Friday, July 6, 2007

is it hot in here, or is it just me?

I had no idea how hot I would be. I had heard that your basal body temperature would be slightly elevated due to increased progesterone levels or some such scientific theory, but this pregnancy thing takes hot to a whole new level. We're talking kicking the covers off at night despite a cranking a/c system, being so warm that you wake your spouse out of a dead sleep just by grazing against him, waking up feeling like you have a 104-degree temperature but having the thermometer register at only 98 or 99.

It's a strange adjustment, for I'm an always-cold kind of person. I've learned to preface a handshake with an apology so as not to scare anyone with my ice blocks for hands. I have to wear a sweater at work all day if the air conditioning is on. In the winter, I'll sit around the house wearing a winter hat, gloves, and down jacket on top of my other layers to stay warm. I even purchased wool heated mittens that plug into a USB port to help stay warm at work.

If it's a warm summer, god help me -- I might have to resort to cruising around in hot pants and tank tops to stay cool. I could really go for a giant frozen margarita right about now ...

Friday, June 22, 2007

Best baby name suggestions. Ever.

A guy friend at work offered these fabulous names to me upon learning of my pregnancy:

Boys

Cheetah Chrome
Marshall Stax
Plymouth Fury
Chewbacca Raygun
Tetsuo Ironman

Girls

Lexi Adamantium
Isis Nightshade
Shiva Destroyer

Friday, June 15, 2007

Oddities of pregnancy

Things that made me gag in the first trimester:
  • seeing a spinach leaf on the floor of the work cafeteria with a shoe print on it
  • walking past a band-aid stuck to the carpet at work
  • the sound and bouncy action of sausage links being dropped from a pan to a plate
  • my prenatal vitamins

Thursday, May 31, 2007

testing positive

I felt a little odd all weekend. For starters, I took two naps in one day. I never nap. I'm one of those freaks who feels more tired after a nap than before, and somehow I also wake up really queasy. I figured I was on the verge of coming down with a hellish flu virus. While making toast (to settle my stomach after nap #2), I caught myself leaning my elbows on the counter while waiting for it to be done -- now that's a whole new level of tired.

Dan and I had gone out for a walk on the Monon Trail. We hadn't been walking for very long, but I felt really wiped and asked if we could head home early. We decided to stop at our favorite out-of-the-way burrito place to pick up food. By the time we got home with our carryout, I was in a state of rage from hunger. I think I actually said, "Get out of my way. I'm hungry and full of rage. Please don't talk to me until after I eat" to my poor husband.

Anyway, the above symptoms combined with a ton of crampy feelings but a no-show period made me think that perhaps something was up. Dan thought I was imagining things, as I'd been told the week before by my gyn that I'd probably need some fertility meds in order to get pregnant. I waited a day, and when I was still crampy but without period, I decided to break down and buy a test -- mainly so I could have a drink that night if I wanted to.

I ran out to CVS sans husband and picked up the test, as well as a bunch of other items to camoflage the oh-so-scandalous EPT. When I returned home, Dan chuckled and told me to go take the test. Figuring it would be negative, I went upstairs without him. I took the test and left it on the counter, but covered it with the test directions so I wouldn't be tempted to peek. I sat on the bed for exactly three minutes and went back into the bathroom. Removed the sheet of directions. And stared. Two lines. Two unmistakable lines. I wasn't imagining things. I was pregnant. Uh.

And "uh" is exactly what I said. I said it loudly, sort of in exclamation form. Picture me standing in the bathroom, holding the test, staring at it in disbelief. "UH!" And with that, I grabbed the test, ran down the stairs, and thrust it toward my unsuspecting husband. "What does this look like to you?" I practically shrieked. He was skeptical because the second line wasn't the exact shade of pink as the control line. I cackled. He looked at me with wide eyes. We both laughed. My eyes filled with tears. He jumped up off the couch, hugged me, and said, "Congratulations" -- like what you'd say to a friend. He was in a bit of shock, needless to say.

We agreed not to tell anyone for a while just in case something bad happened. I went upstairs for a minute, and when I came back down, he was already on the phone with his friend. So cute.