Day 77: Womb with a View

Today, for the first time, my husband and I saw our 11-week-old baby move.  He/she was right there on the monitor at the doctor’s office, waving at us.  Squirming around as if to say ‘Hi mom and dad! I’m in here!’

It’s true… some of you have heard rumors, some of you we’ve told in person, some of you follow me on twitter (@juliejanuary) and might have noticed my recent use of the #morningsickness hash tag, or some of you may have suspected because of our Christmas Card letter or have noticed my slightly changing shape and newly forgetful and indecisive tendencies… I’m pregnant.

Let me start at the beginning.

My first sign was a subtle, miniature and specific pain on the right side of my uterus, which lasted for about three days starting on [Day 29] of my cycle, a Friday.   (Scratch that… I think the FIRST sign was on [Day 25] when my face broke out like craters on a fiery planet – but I thought it was just from stress and chocolate.  Anyways…) I later realized that this pain was undoubtedly the sensation of my child, in microscopic form, nestling into the side of my womb where he or she would park to hang out for the first seven and a half months of life – sub: implantation cramps.  But at the time, I assumed they were a product of indigestion.

It didn’t even occur to me that I was a little “late” until [Day 31]. I have had a couple of extra long cycles in my life – but never longer than 31 days – so when my period didn’t come the morning of [Day 32] we decided it was time for me to pee on a stick.  Waited until night time just in case I got my period.

(We went to the Cardinals vs. 49’ers football game that day and didn’t partake in any beer – although, as I declined that Miller Lite, my mind raced with thoughts of the martinis and Bailey’s-infused hot chocolates I had consumed on Days 23 and 24… but Google said my potential child would be alright.)

The results were unmistakable… that pink stick revealed two thick lines in about ten seconds.  Daniel said with confidence… ‘yep, babe, you are definitely pregnant’ before I could even flush the toilet.  I shall not try to articulate the emotions we shared as husband and wife that night, but it was one of the most incredible events of our marriage thus far.

By [Day 34] my bras didn’t fit.   And on [Day 35] I realized that my sense of smell was like that of a bloodhound.  Someone at work heated up some leftover barbeque in the kitchen, a good hundred yards from my desk, and I could smell it as though it was in my face.  That night Dan and I tried to go out to dinner but the minute we stepped in the door at the restaurant I wanted to throw up from all the smells –Daniel couldn’t smell a thing.  [Day 41] was the first day I really felt sick.  Progesterone will do that to you, I’ve read.  Not so fun, but nothing compared to some of the horror stories I’ve heard about others’ first trimester woes.

[Day 42] we saw the baby’s heartbeat.  I can’t really describe the way it felt to see that little dot flickering at 130 beats per minute on the big screen in Dr. Leonard’s exam room.   Another human being’s heart beating inside of me, four weeks after conception.  A heart.  Beating.  I think this day was the hardest for us to keep it a secret, but we did, scheming about how we would tell our families.   Christmas, we had decided, would be the perfect time.  And we only had to wait two more days.

[Day 44] (Christmas Eve) we told my parents. >> SEE VIDEO (Thanks Leslie!) <<  It was the best Christmas gift we could have ever given them, according to my mom.  We wrapped a book entitled ‘The Grandparents Handbook’ and behind it, included a copy of the ultrasound picture from a few days before.  The opening of that present was a very special moment of progressive confusion/shock/excitement.  A few days later we told Dan’s parents in a similar “Christmas gift” fashion. 

We told the rest of our extended families over the next days and weeks, as we saw them in person.  I think telling people is one of my favorite parts of being pregnant so far – the genuine joy that people have expressed really makes me feel loved and supported, like they are so happy to be a privy to the miracle that we are experiencing.

Between then and now it’s been somewhat of a blurry collage of symptoms. I was very sick for a couple of weeks with a respiratory infection on top of the morning sickness.  I’m over that hurdle now, but I’ve been exhausted, scatterbrained, emotional, nauseous, clumsy, and did I mention exhausted?  I’ve consistently wanted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and can’t even stand the site of chicken or vegetables.  Weird.

A couple days ago I busted a seam in the zipper of my dress pants.  My tummy really ballooned out this week… kind of neat because I feel more pregnant and less fat.   Kind of not-so-neat because I need to get some new pants but I’m not ready for maternity clothes.

There are so many other amazing ways that our lives are changing, which I plan to share along the way in a new phase of blogging.  

Tonight, I am just basking the delight of having seen our baby move for the first time.   And wanted to share it with the world.