Pre-Chrismas 2008

UPDATE: Now more than 6 weeks old, Lucy is doing quite well. She's finally broken the 7 pound mark and is eating ravenously. Joy of joys, she's also sleeping through the night (well, mostly...6 hours is fairly standard).

With Christmas approaching, family has been arriving in town to share with (and in some cases meet) the newest addition. Oma and Opa arrived last week, overjoyed to see their first grandchild filled out with a bit of baby pudge. Uncle Andrew (and g/f Leiya) surprised us all with an unexpected visit a couple of days ago. Auntie Kim and Uncle Mark will arrive tomorrow and we'll all go to Uncle Chris' and soon-to-be Auntie Ashlea's house for a Christmas Eve party. This should be more memorable and enjoyable Christmas than usual, simply because it'll be Lucy's first.

Click here for pre-Christmas photos taken by Opa.

More photos after Christmas, when the rest of the fam arrives.

Chainsaw party

This past weekend was spent chopping down the monstrosity of a ficus tree that was polluting our backyard. My father, Dan and Tom came over to help out. I rented a chipper to turn make short work of the whole mess. It used to be the size of the Epcot globe. Now it's about two cubic yards of mulch. Much more overwhelming than anticipated and we're all VERY sore now.



 
 
 
 

Lucy's first photo shoot

 
My good friend Tom came over to give Lucy her first photo session.
Click here for the choicest photos.

Lucy's first e-mail

date: Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 12:48 PM
subject: Hi Everybody!

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to say that it's been nice getting to meet you all. After arriving in St Pete at 6:39am on November 9th, 2008 (weighing only 5lbs, 14oz), I've barely had time to myself. My Oma and Opa and Grandma and Grandpa and Uncles and Aunties and Mommy and Daddy and friends and lots of other people always want to hold me and carry me around. It's quite a cushy lifestyle, I must admit. Between having people carry me everywhere and wiping my dirty backside for me,
I'm pretty spoiled. All I have to do is cry and someone comes rushing to my service. I've got Mommy and Daddy so well trained!

Speaking of Mommy and Daddy, I feel I should mention something about them. After all, it seems as if people only care about me. I feel bad for them. Whenever we go anywhere they get pushed aside so people can point their bright flashing things at me (so annoying). But Mommy and Daddy work really hard and stay up really late just to do my bidding, so they deserve some kudos. So, to Mommy and Daddy, Thanks!
You're doing a heckuva job. But could you please warm up those wipes a bit more? Winter's coming and it's a bit chilly when my diaper is off. Also, can you keep that big furry drooling thing away from me? It keeps licking my head.

Daddy was kind enough to set me up with this e-mail account. Like Grandma, I'm still learning but figuring it out quickly. A few things still confuse me, though. Can anyone tell me what "v1agra" is? And what, exactly, do I need to get enlarged? Oh well, I'm sure I'll learn all about that stuff when I'm old enough for middle school.

That's about all I can do for now. It's been 15 minutes since Mommy last changed my diaper, so I'm about due for another. Plus I'm getting hungry. Maybe if I cry loud enough Mommy will feed me.

TTYL,
Lucy Gregson

Thanksgiving 2008

Lucy's first Thanksgiving. I fried my first turkey. Good food, family, beer and fun.

Click here for more Thanksgiving pics.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!!

LUCY GRACE GREGSON
5 lbs, 14 oz; 19 inches
Born: 6:39am, Sunday November 9, 2008
Click here for Birthday Pics

Homo-hating, immigrant fearing Obama supporters

Just because Florida's 27 electoral votes went to Obama last night, don't think by any means that we're a "blue" state. Republicans scored big victories in local and statewide elections and the results for two constitutional amendments can be considered "red" victories.

One amendment was to revert an archaic law that prevents non-citizens from owning property. Most other states have already repealed such laws. Most analysts considered the amendment little more than a formality to bring us up to speed with the rest of the nation. However, Floridians voted against the proposal, thereby reaffirming our anti-immigrant mentality.

The most controversial amendment addressed anti-gay marriage. In years past, numerous states passed such laws and a few have worked their way through various court systems. In our case, we voted YES to define a marriage as only between a man and woman. No other "equivalent" arrangement is constitutional. I'm not going to debate the moral and ethical arguments surrounding gay rights. Quite frankly I don't have the time and I'm not an activist. But personally I don't see how the lifestyles of gay people effect me in any way. Which is why I've always thought any anti-gay initiatives are expensive wastes of time. But apparently I'm in the minority, since the good voters of Florida seem to think differently. Interestingly, for a few years Erin and I lived as "domestic partners," primarily for the insurance benefits offered through her employer. For anyone trying to do so now, GOOD LUCK!

In all, it was undoubtedly an historic election (aren't they all?). And, looking at a map of red vs. blue states, Florida is alone in the southeast with its support of a Democratic president. However, we still have a long way to go before we can be considered a blue state ourselves. There are still strong conservative sentiments and we don't jump to change too quickly. But if the nationwide results are any indication of evolving beliefs and priorities, the next 4 years will be an exciting time. It'll be interesting to see how our collective national psyche tackles this period of change.

belly mold

I know you will all think we are crazy, but yesterday we got a plaster mold of my 37 week pregnant belly. We will decorate it after Baby Gregson arrives.

Erin's Halloween costume

We went to a Halloween party last weekend. Here's Erin's costume.

Baby shower

Alright, finally time for another blog entry. I was just looking at the blog and realized that the last post was over a month ago. How shameful. I started writing this post early last week, but got busy at work and of course didn't have the energy by the time I got home so it had to wait until the weekend to finish. A lot has happened since then, so here goes. The house construction is coming along, but Brian wrote a a nice detailed post about that. He gets to write about the construction since he is doing all of it. I guess I will start with my surprise baby shower. Was I surprised! I thought that Brian and I were meeting his parents at their house and then the four of us would go out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. On the way, he was getting text messages, but he played them off and I wasn’t suspicious at all. We got to the house and he opened the door, I followed him in and everyone was standing there looking at me. At first I just stood there stunned with my mouth open, then I said “Holy Crap!” as I walked the rest of the way into the room. I just wanted everyone to stop looking at me. As if I wasn’t still reelling from shock of my friends and family all in the same room staring at me, my parents walked into the room! I had no idea they were even in Florida, but of course that was the point. They called me the day before on my birthday from the airport on their way to Florida to wish me a happy birthday and then I talked to them again that evening when they were already at my in-laws house. Sneaky devils. Anyway, when I saw them, I cried. A lot of things were working against me at that moment. I was still reeling from the first surprise, my pregnancy hormones were raging in full force, and of course I was happy to see them. I can’t believe that the party had been in the works pretty much from the moment we announced the pregnancy and no one spilled the beans. I was really impressed! The rest of the party was a blast. It was great to see everyone. Brian and I hadn’t seen a lot of our friends in a while. We have kind of been hermits lately. We have been working on the house and I haven’t had a lot of energy for socializing. How lame. Check out the link for horribly unflattering pictures of me at the shower.

Long overdue update

Wow. It's been over a month. OK, I agree that's unacceptable. Actually, a lot has been going on (more the reason for frequent posts) but both Erin and I keep passing the buck to post something. "You, no you, no it's your turn." (Actually, Erin is WAY behind on posting, so really...)

Baby update: Somewhere around 36 weeks. All is well. Approximately 6 pounds in utero with long legs (doctor's words). Don't know where those came from. Maybe the dog? Another ultrasound next week so hopefully Erin can put up another pic. She must now push the coffee table away from her when getting up from the couch. Quite humorous. I'm thinking of installing a hoist.
Room(s) update: Well, there was a problem with the flooring. We had the old carpet and vinyl garbage ripped up in hopes that the underlying pine could be salvaged. Turns out that more than half of it was damaged beyond repair. So, new plywood was laid and horizontal carbonized bamboo was installed. It looks fantastic, but cost more than we planned (isn't that always the case?).

The parasite's room is DONE. Well, mostly. After the floors were finished I painted the baseboards, finalized some touch up painting, re-installed the closet doors and replaced door hardware. I previously replaced the ceiling fan and light fixture. After much nagging, I finally allowed Erin to start cluttering up the room with parasite paraphernalia. It looked so nice all empty and airy... Now the only things left to install are a closet organizer system (maybe next week.) and window blinds. Oh, and a parasite to take it all for granted.


The front soon-to-be-office room is also coming along, albeit at a slower pace than the parasite's room. I laid the track for the multipass doors, so that it is flush with the new flooring. Looks great! The baseboards are in but I haven't yet painted them. I just got some track lighting and will try to install it this weekend. I replaced all the receptacles and switches with decora versions and stainless steel switch plates. I never realized how cool the stainless looks. Such a great accent. I'm going to use them for future projects. Still have a lot left to do in there but it's mostly the boring aesthetic stuff like painting, blinds, etc. Not difficult but time consuming.

One sort of drawback... now that the flooring has gone in, it looks like it's time to fix up the adjacent dining room. SIGH. One room leads to another. So that project will be tackled sooner than planned. Which will in turn lead to the kitchen...

That's all for now. I'm going to nag Erin to post soon, since she's much further behind than I am. And since most of you care more about her and the parasite than my adventures. She's got a good story to tell about her baby shower and other misadventures.

Toodles.

Parasite room almost finished

I finished painting over the weekend. Also replaced the ceiling fan and another light fixture at the entry to the room. Just about done replacing the out-dated (and in some cases, fire hazardy) receptacles and switches (and plates). All that's left is to get the flooring under the carpet refinished. Hopefully within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'll shift gears back to the soon-to-be multifunctional office/spare guest room. Sorry, no pics at this time. Maybe later in the week.

Doggie swim

What happens just before they drain a city pool at the end of the season for annual maintenance? They open it up for a doggie free-for-all!! Imagine 100 or so waterlogged energetic dogs tearing around a public pool, jumping off the diving board, splashing all over the place and humping at will. Pure doggie bliss. Pure chaos for owners. Good times for all.

Paper Airplanes, a great book

Anybody need a good read? Check out Paper Airplanes (Red Box Press) by Emily Kieson. There. If that's not linkbaiting, I don't know what is.

Good luck, Emily! If your follow up novels are as good as this one, your success is assured.

Trip to Jersey means driving in Jersey

I know, when most people think of exotic locales for quick weekend getaways, the first place on their minds is New Jersey. Or as I like to call it, New York's Overflow Parking Lot. Actually, Erin's folks live in south Jersey, so the natives we encountered had a more distinctive Philly mid-Atlantic accent. Either way, the bird-flipping to car honking ratio is about the same.

Our premise for the trip was the crab feast held by Erin's surrogate uncle, Bill in the Philly suburbs near Villanova. Every year family and friends don mallets, crackers, bibs, eye goggles and other assorted crab paraphernalia for mirth, merriment and beer sodden good times in Bill's backyard. I must say, this year's feast was as fun as the ones I've been to in the past. The sun was shining, a slight breeze was blowing and juice from a couple hundred Maryland blues was flying everywhere. I think Erin even had some in her hair. Ahhh, good times.


Despite the enjoyment of the feast, the trip started off on a bad foot. Our flight to philly was (once again) canceled on Friday night. (That's two out of the last two trips, USAirways!!! You'll be getting a strongly worded e-mail from me. So take that!) After leaving work a bit early and boarding the dogs and taking care of other pre-trip preparations, we arrived at the airport the usual hour or so before the flight. Passed through security, etc. Only to be notified at the last minute that the flight was canceled and no others were leaving that night. So we were put up in the airport hotel (not 20 minutes from our own house) where we waited like stir-crazy rats until we were woken at 4:00am by an automated phone call that informed us our 6:10am flight was delayed an hour and a half. Needless to say, we didn't arrive in Philly until around 11:00am. The crab feast was at 3:00 so from the minute we touched down, the whirlwind began.

After the crab feast, we briefly visited with a couple friends who have a 10 month old boy and a new (old) house. They live so close to Bill that visiting them was a no-brainer. And a welcome break from the chaotic-ness of the earlier parts of the day. We finally drove back to south Jersey with Erin's folks later in the evening. Such a beautiful night that we decided to take the scenic route through Philly. Down W River Dr, past Boathouse Row, behind the museum, on Ben Franklin Pkwy and through China town to the Ben Franklin bridge (being the day after opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, Chinatown was SLAMMING). Going over the bridge to Philly, we were entertained by an impressive fireworks display put on by the minor league Camden RiverSharks at their new waterfront stadium. All in all, definitely one of those nights that makes me miss Philly. Until I remember that with Philly and Jersey come what can be affectionately termed "The Worst Drivers Anywhere."

Our whirlwind 36 hour Jersey adventure continued Sunday morning as we drove Erin and her mother to a baby shower in Red Bank (made famous by the movie Clerks), a shore town not too far from Staten Island. Basically, we had to traverse most of the State of New Jersey's exceptional highway system to get there. Surprisingly, traffic was fairly light and obedient and we only had to survive about 6 near death experiences. In Red Bank I made a wrong turn or two and learned that the New Jersey road engineers have poor understanding of the term "U-Turn." Apparently, you CANNOT turn left from a two lane road in New Jersey. At all. You have to go right to the "U-Turn" lane, from where you actually make a big right-hand cloverleaf turn. So, after a few miles of befuddlement I completed what should more appropriately be called a P-turn. Why label it with big "U-Turn" signs?

Anyway, after dropping off the girls, Erin's father and I explored half a block of Red Bank until we found the nearest bar, where we sat watching Chinese women's beach volleyball until the call came to pick up the ladies. And thus our trip to Red Bank was over. But the commute back home had only just begun. After one more minor wrong turn (I was now a pro with the accursed "P-Turn"), we found ourselves on the Garden State Parkway to points south and west. From the Parkway, we caught I-195 to connect to the NJ Turnpike. At the junction, traffic was really bad. Let's call it CONGESTED even. To my bewilderment, there was a sign posted on the 195 off-ramp that said (and I shit you not): "CARS ONLY; During congestion, driving on the shoulder is permitted." I actually had to do a triple-take (seriously, there were three signs that made this declaration) before believing the legality of this absurdity. Now to me, the shoulder, aka the breakdown lane, of an off-ramp during peak travel times is not necessarily the best place for angry Jersey drivers to be jockeying for position. But, being neither angry nor from Jersey, I didn't see a problem. Until the passenger door of some large SUV nearly kissed my driver's side mirror. And another SUV nearly ran me off the shoulder into the ditch (thus the reason for a buffer lane). And the highway planners, while allowing drivers to cruise the shoulder at highway speeds, failed to make allowances for actually merging onto the upcoming highway at the end of the ramp. Thus, our 3rd near death experience in less than 0.5 miles. Seriously, driving in Jersey makes me long for Florida drivers, where all we have to deal with are the blind elderly.

In pregnancy related news, Erin's belly is becoming quite prominent. This was the first time her folks have seen her since her girth has increased. To make for better pictures, she wore a lovely belly-enhancing dress.

I swear, I am really not that lazy!

I figured that I needed to defend myself since all of Brian's previous posts make it look like all I do is sleep all day and let everyone else do all the work. That isn't exactly how it is. Granted, Brian is doing the majority of the construction work, with a little help from his father, but someone needs to comment on the mess they create and complain that it isn't getting done fast enough. That is a lot of work!! I have also been doing a lot of organizing and planing for the parasite's arrival. We are looking for as much used furntiture for the nursery as possible and it has been a pain in the butt to find. So far we have a crib and that is it. I check Craigslist every day and hopefully we will be able to get the rest of what we need. Also picking things for the baby registry is really overwhelming! There is so much stuff and I have no idea what is necessary and which brands are best to buy.

Brian mentioned that we have been able to feel the parasite moving around in my belly. I started feeling him/her when I was about 23 weeks. It was a crazy experience. Brian actually got excited when he felt the baby move. He says that it freaked him out, but he had a smile on his face the whole time. Feeling the baby moving around in there makes me feel closer to him/her very excited for its arrival. I noticed that when I am sitting or lying down for awhile or have just eaten is when I feel the most movement. When I am moving around the baby is more still. I definitely like this stage of pregnancy much more than previous months. Even though I am getting fatter and fatter, it is still more exciting.

Brian sanding, Erin napping

Well, the drywall work is FINALLY done. It's as good as it's going to get with 80 year old crooked and uneven walls. Or, at least as good as an easily bored amateur is going to get it. On Sunday I rented a power wall sander with built-in vacuum. AWESOME! Makes quick work of the final prep phase, prior to texturing the walls.

Meanwhile, in the soon-to-be-office, my mother cleaned up the molding that had gotten beat up a bit in earlier weeks.

What was Erin doing this whole time, you ask? When she wasn't painting her toes or primping her hair, she was doing what she does best.

In pregnancy related news, apparently for the past few weeks, the little parasite has been kicking and flipping around and doing whatever it is that parasite larvae do before they're hatched. Every time I've tried to feel it, it stops, as if playing hide and seek. ("Shh, don't move, he'll find us.") This past week Erin had me feel her belly during its most active time. Holy crap! I thought it was going to jump out and try to eat me. Remember the chestburster scene from Alien? Yeah, this one will give me nightmares, too.

Rare footage of Erin WORKING

Let me start with a gratuitous shot of a confused pooch (Mason, aka "the Bottomless Goat"). Every blog's got one for the "aaawwww" factor.

Now, let's get this post started. The pics here are a bit out of order, since the work shown was done about 3 weeks before my last post. But I just now got around to sorting through the photos, so deal with it, OK?

I know in an earlier post I eluded to the fact that Erin sits around like a bloated whale, eating ice cream and other pregnancy foods while I'm left to pick up the slack. Well, I've got some previously unreleased footage of her actually working! Here she is, peeling wallpaper in the living room/ soon-to-be-multifunctional-office/ guestroom. Not seen, she also stripped the walls in the soon-to-be parasite room. I know, I know what you're all thinking, "Wow Brian, you look really tired supervising the wallpaper removal." Well, please don't worry about me. Not too long after, Erin was kind enough to fetch me a beer and wipe the sweat off my brow. She's a keeper!

Inflated like a balloon (and other pics)

Last night I took a picture of Erin in the tightest shirt she owns. 3 minutes later, she farted and deflated to a more normal size.

In other news, I've made a lot of progress on our living room conversion project. The long header spans the length of 3 standard size interior doors, which will slide one behind the other on tracks in the header and the floor. When closed, they will all tuck nicely behind the partition wall at the left side of the opening. Imagine, if you can amidst all the trash and chaos, the room will become a nice office during normal times, with an open airy feeling. When guests stay over the doors will slide shut. A murphy bed will eventually be installed for added functionality. Note the section of underlying flooring that is exposed in the last photo. The previous owners covered beautiful oak with a thin veneer of plywood topped with lovely early '80s puke green carpet. And yes, to the left is Pergo, installed over plywood over beautiful oak (the oak extends throughout the house...an unexpected surprise).

5 month check in

I went to the baby doctor a couple of days ago and had another ultrasound. This time Brian was really into it and he was able to stay upright. He enjoyed seeing all the different baby parts that looked like blobs to me, but he was able to decipher what they were. I put the best picture up next to this post. Not much different from the one at 11 weeks, but maybe a little bigger. The ultrasound tech was a little disappointed that we didn't want to know the sex, but she was good and didn't slip up and check (even though I probably wouldn't have been able to tell if I was seeing anything anyway). Everything is normal, he/she has all his/her hands, feet, fingers and toes, no club feet or cleft lip and pallets and I was told that he/she was really healthy. We are really happy about that, of course. The baby is 12 oz, but I don't know how long I must have been too busy staring at the TV screen watching our baby moving around when she told me. I was also told that I might not feel kicking for another month or so since my placenta is in the front between the baby and my belly and may act like a pillow muffling any kicks. That is really all there is to report. The doctor I saw was 28 weeks pregnant, which was kind of comforting. I guess she can empathize with how I am feeling. I will take a picture of my expanding belly in the near future. I have officially popped out. No way to hide it. I am out and proud! Not really. I feel pretty fat and dumpy, but nothing I can do about it.

As far as life outside of baby, not much really to report. As you know from Brian's previous post he is doing a lot of work to the house to create another room for guests that he can also use as an office for his new budding business. Once he is finished with the construction and the mudding of the walls, I will do the girlie parts and prime and paint to make it all look pretty. Don't worry, I will use no VOC paint and primer so that we won't inhale all those yucky paint fumes. Don't really enjoy painting, but it is something I can do and I feel badly about Brian doing everything.

As for work, I am enjoying my somewhat new job. Been at Birkitt for 5 months now and have been working on the same project since I started. It is all going well so far. I am hoping to study for and take my LEED certification test in the near future and then work on some green building projects, but until then, I am happy with what I am doing. At least most of the time. There are many chaotic days but then there are also some nice calm days, which can be a nice change. I did some field work on the Saturday after July 4th b/c my boss offered double pay for working that weekend. You can't pass up double pay even if you are a fat, pregnant woman! I have to admit it was really hard. It was hot and very hard to access some of the areas we needed to survey becasue they were covered with very thick, sometimes thorny vegetation. I made the decision, even though it pained me to admit it, that I was no longer in any shape for field work. I have become weak and soft. How sad. I was also attacked by chiggers and am still itching like crazy 4 days later. Little bastards. I am destined for office work until after the little bugger pops out. Oh well, there are perks to being in the office. Good temperature, restrooms, and no bugs to name a few.

As usual, Brian does all the work while Erin relaxes and eats bon-bons

OK, shhh, just between us, Erin doesn't need to know the title of this post. It's best for all involved if she just stays out of it. She's sleeping right now, so let's not wake her, heh?

That's the story of my life...she sleeps or watches TV or otherwise just chills and does nothing while I take on the burden of preparing for the arrival of the parasite. Sheesh, just like her. I mean seriously, does she know how difficult this pregnancy has been for me? The bloating, weight gain, gas, etc. It's hard drinking for three! You'd think she'd be a little more considerate and pull her own weight around here.

But no, I'm left doing it all, as usual. So in preparation for the li'l parasites arrival, I've been busting my hump building a new bedroom/office. (I call it "parasite" because it's bleeding my wallet dry. I should just sign my paychecks over to Home Depot.) See, our new house is only two bedrooms and I was informed that with the arrival of children come unexpected house guests. Grandparents, uncles, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. No one told me it was a package deal. Apparently all these people want a place to stay. I suggested a sheet of plywood on top of cinder blocks, but NOOOO. They need a mattress. And a room. With doors. What is this, the Ritz?? So, slowly but surely I've been converting our otherwise useless front living room into an office/bedroom. The most challenging part of which has been framing for what are called "multipass doors." So now all these ungrateful guests will have not one, but three doors through which they can tote their overstuffed suitcases full of kiddie presents.

I guess Erin deserves a little credit for peeling the yards upon yards of hideous 1980s wallpaper, but let's face it, this post is about me. She needs no more of your pity.

Catching Up

Okay, so here is the first post for the Gregson Parasite blog. It is a little late in coming, but it takes me a while to get my act together these days. I guess I need a slow day at work with nothing to do, to prompt me to get this started. Brian and I have talked about doing one for a while, but I was recently informed that I will be the one spearheading it since, he has lots of house projects to complete before the arrival of the Gregson Parasite (aka our baby). He is the witty computer savvy member of our family and usually does these kinds of things. I know that the name sounds a little offensive, but we mean it with lots of love and thought it was a funny name for the blog. We hope you all feel the same way. We thought of the name when I mentioned that I feel like I have lost control of my body. The baby is causing me to eat a lot, pee a lot, and the constant bloating and gas is no picnic in the park. Haven't really felt any kicks, but I guess at 18.5 weeks that is to be expected.

Since I haven't done posts in the past, I guess I should do a little recap about the progression so far. I guess I should start with the pregnancy realization. It is a funny story actually, in hindsight. Maybe not so much at the time. I just want to preface this with, never anticipate that you are not fertile, without strong evidence. Brian and I were not trying per se, but I guess we were not taking preventative measures at all times. Need I say more? Anyway, it was sometime in the middle of March and I was in Crestview, FL in the FL panhandle about 6.5 hours away from home for work. I had an uneasy feeling and when I was in Publix with my coworker buying some things, I decided to get a pregnancy test along with my six pack of beer just in case. I guess looking back on it, those were two very strange things to buy together. But I really wanted beer and I needed a little piece of mind before I could enjoy it thoroughly. So I went back to the hotel room, put my beer in the refrigerator and decided to take the test. I read the instructions very thoroughly, and then proceeded to do the necessary actions that a pregnancy test requires. I was supposed to let it stew for about 3 minutes so I left it in the bathroom and went and watched TV for a bit. All I could think of was oh my God, oh my God! I guess at the time, I kind of was hoping I wasn't, but in the back of my mind, I kind of knew that it could be true. So I went back to the bathroom after 3 minutes exactly. I didn't want to risk having a false reading. So needless, to say I found out I was knocked up. It was a digital read out it said clear as day" Pregnant". Holy Shit!!! So, being the scientist I am, I needed replicates. I Got in my car and drove to the nearest Walgreens and bought three more tests. Then went back to my hotel room and took them all again in various ways. Nope. All the same result. Damn, I can't drink that beer I just bought. So I started freaking out a little, but I thought I would need to call my partner in crime and inform him of my recent situation/infestation. I called Brian on the verge of tears and said, "I am pregnant." His response was a few seconds of painful silence and then, "I think I just shit myself a little." Then, not 2 seconds later, "Is it mine?" Always the joker. But I knew he was having a hard time with the news and being away from home when I delivered the news was really hard. I so wanted him to be excited, but I can't blame him for his shock and delayed excitement, I was feeling the same way. Don't get me wrong, we always wanted kids, but at the moment weren't quite ready. But everyone says you are never really ready, so I guess we just needed a little time to let it sink in. Which, it has and now we are happy and excited and scared shitless of course. Three days after the p test, we left for Switzerland for 10 days, so we waited to tell our families and friends the news until we got back.

Brian and I went to the baby doctor on May 5 for our first appointment. At the time I thought I was close to 12 weeks, but after the ultrasound I was told that I was 11 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Wow, they can really get very precise. The ultrasound was amazing. Brian and I were obviously not prepared for the fetus (don't like that term, but can't think of another) to actually look like a miniature baby and while I was close to tears with joy/fear, Brian was almost passed out on the floor. He was starting to get really white and the ultrasound technician had me jump off the examining table with no pants on and a jelly belly so that he could lie down. Good God! He says that he saw the next 20 years of his life flash before his eyes. How sweet. My man is so sentimental. After the ultrasound, the nurse practitioner estimated my due date at Nov 23, 2008. I might have a Thanksgiving baby rather than a turkey!

I had a couple of doctor visits since then, but nothing really exciting to report. Just blood test that all came back within "normal levels". So far so good.

I don't enjoy the weight gain, but I know that it needs to happen. At the moment, my belly is showing a little and I have had to retire most of my old clothing, mostly because they were no longer comfortable. I broke down this past Saturday and bought some used maternity clothes. Not my favorite type of shopping, but necessary nonetheless. I will definitely need them in the not too distant future.

My next doctor appointment is July 7 and I will get another ultrasound. This would be the point that we could find out the sex of the baby, but we have decided to wait until the birth. That will be a very exciting day!

Pictures: The picture of the measuring tape is of my belly at 12 weeks and it was 29.25 inches. We will take another picture at 5 months in about 2 weeks and I will post that picture with the new measurement. The second picture is of me at 12 weeks. We will do this same pose every so often to show the space between Brian's arms and my belly decrease over time.