Life With A Pregnant Woman PART ONE

Now that the wife knows she's preggers... she KNOWS she's preggers (forget that she had NO clue for the first 7 weeks). Now she KNOWS!

The best part so far? The constant craving for pizza. Normally, i'd be all like, "hey honey... wanna get pizza tonight?" And she'd be all like, "honey, we just had pizza six months ago... jesus, give it a rest already." But no longer. Now, it's pizza, pizza, pizza!!! YAY for me... and YAY for pizza makers everywhere.

Okay... here's the wife at the 9 week mark. Dig that belly!!!

The Brain

As I mentioned before I am now a victim of TTB. This condition leaves me stumbling into the night at 3 am or 5am to the bathroom. I try to not open my eyes. I shimmy past the dogs on the bedroom floor and I carefully step out of the bedroom* and fall into the bathroom. Futureman usually finds me and comes over for some love, trying to convince me that it's time for his breakfast.

I get back into bed, all warm and snuggly, sleepy, and generally pissed that I had to get up in the first place. I have NEVER had to get up in the middle of the night to pee. It sucks. What stinks even more is The Brain. The Brain decides that We Are Up and We must think and think and think. Thinking falls way to worry. Worry makes room for Paranoia. The cramps I feel. Are they normal? What if the dogs try to eat the baby? What happens if it decides not to stick around? Where are we going to put it? Jobs. Money. Moving. The house? Who will buy it? Do I really have to work for the next 9 months? I clearly have many many things to worry about. Most are unfounded. Many are silly. But, at 3 am in the morning, they keep. me. up. For hours. I spend the next day stumbling through the day tired and exhausted and feeling a bit embarrassed that I actually thought the dogs would try to eat a baby.

I did end up calling the Doctor about the cramps. They keep changing. It's hard to know what is normal. They, being good practitioners, brought me in and reassured me that I was progressing normally. We are at 9 weeks, there is a long way to go and I think I need to resolve to rely a bit more on faith. This is understand. But all of this is new. I don't know what all of the twinges and cramps and weird things going on are and whether they are bad. I know that my worry does not do any good. But, worry is irrational and rational arguments against it don't really work.


* I say carefully because, one morning last week, Rob found a dead mouse outside of our bedroom door. The cats had been stalking it for a while and in their true and faithful way of taking care of their family they played with it until it died and then brought it to our doorstep. I am so glad I didn't step on it...I didn't even see it!

Cup. Cups. Cuppest.

Unexpected Effects of Pregnancy

4. Bra Size

An increase in breast size is one of the first signs of pregnancy. Breasts usually become swollen and enlarged in the first trimester because of increased levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. That growth in the first trimester isn't necessarily the end, either — your breasts can continue to grow throughout your pregnancy!

In addition to the size of your breasts, your bra size may be affected by your rib cage. When you're pregnant, your lung capacity increases so you can take in extra oxygen for yourself and the baby, which may result in a bigger chest size. You may need to replace your bras several times over the course of your pregnancy.

from: 10 Things that Might Surprise you About Being Pregnant

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We made our first trip to a maternity store this weekend. Wow. Whoa. And HOLY COW! The stuff! The commercialism! The marketing! I can see how families end up with so much STUFF. There is a baby machine out there - putting need and want into your life at your most insecure time.

We headed over there to check out some "over the shoulder boulder holders". In the middle of June, before I knew I was pregnant I headed over to Macy's and picked up some new bras. I was a bit shocked to see that my size had increased. (Hello! clue phone ringing, time to pick up!! ) However, did not think much of it. Flash forward one month later - and those no longer fit.

The clerk at the maternity store this weekend was so kind to tell me that my keen idea of purchasing an appropriately sized nursing bra right now, so I wouldn't have to buy any later was not going to work. Why? Because woman typically grow ONE cup size during pregnancy and TWO more after the baby is born. ONE + TWO = THREE. Seriously?!

We had breakfast with two friends this weekend and John wondered, if at some point, NASA was involved in the construction of such a garment. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised.

Weekend tally

Cost of Two Bras at Maternity Store: $40

Dinner at Wendy's because I was starving: $10

Look on Rob's face when he heard what size cup I am: PRICELESS

T.T.B.

Throughout our marriage we have had arguments about the toilet. Mostly, when to use it. Rob suffers from T.B. (Tiny Bladder) as well as the need to have everylittlethinginorder before he leaves the house. A trip out the door for us is usually preceded by the following conversation.

W: "Rob we have to leave in 10 minutes."

R: "Okay, I'm ready to go right now."

9 minutes pass

W: "Rob we have to leave in 1 minute."

R: "Okay, I'm ready to go right now."

I get my stuff together and sit on the couch.

W: "Rob, it's time to walk out the door."

R: "Okay, let me just go to the bathroom."

He enters the bathroom and doesn't come out for 5 minutes. There is peeing, nose blowing, eye washing and the brushing of the teeth.

W: "I thought you were ready to go."

R: "I was, but I have to go to the bathroom right before we leave cause I have T.B."

I commence eye rolling and sighing and grumbling.


Well, I believe the playing field has been levelled.

At this point in the pregnancy I may have to fight him for the last pee. Because I am suffering from T.T.B. (Teeny Tiny Bladder).

I seriously doubt we'll ever get out the door now!

We will be caught in this endless cycle of each of us having to pee right before we walk out the door (we only have one bathroom).

Toe Rays?

Life at 8 weeks.


I found the above photo and the one published in a previous entry on a free stock photo website. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not truly accurate.

The following is taken from a Pregnancy Week by Week website:

Your baby will be about 8-11 mm CR by the end of the week. The baby's hind brain is clearly visible. This week the baby's gonads will become either testes or ovaries. And spontaneous movement begins! There are a lot of things that we do know about life before birth.
Bones and joints this week have many things going on. Elbows appear and the process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins. Toe rays become present, almost ready for you to count!

I think that baby is a lot bigger than 8-11 mm!

Oh, and the baby has Toe rays?! It's an alien for sure.

lil' brownie

Lil' Brownie

Robby just sent me the link to purchase this baby outfit. Clearly, we have our priorities straight!

Week 7 - pictures

Wendy at 7.5 weeks (post pasta dinner).



Robby at 7.5 weeks


Notice the non-alcoholic beer? What a good dad-to-be.

First Appointment

Model of life at 7 weeks.

We have our first appointment with our OB-GYN today. Wish us luck!

7.7 weeks
Due Date: February 22, 2007

6 weeks?!

Back posted for posterity


We woke up this morning and went through the usual morning routine. While in the bathroom I weighed myself. Having been exercising and changing my eating habits I was surprised to see that I was not loosing weight. In fact, I seemed to have gained a bit. I expressed my disappointment to Robby told me he thought I was pregnant. This was followed by a long winded response from me. In which the lines, "I don't feel pregnant", "Don't be ridiculous", and "I think I had a period a few weeks ago" we uttered. He laughed and disagreed. We went on to make plans for the rest of our day.

We ended up wandering down in the square near our house, enjoying some Dunkin' Donuts and our neighborhood farmers market. From here we headed over to the pharmacy and stared at the pregnancy tests.

There were so many. And they were so expensive.

I closed my eyes and picked one. We headed home.

I took the test and it was...

Positive but inconclusive. There seemed to be something wrong with the test. A malfunction of sorts. The required vertical line failed to appear. The instructions offer no comfort, just an 800 number. Which I called, they suggested I try again with a new test and a new method. They promised to refund the cost of the malfunctioning test.

Rob was sent out for some more tests. What a strange few minutes those were. Knowing that something could be there, but maybe wasn't, but could be, and if it was, oh my god, what were we going to do, we wanted kids someday, but is now someday, what about the house, the move, but there has to be something wrong, i don't feel pregnant.

I can only imagine what was going through Rob's head.

He returned with two pregnancy tests in hand and - a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon along with a six pack of non-alcoholic O'Doole's. The man's humor runs deep.

I took the second one. It was positive and conclusive.

We freaked a bit. Excited nervous disbelief. We both decided that it was a good sign. We both decided that there was a lot that could go wrong. We both decided that what ever happened at least now we knew we could have a family.

We tried to figure out how far along I was. It was either two weeks or six weeks.

Six weeks?!