MS is BS

i thought i was going to be one of those magical women who didn't experience morning sickness (75% of women DO have some sort of MS at some time during their pregnancy) because i was at least 6 weeks in and felt GREAT! but at 6 weeks 3 days, i started my day and suddenly felt a little off.

oh no, could this be?

i remember riding with Dave to go pick up my car from the shop and wondering if i would even make it. the thought of waiting at the dealer for my car to be ready was unthinkable. so he blessedly let me take his car back right away. i was wearing a skirt that day, and i recall just wanting to get it off me because it was too restrictive and i wanted to puke RIGHT THEN. luckily i made it, but this was only the beginning. yes, morning sickness had found me- and i wasn't happy. i had read a little on the topic and knew that ginger ale and saltines were a must have.  so dave picked some up for me, along with some lemon candy- also a way to curb good ole MS. feeling hungry and nauseous at the same time is a weird feeling that i now realize is something only a pregnant woman can identify with. it's horrible. accompany that with never ending headaches and you've got yourself a preggo partay.

i only had 2 incidents hugging the porcelain goddess and it was pretty much just going through the motions as there wasn't anything in my stomach to puke. there was ONE other time where i actually did throw up- but it was after a careless choice of cheese enchiladas at a Mexican restaurant, followed by a very windy (wind-y, not windy like the weather) drive back home. i just knew that i wouldn't keep it down and am just grateful i made it home. but i don't count that too much as MS as i do motion sickness- something i've struggled with my entire life.

i spent several weekends just lying on the couch trying to stay out of the heat and rest. i realized the weekends were the worst because my party planner of a husband likes to fill our free time with a plethora of lunches and going out. once Sunday came i felt like death. my head hurt, and i felt like i had the flu all the time.

i think the worst part of MS was the excess burping- gross i know. (p.s. there is a TON of stuff people DO NOT TELL you about pregnancy. excess gas, in 1 form or another is one of them.) whether i ate or not, i would have a constant feeling like i needed to burp, and it was always a little scary because i felt like i could also throw up any moment. was it going to be just air, or more?  it was awful.

the second horrible part of MS was not knowing what the wee babe wanted me to eat until it touched my lips. i thought saltines were what every pregnant women ate- i was wrong. one day i went to eat one and i thought i was going to lose my crackers right there. Little Wood does not like saltines. he/she also doesn't like Trader Joe's whole wheat crumpets, ground beef (oh the heart burn), the smell of beer on people's breath, or bran muffins.  LW also doesn't like Nature Made prenatal vitamins with DHA. i don't know why vitamin makers haven't figured out how to make a prenatal that doesn't smell like dirty herbs and that doesn't make a pregnant women throw up. isn't that counter productive?

anyways, i'm happy to say there is some MAJOR truth to the 2nd trimester and relief from MS. i woke up the morning of the 2T and felt AMAZING. but more on that later.

mom, dad- i have something to tell you

i wish i could say that i thought long and hard about cute ways to tell our families that there was now a Little Wood on the horizon. but the more i thought about it, the less exciting it became- and the more awkward and terrifying it felt. so we went with what we know best- relating it back to something we love and know best: the dodgers!

we were sitting in church one day and Dave thought it would be a good idea to get some Dodger onesies and tell our family that way. and once i saw these, i couldn't say no:

Since my mother lives out of state, i had to tell her over the phone. i wanted her to be the first to know, because let's face it- there's no relationship like a mother-daughter one.  it actually came out funny because she was just finished telling me about how it doesn't matter how old your children are, they still give you grief (she wasn't talking about me, of course!). then she followed it up with, "don't have kids!" obviously, she wasn't totally serious. but i retorted up with "well it's too late because i'm pregnant!" she didn't hear me at first, and did the phone version of a double take. it was awesome to say the least.

we told my dad and step-mom the next week over dinner at Pei Wei (random, i know) and i told my dad that i was out shopping and saw "this" (wrapped up onesie) and thought of him. he opened it and didn't say anything at first but then my step-mom let lose with some tears and he caught on. it was actually kind of awkard to tell him- more than i thought it would be. Dave gave me a few segways at different points but i chickened out. hey, this is new territory for me, people. i'm not a touchy feely person.

we really stalled with telling Dave's parents because we wanted my sister in law to be in town. we knew that my inlaws wouldn't be able to keep it a secret if we told them first. once we told my SIL, we had a family Dodger game we were attending that week that we thought we be a good setting to tell the inlaws. i was waiting for Dave to tell them the whole time, but he waited until we were LEAVING to say anything. all i could see was Dave and his Dad walking ahead of us and his dad stopping and looking at him. then i knew the news was out. phew! glad that was over!

start spreading the news

i've heard women say that they knew the minute they were pregnant, because they could just "feeeel it." maybe that's true, but not for me. like i mentioned before, i pretty much wrote off getting pregnant in a timely manner because i just figured i wasn't one of those lucky people who gets knocked up right away. so of course i wouldn't have assumed i was when the time actually came.

i'd only taken 1 pregnancy test before, and mostly out of precaution because i wanted to have a beer when we went out to an NHL game.  it was a similar situation this time around. Dave had a casual "networking" evening with some law peeps and darn it, i wanted to have some wine! buutttt... i was being so good and hadn't had anything to drink in a few weeks. So, i scrounged in my junk drawer for my lonely pregnancy test. i found it, but also realized i had thrown away the instructions.  so i peed on it anyways and.... nothing happened. oops, i guess 3 seconds wasn't how long? since nothing happened i figured i wasn't pregnant and just peed it on it again for longer. this time, within 2 seconds a huge BLUE plus sign emerged. CRAP i don't have the instructions does this mean i'm pregnant or did i just overload the test with pee and it's a false positive!!!!!!!

i had just put on the first coat of my nail polish but oh well. i got my butt in the car and headed to the nearest CVS for a 3 pack of tests, complete with instructions this time.  i came, i peed, it turned positive right away. WHAT!?! this can't be happening to me! i was just doing this to be responsible so i could have some wine!

anyone who knows my husband knows that this was going to be a scary day indeed when i dropped this bomb. he was so nervous about networking that night that i knew i couldn't tell him before. and of course we got into a huge argument on the way home and i didn't tell him then either. then we went for haircuts the next morning and my hairdresser announced SHE was pregnant. uh oh. so i went home and took a 3rd test and crap it was positive again. i thought maaaaybe there was a chance it was just a lot of excitement the day before. not so. that night the hubs and i were going to our favorite English pub for dinner and i didn't know if the news was going to be accepted well or not and so i wimped out and didn't tell him that night. the next day was Father's Day and i knew i couldn't wait any longer. No, i wasn't being cutesy by waiting until FD, i just was gutless. so when we woke up, i told Dave i had taken a pregnancy test, and it wasn't negative.  his response: "your preggo?" and i cried and said "yeeeeessss."

oh man that was scary. probably the scariest thing i have ever done. people think i was weird for waiting or that it's sad that i was scared to tell him. but he is the love of my life and i was about to drop the biggest news that would change our lives forever. so no, i'm not sorry that it wasn't all rainbows and hugs because that's how some people may roll, but not me. this is how we roll:

Yep, there's a baby in there.

You know when you think of the future and can't imagine what it would be like? Or maybe you do imagine and it's too hard to wrap your head around so you just stop thinking about it? Like when you think of Heaven and eternity, and what will i do all the time, and will i get bored, and will Jesus kinda scare me with His majesty, and will loved ones know who i am, ok i'll just stop thinking about this now?

that was me. or rather, it IS me. the future was always just that- not yet come. i'll deal with it then, yadda yadda. i wasn't really worried, it just didn't really have anything to do with what i was doing RIGHT NOW. plus, i worry enough as it is, and didn't Jesus say not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough problems as it is?

but then i hit my 30's (stereotypical, right?) and saw my life flash before my eyes in half the time it took to get here. the hubs and i have lived a blessed life and done whatever we've wanted. we've held good jobs, we have good friends, we are both sick of this stinking apartment we've been in for the past seven years. there are changes on the horizon, like will we buy a house or what job will Dave have next, but when aren't there? and let's be honest, we ain't getting any younger.

so while i don't particularly love change, certain things in life have expiration dates and sometimes you've gots to make up your mind sooner than later.

so we got a little crazy and let loose and are now trying to wrap our minds around THIS:

yep my friends, there's a baby. in my uterus. we all know how it got there so i won't bore (or the opposite) you with the details except to say that i wasn't QUITE expecting it to be there so soon.

i always thought that since i haven't pined over the thought of being a mother my entire life like so many people i know, that God would take his sweet time in gifting us with such a huge responsibility.  in fact, i kind of thought i deserved it after being so outspoken about not wanting children for so long.  but i guess He thought we were up to the challenge, and here we are, expanding our family come February 2013!

of course i in no way feel ready for this. who really does? i've spent most mornings waking up stating the ever so obvious to myself: "i'm pregnant." it feels scary just saying. "pregnant" is what other people say. and now me. so here goes!