Tuesday, April 28, 2009

heartburn relief

I read that a handful of almonds would help a tough case of heartburn, and the pregnancy books were right. I can't believe how right they were. Spicy foods, here I come. :)

everything's going swimmingly

The numbers from yesterday's bloodwork were better than expected: 1077.  Next Friday we have our first ultrasound at 2pm, and from there we will likely be released to my Obstetrician.  Wow.

:)  good day!

Monday, April 27, 2009

in lieu of beta results...

I thought I'd update you on my hair, because hair is just so darn interesting.  My hair has stopped falling out altogether.  (we have a little hair trap on the shower drain, which I normally have to clear daily.)  If you're not familiar with this strange occurrance, elevated estrogen levels cause hair to remain on your head longer than it does for the average bear.  Not a bad side-effect!  :)

The lab apparently messed up and forgot to run my bloodwork today, so I'm just a ball of nerves all over again.  I'm sure things are fine, but the possibilities coupled with the nurse's response to my name: 'Oh, I'm so sorry, Susan' were enough to kill me.  She was only apologizing for the lab's delay, of course.  If only the baby would send little emails every few days; tell me what's  going on in her life, what she's seen in town, that sort of thing.  For now, I'll wait for the ultrasound that we should have in the next week.  *sigh.

just another manic monday

Saturday's numbers were right where the doctor expected them. - 442.  I went again this morning, and the doctor said that hopefullly after today we'd send me for an ultrasound.  I still don't think it's truly hit me yet. 

What has hit me is this weather!!!  It's been in the eighties for days now, WE TURNED OUR AIR CONDITIONING ON IN APRIL.  So bizarre. 

I'll update with numbers when they come in today :)

Friday, April 24, 2009

between appointments

I have realized that all that anxiety of the dreaded TwoWeekWait is not a precursor to horrible things for nine months-- at least not yet.  Life has gone back to almost  normal, except that I don't need to be nervous about periods starting or whether the test will be positive when I get home like it was on my lunch hour.  I'm trying out this new thing I read about called 'patience'.  I don't think I've had it before, but I'll tell you how it goes.  Basically, we go about our lives, with fewer trips to the local pubs, and time passes. 

I am reminded often that things can go wrong, though.  I read several blogs of women who are, or recently were trying to conceive, and two of the few I read have had miscarriages in the first trimester and have since stopped blogging.  I have also read that once we hear that heartbeat, our chances for miscarriage go down to 2% -- which I misread the first time as 'chance for miscarriage reduces by 2%', which I didn't think would reduce my worry much at all.  So we're biding our time for the next few weeks, informed about what could happen, but optimistic and shopping and picking baby names.  (And, I realize that last sentence just negated any pragmatic feel I was hoping to inject into this post.)

Last night, we saw This American Life LIVE!, and it was absolutely terrific.  The show we saw at the theater will be broadcast on NPR either next weekend or the following weekend, and it was unbelievably entertaining.  Ira Glass was very funny, making jokes with the audience as well as the guests.  We saw sad stories, funny stories, love stories...  My favorite might've been Joss Whedon, who showed us his songwriting skills on the piano, while talking about how people pick apart movies far too much in DVD commentaries.  All in all, a terrific show, and well worth the money spent for a night out.  And, of course, I got to have the ever-important theater popcorn. 

Tomorrow is the fourth beta test, and we should know more then. Yey!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

betas are back (again)

hCG is 163, Prog is 62.6.   She says that they usually send people for an ultrasound after the hCG hits 1,000, but she's hoping that they can send me for an early one after Saturday's beta.  (yep, another beta.)

Things are moving along as expected which is always good to hear after you have scary dreams about numbers not doubling.  Can I turn my brain off until I give birth?

Monday, April 20, 2009

beta numbers

Hello, all.

My beta numbers are back from this morning, and we are at 77 hCG, and 54.2 Progesterone, so everything is looking good.  :) 

(We were around 32 hcg, 41 progesterone if I heard the doctor correctly on Saturday.)

I go back on Wednesday for another beta. 


Yey!!!!!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Go team!


Overheard at Jon's birthday party, as we were leaving:
A: so, which one of you took the pregnancy test?
B: Susan did
A: okay, cause when you walked in, I was thinking to myself, 'they're both girls, it could be either one...' Since I wasn't sure who I was congratulating, I just said: 'Go Team!'  *thumbs up*

Saturday, April 18, 2009

It's official! Doctor's office said it looks like a single implantation, and all my levels are normal. I go back Monday morning to check my beta levels again. I can still think of nothing else, but I did manage to nap for twenty minutes.

wow

Apparently, when you wake up at 4:30 to take a pregnancy test, it's not always easy to fall back to sleep when this is the answer:

Something in the back of my mind thought maybe there was something wrong with yesterday's test. It looks like that thought was wrong. I'll post my beta test results later today.

Oh, yes... My due date is predicted to be December 28, 2009. :)

Friday, April 17, 2009

typical friday afternoon

I am the girl who used to open her Christmas presents early, then make sure they were somewhat-professionally rewrapped, so as not to draw attention to my unwrapping techniques.

I used to read detailed reviews for movies I had yet to see.

I have read the occasional last page of a book prior to the preceeding pages.

I am running out of euphemisms for being impatient.

Today I took a pregnancy test at work on my lunch hour.  I got a faint positive result.  It's certainly faint, but it is most definitely there. 

(A check with the internets and my doctor's office says that usually means good things, and that any line at all other than the control line usually means you're pregnant.  I've included a picture, to prove I'm not  completely seeing things.)  We have an early morning appointment for my first Beta test.  (A test to check my hCG levels - basically, we look for these levels to double about every two days in early pregnancy.  We will monitor these for a few days for some reason I don't know yet.) 

For those of you who skimmed that, I said it looks like we're pregnant.  We'll know for sure tomorrow.

:)  Thanks for impatiently waiting with me.  This has been the LONGEST THREE HOURS OF MY LIFE, for reference.  I can't believe I waited this long to tell you. :)

nothing's new

I don't know why I'm compelled to keep posting when I have no news... 

:)

when I see my mother log onto her IM at 9:30am...

...  I figure she's looking for an update.  No news is good news.  :)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

no fun updates yet

... but I did realize that I am not even remotely patient am far more patient than I thought.  I haven't taken a test yet...  today.  (Let's just forget about the test I bought on my lunch hour yesterday.)

i'd like to concentrate on anything, but alas, it is not in the cards

Hello, all.  CD26 here.  The day we all hope to not get any updates at all, cause that may mean good things.  Except I am now rationalizing that we triggered later than normal, and our usual timing may be a bit off.   But I'm trying not to obsess.  See me, not obsessing?  It's exhausting.

I'm loving the sunshine, so I'm attributing my exceptional mood to the nice weather.  (Hello, spring!)  We also made reservations for a wine tasting for next week, figuring that if we plan for activities that are verboten during pregnancy, then surely we will be pregnant for them.  See how I did that?  It's a little thing I like to call bad logic. 

So far, it's working well for me.

Let's see, what else is new?  I made the best tortellini I've ever had last night, with some chicken and rosemary filling.  Those refrigerated-pasta people know what they're doing.  I have some new clean-freak thing going on, too.  I believe I've been replaced with a housework-loving clone.  It's the only reasonable explanation I can think of. 
I can almost guarantee more nonsensical rants in the near future.  Thanks for playing.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

tuesday

I haven't been updating, because I have absolutely no symptoms or signs.  Nada.  Carrie, in her infinite wisdom, has decided that the absence of all signs may be a sign.  Bravo, üb!  I am loving that logic.  I am, however, doing well at forgetting almost every thought that enters my brain.  Yesterday I forgot to grab my keys from Karen's car before she left.  Today, I forgot to grab my cards and cash.  I had to un-origami the dollar bill pig at my desk to get my morning diet coke fix.  Sad state of affairs, I tell you.  I'll try to think of something dramatic to write about later, just to keep you all involved.

Quick aside, if you aren't already watching Breaking Bad, you should be.  It's an amazing show on AMC about a high-school chemistry teacher who decides he should cook crystal meth.  I'm not giving anything away that you don't learn in the first five minutes of the pilot, but it is spectacular.  We got the first season on DVD from Will, and blew through it in two  nights.  Now we have to catch up on season two.  A fine diversion for a girl who is already counting the minutes until Thursday morning.

Update:  I am so forgetful, that I clicked past my own blog entry in my RSS reader, and saw the 'Breaking Bad' comment, and was ALL excited that someone else also loves the show.  Seriously, took a few minutes to read it, was impressed that it sounded like something I'd write.   Good God, people...  I'll be lucky if I remember my way home tonight!!!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

if only this were a comletely anonymous blog...

...  I'd be able to explain to you in grotesque detail just how unbelievably sore my breasts are.  I am seriously considering tying them up when I get home, a la Yentl, just to afford me a little relief.

But, alas, this is not anonymous, and therefore I would never discuss such things.

We're back in the TwoWeekWait, folks.  That means that every moment of every waking hour, every day is spent (at least in part) thinking about the 'what-ifs'.   What will the moment of that positive test be like?  What will I say to my parents?  How will I blog about it?  Of course, this only builds me up for a possible let down at the end of that two weeks, but I am not capable of being unobsessed.  The best thing for all of us, really, would be that this cycle will take, and I will stop babbling on and on about what I'll wear the day I find out that I really am pregnant.  In the meantime, you are all blessed to hear about my neuroses in detail.

You are welcome.

Monday, April 6, 2009

third time's a charm

Today we had our third IUI appointment. The nurse asked if I had been warned about my three follicles. (Hmm? Warned? Um, no...) She said that meant that we could have triplets. As scary as that sounds, it's really hard to be realistic right now. Any positive test in twelve days and I'd be willing to make a deal with the devil, so to speak, even if that included multiples. I say this now, hoping that wishing for multiples might just 'curse' me into them.

Yeah, cause that'd be awful.

We saw Karen's G-ma on Saturday, and when K ventured to the bathroom, her grandma asked me right away if I 'had any news? Any news at all?' It was a very nice question, and a nice afternoon. We spent some time with her through the afternoon and worked on a puzzle. (See left, impressive, eh?) She asked whether we would travel to Kansas or Colorado soon. I figured she was confusing a story from Karen's past, or mixing up grandkids... Nope. She continued: 'you know, where they allow gay marriage now.' I had a hard time not smiling like a fool. I like that her grandma is so hip and cool. When we left, her grandma told me to 'get my body to cooperate already'. I think that's the push my uterus needed. Thanks, g-ma!

More to come, when we have some news. (Or when I have phantom symptoms, or when I'm obsessing as usual, or when Carrie is tired of hearing how I'm so sure this will work this time. -- Hi, Carrie!)

Have a nice week!