9 weeks!

Thank God for spring! I spent part of my day in the gardens, cleaning up the mess from last year and planting new flowers that will fill my yard with color all summer. It was just the medicine I needed to calm my crabby self. There is nothing like the endless waves of nausea and fatigue to make a person crabby, and I wonder how people stay married through this. Last night I was on the phone with a friend, and after another day of dragging and burping and feeling like spitting and puking, I heard myself say "this little shit is putting me through hell." It made me think of the pregnancy journal I made for Ann when she was pregnant with Zack, so I dug it up and read the first few months' entries. It was right at 9 weeks that she called the child growing in her tummy "Scott's evil spawn." I definitely understand that feeling. I feel sick almost all the time.

Today is nine weeks. Today Baby officially ended it's embryonic stage and entered the fetal period. Baby is about an inch long and is starting to make spontaneous movements on its own. (Though I won't feel it for a couple of months.)

I had my first prenatal visit with Dr. Brown's nurse practitioner today. After talking about genetic testing and my prenatal care plan, I had to give 8 vials of blood for all the usual prenatal testing. After all the sticking I've been through to get Baby here, I'm used to blood draws, so it was no big deal. Peeing in a cup, on the other hand, has never been one of my favorite doctor-visit things. I guess I'll be doing a lot of that during the next 7 months.

Next week I'll return for another visit with the nurse practitioner to discuss the blood test results and get a full physical. The following week I'll finally meet with Dr. Brown. June 5th I'll be going in for CVS testing, an earlier version of the same testing that amnio does later in pregnancy. It's recommended for women over 35. That means by the first week of June I'll know if I'm having a boy or girl.

In the mean time I'm going to continue to relax and stay busy in my gardens and try not to think about how much I feel like hurling behind the arborvitae.

Thanks so much to all of you for your love and support through all of this. Since I come home to an empty house with nobody to unload to every night, it is so great to have so many of you out there calling and listening to me and being my support. I am truly blessed.