4h appointment: the most reassuring sound in the world.

2012.04.26


I went in for the 4^th/16 week appointment yesterday. Even though I am almost halfway there, I still get really nervous when I go in. It did help that C-Tizzy was out of town yesterday and couldn’t make the appointment. He has been AMAZING about being available for every appointment, but work called, and he was on the other side of the country debating whether or not to sit in rush-hour traffic to try to visit ESPN before he flew home. (Sorry… squirrel.)

Anyway, back to the appointment. At this appointment, there was no sonogram, which I was actually relieved, because I didn’t want to be tempted to ask them if there was *any* way that they would be able to look and give me a hint at what the gender of the baby was. Seriously... I am impatient. The new few weeks might kill me. But instead then did some blood work and pulled out the Doppler sonar to listen for a heartbeat. This was the first time that they had used the sonar, so my anxiety was through the roof. But I listened to the nurse, laid back, and exposed my ever-growing belly to the harsh overhead lights. She put some gel on the end and started massaging my belly looking for the heartbeat. I swear, as she is searching, my heart stopped a little bit too because I tend to get worked up about things that I have no control over.

The next sound I hear was a quick little heartbeat fill the room. That was our bay bay and I think that he/she/it was saying hi to me J As I was sitting up, I told the nurse that the sound of the little babe’s heartbeat is the most reassuring sound in the world.

are you going to find out?

The answer to this question, yes, yes we are. If anyone know anything about C$ and myself, we are  on the list of the world’s most impatient people with DOMINATE type A personalities. Before we even spoke about it, we had already individually decided that each of us wanted to know if we would be welcoming a baby dude or baby chica into the Thompson household. Thankfully, we had the same thoughts.

So when we tell people that we are pregnant (Yes C-Tizzy, WE are pregnant. I may be the one carrying this growing babe, but you are forced to change your lifestyle a bit in terms of “happy wife, happy life” J ), the first question that they ask is “Are you going to find out?” This is also a good place to point out that C and I are both TERRIBLE liars. I mean, I won’t go around telling anyone I see your secret, but if someone asks me something in reference to your secret, there is a good chance that I will make up a terrible lie to cover it up with or turn bright red and appear to be super uncomfortable. So with that said, we truthfully answer that yes, we are going to find out.

For the most part, people have been super supportive and we have received a lot of “how fun!” or “that is wonderful” responses. But, there is always the other side too. And while I appreciate an environment where everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I also believe that you shouldn’t shove it down someone else’s throat. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) There have been a few people that have responded with something along the lines of “we waited, but that is really cool/neat/fun that you are finding out!” And we have also received tet “Why would you want to find out? This is the biggest surprise that you will ever get in your life?! And this is why we decided not to find out…” That’s great for these couple’s and C and I fully respect their decision. But that’s the thing, it is THEIR decision, just like this is OUR decision. And we are comfortable with our decision, so please, just let it be.

And while it is ONE of the biggest surprises of our lives (I was pretty darn shocked when mid-sobbing breakdown on the mountain in 14 inches of snow, my handsome devil of a boyfriend at the time decided to take that moment to kneel in front of me and pop a doozey of a question), we are choosing to get the surprise 20 weeks before the babe arrive so that we can prepare. We (I) like organization. And preparation. And planning. And decorating. And shopping. Oh and shopping… So we will be still be surprised, but want the surprise sooner. And as one of our friends pointed out to us, yes it WILL be a surprise, but it will always be a baby human. We already know that it is not going to be a zebra. :)

and the jig is up!

2012.04.08

The story it out.
The cat is out of the bag.
THE JIG IS UP.

At this point, we have made a point to call/email/text/speak to in person that people that we DON'T want to find out via facebook that we are going to be parents. (Still weird to see in writing...)

A few weeks after the tears and joy of telling our families, we began to tell our extended family and close friends. The conversations have been all over the board:
- (screaming) "I KNEW IT!"
- "Why does everyone wait until the middle of the phone call to break the news?!"
- "Wahoo!"
- "Oh my god, I'm going to cry!" (tears!)
- "Is there a little Thompson on the way?"
- "What?!"

There were more responses, and this is just a sampling, but they were all happy and encouraging. The never-ending support and love that we have been receiving is unbelievable. We knew that we had a strong support system, but the reminder is definitely humbling.

So to everyone that is still reading this crazy blog, know that C and I love you and appreciate you and can't wait for you to meet the bouncing bundle of joy this fall! And along the way, we will share other stories and adventures that may or may not have anything to do with being pregnant or soon-to-be parents :)

3rd appointment

2012.03.29

just a picture!

sucking his/her thumb :)

fighting pirates

2012.03.27

After spending the a long weekend with family and friends, I returned to work on a Tuesday completely exhausted and in the process of getting sick (which I am still trying to shake about 3 weeks later btw...). I worked my tail of that day and left work about an hour later than I usually do. While sleep-walking to my car that afternoon, a group of pirates jumped out to attack me and I was forced to defend myself. Too bad that in the process, I was tripped by these pirates and fell onto the sidewalk like a domino. As I was falling, I kept thinking, DO NOT FALL on the BELLY and thus caught myself on my knee, wrists, and face. Yep, my face.

Long story short, the babe is doing well, but my face definitely has looked better. In addition to a healing hole in my knee, scars on my writs, nose, and upper lip, I also chipped a tooth and fractured my front tooth. The chipped tooth was taken care of the following day via C$, my hero in a silver car, and my kick-hiney dentist. But I do have to go in again this week to check up on my fractured tooth. Depending on what they find, I will either be given the clear to stop cutting apples at my desk with a plastic knife and begin eating them like a normal person, or will be told that I am going to have some intense dental work. But don't worry, I'll be sure to give you the exaggerated version when the times comes.

And just to clear the air, I was in bad shape, but you should have SEEN those pirates. They cower when they hear my name these days ;)

This babe is already collecting stories about how crazy it's parents are, namely, me.

spilling the beans to the fam-bam

2012.03.08

Even though we were only into our 9th week as mom-and-dad-to-be, we were ready to tell our immediate families our BIG secret. (I mean, we HAD been keeping it for over 4 weeks now. We were both ready to burst!)

As soon as we left our appointment with Dr. L, C$ and I started to drive to his parentals. It was about dinner time so we figured that they would be home. Also, C's dad was getting ready to go on a work trip out of the country and we wanted to be sure to tell them before we left. We showed up at their house and no one was home! How rude! We drove ALL that way to tell them, and they weren't even there waiting for us when they had no idea we were coming over in the first place! ;) C decided to call them, and in typical fashion decided that it would be way more fun to call them from their own phone. Long story short, they were at a high school basketball gas for the night so we would not be seeing them. C told his mom to give us a call the next day. (Since we were only ready to tell our families at this point, we knew that telling anyone in a public setting [including his parents at basketball game with their closest friends in earshot] was not going to keep our secret a secret for very long.)

Wife's Family
When we got home, I told my groom it was time to Skype with my family. After a few texts back and forth with my sister, we finally got my pops, mama, and sister on the Skype screen. As we sat and chatted for a few minutes, I was looking for my opportunity to interject the news. FINALLY (we had talked for maybe 3 minutes, but I had been patient for 4+ weeks. My patience was wearing thin!), we started talking about a potential girls trip to the Philippines this summer. I used that to segue into how I wasn't able to go and I wanted to explain why and yada yada yada, we are going to be parents this fall (as I stood up and help up the sonogram photo to my belly)! I didn't know what to expect but what happened was, well, it was weird. My mom and dad were clapping and smiling and I think my mom was yelling, and my sister?? Well, she had big fat alligator tears rolling down her face. THIS was totally unexpected. But, I have to say, really sweet. She was so exited to heat the news that her emotions got the best of her and all she could do was cry. When we hung up a little while later (after talking through plans for the summer, traveling back and forth, and swearing them to secrecy until Easter and then they could tell anyone that would listen to them), S and I exchanged a few texts:
     S: Probs the most excited girl ever!
     Me: To be an auntie? :)
     S: Yep! I feel like I am gonna explode with this secret! Don't work, it is safe with me!

Groom's Family
The next day after dinner, C$ and I made a trip to his parentals. They had just finished eating dinner and ware watching college basketball while they got ready to start a movie. When we arrived, they decided o just hang out and chat. C had an idea of how to tell his parents, but it was taking FOR.EV.ER. I sat and tried to be as patient as possible (Remember how impatient I was the day before? Yea, it was no better on this day) while I waited for him to finish beating around the bush. His parents were talking about a trip that they are making to go to South America in the following month and C interjected and the conversation went a little like this:
     C: Well, as long as your trip isn't in October.
     C's Mom: Our trip is next month.
     C: As long as it isn't in October.
     M: But it's not in October, it's next month. What's in October?
     C: Well, in October, we might need babysitters.
     ~~ silence ~~
     C's dad: Why will you need babysitters?
     M: (With wide eyes staring at me) You had better explain that to J because it just went straight over his head!

C's mom got the message right away, and a quick explanation later, his dad was on the same page too. :) They were super excited and happy and wanted to know everything. After we gave them the run down and showed them the second sonogram, we swore them to secrecy too. This was going to be more of a challenge for C's parents because most of the extended family for both his mom and his dad live within 30 minutes of them and gatherings are regular occasions. But they promised to keep our secret with us until they were in the clear at Easter.

Within a few days of talking to C's parents, we skyped with his brother and sister-in-law in canada, and gave his younger brother a call too. They were all very excited to be aunties and uncles this year and are all discussing vacation plans for this fall and winter to meet their new niece/nephew.

This is the first grand-baybay for both families so the emotions and excitement are at an all time high! We knew that we were excited to tell our families, but I don't think that either us of realized how exciting it would be until it was happening. Also, this had been our secret for a few weeks. I was a little hesitant to start telling people because this information that I had been guarding so closely would know be known to a few more people. But in the end, I knew that telling our families was not only the right thing to do, but that it was going to make this all that much more exciting and real. And speaking of real, it feels SUPER REAL now that there are other people that are sharing our secret with us :)

2nd appointment

2012. 03.08

At week 9, we were still pretty nervous for our second appointment. Thankfully, it went well.

Following the usual "please leave a urine sample in this LITTLE TINY cup and bring it into your appointment room" they took us back to our favorite room in the practice, the sonogram room. I climbed onto the table and the technician pulled out the cold gel to rub on my belly and began massaging it with the sensor (I don't really know what it is called, but calling it a sensor is the best that I can come up with right now.)

Our little nugget appeared on the screen like it just KNEW that we were waiting to see it again. And again, the technician brought the most amazing sound into the room by filling it with a fast little heartbeat. As we were watching the image on the screen, we were both thinking 2 things.
1. I cannot believe how much the baby has changed in 3 weeks... it has gone from a little dot on the screen to what is starting to look like a BABY with arms and legs!
2. I cannot believe that thing is growing in me/her!

We met with Dr. L again and she told me that everything still looked good and sent us on our way with another picture of our growing babe. Another picture to document the journey.

(You can start judging my picture uploading abilities when I start uploading my own instead of horrible scans.)

1st appointment

2012.02.14

This was the big day. We were both pretty nervous to meet with the doctor. While we had both chatted with Dr. L before, this was our first appointment that was about our new little secret. 

When we got to the office, I had to fill out the standard paperwork that I have to fill out every.singe.time I go to the office. Then... they called my name. Chris and I followed the nurse back to the office. Following the normal appointment stuff (I will spare you the details) they took us into the sonogram room. 

Now was the moment of truth.... It was still early, only 6 weeks so we had no idea what to expect. Everything that I had read up to this point says that you MIGHT be able to hear a heart beat before 8 weeks, but that it was not a sure thing. If you didn't hear anything, it was nothing to be concerned about, as sometimes there are just things that make it difficult to hear anything before the 8 week mark. With C holding my hand, we both took a deep breath and watched the screen. The next sound we heard was the strong beat of a fast little heart beat and the technician telling us that everything looked good. With tears rolling down my face and a smile from ear to ear to C's face, we got ourselves together and headed back to the appointment room, with the first picture of our BABY in our hot little hands.

(Sorry for the crappy pic. I will get better. At some point. I promise. )

We met Dr. L in her office with her face beaming and with the amazing news that everything was going great. She gave us the tentative due date of October 10, 2012. 

When we left the office, I was definitely in a state of shock. While we had known for a little over a week that there was a little nugget in existence, it definitely became more real seeing the sonogram photo and hearing the heart beat. C and I spent the next few moments trying to come to terms that WE WERE GOING TO BE PARENTS. Scary. And while that was crazy, now came the hard part. Keeping our secret. 

the world just stopped

2012.02.05

That's kind of what it felt like (to me anyway. I should probably ask C what he was thinking.)

For about 2 weeks, I kind of felt like something was off with me. I just knew that i wasn't quite myself and was wondering that question.... "is there any way that I am pregnant right now?" But instead of just finding out, I decided that I was going to go on a girls ski weekend that was way too much fun and may or may not have have involved rummy gummies, skinny girl sangria, skiing, laughing, sushi, saki, dancing, and other chaos along the way. When I got home that Sunday, C$ was packing and getting ready for his annual boys ski trip to Jackson Hole. He left on Wednesday and would be home that Sunday.

While my groom was out and about probably breaking unspoken laws in Jackson, I was coming to terms that maybe I should I figure out if my suspicions were true. On my lunch that Thursday, I took a drive and stopped at a Walgreens that I was positive that I wouldn't run into anyone that I knew. While wandering the aisles, I forced myself over to the pregnancy test aisle. I spent about 10 minutes reading the back of the boxes until I found one that was suitable; the "Clear Blue Easy" that came with 2 tests. The first was the standard 1 or 2 lines and the second was a digital test that clearly spelled out "pregnant" or "not pregnant". I walked to the counter and silently willed the cashier not to judge me (even though we both KNEW that I was too old to be 16 and pregnant. yes, I do think these things. Don't judge.) After I stuffed my plastic bag into the VERY BOTTOM of my bag, I tried to forget my purchase and go on with my day.

C got home on Sunday and started to unpack. While he was getting settled, I discovered that my $5 grande vanilla non-fat latte was running through me and now was as good a time as anything to break out those tests and confirm if I was crazy or not. (Well, I AM crazy to a point, but I needed to know just HOW crazy I really was.) As Chris continued to unpack, I opened the box to those little sticks that I had forgotten about and used them. As I waited, I hid them. Because it's what I do. Out of sight, out of mind right? About 5 minutes later, I retrieved those sticks and my heart and the world stopped for a brief moment. 2 lines later and reading "Pregnant" brought me back into reality. I walked out of the bathroom and not being able to keep a secret, I announced "Hey, C" and held out the sticks like a little leaguer who just won the tournament trophy. C's response? "NO WAY". Yes-way Groomy. We are going to be parents. Just don't tell anyone yet, ok?