Groundhog's Day and Superbowl Sunday

Yesterday was Groundhog's Day and also my Dad's birthday, and the official start of my orientation season for work. My co-workers Theresa, Sabrina and I headed off to White River Junction, Vermont (jealous?) in the morning in a fancy, red Chevy Aveo (NOW are you jealous?) while my immediate family celebrated my Dad's big day by participating in the Essex, CT Groundhog's Day parade. Here's a photo that Ted took of my Dad and his Grandkids Jack, Julia and Olivia. Notice my Dad's snazzy, custom-made Groundhog hat:






I wish I could have been there, but I needed to be at the orientation since I pretty much re-vamped it this year and I needed the practice with the new transitions and some new info I've added. I also wanted Theresa and Sabrina watch me go through the presentation before I send them out on their own to do them. I think the orientation went well and we were able to hit the road to return home a little after 3pm which worked out fine.



When I got home, Ted came right outside and we headed to my Dad's house so that I could at least see him for a little while on his birthday. Glenna fed us well, as always, and we had a great chat about politics, my work, and of course the baby! They gave Ted and I some great advice about naming the baby once we find out whether it will be a boy or a girl, and loved the names we have in mind. (More on that at a later time...stay tuned) I showed them all the updated sonogram photos and they just seem genuinely thrilled about this baby. Thanks, Dad and Glenna for a great evening!

Sunday was Superbowl Sunday, and we had a lazy day for the most part. Ted fired up the smoker and cooked up some ABT's (jalepenos stuffed with cream cheese and pulled pork and wrapped in bacon) and some chicken wings so we could pig out during the game. Now, I usually only watch the Superbowl for the commercials (typical chick move) but I had a real interest in seeing the Giants win this one and watched mostly the whole game, taking only a half hour break to talk to Karen on the phone. It was such an exciting game at the end, and I had fun spending the time with Ted and he was very patient answering all my silly "what does that mean" questions. In the last few minutes, I even felt a few flutters in my belly that I'm sure were the baby...this kid will be a Giants fan for sure!

The Beginning of the 2nd Trimester

This week marked the beginning of my 2nd Trimester which is just unbelieveable to me. My friend Sabrina told me that on the first day of her 2nd trimester, when she was pregnant with her daughter Emma, she instantly felt better then she had in her first trimester. So, I woke up on Tuesday expecting to be full of energy and free from the pesky morning/evening sickness that I've experienced here and there. No luck. All I felt was that Sabrina is a very lucky woman!

Ted was in the mood for sushi early in the week, so we went to a Japanese restaurant in New London for dinner. I wasn't feeling well in the car ride there, but I'm really trying my best to be a trooper and not put a damper on any of our plans just because of my occasional queeziness, so I sucked it up and made it all the way through dinner not eating much other then some sticky rice. After dinner, I couldn't "hide it" anymore and I threw up twice in the parking lot and spent the first 10 minutes of being home getting sick. I'm such a fun date, aren't I? The following night I was sick again, spending 10 minutes in the parking lot of my office getting sick into a WalMart bag. My friend Kris Eastman said that I could have at least been a little more classy and used a Target bag. She's got a point and I'll have to work on that....

The last few days have been better, and while I've had some moments of queeziness, I haven't actually gotten sick at all. I do have more energy then I did in the first trimester which is huge. Saturday Ted and I had a condo association meeting in the morning (we were early so we hit Dixie Doughnuts on our way....yum!) and then did some cleaning when we got home. I actually enjoyed being able to contribute more and pulling my weight. Later in the afternoon, I went with Ted to the salon while he got his hair cut and then we went straight to the Westbrook Outlets so I could use some very generous gift cards my Dad and Step-Mom gave me at Motherhood Maternity. I picked out two nice blouses and two pairs of pants for work that I think will be great for the orientations I have to do for work throughout the winter and early spring. The best part of trying on clothes there is that they have fake belly bumps that you strap on around your waist so you can see how the clothes will fit you as your belly grows. I have to admit, I liked the way I looked with a big old pregnant belly!! Weird, huh? Ted didn't get a chance to see it, but I might drag him back there again soon so he can have a little preview of what's in store!

The main reason for the "Shoreline Tour" was to visit with my Aunt Mary Shanley who lives in an assisted living community in Branford. I haven't seen her in a long while, and I really miss her. Aunt Mary used to live in the apartment above us when we lived on Mansfield Street in New Haven until she fell and broke her hip a few years ago. Once that happened, it really didn't make sense for her to go back to the house, so she moved to Branford. It was always nice to have her close by, and now that we live a fair distance from her we really don't see her all that often. I need to make more of an effort to visit more, since yesterday made me realize how much I miss her! She seems excited about the baby and I showed her some of the sonogram photos which she enjoyed.

Once our visit was over with Aunt Mary, we went to Ted's parents house for a visit and for dinner. We haven't seen them since Christmas so it was nice to spend some time with them, too. Mom Lorson gave us some ADORABLE baby clothes and socks that she said she couldn't resist buying; I have a feeling that this kid of ours is going to be very spoiled by his or her grandparents! I'm so happy that both my and Ted's parents are so excited about this pregnancy! We hung out for a little while and then went to Chuck's Steakhouse for dinner. My family used to go to Chuck's all the time while I was growing up, so it was nice to share that with Ted and his parents. We had a great meal ( I was even tempted to get a steak, but ended up with chicken instead....just to be safe) and then Ted and I ventured home (I of course slept most of the way). Thanks, Mom and Dad Lorson for a great evening!

My next doctor's appointment is on the 6th of February and then my second round of testing at UConn is on the 20th and that's when we find out if this baby is a boy or a girl!!!

13 Weeks and All's Well!

On January 14th I had the first of two appointments at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, CT. Because of my "advanced age" my doctor had recommended that I get some various tests done that will help determine the odds that the baby would be born with Down Syndrome and some other birth defects. Scary stuff. But, I agreed that it is important to know what we're up against, and since women over 35 (for those of you who may not know, I'm at the ripe old age of 37!) have a greater chance of having a baby with a birth defect, I agreed to the testing and went forward with it optimistic that everything would be ok, but cautious knowing that my age may very well be my worst enemy right now.



The first part of the appointment was a meeting with a genetic counselor. The woman I met with was very nice and she carefully explained the sonogram and blood work I would be getting that day, and what the various results would mean. Then she asked a bunch of questions about family history both on my side (easy answer: since I'm adopted, I really don't know!) and on Ted's side. Once that was done, she sent me into the waiting room until I was called for my sonogram.



The sonogram (two of the best photos are above) was AMAZING. I had three done already but this one was different in that the previous ones were transvaginal (images taken from inside the vagina) and this one was standard and taken over my ever-expanding belly. This time, I was able to see the little bugger move around and I saw it's little fingers and toes and even some facial features. The sonogram tech was trying desperately to get a good view of the back of the baby's neck since what they were aiming to do was measure the depth of the fluid there, and the baby was being "difficult" and "stubborn" and moving every which way but the way the tech needed it to! She gave it the old college try for 15 or 20 minutes or so, and meanwhile she got some great photos, and at one point the baby even looked straight at the sonogram wand and moved it little fingers like it was waving at me...amazing! But, there was a task at hand and the baby wasn't cooperating (good lord...what do I have in store with this kid?) so the tech brought the doctor in to get the job done. After a few minutes he got the info he needed, and gave me the good news that the measurements of the fluid looked great: they worry if they measure 2.5mm or more fluid and my baby's measured in at 1.25. Whew! I still have to get my blood work results back, which should be Wednesday or Thursday, but so far so good!

The concerns and worries about what lies ahead

11 weeks pregnant!

As I mentioned before, along with the thrill of the first pregnancy comes a lot of concern and worry about what lies ahead. I know that our lives are going to change in just about every way from here on out which is both a nice thought and a scary one. We both love kids, and I have a special relationship with my best friend Karen's 8 year old daughter, Michelle, who seems to like to spend time with me, but how will I be as a mother to my own baby? I wonder if every soon-to-be mom has these same thoughts. Ted and I also really love to spend time with our neices and nephews; I love how our twin neices Julia and Olivia's faces light up when they see us and they love to be silly with their Uncle Ted!

When I first found out that I was pregnant and due right in the middle of the busy season at my work, I panicked. I love my job and really thrive on the action that goes on in the summer. I know that me having a baby right in the middle of all that is really going to make things difficult for me, my boss and of course my co-workers. Add that to the fact that the BBQ season is in full swing that time of year, and I was one freaked out chick when they told me I was due on July 22nd. Well, I've never been known for my timing, I guess. I hope it doesn't say horrible things about me that I initially worried about my job and the BBQ team before anything else. I hope it was just the fact that I was totally blindsided by this.

I am embracing this pregnancy fully now. I can't wait to find out the sex of the baby and feel him or her kick and move around. Ted and I walked through the kid's section at Macy's recently and prior to Christmas I spent an awful lot of time in Toys R Us, and I can't wait to start buying things for this baby. I know, I know...there are plenty of difficult times and sleepless nights ahead of me, too, but I can at least be looking forward to the fun stuff, right?

They warned me about morning sickness, but this is ridiculous....

10 weeks and 3 days pregnant!

Whoever said that I'm the exception to all rules never expected me to get pregnant, apparantly. My symptoms so far have been "textbook"; if you read about it in "What to Expect When You're Expecting", I probably have it or feel it. Morning / Afternoon / Evening sickness? I've got it. Insomnia? Got it. Adversion to specific foods? Sleepiness? Thickness in the waist? Nasal stuffiness? Yep, I've got those too. All of a sudden I can't even look at red meat, I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and yet I wake up an hour later and can't fall back to sleep to save my life, I can barely fit into any of my work pants and a morning doesn't pass where I don't feel sick to my stomach. All of this, and yet I'm still going into work every day and I'm still SO excited about this baby. Everyone is saying that this will all get better when I move into the second trimester, and I really hope they are right.

I'm starting to get a little ahead of myself by thinking of themes for the nursery, names for boys and girls, and planning maternity outfits to wear to the orientations I have to go to for work in the winter and spring. Luckily, my co-workers will be more than ready to do a fair share of the orientations so I'll have fewer to do this year then I've done in the past; for the past 3 years or so I had to travel to over 12 orientations and the schedule was pretty grueling. This year I'll only have to do 7 or so which is a huge improvement for me. My last one on the schedule is in Wyoming in the end of April, so I should be good and huge by then. I already feel bad for whoever has to sit next to me on the planes for that trip!

My First Post

Hi everyone!

My husband Ted has been bothering me for a while to get back to writing, and my excuse has always been that I didn't have anything to write about....until now! On December 4th, after 3 positive home pregnancy tests, my OB/GYN confirmed that I was going to have a baby. When I first heard, "You're definately pregnant", I was shocked and a little dazed. This is definately not something we planned!! They estimated my due date at July 22nd which is just horrible timing with work and with mine and Ted's hobby of participating in BBQ competitions. But, my boss was wonderfully supportive and Ted's enthusiasm about this pregnancy eased my mind about him stressing about missing some major competitions. So, it was time for me to get excited about it which came a few days after finding out.
I initially had some bleeding which worried me enough to speak to some of my girlfriends in the office for advice, and they urged me to call the doctor. The nurse told me to come in right away so I left the office early (again, my boss is pretty great about this stuff) and headed in to find out what was going on. After the doctor briefed me on all the different scenarios of what he could find out from the ultrasound, (best and worst cases and pretty much everything in between) I took a deep breath and waited to see some indication of what was going on in my belly. Almost immediately, he said "Everything looks perfect", switched on the sound and I heard my baby's heartbeat for the very first time. I can't wait for Ted to hear this noise; there is truly nothing like it in the world. At that instant, I bonded with this little being inside me and just wanted it to be healthy and ok. Of course, with the thrill of the first pregnancy comes the fear of realizing that I'm actually going to be responsible for another human being, but I'll save all that for another time. I found out that I was 7 weeks and one day pregnant and as I walked out of the office with the baby's first "photos" I was happy, excited, scared and amazed at what had just happened.
The following week I had the "interview" with the nurse and my regularly scheduled OB appointment. I met another doctor in the group whom I liked very much. She did a second ultrasound and again said everything seemed to be going as planned which was great news. She said the bleeding seemed to be originating from the base of my cervix and wasn't related to the pregnancy at all which I was relieved to hear. After the exam she briefed me on the various tests they will take, some of which are due to my age (no comments from the peanut gallery, please) and answered all of my questions very patiently and thoroughly. After work I was feeling like I needed to get cracking on learning about what was going on in my body, so I went to the store and bought "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and signed on to various pregnancy websites. I've been learning so much, and now I feel armed with info! Every week as the baby grows I give Ted the update: "Our baby is the size of a blueberry!" (He still refers to the baby as "my blueberry") "Our baby is the size of a grape!" "Our baby is the size of a walnut!" So, now my job is just to take care of myself and this blueberry...and of course, Ted and the cats since we all have a lot of adjusting to do!
I'll post later with how I've been feeling and such....I promise I won't drone on and on about the bad stuff!