I must start off by letting those who are still visiting know just how embarrassed I am, having neglected my little space here on the Web for the past 3 months.  Was it laziness?  Was it severe writer’s block?  Maybe a little of both?  Or maybe something I don’t even know about?  Whatever the case may be, I’ve neglected it.  Big time.

So much progress has been made over the last 12 weeks.  Comforting test results, not so comforting test results confirming recurrent UTI’s, great ultrasound pictures, weight gain (albeit more than I’m happy to admit), and so much more.

Being 25 weeks pregnant is incredible.  Yes you read that right, I’m 25 weeks already.  And every day that goes by that I feel his or her kicks, punches, tumbles and turns packing more intensity is another day I am oh so thankful for.

I have so much to fill you in on besides the above mentioned items.  There’s the not knowing what we are having, besides the fact that it’s a baby; There’s the registry; The nursery; The names; The pictures.  And so much more that I’m leaving out at the moment.   I promise to catch you up on everything.

I also plan on updating the look and feel of this blah blog.  It is so “new” looking and maybe that’s part of the reason I haven’t been involved in it in so long.

I’ll start by posting a picture of the little guy or girl from our level II at 20 weeks…I’m going with guy…I think.  Not becuase of the picture, but because of premonition.

Can anyone tell me what I am referring to when I say “4 Weeks”? I’ll make it easy for you…

It is the ridiculous amount of time that ha passed since I’ve updated this blog.  I can’t believe myself.  I have no excuses.

I guess I haven’t had anything much to write about.  And one tip I seem to read over and over again in regards to blogging is, if you don’t have anything to write about, don’t write at all or your audience will hear it the forced post in your words. 

Well, to say I had nothing to write about is probably a bit of a lie.  I mean, I could have written daily about my insane food aversions; like how the thought of handling raw chicken, smelling it cook, and then eating it makes me gag.  Or how much I love peanut butter, jelly and fluff sandwiches now.  Or how pizza is the one staple I can pretty much count on 100% of the time…plain cheese pizza that it.  Extra cheese if I’m feeling frisky!  But truth is, you don’t want to hear about that.  Do you?  Does that interest you?  Please tell me if I’m wrong. 

I could’ve also posted a couple weeks ago about how I woke up one morning to find my waist completely G. O. N. E.  I mean so gone I ran back to check the bed to see if I maybe just left it behind!  But guess what…it wasn’t there.  I am now officially at that awkward phase where strangers in stores don’t know I’m pregnant, instead I just look a bit thick around the waist, as if I’ve gained a few lb’s eating too many tubs of sherbet at night.  So it’s kind of weird.  After all, this is my first stab at this pregnancy thing.  So I don’ know exactly how my body is going to respond and what parts of it are going to be thrown out of whack first.  Today I am 12w2d.

As a matter of fact I went out and bought a Bella Band, and it works wonderfully.  Especially since I bought a pair of jeans a size larger than my normal size and this helps to keep then from falling down past my crack. 

I have a 12 week prenatal appt tomorrow as well as the 13 week ultrascan (genetic testing).  So after not seeing our little one for 4 whole weeks (this is a very long time since we had been having weekly scans with the specialist!) we get to see him or her, finally!  We can’t wait to see how much he or she has grown!  Last time we got a peek inside we were looking at a little embryo the size of a green olive, now we will be taken back by a fetus the size of a lime!  Time certainly is flying!

I will be sure to catch up again tomorrow after the first appt to post a new picture!

I first want to say thank you so much to all of you who left so many wonderful comments for me over the last week!  It is so greatly appreciated!  You’re all so wonderful and I’m glad to know you.

I can’t believe it’s been a week since I’ve posted already.  Time flies when you’re sick.  Take a recurring bladder infection coupled with the never ending Flu, 2 antibiotics, a cough that sounds like I’ve been smoking 3 packs a day my entire life, on top of the first trimester grossness and you’ve got what I’ve been smothered with the past 11 days.  I feel like the walking dead.  I really don’t know how else to explain it. 

I don’t have the energy to do anything productive.  I am starving all the time, but the thought of anything but Honey Nut Cheerios and egg sandwiches turns my stomach so bad that I so fear the dreaded vomit session.  Then I think, maybe if I wouldn’t try so hard not to get sick, then I would feel better?  No, definitely not.  Can’t do it.  I’ve never been a puker, and I’m not about to be OK with becoming one now.

On a much better note.  We had an appt with the OB Monday night, to check things out b/c I had some spotting late last week and over the weekend.  During this visit he did a basic check of the old cervix to make sure she was closed up nicely and a sonogram to take a peek at the little one.  Eric and I were in absolute shock at how much growing the baby has done since last week.  I mean astronomical growth.  Last week all we saw was a tiny blurry dot.  And this week, a little tadpole looking growth.  Beside getting to see the delightful flicker of the heart, this time we got to actually hear it!  It echoed so loudly in the room, it was just wonderful.  Nice and strong and perfect!  Eric says the baby has his heartbeat.  What a peaceful sound it was.  We got a recording of the sonogram and get to bring it back every visit so they can add to it!  Talk about a keepsake!

I’ve already scheduled my 13 week scan and blood for the genetic screening and I have to pop over to the hospital for my first trimester prenatal workup.  Parking there is an absolute bitch, nonexistent actually, so I’m thinking of going tonight when Eric gets home from work, this way he can just drop me off at the door.  I need to have it done before my actual first prenatal visit on Tuesday.

We are thinking of telling our Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles this weekend.  We have to break the news strategically however.  Why?  Because everyone knows eachother.  For example, if we tell my Grandma (my Moms Mom) first, there is a good chance she will tell my Aunt (my Moms sister) who will in turn call her sister in law, who works with and is friends with my other Aunt (my Dads sister) and we certainly don’t want anyone hearing our happy news from anybody other than ourselves.  I don’t think that’s selfish.  I think that is very fair.  After all, everyone else got to share their news when it was their turn right, so now it’s our turn.  If we tell my Granparents who live in Florida first, my Grandma will certainly call my Aunt (my Dads sister) and say something to her.  She has proven herself to not be able to keep a secret.  So we need to pick our visits and phone calls wisely.

Otherwise, not much else has been going on.  Life has been for the most part boring.  Just trying to get over this illness that consumes our house.  Here’s hoping the next 2 weeks will find us fully recovered and enjoying this exciting time to the max!  

I had plenty of ideas of how I was going to let you all know “the scoop”.  But when it came down to it…I’m at a loss.  So I’m just going to put it out there.

Eric and I are expecting a new addition to our family in October; October 21st to be exact! 

There I said it!  PHEW!

I’ve been holding out on spilling the amazing news for so long because it was so early when we found out, as we knew it would be.  And it still is so early.  6 weeks= SUPER EARLY! 

So we actually found out for sure on Tuesday February 12^th (14dpiui #1) when I had my first positive beta, 198.  Two days later (16dpiui #1) it jumped to 490.  One week later (21 dpiui #1) up to 3291.  Now as of yesterday we are over 5000 and they don’t dilute over 5000, so we don’t know the exact number. 

Of course I didn’t wait until the actual first beta.  No.  I started testing at home at 10dpiui.  I got a very faint line that first day.  I wanted to know whether it was still the trigger shot or an actual positive, so I tested again the next day and got a slightly darker line.  The following day I tested again, and en even darker line popped up.  Yup, I was pretty confidant it was real, but Eric kept me grounded and wanted to wait for any excitement until we had the two initial betas to make sure there were numbers and that they were going in the right direction.  Man, were we shocked.  I still am in shock! 

We have only told our parents, and a few very close friends.  We want to wait to tell the rest of our family and friends until we hit the 8 week mark. 

My first sonogram was last Tuesday, with a different doctor.  Long story short, my doctor had an emergency and couldn’t make it to our local office so we had to go to the main office and have our sono by a different MD that we’ve never seen.  He showed us two gestational sacs.  We flipped!  One was exactly half the size of the other so he said it was possible that it would disappear.  On yesterday’s sonogram we only saw 1 sac.  I will also say that the sono machine from yesterday was not nearly as high tech as the one at the main office; I mean the clarity was like night and day.  So my doctor said we will see what next week’s sono shows.  I will take this opportunity to add that both Eric and I are just as happy with one as we are with two.  So we will see what happens.  My gut feeling is that there is just one little one in there.

Yesterday was definitely a milestone.  We got to see how much the sac has grown and got to see the tiny little flicker of our precious little ones heartbeat!  It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen!  We both stared at the screen in amazement.  It was an incredible moment for us as parents to be.

So that’s the update.  And that’s why I’m super fanatical about the whole fever thing…See “SICKO” post from earlier today.  I can only take Robitussin DM for my chest congestion and Tylenol ONLY if my fever goes over 101.  I hate to take anything, especially in the first trimester.  But I’m dealing.  Lots of rest and fluids is keeping me going.  No appetite, but I know I have to eat a little something. 

I’ll post the sono pics as soon as I scan them in!

Thank you all for being so patient with me over the past couple of weeks!!  It was well worth the wait, right?

I’ve been a bit of a slacker with my blog lately and I apologize to all my wonderful friends, both new and old, who visit regularly to read about me.  I guess I’ve been in a bit of a funk with not many new details to provide about the whole fertility thang and nothing too exciting going on in my everyday life. 

Last night we had great friends over with their two totally adorable little guys for dinner.  I made chicken parmesan with pasta and meatballs for our meal, and then for dessert, some pound cake layered with strawberries and whipped cream.  Delish!  Even better was the good company of our awesome friends and the laughs with their boys.  Have I mentioned how adorable they are?  OK, just checking!  It was a fun night and I think the first time I’ve ever restrained from having alcohol, Rosemount Shiraz to be exact.  Which was kind of weird, but fine with me at the same time.  I actually didn’t miss it.  I saw everyone else drinking and it didn’t bother me, which is awesome.  And I love me some good red wine!  Of course playing safe, I didn’t want to go there; I may as well get used to it now.  Practice makes perfect.

We didn’t do much yesterday during the day.  In the morning we met with my father, our financial advisor, and our attorney up at my dads office to discuss setting up a Trust for Eric’s life insurance policy.  It was awkward, but necessary, especially with children on the horizon.  We had to discuss things about ages money would become available to surviving children and the way it would be distributed to them should something, God forbid, happen to Eric, and then eventually me.  We had to talk seriously about Power Of Attorney stuff and who to appoint after each other, DNR’s and all that morbid talk.  It was emotionally draining.  I don’t like to think about ANY of that, but I suppose it is smart to plan ahead.  And my father is a huge advocate of that, being a financial advisor and all.  After that I did the normal weekend cleaning and then prepared all the food for our before mentioned dinner. 

Oh Yeah!  And Friday night we went to go see 27 Dresses!  Kim now you don’t have to ask me if I’ve seen it yet…LOL.  I’ve wanted to see it for ever now.  It was good, pretty funny but I would wait until it comes out on video if you haven’t already seen it.  Just my opinion.

And now today we are kinda just hanging around.  It’s cloudy and rainy here on Long Island.  And the temperature is supposed to drop as the day goes on.  I really really really wish we would have one good snow fall!  Just one.  It always looks so pretty and then I love to go drive around the neighborhoods to see how beautiful the trees and the houses look covered in snow.  Geeeeek!  I also still have to finish cleaning and purging the upstairs spare bedroom (the one that will eventually be the nursery).  I started last week and have more to purge.  Just very not in the mood right now.  But it’s still very early here, so I’ll get to it. 

In super exciting news…this week we may find out if this cycle was a success.  I have my first beta on Tuesday!  Now, I’ve given this lots of thought, and I’m 99.229% sure I’m not going to post anything about the results for at least a week, whether it is or isn’t positive.  Why?  To protect our innocence and not jinx anything, as dumb as that may sound.  So I’m sorry folks…there will be a bit of a longer wait for you guys before you know anything.  But I have to do what I have to do.  We need to see if things move in a positive direction before yelling from a mountain top that I’m pregnant, if in fact I am. I’m sure you all understand.  I’ll still be posting regularly though…just not about whether I am or am not.  It will be extremely early in the game and I just don’t think I will feel comfortable spreading the word with it being to fresh and fragile.

On the other hand, I have been known to give out Christmas gifts early.  So be sure to check back often because I may not be able to contain myself if I am!