Future

What C is afraid of:

What I am afraid of:

It's not that either of us want the other thing, but both scenarios have come up in conversation between us. C made a good point that we will be our child's role models and will try to set her (them?) on the path we think is right from the start... I may have fallen a little farther from the tree, but I turned out to be more than alright, I think. Anyway, I thought this would make a pretty funny juxtaposition. Yeah, that's the Lunachicks on the top. Ha

Baby bumps

Baby girl has been punching and kicking and otherwise ramming C from the inside like crazy lately. After a post-dinner bite of some Godiva dark chocolate almond bark--which may not have anything to do with this--baby girl was just flailing around. It was fun to feel and even watch.

Sometimes Alden--our dog--wants to lay across C's lap and I hope someday soon he'll feel those little bumps too and notice...

We've been driving ourselves nuts trying to think of names...

play: push bike

this is a long way off, but looks like a lot of fun for a kid to have: "designed to teach kids from the ages of 2 to 5 to ride a bike without ever using training wheels." (seen at roll-online.com)

Fat beats, great presents

Text message from C this morning, after her doctor appointment: "Heartaeat 150 but our baby is fat!"

Translation: "The baby's heartbeat is 150 bpm; according to the measurements from our last ultra-sound, the baby appears to be larger (and heavier) than expected! Yikes!"

The good news is the doctor said C's belly... and uterus?... appear to be the right size and in the right place, respectively...

More good news, we keep getting amazing presents from people and the feeling is just so awesome. Pictures to come!

Belly bumps, names

The baby is starting to kick more and we've even been able to see quick, little bumps through C's belly. Pretty crazy. This morning I was spooning C and had my hand on her belly. Every time I felt a kick, I'd give a couple weak squeezes. C said I was tickling the baby. Pretty funny and pretty awesome too.

Not much is new. Just trying to comb through every possible girl name. Looking for inspiration on TV, in magazines, in movies, in baby name books... I'd like to say we have a short list of favorite names, but even that handful of names is a long way away from commitment. I'll start worrying about not having a name when she's born and we get stuck calling her "Babe."

FB

Mommy's little monster

After visiting the "doctor" (ultrasound technician)--who was great, by the way--C and I celebrated with lunch and a milkshake at Arby's, then a mini shopping spree at Once Upon A Child. Basically a thrift store for babies. Having combed through the "girls" section, we poked around in what the "boys" get and C pulled out this hidden treasure. A Misfits onesie for 12-18 month-olds. See that price? $1.50. No joke. I was so pumped. In fact, when we first found out we were pregnant, I envisioned our kid in a Misfits shirt.

proof

everything is good in the hood

Updates: belly, food, doctor

I'm bummed I haven't been updating much. Time is flying almost as fast as C's belly is growing. She looks great, like, absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately she doesn't see it that way. It doesn't help that her boobs are apparently still growing. And she doesn't feel awesome all the time--sleeping is more often than not pretty uncomfortable on her spine and hips--but just yesterday she was saying she feels so much better than she did in the first trimester. Her "taste" has not only returned to normal, she is actually craving healthy foods. Last night was the second time she made these really awesome meatballs in kale and pasta. Freaking amazing. And she's craving kale! This particular meal might be my favorite meal she's ever cooked and it's out of her "Feed Your Belly" pregnancy book. She's been working out more, especially at the gym. It's good because it compels me to go too and I need to exercise just as much as she does.

Anyway, things are going swimmingly. They baby gets roudy at least once almost every night, kicking like a riotous mosher in the pit. Monday is our big, important ultrasound where we will hopefully learn the sex of our little buddy. Unfortunately it is across the city, unlike our doctor who is about a mile away, and, as far as I understand, this technician won't even be able to tell us anything substantial about the baby's health/condition--we'll have to wait until we see our doctor next, the following week.

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. I really need to start getting some stuff done in the basement... Crap.

play inspiration

this tee-pee idea comes from a dad blog, Pacing the Panic Room, that I started following when his wife was around 25 weeks pregnant. Check out the maternity series -- really rad photo documentation of the belly-growing process. I hope to build super cool things like this for our baby, despite the fact that currently she likes to hide from me when I try to feel her kicking. she'll learn to like me, I know it

fun with music

this has me excited about the endless creativity, curiosity, and energy of young kids

Think I Got A Beat - Hi-tek

20 weeks

Today marks the beginning of the 20th week of C's pregnancy. I can't believe we are (she is) this far along. She did remind me that we were clueless for the first month--but 16 weeks has cruised. 20 more weeks seems like an eternity and a blink at the same time.

C had asked that I organize something special for today, and I failed, unsurprisingly. I'm not good at it. I honestly put some thought into it: get a hotel for a weekend getaway--something of which I couldn't see us taking much advantage... that's pretty much where I stopped. I am really good at knowing what she doesn't like, but come up short when it comes to knowing what she does want. We ended up going to Cleveland to visit C's family, which we had sort of been planning in light of Thanksgiving with my family next week, and it was a really good time, as usual. Papa is in a rehab center, so we've been anxious to pay him and Nanny a visit. C's mom cooked us a pre-Thanksgiving meal last night and it was awesome.

So, after getting home, we did some chores around the house, and a clean house always makes us both feel good.  I did convince her to let me pick up some food from a restaurant downtown she really likes, and stopped to pick up a bouquet of small hot-pink roses from the grocery store. 20-freakin-weeks! It deserves a lot more celebration than what I managed to pull together.

I wish I didn't suck so much at being romantic and surprising and whatever. There's no excuse, I am just bad at it.
(P.S. Coincidentally, today is also Alden's 2nd birthday!)

sex vs gender

The other night I was out with 2 co-workers and they were asking about how the pregnancy was going. I mentioned we had hoped to have an ultrasound "to find out the gender of the baby" then quickly corrected myself to say "the sex of the baby." They both looked at me, sort of dumbfounded that I would replace "gender" with "sex" saying "they mean the same thing."

I am not well versed on the subject, but to me, the word "sex" refers to genitalia; and as I understand it "gender" is a social construct that polarizes "male" (or masculine) and "female" (or feminine).

Now, I'm not trying to get too semantically deep.  A lot of time I want to be a manly man that is masculine. But a lot of times I feel insecure or whatever because I'm not so much. I'm sensitive, and I cry, and I can sew, and don't know half the rules of football, and hate baseball, and so on and so forth...

Anyways, for our baby I'm aiming to stress gender-neutrality to a certain degree. I don't have a problem with having a boy that gets obsessed with football or a girl that likes pink, or vice versa.

I've not done much to research any prevailing thought or philosophies or insights or the like, but feel pretty confident that what I think makes sense...

Thoughts?

Earth to baby

I just tried making contact with the baby. Without a clever bone in my body, I said a few boring things into C's belly, then laid my head on it with both of my hands pressed into the rest of the available space on her skin. I kissed it then informed C that the baby was sleeping.

Apparently the baby can hear what's going on in the real world, so maybe we'll make a habit of talking to the baby. I suggested we start reading to it (which might be the only way to get me to read a book)

C has a doctor appointment tomorrow... more to come

Sticky Buns

Email from C:
I think the baby loves sticky buns!  I have read online that the baby will kick more/be more active about 1/2 hour after eating sugar and it's doing the same thing it was doing last night after my sticky bun! Maybe that means at least I don't normally eat a lot of sugar

Judo kick

I think I just felt the baby kick - no lie!
--
Oh yeah - here are the wool socks:

Love

Sent by my dad, to me and C both:

Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit. Bill Cosby

Wool, Gender...

I've had good intentions to write a post that included a photo of the first present I bought for our expected buddy: two pairs of merino wool baby booties, colored orange and green--as gender neutral as I could get...

I'm obsessed with wool and it's inherent ability to keep animals (including human animals) warm and dry... Anyway, they are kinda cute, and despite all the reviews that complained about them being too small, I bought them anyway. They were on sale too...
--
All is well around here. C hasn't been burdened by nausea so much, but did learn that peanut butter granola for breakfast will make her puke her brains out a few hours later... wooops.

Not much else to report. Trying to get an ultra sound scheduled before Thanksgiving, at which point we hope to find out the sex of the baby. I haven't put a lot of thought into it beyond being anxious to know and to start narrowing down baby names, or at least rule a few out. It seems pretty hip these days to not find out and be super gender neutral about stuff, but I don't see any harm in knowing. I don't plan on forcing football on a boy, or Barbie Dolls on a girl. No matter what I plan on impressing our child with punk rock, skateboards, bikes, and gardening... I do have some slight concerns about a future baby shower and receiving gifts that are all pink or all blue...
--
Oh, and C was looking on a Chinese Gender Calendar or something, and determined that, based on the month of conception, our baby will be a girl... weird...

Sleep

C's stomach has generally been feeling better during the day, but sleep has been rough on her and her back is really starting to suffer. Not sure if it mostly the fault of our mattress, or if it is purely the result of her growing belly. Anyways, we are seriously considering getting a new mattress--about which I know nothing...

I actually slept really well last night, and felt more awake this morning than I have in a while. It was probably because I had made coffee last night and set the delay brew for 6:45 this morning...

Speaking of coffee, I've been selfishly enjoying my caffeinated brew daily, while C has managed to keep away from it usually. We both know it's not very good for the baby, but understand that small amounts of caffeine wont hurt (apparently it's okay to drink wine???), but might boost C's spirits/mood/feelings/patience/energy at times.
--
I'll mention I've been having a lot of premonitions that the baby is a girl...

Workin out

It's been really hard for C to get motivated to exercise since being pregnant. As little as I can understand what she has to deal with, it makes total sense that trying to go on a run or lifting weights, or whatever, would seem impossible.

Over the weekend C found a couple pre-natal workout and yoga DVDs. We ended up getting Kathy Smith's "Pregnancy Workout" (Classic edition). I can't find a date on this obviously re-issued video, but these film stills will give you a great idea of what we found.

At the end of the workout, the pregnant ladies are found in a line with Ray-Bans or side-ways baseball caps and start rapping, 80's-style, about being pregnant. Check it out:

I don't think this is really going to get C working out, but it did afford some good laughs... Back to the drawing board

Heartbeat

Doctor appointment today. Not sure what went down while I was sipping coffee over Fit Pregnancy magazine, but I got called back to hear the baby's heartbeat. 140 bpm, I think, plus a few "kicks."

Next step, trying to get the H1N1 vaccine.

Sleep, Body

Some quick updates (in no particular order):
--
C has had a little trouble sleeping due to the fact she can't sleep on her stomach and, apparently, shouldn't sleep on her back either. Yesterday afternoon I spied on her sleeping on the couch, slumped over on her knees in the "fetal" position so that the weight of her upper body was resting on her shoulders/face. Pretty cute. I was tempted to take a picture but figured that wouldn't make her happy and that this was honestly a subconscious attempt to rest in a new position without suffocating the bambino.
C has been complaining a little about her sore back. It's probably a pretty normal ache but she reminded me that she had been diagnosed with scoliosis which could be a serious concern in some cases... Keeping an eye on that.
--
Without going into too much detail, C had a rude awakening at Victoria's Secret recently when she realized she had jumped to yet another bra size. Let me just say it involves two letters and that some women would pay money to have this size chest. For C, it was mildly funny, slightly dumbfounding, but more depressing than anything.
--
We have a doctor appointment this week so hopefully we'll have a solid update then!

Visiting family, Health, House, Work

It's been a hot minute since any update. As this is a journal of sorts, I owe it to myself to check in.

Well. Things have been good. Mostly quiet. C's nausea seems to be subtly waning away into nothingness.

We were at a family function over the weekend and everyone there knew the news of our pregnancy--which was nice because we could talk freely about it. The moms were able to share stories and were curious to hear about C's experience.

Just before that event we had stopped by C's cousins' house to visit them and their 2-week old daughter. How freaking small! Like, freakishly tiny. I was blown away--like, I had never seen a newborn before. It was the first time I got a little freaked out, like, "This is gonna be us in 6 months!" A new piece of furniture that it seems we don't yet have the space for. We were able to share our good news with them and they were happy for us.

I need to get my butt to work and finish our basement--finish the drywall, add some flooring, and get a bathroom installed down there. After that we can start on a baby's room...
 --
Fears about H1N1/"Swine Flu" are rising and I'm trying to keep optimistic about everything. So many things can go wrong between now and forever that I just can't let those fears dwell in my head space.
--
C and I got in a little argument yesterday about my job and the pressure to work "above and beyond" as a non-exempt yet supposedly "highly-compensated" salaried employee at a fledgling company (this means I'm expected to work over 40 hours a week without over-time pay). I believe any other job in the same line of work will come with similar demands/expectations. The alternative? Quit and become a stay-at-home dad. Maybe get a part-time job. I agree that we could probably take the cut in total income... Is it possible? Would it work? Not yet comfortable with the idea of quitting my job, but can see that it would suck to leave the baby every day in the hands of strangers I'm paying to do what a parent should be doing.

Quote

A waist is a terrible thing to mind. -Jane Caminos

--

I keep reminding C that she's supposed to be gaining weight. I can understand that it's frustrating, but when she complains she always sounds surprised.

Doctor Visit 2

This morning C went to the doctor. I wasn't there, but a part of me feels like I should have been. More than that, I wish I would have been there. She got to hear the baby's heart beat via sonogram. 160 beats per minute. According to Wikipedia, during strenuous exercise, an adult's pulse ranges from 150-200 bpm. I think this means it's running a marathon inside C's belly.

I've made chocolate chip (Fiber One, just-add-water) pancakes after dinner for the past two nights which I agree is a good dessert option.

During last week, C seemed to be a little more emotional than usual; asking me nearly every waking hour if I loved her.

C: "Do you love me?"
Me: "Mos def" or "No doubt."

It was a pretty nice exercise and I haven't gotten annoyed like I would if it were anything else. I started trying to beat her to the punch once in a while to ask if she loved me. She would jokingly pause to think about it.

The numerous weeks of constant nausea have really been getting C down. Hopefully that subsides soon and we can really get into enjoying this pregnancy (as much as one couple can).

Vacation: Part I

Hello from South Carolina. We've been on vacation in Myrtle Beach for 5 days now. We left Saturday evening, stayed in a hotel near the Virginia-West Virginia border, and arrived on Sunday afternoon. Things have been relatively great: C's nausea has been pretty low, she's been sleeping relatively well, and nothing has been terrible. Ha. That doesn't sound like a good report, but honestly it is. We're having fun with my family, the weather has been awesome, and above all we are really enjoying ourselves. Early on, C joked that feeling good on this trip was a sign that she needed to quit work. I think there is some truth in that, no doubt.

We've been keeping the trip pretty low key. We did take one risky adventure: horseback riding. We signed a waiver that warned pregnant women should not risk riding horses. Just like all other warnings, it's never clear if they mean women of all stages of pregnancy or not. According to... the internet... its acceptable to ride a horse during the first, if not also the second trimester. The risk comes with falling or getting kicked. So, we wore helmets to be safe. No joke.

Other than that I over-packed groceries for the trip. Multigrain Cheerios, Fiber Plus pancake mix, wheat bread, pitas, trail mix, bananas, caffiene-free soda, ginger ale, granola bars, chips, protein drink, V8 juice, popcorn... We haven't touched half that stuff, but a few of those things have been very handy to curb morning sickness--especially handfuls of the Cheerios in the morning.

So far so good.

FuzziBunz contest

Ok, so, if you don't know me, you don't know that I'm a sucker for contests. Well I am and this post is my raffle ticket of sorts.

Since C and I have starting thinking about starting a family I've been following this blog, Pacing the Panic Room, of an amazing photographer who started a blog about having his first child.

Well, long story short, this guy, Ryan, set up a contest for a young family to win some cloth diapers and I'm all over it. The company that hooked him up is Fuzzibunz. I'm super pumped about cloth diapers, and this company has got some rad innovation. Anyways, the thought of starting to provide this early for the little seed that is growing in C's belly is exciting enough.

Check out PTPR if you are interested in the contest details or want some more insights about FuzziBunz and cloth diapers.

Good Life Go!

Food

C has always worried about her weight and now the unsurprising gain is no exception. Periodically she checks in to make sure I will still love her despite "not doing anything" or "getting fat." It drives me nuts. But I guess it doesn't hurt to be so reassuring. I am making it my mission to make sure the fridge and cabinets are stocked with plenty of easy and healthy options. I haven't argued with the requests for Burger King or Wendy's or Skyline--though C has even admitted that some of those particular cravings weren't worth satisfying. Black bean sandwiches from Skyline have been coming pretty constant and despite the fact we've had them three days in a row, the guys that make them still can't figure out "light cheese."

We haven't been thinking about the baby much. All of our attention has been focused on nausea and food recently. We've sort of forgotten about the little grape-sized person.

Sharing the news

On a walk with Ald, C asked when I was going to tell my dad and stepmom. I decided to do it right then, but couldn't figure out how to divulge our secret creatively. C said we should tell them to get on their computer and go to my (other) blog, adayinthegoodlife.blogspot.com, and then tell them to change the "y" to a "d". It was perfect. My stepmom picked up on it right away: "You're a 'dad'?!" After maybe as many as 20 seconds all I could hear out of Dad was, "Shit!" They were both super pumped to realize the news. For most of the conversation, C and I had our heads pressed together to share the speaker of the phone. They were really happy for us and sent lots of love and blessings, even to "Prince Alden".

Telling our parents has been really exciting and fun and very encouraging. While everything has been so secretive lately, this is has been a huge relief and such a positive reinforcement.

--
 Today I got this text from C: "Super puke in hallway and men's bathroom... 10:45 is my doom time!"
Bummer.
--
I am realizing that morning sickness is to be pretty standard for a while now, as it has been. I'll try to keep discussion of that pretty minimal and will be thrilled to write about the end of it.

Not too much is new: C has continued to be fighting a cough, which has been compounded by an increasingly sore throat, as well as intermittent nausea. It seems like the nausea is generally getting better--or at least, more infrequent.

I'm hearing more reports about how pregnant women really really need to get vaccinated for Swine Flu--but then they say shots wont be available until October. WTF? I don't get it.

I'm trying to make sure C gets a regular flu shot as soon as she can.

Also, got HUGE news from my sister-in-law and her husband (a.k.a. "J&M")... more on that much later.

Coughing

As few as two days ago, C developed a dry cough that seems only to be a problem in the middle of the night. I don't believe it's really part of a cold, but for as persistent as it has been, I have no clue. The only real concern I have about it is the loss of sleep from which both of us are starting to suffer. A couple varieties of cough-drops are scattered throughout the house and in various bags. Hopefully she'll take my advice and take some honey on bread or in warm water.

Anyway, not much is new. She threw up yesterday but I feel like the discomfort that comes with the coughing has kept her complaints about nausea to a minimum.

Last night I found her looking at baby products online. A pack'n-play/bassinet combo? Car-seats too. I wasn't too surprised at the price of those things and wouldn't hesitate to spend more money on better quality... gear. I'm a gear-head in my own right, so I guess that's no surprise, to myself.

First doctor visit!

Today I was supposed to travel to Cincinnati for work with Mark and two colleagues from the company that contracted us. Last Friday was the day I realized that this work trip and C's first big appointment with the doctor were going to conflict. My stomach hit the floor at that staff meeting. Not knowing how to broach the subject--as we've decided to keep the news a secret--I kept my mouth shut. As the weekend went on I started questioning whether I should mention everything to Mark in an effort to stay in town and go to the appointment. Sunday night I decided I would approach Mark and try to avoid Cincy. Yesterday afternoon, when I got back to the office from the field, I went into Mark's office and asked if he had a moment to talk as I shut the door behind me. I could tell he was instantly panicked as I never appear so serious. I knew he thought I was preparing to tell him I was quitting. I teared up as I started with "I didn't want to tell you like this..." and broke the news that C was pregnant. What I meant was that I wanted to tell him later on down the road, when the pregnancy was more certain, and we could be enjoying a beer at the bar. I was really emotional--which made me quite embarrassed--but to let the flood of excitement about the baby and stress about work pour out got to me. Long story short, Mark was super supportive and at one point said, "There are definitely things more important than work." I could barely believe how supportive he was--but then again, I know Mark is a big family man and while he appears to be a workaholic, he definitely does everything he can for his family and so would understand why this first visit to the doctor would be so important.

--

So, today we were able to wake up slower than usual to prepare for our first exam. The doctor seems really cool and I was thrilled to witness the first ultrasound that showed a little bean with a heartbeat. C seemed pretty annoyed that I made such a deal about being there, but hopefully, deep down, she was relieved that I was nearby and so excited. Everything is still so early, but today's visit calmed the biggest fears we've faced so far, to let room for a whole new round of concerns to settle in.

We left the office with a couple photos of our blueberry sized embryo and treated ourselves to second-breakfast at Panera. Awesome.

Good life go!

August 23 (Sunday)

Got home from our trip to Cincy. First time visiting Mom's new house. Just before Uncle David Phillippi's wedding, we told Mom our news that we were expecting. She screamed and kept saying "Are you serious!" She was super excited which made me feel really good. She was really pumped and was excited to talk about it for the rest of the time we were hanging out.
At the wedding, Abbie subtly called C out for being pregnant by aggressively inquiring about why C wasn't drinking alcohol. I guess she started asking how C was feeling in the mornings, devilishly prying for information. C played it off, proving that she never liked alcohol in the first place, and saying she'd been feeling well in the morning. I guess Abbie dropped it after that. Heh.
We were out pretty late--got back to Mom's around midnight. C was able to sleep in pretty well and was still exhausted all day. She's been bummed about the overwhelming tiredness, but I am not surprised and have tried to encourage her to sleep as much as possible.
Home now and picking up pizza for dinner. I've been trying to be really accomodating to C's appetite--which isn't unusual--but it seems like maybe she's even more pickey than usual. It's only complicated because she tries to make me decide and I feel like she should be the one calling those shots. Long story short, deciding about food has been a sloppy dance around options and indecision. This is the only thing that has annoyed me, and it's really not a big issue. Oh well. She hasn't been complaining much about nausea today which is great news. Hopefully this keeps up.

August 21 (Friday): Part II

Just got a text message from C: "So sick. I don't understand how to deal with this and have any sort of normal life.."
What a bummer. I wish I could do something to make her feel better. The least I can do, I realize, is to do anything she asks to help her feel as comfortable as possible. And to do it without complaint.
One thing I forgot to add earlier is that I'm nervous about being home this weekend, around my parents and siblings, and to not tell them. It's really a bit premature to go spreading the news, and although I'm super excited and want my family to be excited, I just don't want to jump the gun. C has her first doctor's appointment on Tuesday (Aug 25), so we'll hopefully know a lot more by then. If only the appointment was before our trip to Cincy...

August 21 (Friday)

Talking to C on Google Chat. She threw up for the first time today. Not every day has been so terrible, but today's nausea has been the worst apparently. Not sure what would make her feel better. Feeding her lots of bread and ginger-filled things. I think we've done as much as we can. We've managed to get to the gym a few nights this week for some exercise, and have been taking Alden on at least one walk per day. I think getting out has been keeping her mind off the sickness.
We're going to Cincy this weekend--uncle's wedding--and I'm worried it's just not going to be any fun to be around a lot of people--especially since we're trying to keep it a secret, mostly.

August 16 (Sunday)

C's Bday. She's feeling sick again--as she has been for the past 3 or 4 days. Just straight nauseated. Trying home remedies like ginger ale mixed with lemonade. Apparently Canada Dry Ginger Ale doesn't have real ginger in it--just "natural flavors" and "caramel color" so I picked up some Reed's Original Ginger Brew from the grocery store's Natural Food section. Bread has seemed to work to settle C's stomach too.
I've been feeling really guilty about the nausea she's been experiencing and all the discomfort that will be weighing her down over the next 9 months, not to mention the trauma of child birth. I'm just counting on there being truth in all the good stories you hear about pregnancy and bonding with the baby growing inside. Hopefully this period of "morning sickness" passes quickly.

August 9 (Sunday): "Try to make him black!"

Went to the gym.
A young dark skinned kid overheard me telling my name to the girl behind the desk.
"Strong. You should name your son Goliath" he said.
I replied, "You think that's cool, my wife's last name is Love."
"Love-Strong"
--
Later, on our way out, as we were walking down the stairs, we heard the kid holler up the stairway, "Love-strong!"
As we walked by I said, "We're trying to come up with baby names. What do you think?"
"Jordan" (patting both hands on his chest)
C: "Is that your name?"
"Yeah."
(We get further down the hall)
"Try to make him black!" he hollers while the girl behind counter gasps in embarrassment

Lots of laughter

August 8 (Saturday)

Getting prepared to go to Yellow Springs with Gary, Sue, Mike, and Jess. We reveal to J & M that we're expecting--I held out the pregnancy test stick for them to read--C thought that was gross.

August 7 (Friday)

Took another pregnancy test, to be sure.

Still "Pregnant"

August 2 (Sunday): Big news

Returned home from a weekend in Cleveland. We had celebrated Nanny & Papa's 60th wedding anniversary, as well as Terry's 23rd birthday which brought lots of family in from out of town, plus multiple dogs, the fire pit, and beer.
C hadn't been feeling well and was feeling really curious about her body and her truant period. She wasn't sure about anything but knew she wasn't feeling right. To be honest, she didn't look different at all but I trust that she knows her body well. Between the highway and home we stopped to pick up a late lunch (Noodles & Company) and a pregnancy test. We both figured what the result would be - negative - and that it would ease our minds (hers especially). Just having the box of tests was nerve-wrecking but C wanted to wait. It was as if we already knew the answer - negative - and would just do it later, as if it were a load of laundry or something. After lunch, C decided to get it over with. Nonchalant, I went downstairs to cut some drywall. Moments later I heard a panicked "David!" as if a spider had just jumped out of the sink upstairs. I bounded up the steps because I realized there was a bit of excitement in her voice. She explained that even though the instructions said the digital result was expected to appear in 3 minutes, it showed up freakishly instantaneously as if the unanticipated answer was unmistakable. An answer we were both surprised to see: "Pregnant." Well, sort of surprised. I mean, for the past couple of months we were "not not trying" and had even put a little thought into when was a biologically correct time to conceive. I was even strategizing what days I would ride my bike to work so as to keep my little navy of sperm afloat (side note: people started noticing I was driving more and were getting inquisitive; I tried to play coy)... There was at least a little bit of effort.