Partee!!

What I learned this weekend...I am no longer 22 years old. Now you think I would have known that by now, but apparently not, since I managed to be throwing up and feeling hung over without ever taking a sip of alcohol.

Yesterday was my soon to be sis-in-law's bridal shower and bachlorette party. Shower went well but the bachlorette kicked my butt. I drank water all night, at one point running across the street to one of the best ice cream shops in the area and got a chocolate malt (LOVE those). I danced like a crazy girl! Headed home around 12:30, in bed at 1. Yeah, late, but not crazy late. Well darling little Q, who has not once kept me up at night, decided that the dance party should not end and wanted to keep on partying with the girls. For about 45 minutes she was going crazy, possibly trying out for the Ro.ckettes, I'm not sure. Finally fell asleep and then I woke up at 5 SO sick. I was miserable. It is not fair that not only was I sober all night, but I still ended up sick. (as an aside, being the only sober person can be hysterically funny, drunk people do really stupid things) And today I felt like I drank a bottle of vodka, tired with the headache and when every single movement hurts. I'm wondering if it was the smoke in the bars since we went out in VA instead of the District or maybe just the change in routine. All I know is it SUCKED.

Tonight will be a very early night for me, I've got a killer week at work and then I've got private clients lined up Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (for the record, next time I tell someone I can work on a Friday after I already worked all day, I need one of you to slap me). The only reason Wednesday is free is that it's Mr H's birthday. After all the party planning I did the last few weeks I completely forgot about it. Got to see about dinner reservations somewhere.

Off to straighten up. Mr H has been out of town since last week and the place is a complete mess. Hope everyone had a good weekend

Been awhile

So I'm still in this stupid blogging funk. I've probably got more posts saved as a draft in my dashboard than I've actually published.

But I'm not going to go into the stupidly, irrational fears of a pregnant infertile and am just going to let everyone know that despite my nightly dream that I was gestating a monkey (I think it's the banana cravings that got me), we had our ultrasound today and the baby is decidedly non-Simian* and it appears that, despite all my freakish insecurities, we'll be having a little girl in September.

More importantly, all systems were a go. I just loved our tech Lori, who after hearing me drone on and on about the monkey dreams (you see, I thought that it still could be a monkey and how could she be sure that the umbilical cord wasn't a tail?), reached for the 3D wand and made me promise not to tell anyone (none of you will tell on her...right?). I was floored by the technology, even the regular 2D.

I have to say though, that I think I would have preferred the didlocam to the way she did the cervix check. There was no need to slather on extra goo and then smush it up to my girly bits. I did not know that was coming and the bits had not been groomed in awhile. At least with the trans vag they put a condom over the goo. And as another side, I will be obsessively googling cervix length, mine as 2.8 and isn't it supposed to be over 3???

That's all I've got in me now, for some reason morning sickness has returned, although at least now it's only in the morning. And I promise to get better about commenting, I'm reading up on all of you, I just don't want to spread my funk around so I haven't been commenting

*yes, I know that humans are also simians, just taking a little creative license here

Traffic distractions

First and foremost, everyone go send some love over to Leah, who is now on bedrest. Not only is she on bedrest, but she also has a curious little pre-schooler who doesn't quite understand the concept.

Now I had all these fantastic posts floating around in my head that went completely out the window when I saw a lovely cop helping a broken down cab. He happened to look just like this fine young man. Since my 35 minute commute was at over an hour and I was sitting at a traffic light, I welcomed the distraction. His hair blew in the spring breeze. Apparently the light changed as he started to push the car out of traffic and I wiped drool from my chin as the folks behind me honked. Since I do love my husband, I'm going to blame this on hormones...but damn!

So that was my evening. Came home to leftovers and a night with the DVR...how disappointing

is it bad that...

- is it bad that the workout playlists on my i.pod have really become "driving home from work on a nice day with the window down" playlists?

-and, is it bad that the other day I downloaded several N.ew Kids on the B.lock songs in anticipation of the best reunion tour of 08??

Just wondering

Thanks for the dyson's recs. You ladies know how to respond when something is truly important ;) So far, Mr H still says we can get one tomorrow. Never been so excited to vacuum in my life. I really wanted it today since I'm having people over later and now they will see just how horrible my carpet is. I hope they all love me anyway.

This is shaping up to be a great weekend. This morning, I'm going with my almost sis in law to her dress fitting. This is the one with the veil, shoes, whole 9 yards. Pretty sure I'm going to cry. Then it's time to make some cheesy crab dip in preparation for the jewelry party we're having later that night. (think tupperware party but just with fun jewelry). Then girls night in while the guys are all out at my brother's bachelor party.

And then Sunday....Sunday is another meeting of the TOOTPU (The Order of the Plastic Uterus). We'll be grilling out at LJ's house. I'll be baking something yummy that morning and then get to spend the afternoon hanging out with some of the most fantastic women I've had the pleasure of meeting. Then back home, to cook my mom's birthday dinner. To be quickly followed by collapsing into bed exhausted.

Extremely important post

In my cleaning madness I convinced Mr H to buy a Dyson. I have a very short window before he re-thinks this decision. Someone tell me which one is best...

Spring cleaning

We've been forced into a massive spring cleaning the last few days, mainly due to the fact that I am completely irrational. The first step is admitting a problem, right? Anyway, I found a few little bugs the other day and decided that the whole house needed to be cleaned, top to bottom. It's been exhausting to say the least. Who needs to sleep anyway?

But I'm over that now and my slobbish tendencies will be back in full force within 24 hours I'm sure. Got a chance to work from home this afternoon. And it's a perfect day to be on the back deck with the laptop. My tulips are starting to come up, I just love this time of year.

Thanks to everyone for your reassurances on the whole braxton hicks thing. I agree, I don't think this particular nurse knew what she was talking about. I've had less than 1 a day since Monday and I've remembered my water bottle every day. And the new bras...wow. First I was a bit shocked at just what size the saleswoman brought me, but I got over it once I put them on. So much more comfortable. I will never wear a bra that is 2 sizes too small ever again...poor girls. And thanks for the advice on sleeping bras, I'm a total wuss and stared sleeping in a sports bra at about..oh....6 weeks. I was having enough trouble sleeping, no point in them waking me up too!

I made the mistake of wearing one of those more traditional maternity shirts to work yesterday. You know, the high empire waste that ties in the back. Mostly all of the tops I've bought have been the types that are just straight down with a little more room in the front. I was so self-conscious, I hated leaving my office, even more a minute. I felt like it put a great big neon sign on my belly screaming "Look at me". Everyone wanted to talk to me, comment on it, etc. I just hated it. Mr H gets upset, thinking I'm not excited about the pregnancy but it isn't that. I'm not comfortable being excited about it. I still don't believe it. I'm past the whole conspiracy theory of before and no longer think that my RE just wanted to get rid of me but I have a hard time fessing up to being pregnant. I saw my mom last night (she of course loved the top) and she said that I was starting to look pregnant. I immediately said that it was because of the top....she replied with, "It's because of the belly you idiot" (said with love...I hope). I guess despite the getting more obvious belly and feeling Q move just about every day, I still don't think this is going to work for us. I still need to work on having faith in the process and trusting Q.

Now is napping part of working from home???

just can't think of a good title ;)

A good friend of mine at work just became a stirrup queen and my heart just breaks for her. She just had surgery to remove her fibroids last week. They took out 18, one that was the size of a grapefruit and she's now recovering from what was essentially a c-section. She says she's so glad I'm there, since I have some idea what she'll be going through when she starts up with IUI's in a few months. Of course, part of me wishes I didn't know...but right now, the other bigger part wishes she didn't need me. Just like so many of us, she wants a family more than anything and will be a wonderful mom...and of course today at work I read about a custody hearing in a divorce where neither parent wants the pre-schooler. Poor baby, someday he's going to realize that his parents fought to not have him...and we fight tooth and nail to even try. It just doesn't make sense. Why can't there be some type of quota on infertility so we can spare other people all this crap?

All that anxiety and paranoid is back and big time. Sunday and today I had this tightening or cramping across my whole lower abdomen and my uterus got rock hard. Happened twice Sunday and three times today. After consulting Dr Google, who suggested that it could be Braxton-Hicks but it was too early to feel them yet, I decided to call my doc. I got to speak to a nurse, but not the nurse that I like. She said there was no way it was BH and that I'm probably just dehydrated. She's right on that since I forgot my water bottle but I'm still worried. She did say if it didn't get better in the next 1-2 days to call back and he'd have me come in. So of course now I've got visions of second trimester miscarriages running through my head. So please, tell me I'm being ridiculous and I'll be fine tomorrow once I start chugging the H2O.

Other than that, thanks for all the sweet comments on my spare tire/donut belly. You ladies are SO good for my self-esteem. Tomorrow I'm off to visit the nice old ladies at N.ordstrom for some help with bras. I have no idea what size I'd even be anymore, but I know that these two stretched out pieces of cotton are NOT cutting it anymore. You see (actually you don't want to see), I woke up with numerous stretch marks on my boobs this morning. The girls are obviously begging for some support. Hopefully that will help adding any more patterns to them. Between the blue veins and nasty purple marks, I look like some piece of random, abstract, modern art. Any assvice on bras would also be much appreciated.

Vegas baby

Warning: taking weeks off at a time from blogging results in some seriously long posts. Much apologies.

Vegas rocked and I need to figure out a way to fit more vacays into my life. To keep things orderly, I'll dish everything non p-word related first.

Ok, but first business. Read this post by Mel for how you can help the March of Dimes and her Team on the Road. Such an important cause that is so dear to all of our hearts. I actually saw billboards for the walk when I was out in Vegas, haven't heard too much press for it here so I was pleasantly surprised. Once you've done that, go read this post by Mel (she's been very busy lately) on how we can all pull together to help each other out. It's a fantastic idea, one that will help me out too, since I have a basement full of stuff I've been meaning to put on Craigslist or Ebay and have just been too darn lazy.

Whew...good to get work out of the way....now onto the fun. We did 4 days in Vegas for my spring break and had a blast. We've been before, always with a bunch of friends, and this time, I really didn't feel like dealing with the crowds of people coming home drunk at 4 am and listening to my neighbors have sex for all hours of the night. So the fantastic Mr H found us this place. Amazing. Non-smoking, non-gaming. And he called ahead and requested a high floor with a balcony room overlooking the strip.

It is attached to the MGM so you could be at the casino with 2 minutes on a moving walkway. But once you crossed over those doors it was like a whole separate world. They completely pampered you, with pool boys making smoothies, iced down towels for your eyes. And, one of my faves, all the free bottles of water you could want. As someone who always goes out and buys 2 big gallons for vacations, this was a huge perk. All I had to do was ask, and I received. Just lovely. Overall, it was a very civilized place. We did the usual; ate our way through the city, saw a great show, and just really relaxed. Didn't win any money, but came home with most of what we set aside to lose, so that isn't too bad.

We came home late Thursday night and that had 2 different sets of friends in town Friday and Saturday. Actually did the cherry blossoms saturday...completely crazy and made me glad that it rained the day of our wedding since I would have been one of the thousands of brides out there trying to get all the tourists out of our pictures. (funny aside, it poured, monsooned really, on our wedding day and SOOO many people told me to watch out, that's a sign of a fertile marriage...HA). Then Sunday night we went to opening night at the new Nationals stadium with my brother and his fiance. Beautiful park, such a nice night, and for all they talked about how bad getting there and home was going to be, it was a piece of cake. From leaving the stadium to pulling up to the house, we were under an hour (and I'm in the burbs). Definitely excited that baseball is back in DC for real now.

And the excitement continues. Tomorrow is our anniversary (3 years, I can't believe it). This weekend we're going to the Melting Pot. I've been wanting to go since Valentine's day. Tomorrow night we're not doing anything too special...a quick dinner at a local place we like, then some shopping since it's my mother's and brother's birthday coming up. But still fun...at some point I'll make him watch our video with me. And then I'll promise that by our 4th anniversary I'll get the wedding album done. At this point, what's the rush??

Ok, everything p-word that's been going on. I know it's been forever since I updated. Had my 15w appt before Easter, so disappointed when they brought me into the room sans u/s machine. But all was well. Doc found the heartbeat right away, unlike with my crapola doppler here and gave me my permission slip for a prenatal massage. Flight cross country wasn't bad. What sucked was that I lost the ability to adjust to time changes. I was a wreck the first two days there and even though we came back east Thursday, I'm still not all the way adjusted. The very exciting part was that I think I felt little Quentin (Q) when we were there. I was sitting by the pool for my day of rest (WAYYY overdid it the first 2 days and needed some serious pool time) with a very full stomach and bladder and felt these little quivers. Didn't happen again so I thought it was wishful thinking but now the last 3 nights, whenever I'm sitting quietly or laying down, I feel like something is tickling me inside. Feels very different from gas so I'm guessing it's Q, still not 100% though. It's more pronounced whenever I've got the full tummy/bladder going. Guess it squishes him/her a bit. I'm 16w3d so I know it's still a little early.

Ultrasound is scheduled for the Thursday the 24th. Mr H is out of town the week before and I really wanted it sooner. I thought of just scheduling it for then and telling him it was the only appointment I could get, but decided to be a good wife. Hopefully we'll know boy/girl but all I really want is too make sure all systems are go, organs in the right place, etc. Not sure what we'll call Quentin if she turns out to be a girl, I guess Q. Hmmm....don't think I told that story. For some crazy reason, my grandmother always thought Mr H's name was Quentin. He in no way looks like a Quentin (not sure what a Quentin looks like, just know not him). Now as she got on, she had some dementia, but even when she was mostly there, she still called him Quentin. Our wedding day, she called to wish me and Quentin congrats, the check inside the card....made out to Quentin H (thank goodness the credit union at his work knows him and worked it so we could cash it). At her funeral, we signed the guestbook Meghan and Quentin H for her. So when we were trying to think of something to call this little bean, I said I wanted something she could remember, so she'd pray for us....and of course, the answer to that was Quentin!

And lastly for your viewing pleasure, not quite a belly pic but a pic of me looking quite bloated/large in Vegas. Now I knew the boobs had grown some but holy bodacious ta-ta's! Seriously, they used to be maybe an A and a half. And there's a little belly in there, but it was right after the most delicious breakfast ever (I seriously ordered like this, "I'll have the beignets to start and the french toast"....for breakfast people! Who gets an app at breakfast?!?!) So that's what's in the belly there.

Iced coffee is good

Yum.

I snuck out of work to head down the street to Gi.ant (local grocery store) to grab some lunch. Turns out they're closed for a labor vote! So instead of a nice healthy salad, I walk 2 storefronts down to the Fourbucks for a delicious iced white mocha and an egg sandwich. The first iced coffee of spring is just SO good!

I know, haven't blogged in forever. Promise to give you all some updates from our Vegas adventure soon. Coming back from vacay is always so much work!