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!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
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!!
Go Mark!!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
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! :)
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.
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!
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! :)
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?
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