We're outta here!

It's baby day! Good thoughts and prayers are appreciated, and I'll post when I'm home!

T minus one.

This time tomorrow, I'll be at the hospital. My c-section will be underway. And tomorrow, I'll become the mom to two kids. Yikes.

I'm not ready to have two kids! The last couple of days with the one I have have taxed me almost beyond belief. I guess it's too late to change my mind, huh? LOL I joke. We're excited about Rhys's arrival (although I'm more nervous about the c-section this time, since I've had a whole lot more time to think about it). I just know it's going to be an adjustment for us all (and probably an especially difficult one for Julian, since he's been the center of attention for six years now), and I'm really not looking forward to that part.

Nine days

And counting. Yikes.

I hurt. I'm all bunchy in the middle when I get up and move around, I've felt this way most of the day. I don't think it's anything significant in the grand scheme of things - I'm guessing it's just Braxton-Hicks, certainly not like I need to hop up and head to the hospital right away. It's just uncomfortable and that makes me cranky. And now I'm running a fever? 99.4, so just enough to make me feel crappy. Yay. I just think it would be funny if this were some kind of precursor to actual labor, given 1) that my body did absolutely nothing on its own with Julian, and he didn't come out until the doctor made him, and 2) I have a c-section scheduled in nine days. I have my appointment tomorrow at 1:30, we'll see what my doc has to say. If I can just make it through Friday, I'll be off work until July 10.

The hospital where I'll be delivering called this afternoon, saying they had me as a private pay because they couldn't verify my benefits?! I sent the paperwork in weeks ago. I gave them all my insurance information again, and made sure they had my cell number to get in touch with me if something else isn't right. I'm glad they called, and I know I've got insurance, but that's not a call you really want to get nine days before you deliver - "hey, do you have insurance, because we show you're paying for this yourself". !!!! Good that they called rather than just sending me a big honkin' bill afterward.

We have more crops in the garden - cucumbers are starting to come up, as are both our yellow and zucchini squashes. The lettuces are running rampant, and it will be nice to have our own very fresh salad once they're up. The sugar snaps are doing well, and the green beans are starting to come up, too. Our Roma tomato plant is holding its own, but the other one gave in to strong winds. We replaced it, but the wind just won't die down. If it would, that other tomato and our pepper plants might stand a chance. The onions are thriving, too. How exactly do you know when an onion is ready to harvest?

I am Rotunda the Large

That's what I feel like these days, anyway! Sixteen days until baby Rhys makes his big debut.

I'm uncomfortable today, but I never went into anything like labor on my own with Julian, so I wouldn't know if I'd recognize anything as "meaningful" or if this is just the aches and pains of pregnancy combined with being an old skeezer. LOL I've got lots of groin-area pain when I get up and move around. It usually eases up once I've gotten moving, though. I just feel vaguely squirmy and fidgety and out of sorts. Makes it hard to concentrate at work, even though I've got a goal in mind for the afternoon. That sucks.

I did have to laugh, though. When I went for my appointment yesterday, the nurse asked if I was having any contractions. I said I didn't think so, but being as how I never actually went into labor with Julian, I wasn't sure I'd know a contraction if it bit me on the nose. It probably doesn't help that my pain tolerance is pretty high, so something that someone else might feel and know, "OMG, that's a big painful contraction", I might just think "Ow, that's uncomfortable, let's move around and see if it goes away." There's no rhyme or reason to the timing, though, so I seriously doubt any of this is any kind of contraction or "progress". It's just all aches and pains designed to make me good and whiny and more than ready for my c-section when it's time!

My health is still good, and I'm thankful for that. I did decide to take off Monday through Thursday the week of my c-section. By that point, I'm pretty sure I won't want to be bothered with getting dressed and dragging myself in to work.

In garden news: We have crops! Our lettuces and beets have started growing. We lost a couple of plants (one of the tomatoes and our mild jalapeno) to some windy/rainy weather, but we can replant those. It's just so exciting to see something sprouting that we planted with our own hands.

Earth mother

You know, I don't think I'm really suited for corporate America. I grew up in the country, and I like being outside when I've got something to do there. Now that I'm married to a man who also likes the outdoors, we're doing some more outdoorsy-type things. He's planted a couple of trees in the yard, a red oak and a fig, and we're watching them grow. I was out watering them today and it occurred to me that I'd be much happier if I weren't having to schlep to work in the big city, if I could do something from home and tend to our growing things (kids and trees alike). We're planting a garden this year, too, and that will be both food and science experiment - Julian is already excited about the prospect of watching our plants grow (although we'll see how excited he is when he gets to go out and pull weeds! LOL). I like to cook. I like to be outside when I get a chance. Why, then, can't I figure out some way that I could be home doing the things I like more often, instead of sitting behind a desk wishing nine hours of my life away every day?

In other news, I'm now 35 weeks and 1 day pregnant. My c-section has been moved to April 17, so I'll be able to make it to J's school program on April 16. This makes me happy. I didn't figure it would be a real good start to his relationship with his brother for me to have to tell him, "sorry, sweetie, I'll miss your program and art show because I'll be in the hospital bringing your brother into the world!" I know the time will come where he'll have to learn that mama will now be dividing time and attention between two boys instead of giving it all to just the one, but I didn't figure right off the bat was the time he *had* to learn that particular lesson.

I've been home sick the past couple of days. I don't know if it's a cold or a sinus infection - the doctor said it was too early to tell, and I can't really take much in the way of good meds, so I've just been drinking lots of fluids and trying to rest. Julian stayed home with me today, too. I figured we could both use a rest. Of course, the day we *could* sleep in, naturally he was awake at the crack of dawn, wanting to know when I was going to get out of bed. Still, it beats being at the office. I don't feel great just yet, but I guess I feel better than I did yesterday. I'm not perky, but I'm not sure if that's from the crud or just from being hugely pregnant.

Oh, please, just shoot me now.

Today I'm 34 weeks, 6 days pregnant. I'm big as a house, I hurt in strange places, I'm tired, I'm cranky, and now I'm sick to boot. Yep, that's right. My right ear is so clogged that I can hear my breathing echoing. My eyes itch like mad. My head is full of snot. My nose runs and clogs at the same time. Tomorrow, I'm staying home. I'll try to get in to see the doctor, too, because I'm not sure if this is allergies or sinus infection or what, but I think I need something stronger than Tylenol Allergy and Sinus to kick it. And I am not going to muddle through a few days, or a week, or longer, waiting for it to release its grip. Thus far, it looks like I'll be at work for the duration, and if I have to be at work, I certainly don't have to be there feeling pregnancy miserable and sick on top of it.

Grump, grump, whine, whine. Does anyone have the phone number for Roto-Rooter? Maybe they can help unclog my stuffy head.

Forty-three days and counting.

Well, one more appointment down as of yesterday afternoon. I'm feeling fat and rather uncomfortable, but my blood pressure is hangin' in there and doing OK. Rhys' heartbeat was about 144 BPM, so apparently he's doing all right, too. My next appointment is March 17, and after that, I expect I'll be moving to seeing my doc once every week.

And don't get me wrong, I'm glad my blood pressure is staying steady and glad both Rhys and I are healthy - I'm very, very thankful for those things. But today, I would have paid money to stay home. I hit snooze twice before I ever heard my alarm, and I was draggin'-butt tired. I hurt, and Rhys was squirmy as all get out this morning, which was slightly uncomfortable and made it hard to concentrate on work. The afternoon just got worse, too. My hips were hurting, I was having one of my random itchy spells (no rash or anything, so it's not anything that can be actually treated, I just use lots of moisturizer and wait for it to pass), hungry but unable to decide what might actually taste good if I were to eat it, and I just wanted to go home. I wanted to not be at work. I wanted to not be answering the phone and responding to e-mails and trying to make my brain work in a logical and coherent fashion. Blech. And I warned Brian that it's going to get worse before it gets better. LOL

Forty-three days to go....

Well, good grief.

Nearly a month since I've blogged. That just won't do. The problem that needed money thrown at it got resolved, and hopefully will be fine going forward. J's sleep issues have gotten a bit better, but now I'm to the point in my pregnancy where I wake up a zillion times a night to go to the bathroom or change positions or just for the heck of it, so I'm still not getting any decent sleep most nights.

And the baby has a name and a birthdate! His name will be Rhys Daniel, and his birthday will be April 16 - my c-section is scheduled for 7:30 AM, so barring some emergency that morning, I'll be first up for the day. I like that. Of course, I had a co-worker tell me this week that she doesn't think I'll make it to April 16. Not sure why she thinks that - I'm not that big (other co-workers have only recently started to comment on me having a belly, to which I think, well, gee, I'm only 32 weeks and change, I should look pregnant by now!), and Julian certainly didn't come out until the doctor made him come out, so I've got zero reason to think Rhys will come early. We'll see, I guess.

Brian's mom came this week - the two of them painted the nursery on Thursday (and it looks amazing! I'm now wanting to paint every room in my house! LOL), and she and I cleaned (REALLY cleaned) the kitchen and guest bathroom yesterday. I was wiped right out. Good thing I took the day off work yesterday, as just the act of getting to and from work and making it through the day (even with a desk job) seems to suck all of the energy right out of me. I want my pregnancy to be as healthy as possible, but right now, if my doc were to tell me I had to be home for a few weeks before Rhys gets here, I wouldn't be averse to that at all. I just feel better when I'm at home, even if I'm more physically active.

And it could happen that he'll tell me to stay home. A few days before my last appointment, I checked my blood pressure using a co-worker's monitor that she keeps at the office. It was 156/95. Yikes. With Julian, my blood pressure jumped up at about 36 1/2 weeks to the point where my doc did tell me to stop working and rest at home (not full-out bedrest, but he made it clear I wasn't to do much of anything strenuous). So I saw that reading and thought, well, crap, here we go again. Only it was a good bit earlier than 36 1/2 weeks. I called the doc's office, and the nurse said I'd be OK monitoring it as long as I wasn't having headaches or vision changes (which I wasn't). So I got my own monitor and went in for my appointment the following Tuesday. Every time I checked before that appointment, and every time I've checked since then, it's been fine - the highest has been something like 132/83, and it's been as low as 116/74. My doc told me to just keep an eye on it and make notes of my readings for my chart, and we'll see what happens. So far, so good. But like I said, some days I'd welcome two or three or four weeks at home before the baby gets here (assuming it wasn't a serious issue that kept me from working)! LOL

Brian's job is going well. Such an answer to prayer! He won't technically start earning paid time off until May, but they've already said they've got no problem with him taking a day or two off when the baby is born.

Julian is doing pretty well, too. He just finished up the fourth six weeks of the school year with an S in conduct. Woo hoo! What a change from the early part of the year, when he got notes sent home more often than not. He's doing a lot better academically, too, which just makes my heart happy. He's up to the last first-grade reading level, and right about where he should be in math.

Not having access to my bloggy resources at work, and then having issues trying to get my wireless internet set up at home, has thrown me off with my menu planning. We've still managed to be pretty frugal and not buy a whole lot of groceries and cook using what we have on hand, but it bugs me trying to think of something that day when I know I can do better planning ahead. So I'm trying now to do meal plans for two weeks at a time. I'll be working on that today and tomorrow, and hopefully getting all my coupons in order, too.

My next appointment is this Tuesday - I'm in the every-two-weeks category now. We'll see how things are going then!

Pregnancy update

I'm 25 weeks, one day today. That means we've got less than four months left - YIKES! So much to do, so little time!

And good grief, I'm tired. I wake up tired, even if I don't wake up at night. When I get home, it's all I can do to manage dinner (and yes, Brian helps with cooking and/or clean-up) and bath for Julian (it doesn't help that my freakishly night-owl child doesn't give it up and sleep until 10:00 or later pretty much every night), and then drag myself to bed. This is like the first tri tiredness on steroids. I can't decide if it's just part of being 40 and pregnant, or if I may be anemic. I remember being horribly tired with Julian at about this same point in the pregnancy, and it turned out I was anemic. I'm going to ask my doc about checking my iron levels, because it would be very uncool if I took to falling asleep at my desk at work every day. It's not like that could go unnoticed in a cube farm.

Baby and interview and finances, oh my!

Finally, an update!

Thursday afternoon, I got a call from my doctor's office at about 3:15, just before I was fixing to leave for my u/s. They told me that my OB appointment had gotten scheduled for downtown Dallas (where I usually see my doc), and the u/s had gotten scheduled for the Mesquite office (far enough away that there was no way I could make both in one afternoon when my appointment was at 4:00). They asked if I wanted to reschedule the OB appointment or the u/s, and I said I'd reschedule the appointment, thanks, I wanted the u/s today. Brian was already waiting at the downtown Dallas office, so I had to call and give him directions to Mesquite. Thank goodness for cell phones. But we made it there with no problems, and then it was time for the big u/s!

And we're having a boy!!! The tech said she thought that was the fastest she'd ever seen the pertinent parts. He's just like Julian, only interested in showing off his butt - she had a hard time getting shots of anything other than butt and boy parts. LOL

He did finally give us a couple of other views, though. And he's just as squirmy and wiggly as ever his brother was. Great, looks like I'll have two wild men on my hands. We're excited. Brian is a bit stunned - he said he never expected to have a son. I'm surprised, because I really thought this baby was a girl. Shows you what I know. LOL His mom is relieved - she said she really wouldn't have known what to do with a girl! LOL (She had two sons, and Brian's brother has two sons, and there's Julian, so all boys in the family.)

And then there was Brian's interview! Brian felt like it went really well. Turns out they did pick up on his former connection with Methodist Home while he was teaching in Waco, and the woman he interviewed with went to church with one of Brian's former co-workers at the Dr Pepper Museum, so they talked a lot about people they knew in common. Brian said she only asked him three or four substantive questions, and that they were pretty easy ones, so we're hoping that they've already got him on a short list just from his education and background. Brian let her know he was going to be out in the field starting Wednesday, and she said they're really aiming to have all decisions made and everyone notified by Tuesday. So we're anxiously hoping and praying that the phone rings with good news! It's good that God knows our hearts when we can't find words, because right now the constant prayer running through my mind is something along the lines of, "Oh please oh please oh please oh please." LOL

Our Christmas program was this weekend. Rehearsal Wednesday and Thursday, and performances Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, plus handbells rang for both services yesterday morning. I'm tired! It was fun, though, and I thought the program went really well. I've missed being part of a church family. I'm glad we've found a church we like.

Kevin forgot to give Julian his meds yesterday, so he came home pinging off the walls and we were up until 11:00. Julian woke up in a good mood this morning, though. He was giving everyone hugs - he'd hugged me and Brian and the cat, and then he came back to me and hugged my belly and said, "Let me give the baby a hug, too!" He's a good kid, and I think he'll be a really good big brother.

It's cold and nasty today. Yesterday it was in the 70s, today it's in the high 20s/low 30s with a wind chill in the teens. There's also a possibility of freezing rain, but I doubt it will be enough to do anything other than slow traffic to a crawl. Bummer - I'd love an excuse to stay home tomorrow! I can't imagine living somewhere where it's cold and windy like this all the time. I'd freeze.

I'm feeling a lot better about finances since we went to all cash. It's nice to know that all of our paycheck is going to take care of our obligations, and not being eaten up by overdraft fees at the bank. Yeah, it's kind of a pain sometimes not to have the convenience of online payments or just using a card, and I still worry about getting everything caught up, but it's nice to see how much money we have and to be able to plan what gets paid where, and to see how much we have left for things that are just wants and not necessarily needs. And it's really nice not to get any overdraft notices from the bank! And with cash, we just take our tithe right off the top and put it in our envelope, ready to go to church the next Sunday. I'm hoping that things are going to turn around in 2009, especially if Brian gets the Methodist Home job - they should pay a good bit better than his current job, and they've got really good benefits. I still worry about things getting paid on time and in full and getting everything caught up, but I feel better.

Let's hope 2009 is a year of clean starts and bright new beginnings all around!

Pray hard!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Brian just called - he's got an interview with Methodist Home tomorrow at 1:30!!!!! I hope this works out for him. He would be so, so good at it, and it would be here and not out in the woods. If he gets this job, that will be the best Christmas present EVER. So if anyone is reading my little blog, and if you're so inclined, we'd appreciate any prayers, lit candles, good thoughts.

In other exciting news: Today at 4:00, I go for my big ultrasound! Hopefully we'll find out who's in there, Sophia or a little boy who wouldn't yet have a name. LOL I'll update about that when I get a chance!

Halfway there!

I'm at 20 weeks and 2 days today - halfway done with this pregnancy! It seems like just yesterday I got the surprising news that I was, in fact, pregnant. I don't think I'm doing too badly for someone of "advanced maternal age", especially considering I was short and fat to start with, and not exactly the picture of fitness. I get tired more easily, and I think the pain I've been having is my gallbladder giving me fits (not uncommon in pregnancy, I hear, and I'll be making some changes in my diet to try to prevent more nights like the few I've had this week). But hey, if that's all the problems I have to worry about, I'll say thank you and consider it good.

I don't think I ever mentioned this. The day I found out I was pregnant, we were going to take pictures for our church directory. I don't remember what the photographer said, exactly, when he was taking the picture of just Brian and I together, but it was something along the lines of, "Say 'more kids!'" Brian and I just about died laughing at the timeliness of that comment. LOL

So, next week is our "big" ultrasound, when we hopefully find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. Pretty much everyone who's expressed an opinion thinks it's a girl. Julian is convinced he's going to have a baby sister, although he said it would be OK if he ended up with a baby brother, "because God just gives us what He thinks we need." Kevin thinks it's a girl. Brian is leaning toward hoping for a girl, I think (especially since we've settled on a girl name but have big fat nothin' for a boy name). All the grandparents think we're having a girl, although that may be just wishful thinking on their parts. So maybe this time next week, we'll know for sure. I hope so - I'm ready to register for all that stuff you really don't want to pick out until you know who you're shopping for!

Pain and regret

I feel awful. I started having stomach pains on Sunday night. Sunday night and Tuesday night, Phenergan helped and let me sleep. The stomach pain returned last night, and this time Phenergan didn't help. I barely slept, and I'm a raging grump today. The pain is upper abdominal, not lower abdominal like cramping or needing to go to the bathroom, so I worry that something has gone wrong with my lap-band. If that's the case, I don't know what will be done or what could be done, given that I'm pregnant. Curiously, though, the pain only flares up at night (and not every night - it gave Monday night a miss).

And because I felt bad, I was short-tempered with Julian this morning. I explained to him that I really didn't feel good and that's why I was crabby, but still. I feel bad about that. The overdramatic part of me worries, what if this pain is something that requires surgery and something goes horribly wrong, and the last thing Julian remembers me saying to him is fussing for not being ready to get out of the car when we got up to the drop-off point at school? I regret that I couldn't keep a better handle on myself and make my words to Julian this morning kind ones, pain and tiredness notwithstanding.

I just want to feel better, and for the baby and me to both be OK after whatever it takes to help me feel better.

9 weeks, 1 day

In all the whinefest, I forgot to update about my first OB visit on Thursday!

It went well. I love my doc. He's a fairly soft-spoken man with a dry, dry sense of humor, and I'm glad we can both joke about things and also talk seriously about things that need to be addressed. I'm forever indebted to the friend who gave me his name when my former OB retired back when I was pregnant with Julian.

Anyway, the visit. His first comment to me was, "Oh, no, you're pregnant." I said, yeah, that was pretty much my first reaction when I saw the test. LOL I lost a lot of blood with Julian's delivery, so he was doing a lot of joking about needing his nitroglycerine pills for this go-round and scheduling my c-section this time and then making sure he wasn't on the on-call rotation. I can laugh because I know he'll take good care of me and the little bit, and if I didn't believe that, I'd change doctors in a second. Turns out the baby is measuring 9 weeks, 1 day - a bit farther along than I'd figured. (Hey, look, my kid is precocious already!) I got to see the heartbeat, and the baby was squirming around in there just fine and dandy. So that reassured me a lot. (I worry - I'm 40, I'm a fat chick, and there are all sorts of things that can go wrong.)

My doc asked me if I wanted to do any prenatal testing, given the higher odds for something to go wrong at my age. I said I do want to go ahead with it, because if there's anything out of the ordinary to be prepared for, then I want to be prepared. Test results wouldn't cause us to terminate the pregnancy, but if our baby were to have, say, Downs syndrome, I'd want to plan ahead for that. So he'll recommend tests and I can accept or refuse, as I feel is appropriate. (This is another thing I love about my doc - he'll make recommendations, but if it's not something he feels is essential, he's not going to push me to do it. He doesn't have his own agenda to push.)

My next appointment is October 23, and we'll get to hear the heartbeat then. Should be exciting!

Ups and downs and odds and ends

J had good days on Thursday and Friday, and this week has been OK so far. He's barely hanging on to an "S" (satisfactory) as his conduct grade for the six weeks, though. So I made a deal with him. If he can keep up the good behavior and get the S in conduct this six weeks, we'll go to Game Stop and look at the used Wii games as a reward. We'll see if a little motivation can go a long way - he's got thirteen class days left in the six weeks.

Brian got his first paycheck on Saturday! Woo hoo! It was only about half of what he'll be getting regularly, but still - it was a welcome sight, and I know he's happy about contributing to the family income.

I'm a little out of sorts today. Part of it is because Brian left this morning for his eight-day shift. Part of it is because several of my friends are getting together for a few days, starting tomorrow, and I'm not going to be able to make it, and I'm sad. I've known these women online (although I've met a couple of them in real life) for several years now, and this is the third get-together I've missed, and it sucks. I wish I were going, but the money just wasn't in the budget, and even if it had been, I'd have had to give it a miss once Brian took the eight-on, six-off job. But even knowing logically that it wouldn't have worked out with Brian's new job, money notwithstanding, I'm really bummed. And once again I say, maybe next year.

I'm eight weeks now, give or take, and today the tiredness is kicking my butt. I'm fighting to stay awake at my desk, but I'm sorely tempted to just put my head down and take a nap. Of course, if I do, that will be the moment our big boss on-site chooses to walk down *this* row, so I'm resisting the urge (thus far). Most days I feel OK. Some days I feel pretty crappy, but there's been no throwing up, thank goodness. Some days I feel positively perky, and then I worry that something must be wrong. LOL My first official doctor's appointment is tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a good one.

Would I feel better if I felt worse?

I'm just out of sorts today. Grumpy, surly, little-black-rain-cloud out of sorts. I want to go hide and be by myself until the feeling passes. And I think worry is at the root of it. I feel mostly OK from a physical standpoint - no queasiness-that's-not-quite-nausea, no heartburn, no insane tiredness (still tired, but not so much that I can barely function, which is how I've been the past few days), no growing/stretchy pains. In short, nothing that would really tell me I'm pregnant. And since I feel fairly decent, I worry. I'm scared to death that something has gone wrong, that I'll go to my appointment next week and my doctor will tell me the baby has stopped growing, that it's over. I don't want that. This baby may have been a bit of a surprise, but he or she is already very much loved and wanted, and I want to go next week and be told everything is just fine. I want it to be next week right now. I guess I'd feel better mentally if I felt worse physically, silly as that sounds.

Brian will be home this evening, so that's good news! I think his shift ended at 1:00, but he said he'd have debriefing, and he wasn't sure if that would be before or after he officially got off shift. I'm sure he'll call or send me a message when he's on the road.

J has had a couple of rough days at school - talking, getting up out of his seat, making shadow pictures in front of the projector, that sort of thing. I wonder how much of this has to do with the difference in teachers, how free they were to move around in kindergarten vs. how much his new teacher expects them to stay seated. He also got into trouble for yelling in another student's face. He said the boy punched him first, and I told him that if that happened, he was better off telling the teacher rather than yelling back. (If he took a punch at someone who punched him first, he wouldn't get into more trouble at home, but I'm not telling him that yet.) Hopefully today will be better. He's also going to be part of the PAL program, where younger kids are assigned to a high school student who's taking part in the program as a big brother/big sister. I hope that he'll get someone assigned to him who can be a good role model for him.

Is it 5:00 yet?

One of life's little surprises

Well, I don't guess this is exactly a little surprise:


Rather a big one, in fact! But yes, there will be an addition to the family come late April or so. It got to where my cycle was longer than usual, and I figured it was either pregnancy or pre-menopause, so I peed on a stick. Honestly, I was expecting it to just be another trick played on me by an aging body. Nope!

And what's funny - back in May I'd gone to see my RE (reproductive endocrinologist, for those of you unfamiliar with the abbreviation), to see about getting some help in the getting pregnant department. I never followed up, and just a week and a half before I tested, Brian and I had talked about this very thing. He didn't have a job at the time, and we talked about how we really didn't have the income to pursue medical intervention, and I said I wasn't really sure I could go through the process again without knowing it would work (because there are no guarantees, you know). I knew what to expect if we went through those hoops again, and I really didn't think I wanted to go there. It was a good talk, and we came to the conclusion that yes, it would be nice to have a child, but we weren't going to force it. If it happened, it happened. Well, it happened!

I called my doctor's office right away, given the issues I had with J. My doc had me in for bloodwork twice, and everything looked good - my progesterone was around 24, and my hCG went up nicely, just like it's supposed to. (A couple of people have speculated as to whether I'm having twins - I sincerely hope not, one healthy baby will be plenty for us, thanks!) I go for my first official visit on September 18. Being as I'm 40 and all, I fall very solidly into the "advanced maternal age" category, and I'm hoping that gets me a few extra peeks at the little one.

The grandparents are all thrilled, and all the grandmothers are hoping for a girl. LOL Me, I don't much care, as long as at the end of it all, there's a healthy baby and a healthy me. We've told J, and he suggested we name the baby "Sandwich". Mmm, no. He's also informed me that he'll have a baby sister, but she'll have to learn to play with boy toys, because there's not going to be any girly stuff in his house! LOL Yeah, we'll just see how that goes, kiddo.