First Appointment & Telling Mom

Let me just say that if the safety and wellbeing of the world depended on my understanding the basic rules of math, we'd all be screwed. Thank goodness there are much smarter women in the world who understand how to figure beta formulas, because I was WAY off. Happily, though, my doctor called this morning to say she agreed with all of you smart bloggers that my numbers look good---progesterone numbers, too! I was only able to get yesterday's hcg number by begging the nurse, who almost refused to tell me since the doctor (once again) had not had a chance to "interpret" the results. I told her if she could just please give me the number, I wouldn't ask her to tell me anything about the quality of it. So, sounding hurried and exasperated, she gave me the goods. If she hadn't, I think I would have parked my ass in front of the clinic overnight to pester the staff when they arrived in the morning.

These good test numbers got me booted from my gyno's care, so I got to choose an OB-doc. I went with the only female OB in my town who is taking new patients. My first appointment is scheduled for next Thursday, February 14th! (Though Jake and I are not usually big celebrators of Valentine's Day, I imagine this one will get some special recognition!) My gyno is going to ask the OB to do an ultra-sound that day just so we know everything is confirmed. I can hardly wait to see that beautiful little blob on the screen! And, Jake is psyched, too, so he's going to take some time off work to come with me to the appointment. He's been so sweet about everything----doing lots of research about pregnancy, and how best to be supportive. He just keeps saying he wants to be in this with me, and experience everything and be as involved as he can. This is radical behavior compared to the way most of the men in my family handle pregnancy and children, but then again, that's why I married him.

We finally broke the happy news to my mom this week, too. When I told her, "We're going to have a baby!" she replied, "Baby puppy or kitten?" My mom is quite used to the idea of me calling her up to say we have adopted another cat or dog, but baby news---that doesn't happen. So, I replied while laughing, "Neither---a baby human!" Even still, she didn't believe me, saying, "Really? Oh, come on. Really?" This is how far distant in the realm of fantasy she thinks this sort of news is, and it's not that I blame her for that. I'm still living in a hazy blur, too, having such difficulty believing THIS IS MY LIFE. I'm Deanna-Pregnant-Lady. I'm the girl who has lived through so many pregnancies of family members and friends, and heard so many birth stories and seen so many ultrasound pictures, but now----I'm THAT girl. I keep telling myself this, hoping it will all feel so much more real with each passing day.