12 weeks 3 days: if this is an adventure, we must be at intermission

There is so little to report. I am exhausted all the time, still dry heaving off and on during the day, and still trying to figure out how to stop the sciatica.

We bought a Snoogle over the weekend. It is awesome. Everyone who has come over has tried it out, and wants one for themselves. Dyke Two wants to return to BRU and buy one for her, after relentlessly teasing me about my crazy purchase all that day.

I am sitting on my pilates ball all the time, and it is definitely helping the sciatica, but I think that sleeping more supported and off my stomach is helping even more.

It has been so crazy hot here (like 115 with the heat index) but last night we had an enormous thunderstorm that broke the heat. The heat was so bad that we had actually moved into intermittent black outs because the power company couldn't meet demand. This morning it is overcast and much much cooler. I have been desperate to mow the lawn, but everyone has told me not to. They are worried about the heat and the baby. Dyke Two gave me her approval to do it today, so I am at least going to get the front yard done. You can barely see the political yard sign in the front yard because the grass is starting to pop over it.

Hounddog has apparently forgotten his housebreaking. We have gone through so much Nature's Miracle since we returned from Toronto. Of course, if he is locked in the kitchen when no one is around, he doesn't have accidents. This morning I woke up, and the dogs were loose, and there was an enormous puddle in front of the back door. Sigh. That room is the nursery, so I don't know what we are going to do to get the smell/urge out.

Edited to Add: I just finished mowing the front yard. It took forever because the grass was wet and so long and thick. The mower kept getting clogged and turning off. It ran out of gas once, and I went in to get cold water to drink twice. But, it is done, and it feels so good to have accomplished something physical, besides just going to the gym.

And now back to my regularly scheduled boring....

11 weeks 3 days: it's the little things...

Yesterday, Dyke Two and I went to get my cell phone replaced. About 13 months ago, I bought a new phone when I switched cell companies. I loved my phone for about 6 months, until the pin for charging it broke. The company replaced it for free, and i was satisfied until I discovered that everyone else in the world got better reception on their phones.

While we were away, the pin broke again, and the phone can no longer be charged. We went back to the store yesterday, where they offered to replace the phone with a third one of the same model. (Mind you, they no longer sell the phone--probably because it sucks).

However, the phone is no longer under warranty, so I am stuck with the cost of a replacement, and the company wouldn't give me a rebate because the equipment upgrade rebate in only offered every 24 months, and my phone was only 13 months old.

I told them I no longer wanted the model, and wanted a new phone. I briefly debated taking the crappy replacement, anticipating it breaking in the next six months, so that they would have to give me a new phone under the new warranty that the new crappy phone would come with.

As I came closer to tears--gotta love those pregnancy hormones,-- Dyke Two stepped in, and spoke to the manager. She knew I didn't want the crappy phone, and she knew I felt that I was being screwed out of a decent phone. She also knew that I was about to cave and either pay full price for a replacement or settle for the crappy one. They finally agreed to give me half of the 24 month rebate. About an hour later, Dyke Two and I walked out of the store with a really cool deep red phone for me.

It really is the little things that make me so glad that we got married.

11 weeks 2 days: so much has happened....

I can't believe how long it has been since I wrote anything. I had a great time in Los Angeles, but it made me really sad that I will not be teaching anymore since the NEA has given me such wonderful contacts and friends all over the country. It was bittersweet to receive such support for my wedding and our baby, and know that I will not be a part of the network anymore....

The day before we left for the wedding, we had to a little scare with the rings. I had read online about how people's rings weren't fitting due to water retention, so I got our rings out in a panic to make sure mine still fit. It did, but when Dyke Two went to take hers off, it slipped out of her hands, and fell into the air conditioning vent. We ended up having to take apart the duct work under the living room to fish it out...

But the wedding, oh, the wedding. It was so wonderful. We had all of our closest friends and family members there: my mom, dad and stepmom, Dyke Two's mom, my brother, SIL and two kids, my grandparents, Dyke Two's advisor and his girlfriend, my best friend, Chuck's three closest friends and their families, my close friend and her husband, and our two close gayboy friends.

Dyke Two and I spent a night in Niagara Falls on the way up. I had never seen the Falls, and was dutifully impressed, but was far more impressed with the penthouse room that our friends had reserved for us as a wedding present. Friday afternoon, we had an open house in our room so that everyone could stop by for snacks and drinks and reconnect since almost everyone knew each other. Then in the evening, we went out to dinner in the village with our gayboys and my best friend and Dyke Two's close close friends from New York. Afterwards, we went to a bar for a drag show (my secret obsession is drag queens--LOVE them) and bars in Toronto are smoke free.

Saturday morning, we all went out for breakfast, and then Dyke Two and I got massages and pedicures at a really fancy-pants spa. we felt like royalty, and loved every second of it. (They wouldn't do a full massage of my legs because of the risk of blood clots, but I got a fabulous back, arms, face, neck and head massage).

We got married on the outdoor patio of a restaurant in the village under a gazebo. Dyke Two began crying from the first second we arrived at the restaurant, and all of our friends and family were circled in close so we felt totally surrounded by love. At one point, we had to stop the ceremony so Dyke Two could dab away my tears with the same tissue she had used for her own. We walked in to the sounds of one of the guests playing an original piece on her guitar. Kind of cool to have your own wedding song. Our moms were our witnesses, so they were under the gazebo with us. Part way through the ceremony, we had to take a break to get hugs and congratulations from the family since in the US signing the registry takes place after the ceremony, and the officiant had it as part of the ceremony.

We had a delicious meal, a fabulous cake and then walked back through the village. People were stopping us on the street to congratulate us, and three couples from Cleveland looked as emotional as we were. All of our friends and family were so comfortable with each other, and there was absolutely NO tension. I'm not sure I have ever been to a wedding where the bride could say that.

Sunday we went out to a lesbian owned B&B, and spent Sunday and Monday there. They had a beautiful home, three sweet dogs, chickens and ducks and 7 acres. We splashed in the hot tub--which they lowered to 98 degrees for me, read Harry Potter, and hiked around the property. We ate amazing food, most of which was grown in their garden. I nearly peed in my pants as Dyke Two tried to confront her chicken phobia by helping one of the owners corral the four hens they had sold to their neighbor to re-populate his coop after a coyote attacked.

Tuesday we drove back 13 hours straight through. I read aloud from the Harry Potter book as Dyke Two drove, and we returned home to discover that the gayboys had, in addition to taking over the watching of the dogs, purchased the paint we had selected before we left, painted the entire dining room, and done half the kitchen. Now we have a gorgeous Bordeaux living room, a Cypress nursery, a Cream (buttery yellow) kitchen and a purple whose name is escaping me dining room. And I never had to inhale a paint fume.

11 weeks 2 days: Health Update

Tested negative for syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV.

A+ blood type, no anemia

Tested negative for toxoplasmosis.

Tested positive for all of the antibodies for my vaccines.

Had lost 7 pounds since last appointment. (but can't tell it in my clothes, so maybe it had more to do with constipation at the last appointment?)

Blood pressure was a little high for me: 128/80

The doctor didn't even try to listen to the heartbeat because it is still a little early, and he didn't want to freak me out. We headed for the ultrasound room instead, and saw: a little face, little hands and fingers and little legs as well as a nice strong spine. Dyke Two claims that the baby began to dance toward the end, as she announced, "They gave us the right sperm. Only a black baby would dance like that." The doctor didn't calculate the heartrate, but the baby measured 11 weeks 2 days, rather than the 10 weeks 5 days they were calculating at the last appointment.

I was told to take iron gluconate and calcium+D. We discussed protein options, and the theory that too much peanut and soy exposure in utero might be correlated with peanut allergies later. (We are going to check into peanut allergy rates in African-American babies to see if this is something we are going to be concerned about before making a final decision).

The doctor also gave me a prescription for a powder since I have a terrible rash under my left breast, which he says is a fungal infection (eeewwww) due to the increased growth and the moisture in all the heat.

next apppointments:

August 1 at 9:00 am for the nuchal ultrasound.

August 17 at 9:45 for the next routine OB.