14w3d

I wish I could better convey my continued shock and awe that I am still pregnant. Imagine raised eyebrows, a half smile and jaw dropped. Every.single.day. I wake up (well, during one of my several nighttime pee awakenings) and smile at how amazing it is to be in this place. A place I've longed for and dreamed about. A place snatched away from me too soon four other times. I have no complaints. I am simply thankful for all of this.

Updates (mostly pregnancy stuff  so scroll down if you don't want to read about that):

*Mother sent me an email apologizing and hoping that our relationship wasn't over. She took this whole thing a bit far, in my opinion. I emailed her back saying I'm over the whole thing, our relationship is fine and I that I loved her. I haven't heard back yet but the ball is in her court. Gotta love my crazy mom.

*After receiving PETA's response last week, I emailed back requesting they make a donation to RESOLVE in honor of NIAW. I haven't heard back and doubt that I will. I'm sure they're figuring we should be happy they took down the NIAW references on their website. Whatever. I still agree with their work, just not that ridiculous contest.

*Morning sickness started to wane a bit after the 13 week point. I hadn't thrown up since 9 1/2 weeks, however this Monday proved that the baby is in fact, in charge. I lost all the dinner I'd forced down and ended up going home early from work yesterday because I just couldn't function. I feel better today so I suppose the roller coaster of pregnancy continues. I don't complain when I puke, and afterwards I use the doppler to bring a big smile back when I hear that fast-paced heartbeat.

*I only wear maternity work pants now and have ordered some maternity clothes from Wal.mart. None of my spring/summer clothes fit me even though I've lost so much weight. I don't go into public on weekends because of my lack of clothes so I'm hoping my order arrives by Friday. My pre-existing pooch is steadily been pushed outwards, making me look flabby still. I'm hoping for something a bit rounder in the next couple of weeks. I've wanted a belly for so long, I can barely contain my excitement when I think about how soon it is that I'll have an official bump!

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Finally, I wanted to note this for those of you interested in television getting IF stuff right. After recently catching up on all the past seasons of Gre.y's Anat.omy, I decided to watch Private Practice. Guilty pleasure, I know. So I watched the third disc of Season 1 last night, thanks to Netf.lix. Here is the rundown of what happened in an IF case which made me yell at the screen:

-35-ish aged couple comes in after TTC for 2 months and they want testing done.
-Same-day (regardless of where she is in her cycle) the RE and Addison (Board-certified neonatal surgeon, ob/gyn) do an LH and FSH draw on the wife and a semen analysis on the husband.
-Results are in within a couple of hours; couple stayed at the clinic to wait I guess. Wife's numbers are good and she's about to ovulate, also she has some fibroids (no u/s was mentioned earlier) that are not a problem now but could be later on. They should hurry to concieve as she's "old".
-Husband has no viable sperm in his sample. He is told he is sterile. Husband decides wife should immediately pick a donor for an IUI, same-day. He wants her to have kids, doesn't want to adopt.
-Wife can't pick a donor. The next day, husband brings in his arsehole brother to be the father/uncle. Couple decides to do IUI, that day, with brother's sperm. Just before RE pushes in the swimmers, couple says "No!" and decides not to go that route because the brother is an arsehole/jerk.
-Addison (neonatal surgeon, ob/gyn) and Naomi (RE) try to figure out how to get this couple pregnant. Decide to recommend TESE. This is day 2 of diagnosis by the way. Couple is happy, decides to go this route.
-Wife in one bed, husband in another. They do the TESE as he's awake, showing the procedure on a screen. Wife in next bed is ready to have her egg (though Addison says eggs) removed in case they are able to find any swimmers. SAME DAY PEOPLE. The couple must have fantastic insurance. Also there was no embryologist in the room, anesthesiologist, etc. Addison and Naomi do the TESE and find just one swimmer.
-ICSI is performed (are you kidding me?!) immediately and mitosis is quickly shown on the screen.
-TRANSFER IS DONE IMMEDIATELY. Patient sent home, who asks if it's too soon to feel pregnant.

Gag me. Please. I screamed at the screen out loud and silently. I was so mad that people were given the impression that this is all actually possible on a whim! Argh.

Oh and I watched more "Pregnant in Heels" last night. The only IF stuff was Rosie telling her husband that the clinic called and that he had to give his sample, that day. She apologized for forgetting to pick up the p.orn. DH saw that and laughed. Then Rosie said she should have made her husband a video. Then DH looked at me like, "why didn't you make me videos?". Sigh. Otherwise the pregnant ladies were awful. Again. Well, the one who wanted a gay assistant to help her with her busy life of planning her own parties in days was terrible. But the other one who didn't want to have sex with her husband and him saying she should "force herself to have sex with him" was so interesting since DH bugs me all the time and I am so not interested. Rosie did a good job showing the husband why his wife didn't want to be intimate. Oh and the sex couple? They met in Gemology School. They make jewelry. Huh.