First, I've decided to resume writing here at the urging of two of my dearest friends, both of whom asked "are you blogging?" as soon as I told them I was pregnant. Clearly, they think I'll have some valuable thoughts and I do want to record this time in our lives with some thought. I haven't been writing lately because pregnancy has been somewhat of an afterthought to regular life over the last few weeks.
We had our 8 week ultrasound after all and even though I'm not excited about my doctor I've decided to stick with him for the time being. I have to stop lamenting the loss of my home birth and just get on with deciding how my hospital birth will go. I've been doing a lot of reading the last few weeks about epidurals and pitocin and c-sections, and even though I remain committed to doing an unmedicated birth, I'm happily considering the possibility that it's out of my hands. Having read about the lack of any medical evidence that epidurals are harmful to either mother or baby in the immediate or down the line, I'm comfortable knowing that if I end up in a situation where it medically makes sense, I can say yes without feeling like I'm doing something wrong.
The 8 week photo shows that everything is exactly as it's supposed to be. The doctor considers my due date to be Dec 22, not the Dec 23 that I had originally calculated, though I'll continue to assume Dec 25 for purposes of counting down. I'm now at 10 weeks, just 2 weeks away from the end of first trimester threshold that should have me feeling less nauseous and less tired. I'm not exactly optimistic there.
I continue to gain weight rapidly because I continue to eat for two...cows. The only time I feel ok is on a full stomach and my tastes continue to run toward the unhealthy. When we get back from this trip, I'm going to try to at least find a way to add fruit to every breakfast and a salad once a day. Plus I'm liking tomatoes in both salsa and bruschetta so I plan to incorporate those regularly as well. I'm also looking forward to not traveling by airplane for a while. I kind of hate it right now.
Since my last post we've added several people to the list of those in the know. My Aunt (mom's sister), my Uncle (dad's brother) and my brother all got the news just before my 8 week ultrasound. All are very excited, as I knew they would be. It's also very cool that my parents were so excited to share the news. I haven't really spoken to my dad too much about it so far - I usually talk to mom every night, but dad rarely answers the phone - so I was glad to know he was excited to share the news with his brother. I realized that dad will become a grandpa at age 69, the same age as his brother. Mom, of course, is the last of her siblings to become a grandma. In fact, her oldest niece is already a grandma, so that gives you a sense of how that side of the family does it.
On Robert's side, we told his parents and siblings as well. Sadly, his grandfather (dad's step-dad) passed away before we could share our news, something that really bugs us both. However, in the aftermath of that loss, sharing our good news felt like the right thing to do and it seemed to improve everyone's spirits. We've all been thinking a lot about the circle of life in light of this situation. It's been a tough year all around as this is the second grandparent my husband has lost. Feels altogether like the right and the wrong time to be having a baby.
I told my best friend a few days ago impulsively when I called to touch base. I haven't talked to anyone in weeks because as soon as I open my mouth the news just comes spilling out. As a result, I decided to just refrain from calling people for a while and it totally worked. My friends, as a rule aren't exactly known for reaching out. I can go a whole year without talking to some of them on the phone. We always pick right back up when we're together, but these are the kind of long standing friendships that just don't need that daily maintenance. As such, no one has called me and I've called no one. Until I couldn't wait any longer and called Chelsea. She's a new crowned physician's assistant and her cousin just gave birth to a second baby. Evidently the baby had a rough first few hours and so she also gave me her thoughts on giving birth at a hospital. I guess her little cousin was a little blue after the birth. I would have followed up by saying that midwives carry oxygen and I'm only a 2 min drive to the closest hospital, 10 min from the closest hospital with a huge NICU. Oh well, I'm not having my home birth anyway so no need to argue.
During our trip this weekend up to SF and Seattle, we told Robert's good friends who are expecting in August. Amy was excited to offer advice and commiserate. Her husband seems to be pretty unaffected by all the hub-ub which is nice to see. I feel very disconnected from what's going on inside me and it's nice to see that others feel the same way. I also got to finally tell one of my peeps in person, my friend Sarah who lives in Washington. She was so genuinely excited and just lit up when I told her. It was amazing. It's nice to feel that connection.
I have in mind to finally tell works in about 2 weeks. My boss is out on vacation for the next couple weeks and I hope to tell him when he gets back. It's a really great opportunity for me to get everything right and announce my news when we're all feeling really good about my ability to do my job.
Ok, enough for now. More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment