First Tri Screen Take I

We had our first trimester screen. They did a general scan to see how SP was measuring up, heartbeat, etc. However, when it came time to measure for the NT scan, SP would not lay down. The tech tilted me backwards, made me cough, turned me from side to side but nothing. She even asked us to go have breakfast in the cafe and come back in hopes SP would lay down but when we returned still no dice. So we go back next Saturday to try again. I can't say that I'm all that disappointed because that's another peak at the baby. As parting gifts we got 4 pics and a 3minute DVD of the little one.

Thanks J&D for the directions. Here's SP giving a thumbs up to let us know that things are going okay in there. I think you'll have to double click on the pic to make it bigger.

Girl, did you hear?

I work with a bunch of fucken morons. Apparently I'm a part of the gossip mill. Am I surpised? Not so much. It's one of the major reasons I delayed announcing my pregnancy. I talk about Danielle a lot at work but no one seems to put two and two together and no one has asked so it is assumed I have a boyfriend on the "down low" as one woman put it and the other is that I got knocked up from a one night stand. Really? I'm freaken 30 years old. I haven't had a one night stand my entire life even when I dated guys. Part of me is annoyed but the other part just has to laugh.

One woman caught on last night that I have a dp. How did she find out? She grabbed my phone off my desk while it was ringing to look at the picture of Danielle and I on my screensaver. Then today, another girl came to my desk today and began tapping on the screen on my Iphone. When I asked her what she was doing she said she wanted to see what my phone was like. Knowing what she was up to, I opened up my phone to show the apps but she quickly lost interest. Why? because she really came over to look at the screensaver. People are so incredibly nosey that all I can do is laugh.

People, I'm a 30 year old pregnant woman in an interracial same sex relationship who used a donor to create a wonderful baby to be born in April 2010. Get over it. It's not that big of a deal.

Playing Dress Up

Danielle and I had a fun day out yesterday. It started off with lunch at Carinos and then some shopping. We stopped off at BRU to check out strollers. Danielle and I are both quite tall and we needed to make sure that we could find one that is the right height for us. We found two, very similar colors, $100 difference and different brands. I like the Chicco, she likes the Evenflo so we'll see. Anyway, I made her try on carriers being silly. Here's a pic:

11 weeks

*Next week I have to go to Harrisburg (about 3 hours away) to work part of the week due to the G-20 coming to Pittsburgh. Some of the world leaders are staying in the hotel that is attached to my office building so we got the boot due to high security. I'm looking forward to the end of the week when I can relax at home, start some sewing, enjoy time with Danielle and the furbabies and try out some new recipes.

*Next Saturday I go for our first trimester screening. It's an u/s so I'm assuming we'll get to see SugarPlum.

*I find the birth boards to be completely useless. Women ask stupid questions like will coughing hurt my baby. One lady said she was so concerned she would hold a pillow to her stomach when she coughed. Seriously???

*Please pray for this 19 year old girl that I know. I wrote about her a few months ago when her father committed suicide. Well she's pregnant, was hospitalized yesterday due to complications and they plan to do a c-section on her tomorrow at 24 weeks. The doctor is not giving her much hope that her baby will survive. She asked me to come see her tonight at the hospital. I just hope that the baby pulls through and that somehow the universe provides her with the things she needs to raise this child. She is in an apt with no long term heat or electricity. She doesn't have a thing, not even clothes or diapers for this child and really doesn't have $$$ to buy anything. If the baby does survive, I'm sure he will be in the NICU for a few weeks/months so it will buy her some time. She truly is not in the best position to raise this child physically, financially, or emotionally but she's going to try so I can only hope and try to help.
UPDATE: I spent about 2.5 hours with her. She has severe pre-eclampsia and even with meds her bp didn't come down. She has a high protein level so they told her that they were taking the baby in an hour. That was about an 1.5 hours ago. My heart is just breaking for her because she is so scared. She won't share it outright but you can tell. She said she doesn't even want to see the baby. She just wants him to go to the NICU. She's so afraid he'll have down's or die. So while I can understand being self protective, my heart just breaks for the both of them.
UPDATE #2: He weighs 1.5 pounds and is in the NICU. She did look at him and says he is adorable. I'll go to see her tomorrow or Sunday.

Horsie

I'm totally in love with this toy: (crazy because I'm aware it will get dirty in 60 seconds flat)

Sticker Shock

The other day during my lunch break I went on a walk to do a few errands (bank, post office, etc) and decided to stop in the USS Towers, which is a large office building about a block away from my office building. They have a Kindercare Daycare Center in there and geographically, it's the closest daycare center to my job. I had lovely visions of popping over on my lunch break to see/feed little SugarPlum as I'm sure I'm going to miss him/her during the day. However, all that came to a screeching halt (imagine the sound of 10 MAC trucks screeching to a halt) when I asked for the cost.
Drum roll....................$287 a week which adds up to be $1148 a month!!!!!!!

Do you hear the screeching too? Now I wonder will SugarPlum be disappointed to hear that he/she doesn't even live in a home where the mortgage is even $1148 a month? Will said little SugarPlum think he/she is a rock star for having the most expensive bill in the home? Can I use this as justification when said little SugarPlum wants a new fancy dress, karate lessons, or a shiny new bike? Will little SugarPlum want to hitchhike to Nana's when we are eating soup out of a can because of this monthly expense?

I only tease. While I'm currently in a position where I can afford this ghastly bill, it kills me to think that I will be paying this ridiculous amount for childcare. Of course, I'll shop around but if I want to take SugarPlum to a reputable daycare, I'll have to sucks it up and realize I'll be paying close to this amount. We will consider adjusting our schedules if our employers allow it or consider a nanny but who do you trust these days? Maybe we'll even look into Danielle becoming a SAHM or working part time.

Maybe I need to write a letter to the President and see if he can speed up whatever actions he has in place to cut down on the cost of childcare for the working family. You know, just as a rant, childcare and the system really isn't set up for working people. I mean, here I am, working full time, earning a living, waiting until I'm at an age where I can responsibly and financially care for a child and yet I'll spend $1150 a month in childcare. Whereas some people who are capable of working yet don't, are able to earn free childcare or childcare partnership funds to put their kid in daycare for pennies. It just doesn't make sense.

If some of the mommies out don't mind sharing, what are you paying in childcare? Are you in a facility, in someone's home, a SAHM, etc? I'm interested in learning what childcare decision people made for their family.

Heartbeat

Mr. Midwife is so nice. I called him last week to see when we would get to see SugarPlum again. The last time was at 6w3d for the u/s at the RE's office. His response was typically at 18 weeks we'd see him/her again. Even though I have morning sickness, I still felt the need to know what was going on in there just to make sure. So he told me to come in this morning so we could try to listen for the heartbeat via doppler. He took me right back and within 5 minutes, we were listening to SugarPlum's strong heartbeat. It was so awesome to hear. I have Rx to get b/w and some prenatal testing and I go back on October 2nd. He said if I need to come back in beforehand to listen again I could call him. Although I won't, it's so nice that he offered.

Baby Sites

What are some of your favorite baby websites?
ETA: to buy baby items.

Ooppsss!

I've been really sick this week and finally broke down and told my boss earlier this week and my two supervisors today just in case I had to leave work early. I don't want to be viewed as a slacker especially after coming back from vacation.

• Response from boss: thrilled, happy, gave me a hug, talked about the experience so far.
• Response from supervisor #1: happy, concerned about my sickness, gave me the most awesome ginger/peppermint teabag and honey in my teacup.
• Response from supervisor #2: happy, confused and asked the best question of all time:

"was it planned?"

Now ladies and gents, all three of these people know I'm in a lesbian relationship so I couldn't help but laugh hysterically (inside of course because outside would have just been rude) at this question. Because seriously, how do two women in a lesbian relationship have an "ooppss baby?" Ahhh, good times I tell ya.

Thinking out loud about L.A.

I moved to Pittsburgh for grad school and I've always felt that I stayed several years too long. After I got out of grad school I got my first job and then met Danielle and so I stayed here but always longed to move. Danielle and I discussed moving for a long time. Initially it was to a bigger city but then I decided that I wanted to move somewhere warm and sunny. I'm aware that my mood is greatly affected by the weather. And while I love skiing, I have no qualms about taking a special ski trip rather than living in a state where I can drive to ski. I love the idea of Christmas with snow but we can always fly to my brother Jason's home in Ohio to get that experience. So we kind of narrowed it down to Florida or Los Angeles. After our recent trip, Danielle fell in love and is ready for a change. I found LA to be more fast paced than Pittsburgh but not as fast paced as NYC. We love the idea of being close to the beach and being surrounded by the sun. With that said we still need to sit down and iron out some things but it sounds like we've made the decision to move. Sometimes thinking about moving makes me incredibly overwhelmed. It was one thing when it was just Danielle and I moving, but now we have a little baby to think about as well. So here are some questions and things we need to do/consider:

• Does it make more sense to move before or after I give birth? (I'm thinking during my maternity leave may be better).
• When should we put our house on the market?
• I have to sit for my license exam in California. They make you take two. Yikes!
• We both need to find a job
• We need to find somewhere to live. It's going to be a huge adjustment going from our 4 level spacious home to a townhouse or apt.
• Getting our cars there
• Deciding what to keep and what to sell
• Dealing with the guilt being dished to us about leaving.
• Terminating with my clients in private practice and handling their reactions.

Ahhhh, there's so much to think about.