d The Family O

The Family O

A.K.A. *Don't* Leggo My Egg-O






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Monday, November 02, 2009

Unexpected

So here's what has surprised me about this version of pregnancy:

I'm very self-conscious. I always thought I would love the attention, love being "special." Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the excuse to have Co climb on the kitchen stepstool and let me sleep late. But I have found it very difficult to tell people that I'm knocked up. I couldn't wait to tell everyone when Co was pregnant; I chose the date (14 weeks) weeks in advance, wrote it in my planner, and leaked the news ahead of time to as many people as I dared. This time around I have only just finally managed to share the news with the world, at 20 weeks along.

On further consideration, it's actually characteristic that I would feel that way. As much as I often think I crave attention, I'm more of a behind-the-scenes-gal. I worked in radio production before I became a teacher, and you don't get much more behind-the-scenes than that.

Also, as I've mentioned, my body really hasn't changed, so it's easy not to mention. We have cute belly pix of Co starting at 10 weeks 5 days; I'm still not up to my first-pregnancy-appointment weight. I'd heard that redistribution is the pattern for us Large & Beautifuls, but still didn't expect it would be the case for me. I feel different -- it's not so easy to bend over, and I already have to pee a lot -- but even at the halfway point, my clothes are still loose.

In other news: we're signing the contract on our bigger, better apartment tomorrow! Then, it's on the to the coop board. Gulp.

posted by Lo @ 9:19 PM   2 comments

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Fertilitea: Sharing the Magic

This post is perhaps the most long overdue of all.

Back in June, the fabulous Bree made me the third fertility blogger to make use of the magic Internet Fertil.itea. There's no scientific evidence that my religious use of Fertili.tea leading up to my IUI helped me conceive so quickly (and Co, ever the scientist, is skeptical). But there's no evidence it didn't help, either. So please comment here (with email so I can get in touch) if you'd like to be the next recipient. There's plenty of magic left in the Zip.loc.

posted by Lo @ 9:49 PM   3 comments

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Bullets From A Neglectful Blogger

Alas, I don't actually know how to format bullets, so you get asterisks.

*Bobbie is fine. I had the nuchal back in the beginning of September and finally got to see the little bugger. Actually, I had two nuchals, because in my anxiety to get a look inside, I scheduled the first one just a little too early for comfort, and they couldn't get the right measurements. I was actually fine with that, because I was thinking of it as a viability scan anyway, and that it was! I didn't mind going back to check on a creature I knew was in there. Unfortunately, they couldn't get the right measurements the second time, either. No one came right out and said so but I suspected it was a fat thing (which my midwife confirmed). The doctor in charge of the testing assured me that everything looked fine, which I don't think he'd dare do if he didn't truly think so, so we have elected not to go ahead and get the quad screen. I haven't scheduled the Level II but it can be in two weeks, I think. OMG. (I'm a little worried about the fat thing and the Level II but the midwife said it shouldn't be as much of a problem because Bobbie will be bigger.)

*And on that note, everyone says Bobbie is a girl. "Everyone" being my sister and two of our friends. Before I conceived, I was convinced Jo would have a brother. Now I'm not so sure.

*Back to the fat thing: my midwife says I can gain 15 pounds from the weight I gave at my first appointment (um, I hate to tell her how much weight I can gain...). However, I am currently 8.5 pounds below that first-appointment-weight. My eating is still not back to normal (it's become pretty common for me to have mashed potatoes and salad for dinner). I am NOT complaining.

*Knock wood, spit spit, etc etc, we may have a bigger place to live! (And let me tell you, we need it.) We put an offer on a larger apartment last weekend and the lawyers are currently drawing up the contract. It's in the same neighborhood we live in now, a ten minute walk from our current place and still across the street from the park (and next door to the awesome ice cream place).

*In sad news, my mother's uncle died last week, and days later I got an email that my father's aunt has a pre-leukemic disorder. Uncle H. was 88 and Aunt A. is in her 90s. I grew up without grandparents so my great-aunts and uncles were the closest I had, and losing them is complicated.

*Jo continues to be the funniest, sweetest, smartest toddler in the world. He now takes gymnastics as well as his beloved music class, and he somersaults all over the place (he also does "seat drops" on our hardwood floors).

Here he is last weekend at his cousin Sam's birthday party:


And here he is at a Rosh Hashanah celebration in September:

posted by Lo @ 6:41 PM   8 comments

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Long-lost Co

So, I haven't been lost. I just haven't written in a blog entry in a long time. I don't actually manage to get on the computer much these days. I don't understand how other people do it, including Lo.

I was pretty stunned by the news of Lo's pregnancy even though part of me expected it. Her sister and mom are uber-fertile. And she has been (I say this lovingly) carrying on about how she is sure is infertile for months and months, despite no proof of that, and I have been telling her, "Watch, you'll get pg on the first or second try and then I'll have to smack you on the head."

So, I was right. I haven't smacked her on the head, but I do admit to being jealous of how easy the conception part was for her. I think I'm entitled to that jealousy, even as I acknowledge that my conception process wasn't as hard as many of my Internet friends'. My mother-outlaw was trying to get me to agree that it's oh so challenging and stressful for those women who get pg on the first try -- Lo's mom, Lo's sister, and now Lo -- cuz they don't expect it to work so quickly and it's such a shock and a stressor and blah blah blah. Nope. Sorry. None of you first-timers get my sympathy. It's harder and more stressful and for some of us, more drug- and side-effects laden and more expensive when it doesn't happen right away, thanks. It just IS.

That doesn't mean, of course, that Lo doesn't get my sympathy for her pregnancy symptoms. She has felt queasy and tired. She has been unable to eat normally... you know, mashed potatoes and white pasta kind of foods go down but lots of others don't. She has inexplicably become a most-of-the-time vegetarian as well. She did crave steak one night, but other than that, she's been a veggie mama.

As long-time readers know, we saw a swan with two cygnets while Lo was trying and we dubbed this the "swan try." Jo loves birdies and he calls them "bobbies." So, while Jo was "Flipper" in utero, we have decided that instead of a dolphin-themed moniker for this embryo, we should adopt a bird-themed one. Henceforth, this little emby is called "Bobbie," in honor of the bobbies that our toddler adores.

Lo is still not convinced she is pregnant. I get this even while I think she is being silly. I remember how I wasn't convinced I was pregnant either. I used to get my beta results and think, "ha, I'm so clever, I switched my blood with a pg woman's blood. I have everyone fooled." I used to imagine when I saw a sonogram that I was watching the DVD of some other pg woman's embryo. That couldn't be inside me. I couldn't be pregnant. But obviously, I was. And Lo is, too. Somehow it is easier for me to believe it for her than it was to believe it for me. I guess that isn't so surprising.

So, now when I see a tiny baby on the street, I point it out to Jo ... "Oh, Jo, look at the little baby." I want him to like babies. I know it will be an adjustment for him when he has a sibling, no matter what we do, but I'm sure he'll learn to deal. Lo and I are both the oldest of two children. We survived, despite regressing when our siblings were first born. So will Jo. (He'll survive and will probably regress a little, too.)

We're telling almost no one (just the whole freakin' Internet bwah ha ha, and Lo's sister and mom and our very closest friends). We know too many people who have miscarried. We don't want to tell and then have to un-tell. We will likely wait until the 2nd tri to tell most people IRL.

Meanwhile, we hope and try to trust that all is going along as it should in there and that Bobbie is growing and such. And we enjoy our time with our toddler Jo, who is talking up a storm these days and is obsessed with "an-mals", especially the red "pan-na" (panda), "di-raff" (giraffe), "el-funt" (elephant) and "yi-on" (lion). I am a little sad that he now says "yi-on" where he used to call them "ra ras" (cuz a lion roars--his first word actually), but I guess the littl'un is growing up.

Thanks for reading, those of you who are. Signing off now before the toddler wakes from his nap.

posted by Co @ 11:58 AM   9 comments

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Moving Along

Sorry for the time between posts. We are both still kind of stunned by this news. You hope it's going to work the first time, but it never seems like a real possibility.

It feels like limbo, too, because we don't have the reassurances we had last time: no betas, no early ultrasounds. I have a midwife appointment scheduled for about 9 weeks in. But at this point, I have no symptoms except possibly increased hunger. Who knows what is going on in there??

In other news, we're on our second of two weeks staying in a house in the "country" near my mom and sister. Jo is having a blast seeing his "Gabba" (grandmother), aunt, and almost-3-year-old cousin every day. Some visuals:

Cousins at the farm:

Cousins with bear statue (these bear statues are all over my sister's town this summer):


Playing basketball at Gabba's house:

posted by Lo @ 10:41 PM   7 comments

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Positive

So I didn't get my period, and I decided I would buy more tests if I didn't get it by Tuesday night.

Positive this morning.

I am floored. It's early, but oh my God, did I really do this???

posted by Lo @ 9:20 AM   38 comments

Sunday, July 12, 2009

BFN #2

Still negative. I am mostly okay with this. I had decided to be Zen about TTC the second time around. We are already moms to this fabulous boy, and our goal for age range is closer to three years. I am three years one month older than my sister, so I have until April until I surpass our age difference.

As many of you know, the actual process of TTC fucks with your head in a big way. It's hard to be okay with failure. But I think I am. I'll just keep trucking.

No more testing unless blood is late (I expect it tomorrow).

posted by Lo @ 10:29 AM   6 comments