Fun with lyrics

Have you ever had fun changing the lyrics to a song? I do. And this seems to be a family trait. My dad would walk around the house just making up his own words to song tunes. I would roll my eyes and say, "Daaadddd...that's not how the song goes." And he would give me a goofy grin.

And now I find that I make up or change song lyrics all the time. My latest change is a small one but very fun to sing. It's the song, "Two Worlds" written and sung by Phil Collins for the animated Disney "Tarzan" movie. The original lyrics are "two worlds, one family". I've changed it to "two girls, one family".

Here's the refrain:
Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two girls, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see.

I can just see the little Biscuit singing it Mommy's way. Makes me smile.

So all you girlfriends out there, give this revised song a try. Sing it with all your heart. Who knows...it might catch on!

-Wendy

[9w,4d]

Ginger tea & nanny letter

All hail ginger tea! Wow! This stuff really helps my nausea. I feel better than I've felt in four days. Relief - hurray!!

You might remember that I wrote my grandmother, Nanny J., to officially "come out" to her and to let her know about my pregnancy. I got a letter back from her today.

She writes, "Dear Wendy/Mama to Be, I hope things go well (with the pregnancy). Bring the baby back to TN so that I can spoil it. I'm wishing you and Karen much happiness. I have some baby clothes in the attic. I wish you had them."

Then she goes on to tell me about the beans and tomatoes in her garden, her dogwood trees and her new heat/air system.

She ends the letter, "Love you and say hello to Karen for me".

Isn't that wonderful? I'm smiling from ear to ear.

[9w,2d]

Thanks

My good friend and neighbor Heather has been checking on me. When she heard how my pregnancy symptoms have accelerated this week, she went out and bought me preggie pops, ginger tea, ginger ale, ginger snaps, nilla wafers and honeycomb cereal-- all the stuff that helped her when she was pregnant.

What a wonderful and memorable gift. Thank you.

[9w, 2d]
[11 Babies R Us visits]

Grilled cheese and other musings

When I was a little girl, I would stay with my Nanny P. for several weeks in the summer. I was a finicky eater and bone-thin. My sweet Nanny would begrudgingly serve me chicken noodle soup everyday for lunch and my few favorites for dinner. But since she thought I was way too thin, she would look for ways to fatten me up. One of her favorites was to plop the toaster onto the dining table, set out some bread, margarine and cheese slices and open a deck of playing cards. We would play gin rummy (my favorite as a kid), and she would butter toasted bread and slap cheese on it and feed me sandwich after sandwich.

So today I had a Nanny P. toaster-cheese sandwich. I devoured it and could have eaten 10 more. Bread and butter!! Yum!! (By the way, what's with the pregnancy drool? There's so much of it! Makes me feel like a drippy-mouthed dog!)

Speaking of dogs, have I mentioned that I now have the nose of a bloodhound? No kidding. I can smell everything. I can smell someone smoking 3 blocks away. I can smell the tar of the road pavers several miles away. The bakery/deli/seafood sections of the grocery store are completely overwhelming.

And Starbucks. My beloved Starbucks. Last time I was there, I could smell coffee on my clothes, hair, and skin for the rest of the day. I thought I was going to have to shower just to get to sleep at night because the coffee smell on my person was grossing me out! So my wonderful daily ritual of a decaf coffee and non-fiction book reading is out the window for a while. Damn... I REALLY enjoyed that!

So today I went to the library. The simple act of walking from my car to the library made me sweaty hot, and then of course, nauseous. I'm trying to browse the book racks while snort-breathing and chanting to myself. "Just breathe, don't puke! Just breathe, don't gag!". I ended up standing in the fiction G-H section for 15 minutes simply because the air conditioner vent was located there. I hope the Gabaldon and Hallowell books I borrowed are good because they are the only ones I got.

But then I came home to the most wonderful surprise in the mail. 12 bottles of Bath & Bodyworks Lemongrass Sage lotion! Aahhhh. Bliss! My sweet Karen knows that I adore this lotion (which has been discontinued for some time) so she bought me some off of ebay. Thank you love!

If you wondered what that sound was. . .

. . .it was very likely my poor, sweet Wendy retching her guts out today! While Wendy has been experiencing some nausea and queasiness with her pregnancy, she had yet until today had a "full blown" episode. But, today was the day.

I was in our office working a bit to try and get ready to be out of town this week. Our office is on the first floor of our home. Wendy was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher...or so I thought. One minute I hear the clink, clink of silverware and plates and the next I hear this god-awful, deep bass, earth-shaking retching coming from upstairs. Unbeknownst to me, Wendy was hit with a wave of nausea and had dashed upstairs to our bathroom to get sick. Now, we have a half bath right next to the office, and close to the kitchen where she was, but she decided to go upstairs so I wouldn't hear her and get grossed out or anything. (She's convinced that my hearing her vomiting will send me into my own vomiting fit!) Little did she know that the sound she would make would be like the sound of mastodons mating (if one can imagine the probable decibel level of such an event)!

I heard the noise and for a half a second wondered what the heck it was before hearing the next bellow from above. I raced upstairs to find my dear one wrapped around the toilet bowl spitting and spewing. "Honey, are you alright?", I quietly ask. (Yes, I know...brilliant question to ask someone who is puking their guts out.) With a flush and one last spit into the bowl, she turned her ashen face towards me and with a weak, but very happy smile, says "the baby is just fine"! She managed to ask me to retrieve her a cool, wet washcloth, which I did, and got her wiped down and cooled off a bit. As she pushed away from the toilet to raise herself back to her feet, she looked down at the knee of her black sweatpants and noticed she had a few dustbunnies clinging to it. With a look of disgust far more retched than the "puke face", she commented, "that floor is really dusty, I have just got to mop"! That's my girl! Happy to be barfing and fretful about a few dust bunnies behind the toilet!

The day has been a long one for her as she's felt bad on our "yuck" scale at about an 8 (out of 10). We went out to get chicken nuggets and that helped for about an hour. A while later, we got a slushie from the 7-11 and a bit later still, had a grilled cheese sandwich at the nearby Red Robin. She keeps saying she'll take it (i.e. being sick) even though she feels like crap because all the yuck she's feeling makes her believe all is well with the little biscuit. But, feeling like crap is feeling like crap so I'd best end this post and get upstairs to join her and provide pets and hugs to my sweet woman... oh yeah, and to take her a Preggie Pop and be ready for a dash to the 7-11 should she request it!

- Karen

[8w,6d]

Front page story

Wendy here. Holy crap! The cover story in today's Oregonian newspaper is a shocker about a mix-up at a fertility clinic. You can read the entire article here.

But here are the nuts and bolts of it. A man went to OHSU's fertility clinic to leave a sperm sample that would be later used by his fiancee. After leaving his sample, he was called by the clinic who told him they had dropped his sample and he would have to give another which he did.

A married couple, who have tried to have children for years, went to the clinic for an IUI using anonymous sperm they had purchased through the clinic. After the woman was inseminated, she was called back to the clinic and was told that a mistake had been made and that they had inseminated her with the wrong sperm. They had her take a "morning after" pill and offered her an abortion if she was pregnant or free sperm and inseminations if she wasn't.

A few months later the clinic called the sperm donor and told him a mistake had been made. Now he is suing to know if the woman had a baby with his sperm and whether he is a father. The woman who mistakenly received his sperm is fighting for her privacy.

Law and ethics professors are speculating that the rights of the mother will trump the rights of the "maybe" father. We'll see this week if the man's paternity suit can go forward. If it does, the next question will be "If there is a baby and it is his, will he sue for custody?" The man is also suing OHSU for $2 million in personal damages.

And again I say, Holy Crap!! I imagine this makes all of us who have used a fertility clinic's services gasp! Karen and I were planning on using OHSU's fertility clinic's services before deciding on a CA company. It makes my heart flutter a bit to think, "That could be us".

Of course, my heart goes out to the woman and her husband. I can understand why the donor would be truly pissed but I hope his suit doesn't go any further.

[8w, 4d]

The barcode scanner gun

Wendy registered online this week at Babies R Us so we could start building our own list of stuff we think we may want. We weren't/aren't planning on officially sharing the registry with friends and family for a few more months yet, but for us anal-retentive organizer types, having an online list of all the baby stuff we have our eye on is wonderful.

This afternoon after Wendy and I met Recovering Straight Girl and her Hottie Girlfriend for lunch (thanks ladies, it was great!), we decided to go to (where else) Babies R Us and look at a few more things that we were thinking of adding to our list. Well, when we got there Wendy went to the desk and they brought up the registry stuff and then gave her a barcode scanner gun so we could walk around the store and just scan items into the registry. Oh my! This was just way too fun and the geek in me loves any kind of technology like that!

Wendy and I both have never registered for anything....ever. The whole idea of being registered is like being able to write a letter to Santa with all your Christmas wishes with the hope that you'll find a whole bunch of stuff under the tree on Christmas morning. We were likely going to have a "healthy" list doing it online, but with the trusty barcode scanner gun, our list is very likely going to grow to gargantuan length!

I was having so much fun with it that I found myself seeing items for toddlers and thought "Hey, that's cool. I think I'll scan that"! Wendy was tolerant of my amusement, and was pretty amused herself, but we managed to keep the scanned items to only baby things! Of course, we're just 8+ weeks along now, so I have no doubt that we'll have scanned the majority of items in Babies R Us before spring!

I was thinking, however, that the "gun" made me want a holster. When I was a very little girl, I had this great gun and holster set with a cool red cowboy hat to top off the ensemble. As an aside...is anyone surprised I'm a lesbian? I used my trusty guns to shoot at what few dolls my mom tried to get me to play with. She finally gave up. Anyway...I digress. So, back to the holster idea. What do you think? Should they issue the scanner gun with holster? You'd have your hands free to do the touchy, feely of the items and then when ready, Draw! I think the idea has merit personally. :) Of course, if Babies R Us doesn't think it's such a great idea, maybe Wendy will knit me one. {snicker}

So, here we are at 8 weeks and 3 days into this pregnancy and have been to Babies R Us 11 times already. And now we have access to "the gun"! Anybody want to start a pool on how many times we'll go before the baby is born? At this rate, we're on track for at least 50 visits or so! The thought is a bit scary....

Grey's Anatomy season premiere is tonight, so I'm off to ensconce myself in front of the tube to take in the drama!

- Karen

[8w,3d]
[11 Babies R Us visits]

I should have had that nap

Wendy here. I'm beginning to lose my mind. Instead of putting my fork into the dishwasher, I threw it away in the trash. Sigh.

[8w,2d]

Hello fall, hello rain

Well, fall is in the air here and with the fall comes the start of the rain. Over the next two months, the rains will come more and more frequently and will continue to come until early next spring. This is the price one pays for living in the Pacific Northwest. This is *not* the place for those with Seasonal Affective Disorder. But, for us, it's worth the long rainy season to have most other months be beautiful and green. It doesn't really ever snow here (except in the mountains) and so I look at the rains like people from Buffalo look at snow. It's just part of the package. However, I will miss the clear blue skys and light breezes that abound here from the spring until late fall. But, they'll return.

Our rose bushes bloomed again over the past week or two as a beautiful good-bye before their winter rest it seems. We just planted the two yellow rose bushes we have this spring and they went from less than a foot in height to around 4+ feet. This area is truly the mecca of roses (thus Portland's moniker - the Rose City).

We'll spend the rainy winter watching Wendy's belly grow and counting the days/weeks/months until the arrival of our little one. The cool thing is that the biscuit will arrive with the spring and the next long stretch of blue skies and cool breezes. It seems fitting, don't you think?

- Karen

[8w,1d]

Eight weeks

Wendy here. Whose idea was it to put me up against a wall and take a pregnancy picture each week?!? Because I'm hating this week's picture.

What's up with this pose? NO ONE looks good with their butt, shoulders and hands pressed against a wall and then have a profile picture taken!! I know this pose is supposed to show the growing belly. But come on!! Give me a break! This is just crappy. Especially because I know all you pregnant people and mommies out there know that I shouldn't be showing at a mere 8 weeks. But I swear that my belly gets more bloated (ahem...fat) each day.

It's weird enough to look at myself naked and think, "Wow, my belly makes me look like a marshmellow on toothpicks". But this picture makes EVERYTHING look big.

(Case in point, when Karen saw me in this sweater she said, "Good grief..your boobs look big!)

It's killing me to show you this shot (and this was the BEST picture!! Aaaggghhhh) but I wanted to because I'm so dang proud of this sweater. I just finished knitting this sweater! I guess I won't be wearing it much this year but maybe I can squeeze into it next winter or in the years to come. This is my first knitted/cabled sweater and I think it's beautiful. Well....I did until I saw the pictures of me in it.

But I'm still so enamored of it that I think I'll show you the front, back and sleeves.




From now on, I'm sticking to knitting Christmas presents and baby blankets. No more sweaters for Wendy.

[8w,0d]

The baby's room and smiles

We were very pleased to find an natural wood (unfinished) furniture store today that will stain/paint any furniture you purchase there for a relatively minimal cost. The pieces they had were just lovely. We fell in love with several alder/birch pieces that would be ideal for either a girl or a boy. All we'd do is pick the stain or paint depending on the gender. While we do reserve the right to change our minds, we're very pleased with this possibility and think we may have actually hit upon a place where we can get what we want for the baby's room regardless of gender.

We're actually pretty lucky with regard to the baby's room in that when we moved into our house it had been decorated to participate in a small home tour. This event was what I'd call the middle class version of the Parade of Homes, or as it's called here, the Street of Dreams. Anyway, the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms were decorated so that one was for a little girl and the other for a little boy. How convenient, right? Both rooms had murals handpainted on the walls. We toyed around with painting the rooms when we moved in, but decided to keep them "as is" because we couldn't bear to think of painting over the wonderful artistry. Have a look at the murals...they're pretty neat, huh?

First the boy's room...




And now the girl's room...




So, we should be all set no matter what gender our little biscuit turns out to be. With the find of this natural wood furniture store, I think one more element of the whole puzzle is falling into place so that once we know the gender, we'll just have to pick our stain color and we'll have the baby's room furniture covered! Yea!

In other news of the day, next door baby wonderkid, Ethan, smiled a big ole' smile at me today! He's just coming into the social smiling stage and man, when he flashed that million dollar grin at me, I would've handed over anything he could've asked for. Fortunately for me, he can't talk! I know his mom and dad have had the joy of basking in the little guy's smile but this was my first real smile from him. Cool! When we got back home, Wendy and I were talking, and we've both decided that we're going to have to work really hard to not be pushovers when it comes to our kid. If one gooshy, toothless smile can totally obliterate my rational thought processes, our kid could be badly spoiled if we're not careful!

- Karen

[7w,6d]
[10 Babies R Us visits] (we made it a whole day without a visit!)

A good day despite our "afflictions"

Being born and raised in Tennessee, Wendy and I have this strange affliction. It's called Volunteerus Footballitis. It doesn't matter that we now live 3000 miles away...when fall Saturday's roll around we find ourselves drawn to the TV where we search for the Vols. We find it by instinct I think. I can identify the TN football anthem of Rocky Top after hearing only about 2 notes (and of course can sing every single verse with great gusto!). Then, there we sit, glued to the game screaming and yelling and cussing as the orange and white drama plays out. Really, this is a sickness. It's something we just can't fight no matter how hard we try. We must watch Vol football! So, today we found our boys (led at quarterback by Hillsboro, OR native Eric Ainge no less) on the local CBS station and planted ourselves before the tube. Three and a half hours later, the Vols went down in defeat to the Florida Gators (boo hiss) by a score of 21-20. Crapola! Now, we have to wait on the wings of defeat until next week when we will not so mysteriously be drawn to the TV and the process will be repeated. You'd think there'd be a better way to spend 3-4 hours on a beautiful fall Saturday in Oregon wouldn't you? But, I suppose until they invent a pill that cures this cursed plague, there we'll be in front of the tube next week!

Before coming home to cheer the Vols in their defeat, we spent a nice afternoon out and about doing more research on baby furniture. We visited our routine set of baby stores (come on, you can guess...of course, Babies R Us was visited for the 10th time!) and were on the prowl for boy stuff. Believe it or not, we already have the stuff we want if the baby is a girl pretty much nailed down. But, we hadn't started looking at boy stuff yet. So, today we went out to canvas several places with a boy theme in mind. We found some nifty things that may just get the thumbs up if the little biscuit is a man-child.

Now, don't laugh too hard! It may seem like way too much this soon in the pregnancy but we can't help ourselves. Along with the aforementioned VF, we also have OPD (Obsessive Planning Disorder). I literally think it would kill us both if we didn't have every little detail planned out months in advance.

Despite our afflications, we had a great Saturday. Wendy even got wicked queasy a couple of times (once in the morning and once tonight) and had to have Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner (which I promptly ran out and retrieved for her). She's happy as can be (even with the waves of nausea) as she's fully believing the baby's really in there and letting the mommies know the growing is going well!

Hang with us as we battle our compulsions, I'm sure the fun is only beginning!


- Karen

[7w,5d]
[10 Babies R Us visits]

Winding down week 7

The work week is over and in 2 more days, we'll be starting our 8th week of pregnancy. Work this week has been an exercise in moving from one anger management session to another and I'm just glad it's over. I have wondered on more than one occasion this week if there were just some people in the world that I immediately and forever can't stand. There are two particular guys at work that are just absolute crazy-makers for me and I've had multiple opportunities this week to deal with them (or not as the case may be). I'm not a small woman and can, I suppose, be a bit intimidating. However, I've always thought of myself as a lover...not a fighter. But this week, I've wished I could tower over these two putzes, grab 'em around the neck and throttle them good. TOWANDA!!!!

Work aside, this week has been alot of fun on the pregnancy front. We had our first doc visit that went very well and Wendy is feeling much more at ease now that she's seen the little biscuit and is starting to feel more symptoms of pregnancy with each passing day. It's such a miraculous journey! Every day seems to bring just a bit of something new. Some days it's a bit of worry, some days a bit of joy, and most days it's a bit of both. But every day is a good day no matter what it contains as it brings us one step closer to the birth of our child!

Today we got our baby fix when baby neighbor Ethan visited with us for a couple of hours while his mom ran errands. There was a point where he fell asleep all balled up on my shoulder and it felt sooooo good just holding him there, hearing his breathing and feeling his heartbeat against my chest. Sigh... And in no time at all, I'll be holding our little one there too!

Have a great weekend everyone!

- Karen

[7w,4d]

Letters and apple juice

Wendy here. Thank you, thank you to everyone who stops by this blog and to all those who leave comments. Your comments make my day! It's so lovely to think of people wishing me, Karen and the Biscuit well as we travel down the pregnancy road.

Last night I was sitting on the couch, watching TV, knitting and trying to stay awake when I was hit with this feeling. It was BEYOND nausea. It felt like all of my energy had been sucked out of me and I was depleted, tired and just overall BLEH!! It could have been from the five vials of blood that was drawn from me or it could have been just regular pregnancy stuff. I thought to myself, "Damn... I guess I need to eat or drink something." But the only thing that had the slightest appeal was apple juice.

Of course, we didn't have ANY apple juice in the house. So poor Karen got to hear me whisper is this pitiful, quavering, voice, "...Honey....would you get me some apple juice?"

Up she bounded with her SuperPartner cape flying and went tearing down the hall to the car! Within six minutes I had my apple juice. WOW! What a woman!!

Lastly, I just finished writing a letter to my Nanny (mom's mom) to let her know that:
a) I'm in a committed relationship with Karen and
b) I'm 7 weeks pregnant.

Now Nanny and I have never had a conversation about the fact that I'm gay. But let me tell you, she's sharp as a whip and doesn't miss a thing. Everyone assumes she knows; it's just never been verbalized. So I don't think that news will shock her. But the pregnancy will probably surprise her.

So wish us both a little luck. My fervent hope is that she will be happy for me.

[7w,3d]
[9 Babies R Us visits]

Looking good!

We're back from our first appointment with our Dr. and are tickled pink (or blue...)! Our most wonderful doc spent over an hour and a half with us discussing anything and everything and then doing Wendy's exam and an ultrasound. Even my fingers are smiling as I type this! Both Mom and baby are doing terrific so far!

We first met with a nurse who took Wendy's vitals and went over the basics of the appointment. Wendy's blood pressure was 92/68 (of which she was very proud) and the first pee in a cup was collected. We actually had to go down a couple of floors after our appointment for the blood draw and were told we'd only get a call if anything looked out of line there.

The doctor came in and was absolutely great (a huge thanks to Recovering Straight Girl for her recommendation). She has such great presence and energy we immediately liked her and she put us at ease. We discussed everything from what Wendy is eating, and should (or should not) eat to all the testing options we will have in front of us over the coming weeks. She was great about describing each test, the risks and benefits of each and giving us just the right amount of info we needed/wanted. We also asked her about the comfort she and her staff has with lesbian couples and how we wanted to make sure there were no issues about my presence throughout the whole process, particularly the delivery. Her expression was actually quite priceless in that it was a look that said, "Duh? So, is there supposed to be anything special/different about you guys?". She even went a bit out on a political limb and stated her amazement that W got elected (ever!) and what was wrong with people (are they stupid, or what?). It was pretty funny.

Now, remember that Wendy's been a bit, shall we say, anxious/worried. I think there was just a tiny bit of her that hadn't quite let herself believe she was really pregnant. She needed the "white coat reassurance". So, after our discussion together, the doc did the actual exam. Wendy's face was pasted with this "I'm so zen about having a doc's hand feeling around inside me" look but I knew what she was waiting on. She was waiting to hear "ah yes...your uterus is enlarged". As soon as those words passed the doc's lips, Wendy's face went from zen to Bozo the Clown smiling! It was a wonderful transformation. We had our first (well, 2nd if you count the digital POAS test that announced the pregnancy) official confirmation, at least from Wendy's happy point of view, that yep...she's pregnant!

Next, came the ultrasound. I held Wendy's hand as the "condom cam" (thanks to Heather for that most perfect term) was inserted to give us our first glimpse of our baby. And wow! There it was! A little, half Cheerio sized, heartbeating baby! The measurement indicated we're right on target at about 7 weeks size and the heartbeat was 142. All throughout this process Wendy is holding my hand. Well actually, she was nearly breaking my fingers! She wanted to see it so badly as one more confirmation that she was really pregnant. So, when we did see that beautiful, beating little biscuit in there she nearly crushed my hand! All I could think was if she is this physically demonstrative for an ultrasound, I'm in b-i-g trouble when it comes to the delivery! Anybody know where a girl can get protective bonecrush avoiding hand gear? :)

Anyway, we both left with huge smiles and happy hearts. We feel so grateful that we're off to such a good start and couldn't wait to get home to share the news! So, to celebrate, guess where we're going? Yep...Babies R Us here we come!

- Karen

[7w,2d]

Update: The side of bed switch went off quite easily last night. I think it freaked the cats out a bit (you know how cats love change, right?), but both moms managed the change without incident!

7 weeks & a no-mocha zombie

Wendy here. I'm at 7 weeks and I've entered the zombie phase of pregnancy. Around 3:30 or 4:00pm each day, I collapse into the bed and fall fast asleep. Now this isn't a leisurely stroll to the bed with the thought of, "Maybe I'll close my eyes for a moment." No, no. This is a "Must...Reach...Bed....Before....System...Enters....Sleep...Mode" and then Crash. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm fast asleep. I'll sleep for about an hour and then awake groggy, stumbling, and swollen-faced. Lovely. The good news is that I'm still able to sleep through the night.

The other interesting symptom is that I no longer want to eat chocolate. //Shock!!// In the past, I've been a chocoholic. And one of my favorite chocolate items is a Starbucks grande decaf, non-fat, no-whip, iced mocha. I love to sit at Starbucks several times a week, reading a book and sipping on this delightful concoction. Last night, I ordered it and took a few sips and bleh!!! couldn't drink anymore. It just tasted awful to me! And I have the same reaction to chocolate brownies and ice cream.

I've read that pregnant women often develop food aversions. But come on!! Chocolate!! It's nectar from the gods! If anyone has a favorite, not-too-sweet Starbucks drink, let me know.

And the last change, here in the pregnant home, is that Karen & I are going to (try) switch sides of the bed. I normally sleep on the side that's close to the wall. But we are going to switch sides so that I can sleep closer to where we will put the baby's bassinet. Also, as my belly grows, we don't want me struggling between the wall and the bed and (god forbid!) getting wedged and stuck.

In our bed, I love to nestle in the crook of Karen's arm and throw an arm or leg over her body. But lately, I've been getting nauseous fast when I lay on my left side. When I lay on my right side, I'm fine. So switching sides will let me continue this cute little habit. However, I have this gut feeling that the first night we try switching sides, I'll get up on one of my many trips to the bathroom and then squash Karen as I try to get back into her side of the bed.

Lastly, we have our first doctor's appointment tomorrow. Cross your fingers for us.

[7w,1d]
[8 Babies R Us visits]

P.L.O.P.

No...this isn't a post about Alka Seltzer or horses. It's about a cool group we found here in Portland. Wendy and I attended our first event for Pregnant/Parenting Lesbians of Portland (PLOP) yesterday at a local park (Columbia Park). We've been on their email list for a couple of months, but this was our first time to go to an event. Wow! There were 25 or so couples with their children present. Most of the kids were in the 4-18 month range with a few a bit older or a bit younger. We were one of 3 couples who were expecting there.

We met some great women and it was so absolutely cool to be in the company of so many two mom families. Sometimes it feels a bit lonely in real life (even though we feel the love in blog-land daily!) as we progress on this adventure through pregnancy and into mommy-hood. So, it was super wonderful to spend a few hours in the company of women who are sharing a similar journey to ours. We met some great moms and kids and exchanged numbers with a few couples.

If you happen to live in the Portland, Oregon area and are interested in PLOP, let me know and I can send you more info via email. The next event is in October (either the 2nd or 3rd Sunday...not sure yet). We're already looking forward to it!

- Karen

[7w,0d]

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Wendy here. You know there is a fine line between desire (I want a healthy baby), concern (Is everything okay with the baby?) and then worry.

It's weirdly true that I feel better when I feel worse. When my boobs are sore and I'm nauseous all day, I'm content. But if these symptoms subside (as they have for the past two days), then worry and more worry sets in. And then I read blogs of pregnant people who've been vomiting since day one and their symptoms seem so much more pronounced than mine.

How many times have we read or been told, "If you are experiencing vomiting, it's a great sign that your hormone levels are up and you are making a healthy baby". What the heck am I supposed to conclude if I'm not vomiting? Naturally, I think something may be wrong. But then I'm told, "Everyone's pregnancy is different. You may not get nauseous at all and everything could still be fine." Once again, this pregnancy business is NO WHERE NEAR an exact science.

So I was worried and restless yesterday. I just couldn't sit still. We drove by the doctor's office (to make sure I knew how to get to my first appointment next week); we drove to the yarn store; and we drove to the park so I could take a walk beneath the trees. And most of the time I had this inwardly-drawn, worrisome, sour-puss look on my face.

Well, screw that!

Today I'm tired of worrying. Today I'm whistling and singing the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" song (with a really BAD Jamaican accent) and Hakuna Matata.

Because dammit, I want to enjoy this pregnancy. Every minute of it.

[6w,5d]

Visit from Ethan

Good friends and neighbors, Jeff and Heather, brought their 9-week old son Ethan over to visit last night. Yesterday I finished knitting Ethan a sweater and matching hat and I just couldn't wait to see them on him. I'm so in love with this precious little boy!

Here's a few pictures:



You can view more pictures at our Flickr site

-Wendy
[6w,4d]

Honey, don't mess with the straight people

Wendy and I go to a Jazzercise class 4-5 times per week...we're addicted. It's a good workout and the endorphins it produces always gives me a few wonderful minutes of zoned out bliss upon completion. A few days ago as we were driving home from class, a very humorous (at least I thought so) picture popped into my head. I had imagined Wendy and I showing up at Jazzercise one morning wearing hers & hers t-shirts. Wendy's shirt would say "I'm Another Woman" and mine would say "I Got Another Woman Pregnant". I laughed out loud at the picture in my head and Wendy asked me what was so funny. She chuckled and shook her head at me saying "honey, don't mess with the straight people".

I just can't help myself. Honestly, I've never been very politically minded and not been involved in activism. But, there are really times when I want to shake the "normal" folks trees a bit. So often as lesbians we are stereotyped and labeled before people even get to know us and I get really tired of some of the silly comments. I think I'm just getting to a place where I'd rather strike first in some cases.

The ladies we Jazzercise with are generally a wonderful group and know we're a couple and have been quite cool with us. But, I just couldn't help myself in thinking about their reactions to our pregnancy when we announce it. I suppose Wendy is right though and that there is a less "in your face" way of announcing our pregnancy than the way I imagined. I'll just have to keep Wendy's advise in mind: don't mess with the straight people. (Well...maybe just a little!)

- Karen

[6w,3d]