Visit with the midwife

I HEARD THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT!!!!!!

I just returned from an appointment with the Sansum midwife, who I loved by the way. I had thought my appointment with her was supposed to be my opportunity to ask any questions, etc. so I was very pleasantly surprised when she said we could "try" to hear the heart beat. She said that sometimes it is not possible to hear the heartbeat until 12 weeks, but that there was a chance we might hear it. As she poked around looking for the heartbeat, at first she found nothing. It's funny because based on the ultrasound and also on how I physically feel I think I know where the baby is so I told her to try there and sure enough we heard it. It was so loud and so strong -- this WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH. It was so cool that it made me want to laugh and cry at the same time, but every time I would laugh I would mess up the whole set-up. I'm bummed Javier missed the heartbeat. He would have loved it. At the moment I was experiencing our baby's heartbeat, he was on a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. We were texting.

Yesterday was not such a great day. I felt so crappy and tired. I basically fell asleep at my desk, but didn't realize it until someone came up to talk to me and she started laughing her head off. I wanted to leave early so badly, but my work ethic got the best of me so I stayed. Once I arrived home for the day, I got Queso out for a walk and then promptly got into my PJs. I laid immobile on the couch for hours. I didn't feel like talking to anyone, eating anything or even getting up to pee. It was strange. I even caught American Idol (my mom's favorite show that she is always trying to talk to me about) for the first time. Simon is a jerk, no? After an early and full night of rest I was feeling back to normal today and even started out the morning with a short run with Queso. I'm tired again now though and have so much work to do before Hawaii!!!!

Counter Intuition

To set the record straight, my mom believes that I will be having a girl. She has professed that she is "usually right, but if it is a boy, that's okay." Thanks, Mom! My friend, Luly, also feels strongly as though I will be having a girl. So the trick that my acupuncturist used was to feel the pulse in each of my wrists. Apparently if the pulse is stronger on the left hand, then the woman will be having a boy. If the pulse is stronger on the right hand, that signifies a girl. I did the trick on another girl I know who is pregnant and felt that her left was stronger as well. The good thing about this trick ... we will for sure be able to test it's accuracy.

In other news, I continue to feel pretty good. Less nauseous, but more tired. I tried to get a little more exercise this weekend as I know it is important for me and Patito. It's tough to exercise during the week because my regular days exhaust me so much. But there definitely seems to be a direct correlation between the exercise and me feeling better.

I have an appointment with the Sansum midwife tomorrow. I'm very excited about this. After seeing "The Business of Being Born" I had figured I'd be as anti-hospital birth as possible, but now that I'm here at this time in my life, I feel like I do not have the time use an "alternate route" if you will. I told my doctor about my concerns and she assurred me that they will do their best to ensure my delivery is as I want it (yes, because this is the way it always goes, huh?). But the point is I'm excited that my OB/GYN department has a midwife. It will be nice to meet with her.

Javier left for Japan today. He's quite concerned about me catching the Swine Flu. He went out yesterday and purchased masks and hand sanitizers and really wants me to use this stuff. Cute. I'm pretty stubborn though and confident about my health and my strong immune system. He and I will see each other again this Saturday in Hawaii, where I will be visiting with Mandy. She just gave birth to a new son on February 1st and I have not shared my news with her yet. I think she's going to be pretty excited so that will be fun!

I seem to have leveled out at this new bloated size. I found another pair of jeans I can wear - big excitement at the Muslera house!

Intuitions

So, shortly after announcing I was pregnant, Momita Irma said she dreamed we were having a boy. I also had a dream in that same week that we had a beautiful baby boy, but it was a confusing dream because I will soon be visiting a friend of mine in Hawaii who recently had a baby boy so I had wondered if perhaps my dream were actually about her new son. Dreams can be confusing, you know. Also last week when we sat to dinner with a few friends and had one extra chair, we set Patito's ultrasound photo in the chair (does that sound strange? It was all in good fun) and I continually referred to Patito as "him". Last night, I ran into my acupuncturist, the great John Ebadi. I shared the good news with him and the first thing he said was, "show me your tongue." He examined my tongue, which tells a great deal about one's health, and grabbed my wrists and held onto them for about a minute feeling the pulse of each wrist. He said, "you're having a boy."

Week 10

On March 19 Javier and I found out we're pregnant. It was a happy surprise. We've been open to it for some time, but simply weren't one of those couples who just got pregnant looking at each other. It took some time (16 months to be exact), but through the process what I learned about myself was that I could be at peace with whatever the outcome. Being a big believer in fate, I had a feeling it would happen exactly when it was supposed to at some point and that if it didn't happen, well life is a beautiful experience and one that usually has a way of playing itself out in a way that makes sense later. Perhaps the world would not be able to handle a mini Erin&Javier ;-).

After the initial shock and excitement the first thing I did was set out to learn. I was on the Internet figuring out at what time of the year this new little one could be expected, what type of development was going on inside me at that moment and of course, "what am I not supposed to do?" In fact, we found out on a Thursday, and we're headed out for a ski trip on Friday. And not some relaxing ski retreat, rather that weekend warrior type trip of which I've become all too familiar. The kind where we pack up the car on Friday afternoon (after working), drive 6+ hours to Mammoth, ski all day Saturday and all day Sunday and then hop in the car on Sunday after a full day of intense skiing to drive home. I digress, but anyway, I started to wonder if our crazy lifestyle could be dangerous. I was at the very beginning stages. Far too early to share the news, but also too early to begin panicking I figured and tried to relax and enjoy myself.

Around week 6 we took off for New York City. Mostly in the very beginning I just remember being hungry, hungry with the type of appetite of which I am not too accustomed. Big appetite? - No problem in NYC! We enjoyed our trip and I did my best to appear that I was drinking when out with our friends. The bigger concern was how was my belly already looking slightly more round? It was WAY too early. I still don't know why I have popped out so easily - the extra calories, the pregnancy bloat? Who knows, but at this rate I may become HUGE ;-).

At week 8 (April 14) we had our first appointment with Dr. Terbell. At this time we got a big stack of paperwork and bits of information that I would not too many moments later be saying, "What was it she said about this?" Also at this appointment we had an ultrasound. The first thing I said when I saw the little thing on the monitor was, "It looks like a duck!" At week 8 it's pretty difficult to distinguish because of the way the baby is developed at this point. But hence, the moniker "Patito" was born. We now mostly refer to the growing baby as Patito (little duck in Spanish).

Soon after this point I got my hands on some books! And everything I read suggested keeping a journal which is why I decided to start this blog. Typing is way easier than writing and this way I can share the fun with anyone who is interested or needs a "take 5" from work, etc.

We are currently in week 10 of the pregnancy and for about the past two weeks I have been unable to wear the majority of my jeans. Last weekend I had to buy this "belly belt" thing which allows one to wear pants without fastening them - GENIUS! Also very handy, a pair of jeans that have been too big for over 5 years that I had hung on to for some reason (this is big for me because I have serious clothing purging issue). We've started to share the news with close friends and family, which I find so much fun. Reactions are quite varied, but of course I love the screamers. Then there were those people, you know who you are, who called me out straight away when I didn't have any wine at the Latin BBQs ;-). Momita Irma claimed she had a dream we were pregnant so she was very excited to learn that her keen intuition was dead on as usual. My mom exclaimed that she had given up on being a grandparent at this point so the news came as big surprising excitement to her for sure.

Symptoms at this point:
MUST GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Not getting enough sleep is not an option.
MILKSHAKES and CHOCOLATE MILK TASTE GOOD
The couch is one of my new best friends, as well as "Millionaire Matchmaker"
MEAT MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE
Prepping veggies also makes me ill

Some helpful information for this blog:
A typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, but 37 to 42 weeks is accepted as being within normal medical limits.
My due date according to the professionals: November 24, 2009
My pre-pregnancy weight: 111 lbs
Current weight as of today: 114 lbs