Knocked Up

I haven't blogged in a while, and it's because I've been keeping a huge secret. And I'm horrible at keeping secrets. Just ask Mike, I don't think he's ever gotten a present from me without already having some idea what it is - except for the last birthday present I got him, but I digress.

Anyway, I've been keeping a big secret. I'm pregnant! Eight weeks to be exact. I had my first prenatal appointment today, and everything seems to be progressing normally. Before today, we've told a handful of people, and their reactions have ranged anywhere from my brother's complete speechlessness, to tears of joy, to total jump-up-and-down excitement. What was my reaction? Well, when I first found out, I was shaking like a hula girl on the dashboard of a big rig... and then I cried. It was a scene straight out of an after school special. I called Mike to the bathroom, and came out, ept in hand and said, "Well, I know why I haven't started my period..." He finished my sentence, "You're pregnant." And that's when the tears came. It was exciting, yet unexpected, and totally overwhelming. This was huge.

Let me back up a little bit here. Before we got married last October, we discovered that we had some fertility issues. I won't go into too many details, but the short version is that we were told by a specialist that we had a 2% chance of conceiving on our own. He had worked with another couple in our situation, and he said that it took them eight years to conceive without any fertility treatments. Well, after we got married, we decided that it would be OK if I went off of birth control - after all, it made me really moody, and with our apparent fertility issues, we weren't too concerned about pregnancy.

Fast forward to late July of this year. I just wasn't feeling right. My boobs were killing me, I was getting cramps, but no period. Hmm. I waited, and waited, and finally grabbed my calendar. I was about 10 days late. On my way home from work, I stopped at Rite Aid to grab some odds and ends, and also picked up a three pack of EPTs. When I got home, I said hello to Mike, and quickly made my way into the bathroom. I peed on the stick, and, well, you know the rest.

One thing that I've learned so far about being pregnant is that there is a lot to learn about being pregnant. Oh, and not to mention a lot to learn about giving birth and raising a child! It's all a bit overwhelming.

Some other first trimester tidbits: "Morning sickness" is the biggest misnomer. Who came up with that anyway? I haven't had "morning sickness," I've had bouts of nausea on and off throughout the day, accompanied by what I like to refer to as "hangover burps" - you know, the ones that make you feel better, but you still feel like you could puke at any moment? But, I haven't puked at all. And believe me, there have been times where I've just wished that I would. Blech. I'm exhausted. At the end of a work day, all I want to do is come home, eat dinner (I'm hungry all the time, too, and when I get really hungry, I also get really nauseous - which in turn makes it hard to eat) and go to bed. At 9:15, I'm usually ready to hit the sack. The other night, Mike said, "It's barely past 9!" To which I cleverly responded, "Uh, I'm growing a person over here. It makes me kind of tired." Ah, hormonally induced humor - gotta love it.

Anywho... speaking of exhausted, I'm done. Brain is ceasing to work. More later... including details about my wonderful trip to the lab for blood work - stupid tiny veins. Ouch!