Team Pink!

Today we went in for the anatomy scan and imagine my surprise when the tech told us..."It's a girl!" I was SO certain this was going to be a boy. My intuition is usually spot on, but I guess this baby is already full of surprises! When she told us, I started to cry. I didn't think I wanted a girl as much as I apparently do! I don't think I would have cried if she told us it was a boy. I was so prepared for a boy that even calling him a her now is taking some getting used to! It was Gene and my running joke that everytime we said "he" or "him" our little girl would roll her eyes and be saying "Hellllloooo! I'm a girl! When are you guys going to figure this out?" Gene says I need to start training her in-utero to be the next tennis star :) In-womb coaching...now that is a new concept!

Aloha!!

We are back from our vacation in...or is it on?...Maui! What a fabulous time we had! It was the first vacation in a while where we didn't just sit on the beach the entire time. We actually did a lot of cool things! I'll sum it up with a time line of our trip:

Thursday, May 13th: We left Newark Airport at 7:30 am and arrived in Dallas for a short layover. We arrived in Kahalui at around 3:00 pm Maui time, which was 9:00 pm EST for a total travel time of 13 1/2 hours. It honestly didn't seem that long. We were very entertained with our ipods and a nap or two. We picked up our convertible rental car (a must for first-timers to the islands!) and made our way to our hotel. It took about a half hour to get there, but the ride itself was beautiful with the green mountains and sugarcane fields to our left and right. That night we walked on the beach and took in our first sunset. We ate a late dinner at the hotel restaurant and fell asleep by 10, to the sound of the ocean right outside our balcony.



Friday, May 14th: We decided to take it easy on our first day and spend it at the hotel pool & on Makena beach. 5 am wake-up call from the birds that gathered in the hotel open air atrium. Started off the day with fresh waffles and coconut syrup, my new favorite condiment. The beach was nice, not too crowded and even some shade to be found under the trees. We witnessed a live turtle rescue by the government. It was a Hawksbill turtle they were rescuing out of the water off our beach, that had a possible tumor. We saw them bring him out of the water and we took lots of pictures. It was cool to see this type of turtle up close, since they are so rare! The rest of the day involved drinks by the pool (make mine a virgin, please) and tanning on the beach. We explored the rocky coves and found some cool sea creatures to play with (crabs, snails, an urchin).



Saturday, May 15th: After another 5 am wake-up call from nature (the birds, and yes, I had to get up to pee anyway) we had breakfast on our balcony (or lanai as they call it). Today was pancakes with coconut syrup :) Our first stop today was the Maui Ocean Center which is an aquarium and science center of sorts. We learned all about the fish & sea creatures of Hawaii. After lunch, we drove to Lahaina. Along the way we stopped at a fresh fruit stand to buy some fresh mangos and papayas. We were also amazed to see the beaches along the highway packed with surfers...it seemed like an endless stretch of tents and barbecues and surfboards! Once in Lahaina we did some shopping (got our ukulele), ate our first shave ice, saw the giant banyan tree, did some more shopping...later that night we attended our first Luau together. The show was great and the food was abundant! Driving back to the hotel that night, the stars in the sky were beautiful. And all the beaches were still packed with people partying around their campfires! We were tempted to crash the party!



Sunday, May 16th: We drove back to NE Maui today to take a Helicopter tour of Hana and Haleakala. The tour was great, a state-of-the-art helicopter and amazing views of waterfalls and the coast.





Afterward we drove into Pai'a with a couple we met on the Helicopter, Julie and Bill. This was their 8th time in Maui, so they took us to a great seafood joint for lunch, followed by the best Gelato I've ever had. Pai'a was one of my favorite little off-the-beaten-path towns. It was just a few blocks, but the Hawaiian lifestyle was uber-apparent here. I don't think it gets much more laid back than here!



Monday, May 17th: We did a snorkeling tour at 8:30 am that took us out to Molokini Crater (just a 15 minute sail away). We swam with lots of fish and saw some nice coral. The water was cold! And I was getting easily winded out there. Back on the boat, sailing to our 2nd stop, we ran into some spinner dolphins swimming alongside us. It was so cool to see them out in the wild, just doing their thing, jumping in and out of the water.



When we got to our next stop, which was close to Makena Beach we got to swim with sea turtles! We saw three altogether. They tell you to stay 10 feet away from them (for their protection) but they are so friendly and social, it is hard to keep that distance. They want to swim right up and say hi! This was quite a memorable experience!

Later that night, we went out for our "Anniversary" Dinner. It wasn't technically our anniversary. May 18th is our 13th "Dating" Anniversary which Gene says doesn't count anymore. But if it can score us a nice table and maybe a free dessert...? We went to Spago at the Four Seasons, so we were afforded a nice table and great view but not a free dessert. The food was very good but I think the atmosphere made it even better. I had my first Molten Lava Cake, which ironically is not called a Lava Cake in Hawaii. After dinner we tried to go see the adults-only pool where Modern Family filmed, but it was closed. We did see the elevator where they lost Lily.

Tuesday, May 18th: We shuttled over to Wailea Beach today, home of the Four Season and Grand Wailea. Our shuttle driver told us the pool at Grand Wailea was amazing and suggested we "accidentally fall" into it. We went to the beach first which was beautiful but offered no shade. The water was nice because we were able to walk out fairly deep and the waves were behaving. After a while we made our way to the pool area which turned out to be a water park! I think the pool was in the shape of a volcano or something, with water slides making up the sides and waterfalls cascading down. I finally convinced Gene to "fall in" with me. We went down the slides a couple times and swam around the connecting pools (you don't even have to swim, there is a current that moves you right along!). Finally we were spotted by a lifeguard/photographer who asked us if we "forgot" to get our bracelets. Yea...we forgot...that's it...



Wednesday, May 19th: We took a tennis clinic in the morning and relaxed the rest of the day.
We played some mini golf at our hotel and got in some last minute tanning and relaxation. For dinner we went back to Kihei, about 10 minutes from the hotel. Cheap food and a cool shore kind of vibe. We had pizza (Shaka pizza, so yummy) and frozen yogurt at Tutti Frutti and coffee at Starbucks (nothing screams authentic Hawaiian coffee like Starbucks).

Thursday, May 20th: Our last day in (on?) Maui. We visited Big Beach, which was the next beach over on the other side (Big Beach; Little/Makena Beach; Wailea Beach). It is the biggest undeveloped beach on Maui. It was really nice but it was a windy day so the sand hurt just blowing onto our legs. Our flight was going to be 2 hours late, so that gave us just enough time to drive the hour and a half toward Haleakala to visit the Lavender Farm! I was excited because I had given up on my hopes of visiting it...an hour and a half seemed a long ride just to see lavender. The drive was actually much shorter that predicted and it was a scenic ride as we ascended 4000 ft above sea level. The farm itself was so peaceful and it was lovely to be surrounded by lavender!



We missed the walking tour so we opted to play their "treasure hunt" game instead. It took us about 2 hours but we did it and won ourselves a free cookie! The red-eye flight back was rough. They expect you to sleep and they turn out the lights, but we both couldn't sleep. We were tired when we got to Dallas at 7 am and actually slept on the flight back to Newark. That probably messed up our sleep schedule because we couldn't sleep that night and have been jet-lagged since!

All in all, it was a perfect getaway--just what the doctor ordered!

May 2010

I've made it through 17 weeks! Pregnancy is growing on me (physically obviously, but also mentally). I really like how I look (bloated) and feel (nauseous). And I say that without and ounce of sarcasm! How can I enjoy tossing and turning all night? How can I be happy not being able to button my pants? Oh, that's because I am still crazy...crazy in love with this life growing inside me!! We saw the baby sucking its thumb on the last sonogram...it is the cutest thing ever. It is hard to make the connection that the baby on the screen in actually living in me. On the 2nd, I felt the baby move for the first time. It happens every so often, but only for a couple minutes and then it stops. I wouldn't describe it as a flutter. In fact, it isn't really all that comfortable! When I feel it, I get this image in my mind of the baby scratching it's nails on my insides...if that helps give you a picture of what it feels like to me! But just like when I am throwing up, I smile after it happens because I know what it means :)
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and although I don't feel like an official "mom" yet, I guess in some way I am. I am more excited to celebrate all the other moms out there (my mom, mother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law) who have been there and done that. I am still living in my pre-natal fantasy world with no dirty diapers and 4 am feedings (aside from my own).
On Thursday we leave for Maui. I didn't choose Maui, it chose me. I had about 10 other choices of places to go when Maui came calling my name. I don't know why I need to go there, but I do. Sounds silly but sometimes you have to let the universe talk to you! I hope to post some pics and have some great stories to tell when we get back.
Here's a picture of my new nephew Evan, born on April 24th. Another cousin for our baby to play with!

April 2010

April was a pretty quiet month for work, as it usually is. This was good because I needed a break so I could rest. I was exhausted! I took a lot of afternoon naps. I finally got a handle on my "morning/all-day sickness." I realized I have to eat every 2-3 hours or I throw up. Sounds like an easy solution, except when you are the type of person who is used to working all day without eating more than a few snack foods and then gets home and cooks dinner at 8 and eats at 9. I can't do that anymore. I need to eat, real food, and a lot of it. Snack foods (including fruit, granola bars, cheese) will only keep me satiated for 15 minutes or so. This baby demands meat, and at all meals. I have to eat meat for breakfast??! That is craziness! Luckily, I am growing quite fond of sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches. But that is my second breakfast. When I wake up in the morning, I have to eat a bowl of cereal first. Then I shower and get ready, and after that I cook second breakfast (is this reminding anyone of Pam's pregnancy on The Office?). Then there is first lunch and second lunch and luckily I've been getting away with one dinner and then of course, dessert. Baby loves Edy's ice cream in a cone. With lots of chocolate syrup. Really it is no wonder I now weigh more than I ever have before. In fact, last doctor's appointment I weighed my "carnival weight" as I like to call it. When I was in college, Gene and I went to the Meadowlands Fair and played the "Guess Your Weight/Age" game. The guy guessed my weight was WAY more than I actually weighed and from that point on Gene always joked that was my actual weight. Well, all jokes aside....that is my weight now. WAAAHHHH!!! :(

March 2010

March was spent mainly with my head in the toilet. Even after I got over the "stomach flu" I was still nauseous every day and would throw up a lot. Luckily the doctor gave me a script for Zofran which made me feel better.
My niece, Katelyn Grace was born on the morning of March 12th. I visited her that afternoon. She is a beautiful baby! It was interesting to see my sister go from being my sister to being a mom just like that! Here's me with Katelyn at the hospital:


We had some really bad rain storms after this and my sister-in-law's house got flooded. Gene's parents were living with her and they got displaced into our house for the next month. At least I didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning...although food was still the last thing on my mind!

Here's my belly at the end of March, still not really showing a bump...more like bloated!

February 2010

The rest of February was a roller coaster. Even after 2 more betas (of 207 and then 6,245 a week later!) I was still in denial. Even after hearing the baby's heart beat at 5 weeks, I knew things could change...in a heartbeat.



Toward the end of February, I switched from my RE's office to my regular ob/gyn (no more getting up at 5 am - WOOHOO!). I was feeling more reassured that everything was going smoothly. They still let me come in once a week to see the baby on the ultrasound, to give me some peace of mind. Here was the baby's heartbeat at 7 weeks.



On February 26, we hosted a dinner for my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. I asked them over to celebrate one last family dinner with just the 6 of us before my sister's baby arrived (she was due March 4th). After dinner, I gave them gifts: for my parents, a picture frame that said "Grandkids" with my u/s pic and my sister's ultrasound pic. For my sister and brother-in-law, I gave them a onesie for their baby that said "I'm the big cousin." They opened the presents at the same time and my sister got it right away, but my mom and dad were a little perplexed! They finally realized what we were trying to tell them & they couldn't have been happier!

That night, my stomach started feeling queasy. Somehow I made it through dinner and dessert but after everyone went home I had my first bout of nausea. Which turned into full-blown stomach flu and lasted the next 10 days.

A New Year, A New Beginning

I apologize, I am a little behind in posting! I guess you can say, I've been busy. Being pregnant! :) :) :)
It all started the beginning of February when on a whim I decided to try to use up my cheapie internet HPTs. I really didn't think I was pregnant, no more so than every other month when I would hope I was but knew deep down it wasn't time. So early one morning, 2 days before AF was due to arrive, I took that monthly leap of faith and peed on a stick. And so it began with those 2 little lines...my journey into motherhood. Now denial is a funny thing. It is amazing how our minds try to protect us from getting hurt emotionally. Even though the test was positive, I didn't really believe it. I didn't believe it the next morning either, even though another test was telling me, in no uncertain terms, I was knocked up. The line on the test was darker. I fished the previous day's test out of the garbage just to compare. You do that sort of thing when you are crazy. I called my doctor. We set up a blood test for the next morning.
The morning of my beta, I woke up at 5 am and sneaked out of the house by 5:30 am. I still hadn't told Gene. I didn't want to get his hopes up, only to have them crushed again, inevitably. I calmly drove to Morristown, had my blood drawn, and crawled back into bed by 7 am. Gene rolled over and asked if I had gotten up for something. I said "no" and we both went back to sleep.
I got the phone call later that afternoon. The beta was positive. 50. Not a home run, out of the ballpark number, but positive. Now, all that mattered was that it doubled in 48 hours. I figured I had to tell Gene at this point! If that number didn't double, I would certainly need someone to lean on, someone who was as invested in this as I was. I peed on another digital test and bought him an early Valentine's present to give him that night. I gave him a card that said congratulations. He didn't understand...he still seemed a little confused when he saw the HPT that clearly read "Pregnant." He finally got it when he saw me grinning ear to ear. I didn't know what to do or say so all that came out was "We did it ON OUR OWN!" followed by a high five. Because that's what you do when you're crazy :)