11 weeks!

And we still haven't told yet. Oops! We were going to, but my MIL was scheduled for a last-minute surgery on Friday and we decided that drugged up on the couch was not the way to tell her she was going to be a grandmother for the first time. So, we post-pone again until this weekend.

The good thing about this hold up is that we have the NT Scan this Friday, so now we'll have a full update on how Lil G is doing when we announce, along with a nice new picture.

In general pregnancy news, I'm starting to feel pretty good. The morning sickness has subsided dramatically, and while it still shows up here and there, it's much more bearable. In fact, I'm now on day five of eating three full meals a day. That's a big step, believe it or not. :)

I'm also starting to get little pains and twinges in my abdomen. Some are sudden and sharp -- like when I sneeze -- while others are duller and hang around for the evening. The Co-Master of Google, my darling husband, has apparently done all the research that needs doing and has deemed this all totally normal due to my uterus growing, and since the baby books confirmed, I let him have the glory.

Lil G is now the size of a lime -- for some reason that seems like a big deal. Poppyseeds and peas are cute and all, but a lime, that's something you can hold in your hand. It's substantial. It's a baby!

And baby is starting to take up more room with its growing self. Behold, the first belly pics I am releasing to the world. I still think it's a little early for this as I look like I just ate an odd shaped cheeseburger, but I have been getting requests and I think it will serve as a good measuring stick for down the road when the real bump comes in. Enjoy!

10 weeks!

We have reached the quarter mark. So much done, sooooo far to go!

Yesterday I had my first "real" doctor's appointment where I got to see someone with a medical degree and actually get examinded. They tried to find the little one's heartbeat with the doppler, but no luck. I was totally bummed ... almost wish they had decided it was too early and not tried. They finally do agree with me now that I'm at 10 weeks and not nearly 12, so I guess that's good. I just kinda need constant confirmation that Lil G is ok in there and not hearing anything but static was not comforting. I spent the entire evening staring at my gut and demanding an update on how things were going in there. I then spent the entire morning dry heaving while trying to get ready, so maybe that's my baby's way of responding?

So now I need to wait until 1/30 at the NT Scan for some more information. Boo.

Still haven't told the folks yet -- those darn T-shirts are taking forever to get here. They should arrive this week, so I guess it's this weekend that we tell. Hearing the hb on the doppler would have made this so much easier. Ugh, I have to stop thinking about it.

So we're gonna spill

I mean, my doc and my boss and a random cab driver and a bunch of online gals know, why not everyone else?

Or, at least, our family?

We decided last night that the week of 1/19 is when we will tell. I went into full panic mode. Yikes! When we first found out I wanted to tell everyone, especially my mother. But now that it's been our secret for so long, and I kind of want it stay that way. Lil G is allllll mine, and I have no meddling people telling me what to do or how I should feel. Not that I think my family will be hard to bare, but I just like being in charge of this. It's my baby for heaven's sake!

I also feel like once we do tell, something will happen. Now, as a secret, if the worst did happen it would be me and DH dealing and we would be devestated, but make it through. With family involved...it would be a disaster. I cannot stand people hanging on me, and I would go nuts with all the pity and worry. I know we are at a point where we can slowly start feeling more confident, but I'm going to be scared till the baby is walking down the aisle for his or her diploma.

I also feel, strangely, embarassed. I'm scared to see people's reactions. I know I'm gonna run out of the room as soon as my mom and dad realize. I have no clue why, and yes, I'm a complete whack job, but I hate a stink and I just am gonna squirm!

But we have to share. It's only fair. And it's time. I'll be 10 weeks when we do, and I'm comfortable with that.

So DH and I are perhaps not the most creative of people, but we just ordered shirts for the grandparents to be. I think they're kinda cute, and I know my MIL will wear it to the local deli the next day and brag until she's out of breath.

Here's hoping I make it to 1/19. And that those grandmom and grandpops to be behave themselves!

Proudly introducing Lil G!

Ain't s/he adorable!?

OK, so it's not much to look at. But I swear I can see a head. DH is sure it's a boy. And to see that itty bitty heart flutter away on the screen (143 bpm) was simply amazing.

The U/S tech said everything looks right in order. Lil G measured about 7 weeks, 2 days, which works for me!

We celebrated seeing the peanut by having about 7 vials of blood drawn (yikes). But we do have a break on lab work now for about a month, when we'll see Lil G again during the NT scan.

Off to get ready .. we are having dinner with friends this evening and I need to plan my fake drinking attack. ;) Happy New Year, loves!

First official appointment

Quite possibly the quickest doctor's appointment of my life. It was a hot 10 minutes: here's the packet, here's the paperwork, here's the scans you can do, any questions? DH looked bewildered.

I think the biggest kick I got out of it was the nurse coming in and going on about congratulating us and how exciting everything is. Since we haven't told anyone yet, it was nice to finally hear it. Made it a smidge more real.

Christmas was great, and we got through with few hiccups. We walked into Christmas Eve dinner to an already tipsy cousin placing bets on whether we were pregnant or not -- fabulous. Thankfully, no one but her thought we might be and when I fake drank some red wine at dinner, even my MIL moved on from it. Christmas day at my parents' house I just drank water, and while I think my mom noted it, she didn't say anything. I fake drank some beers DH got from my brother to try and play it off. Who knew I could be such a great fake drinker?

NYE is just me and the hubs, so no worries there. And on Friday we have our U/S and should be able to see the little bugger and a heartbeat, so it's only a matter of time before we get to finally spill!

In other news, I'm in the middle of M/S hell and not enjoying it all that much. :) It's def a morning thing for me...I'm horrible all morning and then 11 am hits and I'm starving beyond belief. Dinner I'm usually just not hungry, but not as sick as the mornings. It's a pain, but in the grand scheme it's honestly not that bad. And, of course, totally worth it.

Third beta in

And I forgot to wrote the number down (I had to run into the hall at work and did so without a pen, sue me), but I know it was good. 11 thousand and something. Right on target, and again, I am much releaved.

The initial plan was to have a fourth beta done, but the nurse didn't mention sending me a script for it when she called, and I didn't remind her. Seriously, the numbers are great to hear, but I realize that another isn't going to to do anthing but make me anxious again. If something is going to happen, it's going to happen. No amount of tests are going to prevent anything. I need to start going on day by day, week by week, simply confident that all will be fine. Plus, the women at the lab were starting to recognize me.

The second U/S is still on, though, but not until next week now, 1/2. I'm totally fine with this, and we'll be able to see so much more by then. There will be a baby blob, and hopefully even a visable heartbeat. Oh, there I go getting all anxious again.

We also have an appointment on 12/29 at the doctor's office to do the medical history and such. It was supposed to be my first baby-related anything, so it's lost its luster a bit, but I'm sure I'll still get a kick out of it.

In the mean time, we are celebrating Christmas with family and just having a good time. Cheers to you all -- I wish you a fabulous holiday and a wonderful New Year full of all the health and happiness you can handle.

U/S Numero Uno

We saw....something.

It was just a little sack with a little sack within it. Not much to look at, but visual proof that yes, I am pregnant. I was so scared the tech was going to tell me there wasn't anything there, but tiny as that little blob was, it was our baby!

My doc, who has not seen me since my BFP, had told the tech that I was 6 weeks, 6 days since that's what they calculated from my LMP. Silly people. I had told everyone I spoke to I was sure I was at least a week behind that, but no one seem to listen to the girl without the medical degree. So, when the tech started the pelvic U/S, she was a little alarmed to see so little. The transvag delivered what we were looking for, but it's def a 5 weeker and not a 6. In fact, the machine measured the size at 5 weeks, 3 days - just one day off from my own calculations. Take that, people in scrubs.

In the end, though, since there wasn't enough of a fetal pole for the tech to confirm what the doc was requesting, they want me to do it all over in a week. EVERYTHING. The two blood tests and another U/S. Overkill? I think so. I have been spending more time in hospitals and doc offices than at work! But there's nothing wrong with having too much information, I guess, or contnually getting confirmation that Lil G is in there and growing. So more blood today, more blood on Monday, and another U/S next Friday. Oh, and there's Christmas in there somewhere, too. Whew.