Super huge day yesterday

I am pleased to report that Monday is doing great! We went in for a Combined Ultrasound & blood test yesterday as a screener for chromosomal diseases, and we actually got to see Monday! We're please to report that Monday has the required 2 arms and 2 legs, but that was about all we could tell. We got some photos of her that we may post up... all 2 inches of her. We could see her heart beating quickly and the occasional bounce and movement. What an experience that is. The first results of the test came out really positively. By my age, there is a 1 in 600 chance to have Downs, by the skin/neck measurement, we're at about 1 in 2600 chance to have Downs. We should hear back in a week about the blood work and then there is one more blood work test at 16 weeks. But as of today, Monday is perfect, and I finally got a good nights rest with the stress of this first benchmark behind us.

We then went straight from there to dinner with the Reeths! We chatted for a long time and Tim finally announced it when the wine came -- much to everyone's excitement. What a way to bring family together. We had a wonderful dinner and then left after several rounds of hugs. After we got in the car, Debbie called Tim in tears just to tell him that he's going to be a great Dad, which is true, but it still made our night.

We're now in the process of rolling the news out to the family. Tim is calling his brother's today, and I will call mine tonight... after that, the cat (or Monday in this case) is out of the bag. YAY!!!

12 Week Update From Baby Center

How your baby's growing: Your baby's hit the 2-inch mark (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. Her face is beginning to look more human. Her eyes, which started out on the sides of her head, have moved closer together on her face, and her ears are near their final positions on the sides of her head. Your baby's intestines, which have grown so rapidly that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into her abdominal cavity about now. Her kidneys are secreting urine into her bladder. Her nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly, and synapses (neurological pathways in the brain) are forming. Your baby may have acquired more reflexes by now, including sucking, and she'll even squirm if you prod your abdomen, though you still won't be able to feel her movement for several weeks.


(Is the drawing over-sharing!??!?!)

We get to see Monday on Wednesday!

Oh my, we have our first ultra sound on Wednesday afternoon. Right after that, we're going to have dinner with the Reeths and share the news!! Big week, big week!!!

Not such a good weekend

After several weeks of feeling fine - exhausted!!! - but fine, this weekend hit me like a ton of bricks. Tim and I were out and about on Saturday afternoon when I started feeling terrible. We hopped in the car at that point and zoomed home. I didn't actually speak much, and simply walked through the front door, went to the bathroom and lost my cookies. I hate losing my cookies. However, I am grateful that its only been the first time and it has been at 12 weeks... could have been a lot worse for a lot longer.

I spent and hour or 2 on the couch contemplating another trip to the bathroom before I started feeling better. Once I did, Tim went out and got us takeout (yay!). But halfway through dinner, I completely lost my peripheral vision to the left with an optical migraine. My dad is prone to them and I have gotten one before so I knew what it was. (It's a little crazy - kind of like a mini light show with all the colors in the prism taking over a piece of your visions. It starts small and gets bigger.) After that, I went upstairs into the dark room and closed my eyes hoping for it to go away, and waiting patiently for the corresponding headache which came about 20 minutes later. The good news is that I took Tylenol early - the only-over-the-counter I am allowed to take - and feel like I beat off part of the pain. The headache did follow me into a lazy Sunday filled with errands, laundry, and cleaning. Needless to say, it wasn't the best weekend, but it sure beats 9 am monday (not our Monday) morning.

Nearly to another milestone!

Our folks (GrandReeths) are en route to sunny CA. By now they have hugged Greg and Tara goodbye in Colorado and are nestled into their truck seats making their final push to Reno, NV. They are roughly 4 days from dinner with Lina and I, where we will make the big announcement! This is great for many reasons...but one in particular is that we've set telling the GrandReeths the marker for when we can tell the rest of the world. Take last night...Lina and I had a wonderful dinner with a long-time friend of Lina and the Chicks; Krissy. Lina had to pass on the complimentary oyster in some green sauce (Lina will give more accurate details as she is the "foodie" in the family). Then had to pass on the wine (s). Wouldn't be so bad, except Krissy is SMART and JUST had her own baby, so she knows what to look for. We had to hold off telling her in person, which is big given this is the first time we've seen her since our wedding. Oh the drama!

Lina's spirits are great even though her sleeping is still choppy. She is cycling into restless nights, where she wakes up a few times and has trouble falling back to sleep. Feel so bad when she IM's me saying "I'm dragging ass today"...I use to sit helplessly, only able to offer her words of support like "leave now, get on the couch and snooze until I come home with dinner". Unfortunately Lina is busy and is not always able to find time or a spot to rest...Until now, I have done some quality research and have found a solution to both Lina's need for cat naps and my feeling helpless to help. Solution: Pillowig

I love you sweetheart - get some rest :)

11 Week Update from Baby Center

How your baby's growing:

Your fig-sized baby is now fully formed — measuring 1 1/2 inches long and weighing in at a quarter of an ounce. His skin is still transparent, allowing many of his blood vessels to show through. Some of his bones are beginning to harden, and tiny toothbuds are starting to appear under his gums. His fingers and toes have separated, and he may soon be able to open and close his fists. He's already busy kicking and stretching, and his tiny movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. These movements will increase as his body grows and becomes more developed and functional. As his diaphragm develops, your tiny tenant may also start to get the hiccups. Because he's still so small, though, you won't feel any of his workouts or intrauterine gulps until sometime between weeks 16 and 20.

Phew - Eeeeeeked By

So the weekend is fabulous, and we are pretty darn sure no one figured out we are pregnant. I say that knowing in a couple of weeks, we're going to begin telling people anyway. But I had a lot of anxiety going into the weekend about fitting into clothing, being at a lunch, brunch, and a wedding and not drinking. We had a great plan worked out, Tim would order me a glass of wine, and when no one was looking, take a huge drink out of it, and then fill it up with water that I would just hold all night. I must have left several watered down glasses of wine throughout the party all night... so it goes to keep Monday healthy.

Super fun weekend, which makes Monday (the day of the week - not the unborn Reeth) all the harder. I do like spending time with Tim banging around the city instead of at the office in front of a computer....frantically writing blog posts!

Big week for us -- And a bigger weekend coming up!

This week has been huge! And by Friday afternoon, I am feeling the part. I had my annual review on Monday, which I worked myself up for for nothing. Wednesday we heard Monday's heart rate for the first time -- again, I worked myself up for nothing. Last night we had dinner with Dad, who's in town for an annual hunt, and his sister Aunt Patsy to celebrate her 75th birthday. Dinner was great, but I didn't really get into bed until after 10:30 and I am just plain exhausted today.

Tomorrow starts of with Aunt Patsy's real birthday celebration (Hawaiian style at the St. Francis yacht club) followed by Greg Hu's wedding and then brunch the next day with Joely who is leaving for Texas in 10 days... Whoosh! The good news is that Tim got us a deal at the W through AAA, which meant we just signed up for AAA and we get to spend a really fun weekend together in the city. The other good news is that tonight we will get to have a quiet evening tonight to rest up enough for the festivities a'coming!

I've started to feel old, with how tired I am, and how much sleep I need.... But I guess that's what 31 & preggers will getcha.

wacca, wacca, wacca, wacca...only faster

What a sound, what a great Wednesday! Like Lina writes in her post from today, we had an opportunity to listen for Monday's heart. The Midwife let us know that it was natural and not uncommon to not hear the heart beat at this stage and that we shouldn't worry (too much) if we weren't able to. Not wanting to even consider the possibility that we wouldn't hear the heart beat, I remember thinking, "don't warn us of such things....just find Monday's heart beat. It will be there. Everything will be fine. We're not the couple who doesn't hear the heart beat on the first attempt." With Lina's abdomen all lubed up the Midwife went on the hunt for little Monday. Lina (laying down) and I (standing next to her) just sat staring into each others eyes - clearly both praying for the best. After some searching, some scratching, some muffled sounds - we heard...Badump, Badump, Badump...as clear as day...it was Lina's pulse. Ok...a good sound to hear...yes, we like Lina's heart beat....we even celebrated briefly that Lina was still alive (Lina even made a nervous joke to that effect). After a few moments (I'm sure it felt longer than it was) we heard her/him. Wacca, wacca, wacca, wacca...it was Monday's heart racing along. POW! like getting splashed with cold water reality hits us. With faces full of smiles and eyes full of tears we giggle at the realization and relief that our baby carrot sized Monday is doing fine. What a sound, what a great Wednesday!

Midnight Masseuse

Masseuse : a woman who practices massage.

Tim reports that my sleeping problems to date may not be wholly characterized by the need to increase hours, but also by the notion that I may need to sleep more restfully. Apparently last night Tim awoke as I was sitting up in bed repeatedly tracing his legs through the blankets. He asked me what I was doing, put his arm around me to encourage lying down, at which point I rolled over and hugged his given arm like a blanket. I have absolutely no recollection of this, which either means that some ribbing from my husband has been indelibly donated to Monday's blog, or that I have a sleep-leg-tracing thing that I might need to get over....

Our own little Jogger

For the first time today, we heard Monday's heart beat. We were warned that we may not hear it, but after about a minute of the ultrasound, it came through. We both just teared up immediately. It somehow makes it so much more real to hear the little heart just popping. Seriously, the thing is at a heart rate of 160 (which is normal) but that is super fast! Tim commented that it sounded like she was on a treadmill, which made me laugh. (By the way, laughing when you have a super sensitive sound machine on your abdomen is not recommended.) All the worry that takes us into one of these appointments was for naught. Our little Monday is doing well and we'll get a more thorough ultrasound with pictures in the next couple of weeks. Wow, we're really pregnant.

Big Day...

Well, Lina and I have our second appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning (08/15) where we get the results from the blood test. We're looking forward to the results and the additional information we can get to help with the jittery questions; like are we at the target weight, are we getting enough sleep, is it ok that Tim is putting on sympathy weight at 2x the rate of Lina?

Its an anxious time...but I hear the anxiety lessens a bit after Monday graduates college. :)

I'm not the patient type - so I find myself wishing we could fast-forward to the end to make sure everything is ok, then rewind to present day so we can experience it all in slow-motion. Knowing that's not likely to happen...I exhale and sit in the moment. Ahhhhh.....we're pregnant, in love, healthy, happy and have supportive and loving family and friends. This is a nice place to be...I love it here.

25% Done!

So here's what's crazy -- apparently Monday will be here around week 40. I am currently at week 10 (and 2 days) which means we're 25% through the pregnancy! That feels crazy to me as I have only gained 1.5 pounds and still fit into my jeans (though less so my under-garments). I have noticed that some belts are less comfortable now than they were, but other than that, the first 10 weeks have been pretty smooth. I can only hope so much for the next 30. (Put that way, 30 weeks sounds very long...)

10 Week Update from Baby Center

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is no longer an embryo! Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — just an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, she now has completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body rapidly grow and mature. Her vital organs — the liver, kidney, intestines, brain, and lungs — are now in place and starting to function (although they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy). Her liver continues to make blood cells, and the yolk sac, which previously supplied these cells, is no longer needed and begins to disappear.

During the next three weeks, your baby's length will more than double to nearly 3 inches. Her head is proportionately smaller now than it was a few weeks ago, but it's still almost half the length of her entire body. Her forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits high on her head; it will later recede to give her a more human appearance. Each day, more minute details — including tiny fingernails, toenails, and peach-fuzz hair — start to appear on her body. Her fingers are now completely separated; her arms bend at the elbow and curve slightly; her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart; her legs are lengthening; and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. She is busily swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking her legs.

If you could take a peek at your baby this week, you'd be able to clearly see the outline of her spine through her parchment-thin skin. Spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from her spinal cord.

6 Vials!! (and they were pretty vile...)

Man, when they said they need "some blood work" they weren't kidding! Yesterday I had to scoot out of the office a bit early to have all but the last 2 drops of my blood sucked out of my arm to test for, I suppose, a number of things. We go to the doctor again on Wednesday the 15th where we'll get the results back. For someone (me) who doesn't like participating in health care, there sure are a whole lot of pricks, prods, and appointments that go along with being pregnant!

Sleep update: the secret seems to be at least 10 hours a night. That means I am now going to bed around 8:30, reading for around an hour, and sleeping until about 7:30 or 8. The longer the better. It sure feels like my days are getting shorter, but if I don't get sleep, then they DRAG OUT FOREVER and I become mash potatoes at the office unable to accomplish anything... which unfortunately makes the day even longer.

Tim update: he's just a cutie pants! Its amazing how much my heart just swells when he walks through the door and into the house.

Pick wisely

I love these moments, when Lina sends me little mid-day snippets on how Monday is doing. Its a great way to pause the noise of the day and take in what a fabulous journey the three of us are on...now if I can just keep from welling up each time that little message box pops up.

Yesterday Lina sent along this status...
"Your baby is nearly an inch long — barely the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce, but he's poised for rapid weight gain now that his basic physical structure is in place."

"His embryonic tail is completely gone, and the development of his body parts — including organs, muscles, and nerves — is kicking into gear. His eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. His upper lip is fully formed, and his mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. Your baby's sex organs are present now but won't be discernible as male or female for another few weeks."

I can't help to wonder what genes Monday is using to form his/her lips, mouth, nose and nostrils...What parts of Dalton, McAneny, Chickering, Reeth is little Monday borrowing from?

My first words of advice as a father for little Monday...pick wisely.

Cats out of the bag-ish

We spent the second week in a row with my folks up at Soda Springs and just couldn't hold out any longer. We ended up telling them about Monday right as we were walking out the door to the family cocktail party. Certainly, the timing was terrible, but we really wanted to tell them in person, but don't know when we will see them again. (I may need to get to the east coast for work in the fall, but who knows if it will actually happen and we didn't want to put the pressure on us to force a flight east.) They seemed super excited and supportive, and was just the blast I needed as I am totally exhausted, but enjoyed the emotionally positive weekend.

...Now I am counting the minutes until we can tell the Reeths! When do they move out here again?!?!?

Back to haggard

In life, I thought I typically got an A- for my ability to sleep well: deep, long, restful. Since Monday came into our life, I can seem to do it at all anymore. Despite a terrific night's sleep the other day, I am still dragging my butt on the floor. In fact, I just stole home for 45 minutes to take a nap... I have never done that and it would never occur to me to do something like that! However, when I found myself leaning over on my chair and resting my head on my desk, I decided it was time to do something drastic. I would donate my little thumb to charity to not feel tired 100% of the time...

A good night sleep!!!

Yay!! I finally slept well last night! I got about 11 hours... which might make up for the 5 that I got the night before, but we won't get into that here. I went up to bed around 8:15 and turned off the light at 8:45. It was super funny to wake up 3 hours later for my middle of the night trip to the bathroom to find out it was only 11:30 thinking "wow - I must be sleeping terribly!" then realizing that it was my normal time to use the facilities, I had just gone to bed 2 hours earlier than I normally do.

I am not feeling fully caught up yet, but maybe I can get another good night tonight and stop feeling like a zombie.