something else I had to pay attention to with my non functioning brain. So yeah- that's done!! There were only two downers with the speech - one, the VP who I was supposed to "impress" was late, so he didn't hear the speech. And secondly, I got a hard question at the end - meaning I had no idea how to answer it (there were about 8 of us who gave speeches, followed by a Q&A) - and it wasn't fair, because nobody else got questions, except the VP - and I was the least tenured speaker. hmph! I was sitting next to the SH&E manager, and he offered to answer the question, which I quite happily accepted. So he stood up and began answering the question, to which the VP harassed him that I was supposed to answer the question. So I stood up and pretty much said I didn't know the answer, but perhaps Ray (the SHE manager) would like to field the question - to which everyone laughed (okay laughing - I know they all felt bad for me so they weren't laughing AT me). So Ray spent a couple of moments giving me an answer to recite back (which was totally obvious that's what was going on) - so I said "Let me see if I can repeat this accurately" (more laughter) and repeated his answer. I got a round of applause after I sat back down - so hopefully I didn't look like too much of a moron. But it stinks, because I nailed my speech, but then had to end on that note. Oh well. Still a good part of my day.

3. It's our division's custom to go home following the luncheon (not too many - actually ANY other customs like that) - so I got home at about 3 PM yesterday. Yeah!!! Our house is a pigsty (still haven't managed to do much productive once I get home from work) - so while Mark hung Christmas lights (yeah!) - I did a gazillion dishes while listening to Christmas music and drinking apple cider. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon (beats sitting behind my desk - AND I got to start the weekend with a clean kitchen).

So anyways, I thought I would share with you the joys that happened on Friday.

And finally, I am now officially in the second trimester - which all sources I can find promise to be a happy and magical place. So I am expecting the next three months to be full of bliss! I'll let you know how it goes! :)

Oh - one more thing - we've decided to go through the last round of genetic testing - which will take place a week from Monday - and it includes an ultrasound where we'll hopefully get to confirm Ziggy's gender. So once we see what kind of plumbing this baby has, we'll share the news! Think good thoughts about Ziggy's brain and spinal cord - because that's what this testing is for. :)

Have a great weekend!

Comments Fixed

Okay, so I finally figured out that my settings were set to only allow G-mail users to post comments. Now, I think anyone should be able to - so please let me know if you are reading my blog! I know I'm mostly writing it for myself, but I'd love to know if anyone besides Lara is reading it! :) Thanks for being a consistent reader, Lara!

Third Month of Pregnancy

I haven't updated my blog in a long time, and a lot has happened since my last post, so I'll try to remember all the items of interest over the last two weeks:

Mark's Audition
First, non-pregnancy related, Mark made it to the finals of the Chicago Symphony audition! He actually had to play three rounds to get there. First, he played the pre-lims (per previous post), then he played the semi-finals, and was asked to come back after he played and play a couple of more excerpts. From there he was passed on to the finals. Now, he didn't win the job, but he did amazingly well. There were a handful of people who were passed immediately to the final round without auditioning (principles from other major orchestras and such). Of the folks who had to start out in the prelims (about 100-120 people), only two made it to the actual final round to compete against those automatically pushed to the finals - one of whom was Mark! As you can tell, I'm rather proud. :)

Work
So in my last entry I mentioned that I was going to tell my boss - and I did end up telling him that Monday. I wanted to go to lunch, and tell him in a less sterile environment - so I asked if he was free for lunch that week, because there was something that I wanted to talk with him about. He wasn't, and then like two hours later his admin called me to his office to have the conversation! It made it feel like I was going to talk to him about an assignment, or get him to review some work or something. He was sitting at his desk, and I sat in the chair across from him. Not the way I wanted to tell him, but it went fine. He was really surprised, but I think he knew he needed to act happy - although later he sort of warned me not to "throw him another curve ball." He was kidding - but I think it reveals how unused to accommodating pregnant women ExxonMobil management is.

So the part I was most worried about looked like it would come true for the next few days. I had told him because I didn't want to travel to dangerous parts of the world while pregnant, or while having a newborn - and it was good I told him, because the job he was lining up for me was in Angola and would require travel there. But then he sort of made references like I could just stay in my current job. I am SO bored with my current job, so that was the last thing I wanted to hear. He said he would go ahead and talk to the group I would have been moving to, but didn't think they would want someone who can't travel. But lo-and-behold, it worked out after all! I had an interview with my new manager that Friday - and later that day he gave the thumbs up to hire me. It was sort of funny, because I was trying to dress to look as un-pregnant as possible, so that he would still want me for the job. It was weird - I almost felt like I should apologize for being pregnant. The project I'll be working on doesn't require travel yet, because the actual construction is a ways off. And if it does, Randy promised to find someone to travel in my place. So starting January 1, I'll have a new job!! Yeah! I'll be the safety advisor for the Africa Deepwater Gas Gathering Project - Angola Block 15. :)

I am a little nervous how the whole maternity leave will work out. I get 11 weeks leave (not actually maternity leave, it's disability leave, and the amount of time you get is based on your tenure with the company), but by company policy, I can take a 6 month unpaid leave of absence, and work part-time for up to 2 years. Being able to use these policies is up to manager discretion, though, so whether I can actually use them is still TBD.

Ziggy's Gender
We actually know with 90% accuracy whether we're having a boy or girl! But because it's only 90% accurate, we've only told our parents. We'll let the rest of you know when we actually see what kind of plumbing Ziggy has. The reason we found out is that we went ahead and did the genetic screening test that checks for chromosomal abnormalities - and since they test the baby's DNA through the mom's blood for that, they throw in a gender test for free. All the tests came out good - although I don't know if I'd actually go through those tests again the next time - because of the follow-up tests you have to have if something comes out looking abnormal. The first round of tests just included a blood test and an ultrasound.

So, yes that was ultrasound number 3 for Ziggy, and the ripe young age of 11 weeks! They looked at the thickness of the back of his/her skull, and then spent a while making Ziggy dance for us. It was really quite amazing. I had read that the baby is busy swimming around in there, but still I always imagined he/she just sat there. So during the ultrasound Ziggy was moving a little, but what I thought was neat, was when the technician would tap on my belly with the ultrasound want (yes, this was an on-the-belly ultrasound - SO much nicer!), Ziggy would sort of kick/jump. It made him/her seem so much more human since he/she reacted to "someone jumping in her pool" (that was how the technician put it).





Big Fat Mamma
Just kidding. I don't actually feel that fat. But I'm having great fun watching my belly grow! The frustrating part is definitely the clothes, though! I tried to get maternity clothes, but my belly's just not big enough. A few weeks ago, I got a pair of pants that are a size larger, but most pants that are big enough to fit my belly, look frumpy on the rest of me. I went shopping on Saturday with a friend who is due 6 days before me, and at least got a couple of bras (Thanks Christina for recommending A Woman's Work!), and then I went later to JC Penneys and found a couple of 0-9 month pants that actually fit! I got a pair of work pants and a pair of jeans. The jeans have a band of stretchy cotton at the top - and are SOOOO comfortable. It's nice not having to close them with a rubberband. In fact, I think they should make the banded pants for non-pregnant people too!! So, I'm feeling much less stressed out about clothes now. It's seriously tough to find anything to fit in this in-between stage!

So here's a picture of me at 3-months. I love having a little belly to show now - even if it means I only have two outfits that fit!

Ziggy Graduates

And another member of my family deserves congratulations. Ziggy has officially graduated from embryo to fetus. Go Ziggy! :)

I am so excited that I only have 3 more weeks of the first trimester. Because I know on the very day that I begin the second trimester, the moodiness, tiredness and nauseousness will all magically disappear. Right?!

It's been a fairly uneventful week. The nauseousness is definitely much more under control, although it seems to sort of skip around now when it hits. Mornings are usually pretty good , but every time I eat I get sort of wiped out. And I haven't actually felt like barfing for a couple of weeks, so that's nice.

I think I'm going to tell my boss this week that I'm pregnant. Wish me luck! I would sort of prefer to wait a little longer, but I'm taking off most of next week for Thanksgiving, and then am headed to Milan for 2-3 weeks right after that. My boss is looking for my next position for me, and while I'm pregnant, I would sort of like to limit travel to, say, Africa - so I think he should know.

Anyways, I hope you all have a fabulous week! And if you are reading this blog, leave me a comment! I'd love to know who is checking it!

My Husband, the SuperStar

So I know this doesn't have to do with Ziggy, but I am so proud, I have to mention it. Mark auditioned for the principal percussion position with the Chicago Symphony last Monday, and advanced to the semi-finals!! This is quite an accomplishment because (a) this is a huge job for a percussionist(one of the best in the country) and (b) he auditioned with about 120 people (these are the ones who made it past the resume screening) and they only advanced about 15 people. He goes back for the semi-finals next Monday (11/2o), so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Go Mark!!

Reverse Order

So for those of you who are new to blogs, posts get added with the most recent on top. This blog will make the most sense if you start from the bottom (first) post, and read upward.

Enjoy! :)

Second Month of Pregnancy

There's a lot more to talk about for the second month of pregnancy. I actually just finished my second month (woo-hoo), and now begin the third month. I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant (just a reminder: Ziggy's only 7 weeks in existence - remember the two-week freebie?)

Nausea
Week 6 is when the nausea settled in. Not fun. I actually think my friend Lara gave it to me, as she is also pregnant and nauseous. She and her family came to visit at the end of my 5th week of pregnancy, and the day she left I started feeling nauseous. I suppose that's ok, because I'll get her back. We're visiting her when she is 8.5 months pregnant, and Mark and I have this amazing ability to induce labor in our friends. We're two-for-two with friends recently, both of whom went into labor within hours of visiting with us. So I just hope she's prepared to give birth as soon as we leave. :)

So it's hard to explain how yucky the nausea is, and I'm guessing mine isn't/wasn't even that bad. I had it hard-core for about two weeks -this past week it's been more manageable. I think part of the reason it's so yucky, is that it's not just nauseousness you're dealing with. You have to mix it in with fatigue and moodiness. I think it's as emotionally tolling as it is physically. I would sit there on the couch, too tired to do anything and if I did get up to do something, the nauseousness would get stronger. So I would sit there, half-bored and feeling useless and like I was just wasting lots of time when I could be doing something productive. Like I said, being at work is easier, because I have to get things done, go to meetings, and have people to interact with. The weekends were/are harder because I'm less distracted. It's also hard because Mark and I have been so busy on weekends fixing up our house, which I love doing. The last month he's been super busy with work/auditioning, and I can't do a lot of the projects by myself even if I had the energy. So I went from go-go-go types of weekends to sitting there on the couch. I have a tendency to catastrophize, so I would just make myself feel worse by thinking about how badly I felt, and I was sure it was never going to get better, and I was just going to go on merely existing in this crumby state. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's how I felt. It's still a little depressing on Sunday nights when I realize how little I accomplished on the weekend. At least tonight, I'll know that I've started this blog. :)

Weight
So many women I know lose weight during their first couple months of pregnancy. Not me. I'm guessing based on how I'm starting, that I'm going to be huge. I'm already starting to insulate myself. :)

Now it's hard to say just how much weight I've gained so far. The doc says six pounds (that was at my 7-week appointment), but that is since my last normal check-up in April. And since then, we've remodeled our kitchen - which involved lots of convenience foods - so I'm guessing some of the weight went on then. Although, I was exercising a lot during that time, so maybe not? But here's the thing. When I get really hungry, I get nauseous. That's just me normally - not just in pregnancy. So when I feel nauseous throughout the day, I think I'm hungry, and that eating something will help. So I eat a lot in the hopes of feeling better. I'm always surprised when that nauseous feeling is still there after I eat.

Eating is rather stressful too. Even with eating all the time, it's still hard to fit in all the nutrients that you are supposed to get when you're pregnant. Pregnant women are supposed to get 150% the amount of calcium a normal person gets. That is a lot. And I'm even a milk-drinker. And you'd be surprised how little calcium lots of food actually provided that you would think otherwise. Cottage cheese for instance - 1 serving only gives 6% - and that's 6% for a normal person! Eating all those fruits and vegetables is also daunting. I'm trying to do my best, but I take comfort in knowing that there's lots of healthy babies out there born to junk-food addict moms. I have cut down on my Whataburger intake, and totally cut out the Mountain Dew. Actually, the soda cut-down has been much easier than I thought it would be. I don't have too many cravings, but instead have had some food aversions. Not such strong aversions that I think I might yack if I ate something, but rather more subtle aversions, such as soda doesn't sound all that good most of the time (it used to sound good ALL the time). Likewise my sugar tooth has decreased quite a bit.

Doctor's Appointments
I've had two so far. The first was at the 7-week point. I like my Dr a lot. She comes in the room to talk while you are still dressed (ie before putting on the gown), and then leaves for you to change before she comes in for the exam. She's actually pregnant herself - due in January. Which means I'll have a different doctor for a couple of months in there, but I think that's okay. Mark came to the appointment too. It was fun having them there, although a little weird when she actually did the exam part (not used to having an audience). Although, it wasn't really an exam, just an ultrasound.

And here's the part where I get mad at my friends who have already had babies. No one told me how they do this first ultrasound. It's a vaginal ultrasound. So yes, they take a picture by inserting a device. Yuck. I dread my well-woman appointments for like 6-months before they happen. And then there is this, with no warning. None of those movies or pictures ever show an ultrasounds being taken this way. They are always on top of the belly with everyone smiling. Liars.

The ultrasound itself was pretty cool. Ziggy just looked like a bean, but the doc pointed out the fluttering in the middle, which is his/her heart beating. That was neat to see. And she said that once you see the heartbeat, there's less than a 5% chance for miscarriage. That was also reassuring. Her equipment wasn't sophisticated enough to date the pregnancy, so we went in for another appointment this past Monday with the radiologist who took another ultrasound (yes, that way!). During this one, though, she was scoping everything out - checking out the ovaries, etc. It took a long time and was rather uncomfortable. But we did get our first picture out of it:

I have a couple of weeks off until my next appointments. I have an ultrascreening appointment on 11/20 (I have mixed feelings about whether to do this - more about this later), and then my normal 4-week check-up with my doc the next day 11/21.

Here's the two-month pictures. You probably won't notice any difference, and in fact I was surprised that I don't look very different. I definitely feel like I've got some extra belly (whether that's just extra insulation, though I can't tell), and many of my pants are too tight. Granted they were snug before, but now I just can't wear them.

And for those of you that think it's just your belly that changes - not so. My chest has also gotten bigger, and I've always been self-conscious about "chesty" shirts, which makes it even harder now! My button-up shirts seem to pull at the chest, and my sweaters are getting snugger there too. Oh well, I guess it's all part of the game. :)

There - I think I've covered everything I wanted up to this point. Stay tuned for more updates!

1st Month of Pregnancy

Look at me go! I'm in one of those rare productive moods, so I figure I will just keep blogging away. I'm usually distracted enough at work (by work that is - distracted away from feeling yucky) that I'm pretty productive. But at home that's another story. At home, all the work seems optional, and the couch always seems the more attractive option. Mark can attest to that, as he doesn't seem to agree that all the dishes can pile up for washing on Saturday. I did actually help him with dishes twice this week. That was a pretty productive week for me. :)

So month one. For those of you who have already had babies, or know anything about pregnancy, you're going to be thinking "duh" to many of my revelations. But now that I am the one who is pregnant, this is all quite fascinating to me. The first two weeks of month one are freebees. Somedays I wish there were more of those! You start counting your pregnancy from your last period, even though you're not actually pregnant until two weeks later. This helps, because the first weeks of pregnancy seem to go s o s l o w. So by the time you know you're pregnant, you are just about 1 month pregnant (It takes a couple of weeks of pregnancy before you can take a test). The first month of pregnancy didn't bring on too many symptoms. For the most part, sleepiness was the big one. And some moodiness. Little did I know the moodiness was just beginning. :) Nonetheless, we celebrated with a one-month picture when I hit the mark. Pretty much just me, but it's a starting point to document how much my body will change...

Ziggy's Conception

First, the name: Ziggy. Can you figure out where it came from? Zygote! Now granted, Ziggy was only a zygote for a moment (definition: fertilized egg, before it begins to divide), but he/she'll always be Ziggy to me. Similar to how parents say their adult children are still their babies. We're just starting the sentiment before Ziggy's actually born. Don't worry, we'll give him/her a real name after birth. :)

So, yes, Ziggy was planned. It's the question everyone always wants to know, and one that I'm always impolite enough to ask, so I thought I should actually answer it. We've been planning for Ziggy for almost exactly one year. I'd been using birth control pills since we've been married (5 years up to the point when I stopped using them), and I wanted plenty of time to get them out of my system, since I'm not a very patient person. :) Plus I read a book on the Fertility Awareness Method which really intrigued me. Basically, you get to know your body and your cycle really well - the method is used as birth control, and also for those trying to get pregnant. We used it for both - and it worked perfectly! The month we decided to first "try" was the month we got pregnant! It was actually somewhat spontaneous though, as my cycle had become more irregular due to the fact I was training for a marathon. I decided to quit training for the marathon for that reason, and the month we conceived was a very long cycle - I didn't ovulate until 4 weeks after my period. I was really glad I was charting, because this was confusing to the doctors, who thought Ziggy was awfully small based on my last period. But when I went for the "dating" ultrasound, we were right on target! The doctor gave us a due date of June 8 - only one day off from my estimate of June 9. Not bad! But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's time for the next entry.

Here's a picture of the second pregnancy test. We took the first test 2 days after my missed period. There was a very weak line that didn't show up well in pictures. We read the directions and understood that you were either pregnant or you weren't, but we decided to withhold judgement since the line was so faint. This second test which we waited to take until 1 week after the missed period re-assured us that I was actually pregnant!

Just kidding, I'm excited!

True Confessions

So, I'll admit the real reason for this blog is that it's easier than creating a scrapbook. I'm now two months pregnant, and about a month ago I bought this cute little scrapbook with the intention of documenting my pregnancy so that (a) I would remember it in years to come and (b) I could share it with the baby when the baby is an adult. I have been especially lately fascinated with what my parents were like when they were younger, what it must have been like to have my sister and me, etc. So I thought a scrapbook would be a nice thing to make. Thing is, I don't actually think scrapbooking is that fun. Having a scrapbook is fun. Making it - not so much so. So this is my shortcut. I can easily type, post pictures, etc AND communicate with my friends, since I'm such a bad emailer. But I apologize in advance, this blog is created for selfish purposes, and as such the content is likely to mostly be tailored as a scrapbook - so may not be totally interesting to you.

But you may enjoy nonetheless. I know I immensely enjoy the blogs of the few people I know who actually do blogs. And I encourage more of you to start ones! :)

Test

So this my first time trying to write a blog. Let's see if I can post text...



... and a picture. Here's a picture of Will in his halloween costume. He's a tourist. And in this picture he's a tourist at Disneyworld whose day has NOT been going perfectly, and he spent $50 per person just to get his family in this place, so he is angrily assaulting a cast member.

Who knew dogs could act?