mom2binnyc

Yesterday we went to our OB's office for our 12-week checkup. My blood pressure was not high, thank goodness (it has been slightly high in the past -- we haven't known if it is truly high or if it is because I get nervous when I go to the doctor's office-- apparently it is just from nerves). I hadn't had it checked since becoming pregnant, and I know that high blood pressure while pregnant can be dangerous. But all is well.

I have gained 1 pound so far. And the ultrasound showed the baby dancing, kind of like I do, with his/her fingers pointed up (the "finger dance").

Cute!

We don't go back for 4 weeks.

I have officially made the switch over to maternity clothes (pants anyway). Yesterday I wore regular pants, and they were so uncomfortable by the end of the day. They are my loosest fitting "regular" pants too.

C and I went to Long Island to look around and we shopped. We pretty much finished up our holiday shopping, and on the recommendation of a friend, we went to a cute small town called Huntington, not far from where we would live if we move there, and it reminded me kind of of North Hampton (lots of cute little coffee houses and shops). It was fun.

At night, we went to the Jones Beach Holiday Lights Spectacular, on the recommendation of a different friend. On the map, Jones Beach is way at the southern part of Long Island, and we were in the most northern part. So we really weren't sure how long it would take us to get down there. I think it maybe took 20 minutes which shows how small Long Island is. Nothing is that far from anything else. We were SO excited, you drive through a very elaborate display of lights on the beach (we were listening to xmas music on the radio at the same time) and then you can park and go inside where they are selling xmas trees, there are reindeers, and kids can ice skate or see santa . . . anyway, it was yet again another experience where C and I felt conspicuous as the only childless adults we saw. It was so fun. But there have been so many times where we are doing something like that and we love it, but it's really something kid-oriented. I think we will be really fun parents because we truly enjoy things geared toward children.

We might go see "Charlotte's Web" this weekend before we leave for St. Louis. Again, we'll be the creepy adults sitting in the back with no kids.

I just read my third plagiarized paper of the semester from my lit class students. This particular student handed in the paper I think 2 months late so I shouldn't have accepted it anyway, but of course I did. This is ridiculous. I am so frustrated. I feel now that I am suspecting any decently-written paper to be plagiarized. The thing is, these students don't even seem to try to make it difficult for them to be caught: they cut and paste from websites and it's SO easy to find out -- just type a sentence from their paper into the Google search engine and see what pops up.

I have never had this sort of problem before (or maybe I'm just more aware of it now) and it is extremely annoying and disappointing.

C and I spent all afternoon at the Geneticist's office. We had a consultation to figure out what (if any) genetic testing we want to have done. Since the donor is not Jewish, we don't have to worry about the Bloom's thing I am a positive carrier for, and everything else seems low-risk, so we're doing the minimum.

We then had an ultrasound -- it was my first "tummy" ultrasound where they just look through your belly and it was so cool - -we saw the baby looking more like a real baby and less like a kidney bean, we HEARD THE HEART BEAT! and we saw it jump around and do flips and stuff . . . very athletic! The doctor kept asking me to cough and kept pushing and jiggling my belly to make the baby move so she could get a picture in the right angle. Then she kept saying "wake up baby!" every time the baby stopped moving around. It was so cool. She finally saw him/her in a good position and said everything looks great.

Then I had to get blood drawn for the first of 2 tests. That part was actually bad -- I always have a hard time getting blood drawn (in the past I never had problems -- I donated my blood regularly too -- I really think it's because I stopped playing the violin (those finger movements "pump up" your veins) and now I have a hard time). But they said I am dehydrated. They couldn't find any veins, even in the tops of my hands! One person tried my left arm without success -- it hurt very badly and she thought she found a vein but no blood came out. Then someone else tried the top of my left hand and same thing -- nothing. Finally, they took me to see Shirley the expert phlebotomist. She finally got a working vein on my right hand. After all the painful jabs and pokes, and then finally some blood drawn, I felt kind of sick and shaky. They all told me to drink lots of water, and C promised to nag me more about drinking enough water.

So I have a big bottle of water and a bottle of gatorade which I plan to down before the evening is over. And I'll have to be better about making sure I drink enough water so I don't dehydrate the baby.

But oh, it was SO cool to see the baby flip around and to hear the heartbeat!

Last night, C and I went to our lesbian baby meeting and then out to dinner with another couple afterwards. We didn't get home until 11:30. We were really beat and I was totally just going to take the dog out and go to sleep right away, but I had a feeling . . . that I should turn on the TV and check out what episode of the Simpsons was on . . . specifically, I felt that if I turned on the TV, there would be the motorcycle gang episode on.

This is, historically, the ONLY episode of the Simpsons that C claims to find funny (I know she loves all of them though). I think she likes the image of the "tough motorcycle gang" that includes Flanders riding a bicycle and I think Lenny riding a lawn mower. we'd only seen that particular episode I think twice before.

I flipped on the TV. Sure enough, motorcycle gang episode.

I am totally psychic. When it comes to the Simpsons. Perhaps this means I have a special gift? Or, perhaps, it means I watch way too much television.

I can't stop thinking about oranges. I have been craving (and eating) them all week. Baby likes his/her citrus fruit, apparently. Last night after I walked the dog I went to get an orange from the kitchen and was VERY upset when I saw that a certain someone had eaten the last orange. I was so upset and disappointed that I went and told C my dilemna -- C was on the phone talking to her mom about something important and for some reason did not react to my bad news as I might have hoped. I think she said "oh" and went back to talking to her mom.

After hanging up, she did offer to go to the store and buy me more oranges . . . I almost said yes, but I felt too guilty (it was late at night and she'd had a very long day). If I had said yes, she totally would have bought me more oranges.

I haven't had to send her out in the middle of the night for pickles and ice cream (or oranges) yet, but it may happen.

The kumquat is now the size of a fig, according to babycenter.com

We went to our church's holiday party tonight and I was excited to wear my new dress. It's actually not a maternity dress but it sure works as one. We got lots of "congratulations" on our news. It was fun.

. . . according to Babycenter.com. The kumquat and the hormones have been affecting me lately. This past weekend I cried 3 days in a row (not the whole weekend -- just once each day) for no reason. Each time, C asked me what's wrong and I had to say "Nothing's wrong. I'm just crying because of the hormones!"

And then today I really do feel "pregnant." I was a little nauseous all day and even though I got hungry, no food appealed to me.

We announced our pregnancy during "Joys and Concerns" at church on Sunday. Tons of folks, even people we haven't talked to very much, came up to us to congratulate us and some parents offered us some of their old baby stuff, which is really nice. It was nice. We're going to the holiday party this Friday. I'm baking a chocolate chip cheesecake :)

The semester is nearly over! I only have to go to Staten Island 2 more times! Tomorrow to review for the final exam, and then next Monday to give the final exam. I only have to go to Queens 3 more times, and I think only 3 more times at the conservatory as well. I am really looking forward to resting and having no more commutes for a while.

We went to Long Island last weekend to check out where we would live if we end up moving there and drove around and shopped. It could be really nice to have a more suburban lifestyle, get a car, and be able to save up for a house . . . we're not sure yet.

Last night we finally saw the first disc of the L Word season 3. Bette and Tina have a baby and they have to do 2nd parent adoption. The social worker came to their house and it was awful! She was critical and said they hadn't babyproofed their home, and also since Bette is unemployed right now she was critical about that and a bunch of other things. If our friends hadn't just done their own home study for their second parent adoption (which they assured us went extremely well and was not horrible at all), this would probably freak us out.

Thankfully, TV dramas do not equal reality.