5 weeks, heartbeat, and nausea

Today I am 5 weeks. Sometime last night, the baby's heart started beating! And now there are only 3 more weeks to put in before I get to see the doctor, and my baby!!!, for the first time.

I think I mentioned already that I have discovered since my pregnancy that I go from not at all hungry to starving in less time than it takes a corvette to hit 60 mph. Yesterday, that morphed into my first bout with morning sickness. I waited just a teensy bit too long from feeling the starvation warnings to actually getting food into my stomach and almost lost it. I pulled into the closest non-fast food restaurant (I didn't want the extra grease...), forced myself to chew a bit of dried pineapple before moving, and went inside. I ordered my fav salad they have and even then, had to FORCE myself to eat the first few bites because it smelled funny to me.

I've been told that's normal. I've been told morning sickness is a "good sign". I was thrilled the first time, but when I walked into the kitchen has Hubband was putting something in the trash and had to bolt for the sink? I was ready to be done with this whole morning sickness thing. Is it over yet?

In spite of my help....

Yesterday, Hubband spent hours working on the pool. During the whole process, I was sitting on a lounge chair on the deck offering helpful tips like... "dont step there, honey. ITS SLIMY" .... as though when scooping green slime out of a giant bowl you really have any CHOICE where to step. Ah well, he succeeded in spite of me and it is now clean, green-free, and has about a foot of crystal clear water in the bottom.

Baby steps

Today, according to the wise internet and publishing industries, I have graduated from carrying a blastomere to having a bonafide embryo. Im so proud. And lethargic. Really, aside from the occasional HUNGER ATTACK and sore breasts and mild crampiness once in a while the only symptom of pregnancy that I have is that I have energy for about two hours in the morning... and I'm done. I have been AWARE of my pregnancy for only a week now, but in that week I have suddenly learned to leap from bed as soon as I wake up and rush around the house doing dishes and laundry and eating breakfast, and tackling the most difficult work tasks of the day immediately because by 1030 am? Im ready to just curl up on the couch and read a book, or take a nap, or stare vacantly out the window. At least KNOWING that I'm pregnant gives me a reason for this behavior, as I was feeling this way since last Thursday and thought I was just nuts, or sick, or both, or something.

Now I know my body is just taking baby steps.... literally!

1 Month

Please disregard the sopping hair, no makeup, and cheesy grin as being byproducts of excitement. Here is the Pre-Baby Swelling-But-Post-Good-Food Belly.

My ticker

You may notice the ticker at the top of my page. It was carefully selected for my MIL and Hubband... musical score and blue elephant! Hopefully will be a good luck charm as we progress from 3 weeks to 40 weeks....

In which my OCD comes out full force

The test is hard to see--I couldn't get the flash to not obscure the window and then if I didn't use the flash it was just a white and purple blur. Oh well, you can see the plus sign in this pic if you look REALLY CLOSE. (Don't criticize my grammar. I'm pregnant)

This whole pregnancy thing hasn't really hit me yet. I think, like my friend Dalena, I won't TRULY believe it until I see an ultrasound. Unfortunately, that won't be until July 19th at my first doctor's appointment. In the meantime, I remind myself by avoiding coffee, giving in to the total lethargy that I feel by about 4 pm, and checking the pee stick every hour or two to make sure it wasn't all in my mind. Instead of wondering if I'm pregnant, will ever be pregnant, what it feels like to be pregnant... I now wonder about ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, whether it was a false positive and I'm all excited over nothing.

Furthermore, pregnancy is bittersweet right now... I dearly wish my sistertwinfriend DangerElf had been able to meet her miracle and I have a dear friend who has been trying to get pregnant for several months to no avail. I know both of these extraordinary women are happy for us, but at the same time, saddened by the fact that it couldn't have been different -- that they were able to join me or me them in this little "pregnancy club". At the same time, both my older sister and sister-in-law are pregnant right now, which brings all kinds of fun to us and stress to our poor parents and siblings who are trying to plan visits to ALL THE BABIES! GROWN AND NEW! in a very short span of time that also includes the entire holiday season (we're due in October, January, and February, respectively).

For now, I've put a curb on buying things. Except that book on pregnancy, 'cause I NEEDED it. And the prenatal vitamins, 'cause the doctor TOLD me too. However, I have not put a damper on the sorting through of what I have already. Not the baby stuff so much (I have a few things I've gathered along the way), but the maternity clothes. My sister sent me 1 40 gallon and 1 15 gallon rubbermaid tub full of maternity clothes. I went through them last night, and found some things that aren't actually maternity, but fit well on my bloated self right now. DangerElf was thinner than I at the onset of her pregnancies, so I fear many of the clothes will not fit as I expand in all directions at once (I have this mental image of myself just blowing up like a pufferfish). We'll see. It was fun to go through them; a loose and flowy 100% cotton tank top nighty has become my new best friend. Its 10:30 am and I still don't wanna take it off, its that comfy! (Of course, all my clothes that fit just got put in the dryer, but that's beside the point)

In closing, we have decided that whether or not we intend to actually consider them all (Danger! weird and wild names ahead!), we're adding names to the list every day between now and early October when we receive the gender answer.

Can you guess who contributed which names to yesterday's list?

Girl: Gabriella, Adairia, Jade, Ella, Ava, Brenna
Boy: Jaden, Alistaire, Grayson, Lockerby

Happy Father's Day...

to Hubband!

IM PREGNANT! I guess his positive thinking paid off, eh?!

I also want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the other great dads in my life:
Daddy
2nd Dad
Grandpa
Steven
Jason
Ethan
Bruce
Bennett
Steve

...and all the dads on your list, too!

Kids say the darndest things....

My 4-year-old niece has been asking questions lately about the origin of things and what is "real" versus imaginary. One day she discussed fairies and dinosaurs with her mommy and was VERY excited about what she had learned. So excited, she had to share, so when my BIL came home from work that night, she said...

"Daddy! Daddy! Did you know that dinosaurs came before the flood, right before Mommy was born?!"

Welcome Gideon David!

Congratulations to my dear friend Disco and his wife on the arrival of their new little boy, Gideon David. :-) I can't wait to meet him in person!

The power of positive thinking?

Standing in the bedroom in my birthday suit after a shower, examining the bulge that is my overweight belly in the mirror.

"I'm fat" I say
"No, you're not fat" he says
"Well, what would you call it?" I ask
"You're pregnant." he answers
"You know something I don't?" I ask between giggles
"Nope. Its just the power of positive thinking. I figure pregnant is a current goal and better than fat, so CHOOSE to be pregnant" he states firmly

Riiiiiiggggghhhhttttt. If only it were that easy!

Who knew I married an optimistic nut job? Oh yeah. ME!

A JOB!

Great news, world! Hubband has a JOB! He was hired today as a server at a restaurant near our house. He also is on the short list for a medical office position. Hurrah! Praise God for answered prayers!

Guest post...

The full post is on DangerElf's site, where I was a guest author this evening.

Tonight while we were eating dinner, Hubband suddenly leapt up from the chair and dashed to the front window, peering intently out into the front yard. The sun had just set and it was slightly dusky. His posture radiated intense interest in whatever was going on.

"What is it!?"
"I'm not sure"

I laughed. He'd told me the other day that he'd never seen a firefly in his life before. In all of his 33 years, he'd not once lived in a place that had the little critters during the summer. I thought I might have an inkling...

"Was it a firefly?"
"Im not sure! It just.. blinked"

I grabbed his hand and pulled him out back. Since we live in town, there aren't all that many fireflies, but I'd seen a few over the last couple of days so I knew if we were just patient. We stood silently, holding hands for a few minutes. He finally gave up.

"I dont think there..."
"There! in the middle of the yard!"

He looked where I pointed and was just in time to see 2 more blink in and out.

"That's SO COOL!"

We watched them for a few more minutes before escaping the ubiquitous mosquitos, but I'll never forget the look on his face. That sense of wonder that most of us feel the first time we see a firefly. That summer way back when you were 9 or 10 and the world was opening all sorts of new and exciting doors. Its so amazing to see that same look and experience that wonder again through not just your children or your nieces and nephews, but through the eyes of an adult who has seen more than his share of sorrow and stress and of the world and of war. Seeing it through his eyes, for just a few minutes this evening I was back in a Kentucky holler, running through the dusky woods with a jar in my hand and my best friend at my side.

Cardboard Cooking

I use a lot of "veggie" meat when I cook, particularly when a recipe calls for sausage or ground beef. Its leaner than beef or even turkey, cooks up with less grease/oil, and just tastes good. Today, we decided our "big" meal would be at lunch so I made tacos. When I opened the bag of crumbles, what looked like a steak strip fell out with the crumbles. Since the company has recently started a new line of "steak" strips, we laughed it off as "cross contamination" and continued cooking. After lunch, I went to throw away the detritus and found that the strip? Was actually cardboard. SO not encouraging.

Sabbath Rest

As Sabbath arrives each week, I praise God for giving us the opportunity to take a day and just BE. No guilt about not working on the house, or catching up on that editing project, or laundry, or ANYTHING except being with my family and friends and God. Today we slept in, had breakfast, and joined several friends from church for a picnic and Bible study out at the state forest. It was a blast, although I think Priscilla had even more fun than we did! Hubband isn't feeling so well, so we didn't stay long, but it's always so nice to be able to hang out with friends on a pretty day. When we got home, the dog and the husband both collapsed...I spent the last 2 hours on the phone with my sis and reading a GLH book quietly on the couch. My version of rest!

It's been a big week here in the Boyd house... Hubband has been looking for a job for about 3 weeks now, sending in and/or submitting at least 3 applications/resumes each day. So far he has been turned away for Sabbath reasons, told he was overqualified, and told that he needed "civilian" qualifications. >sigh<

I'm going to go make dinner soon. Im not sure what we're having yet, but it's bound to be something worth eating in front of the tv. We recorded a couple of fun "old" movies on the DVR (70's time frame... not really "oldies") and we have Stargate SG1 and Atlantis for the evening's entertainment before we attack the last of the shelving. Hopefully by tomorrow night it will all be put together and painted and I can move my books! Wheee!

Put on your happy faces, everyone!