Monday, November 19, 2012

The Past 6 Months or So...

It's been a while. Slap on the hand for me.  I've been keeping up with all of your blogs but have been woefully remiss on updating my own.

Here's a quick recap of what has happened in the past 6 to 7 months:

1.  Shortly after my last post, I experienced sensations that I can only describe as "death cramps" that led me to the emergency room and hospital for surgery and a two-week stay.  I will spare you further details.

All better now!

2. I lied about sparing you from further details. There are some details I want to tell you about.  When I checked into the emergency room, they asked me the standard question of whether I was pregnant.  I said "maybe"--in fact I had been planning on taking a home pregnancy test in a few days.  They initially thought I could have an ectopic pregnancy or ruptured ovarian cyst.  My heart sunk at the thought of either, but particularly the ectopic pregnancy.  A few minutes after taking my blood, a doctor came by and said "So, I'm confused, did you not know you were pregnant when you came in today?"

Cue ugly cry face on my part.  In my mind, positive pregnancy test = ectopic pregnancy.

Strangely, despite ugly cry face, what he said didn't quite sink in fully the first time. He continued to talk (about what I don't know) and I had to interrupt and ask him to confirm whether: (1) he had seen the blood test results; and (2) that the test results showed that I was pregnant.  He said yes, I was pregnant.

Cue ugly cry face Part II.

He looked to Kevin and asked what was wrong, I told him I was worried about an ectopic pregnancy, he said it wasn't necessarily an ectopic pregnancy, blah blah blah.

Despite a lot of doubts regarding whether the pregnancy would last, turns out that I was and am healthily pregnant.  I spent the next month or so recovering from the surgery, which also conveniently allowed me to isolate myself while I experienced a few annoying pregnancy symptoms, namely mild nausea and raging acne.

I am living proof that if you don't eat anything during the first two weeks of your pregnancy and just survive on IV fluids, it is possible to have a healthy pregnancy.  I'm not advising this (I hope that's obvious), it just happened that way.  Also, morphine is my friend. 

Here is a picture of me around 20-something weeks.


3. We moved. Again. This time to Virginia. My New Year's resolution for 2013 will be not to move.  We have a small balcony now, which the pugs thoroughly enjoy.



4.  We took some hikes and visited an orchard in order to explore our new area.




5. We visited friends and family in NYC, Portland and San Francisco.

At craftbar in NYC 

 Tasty treats from the most magical place in Portland, OR--Voodoo Doughnuts
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While in Bay Area, we went with my sister and brother in law to help out with a grape harvest in Sonoma.

6.  We took a babymoon to St. John--yipee!!!



Bump at 30 weeks

St. John was wonderful, and definitely a place that I'm glad we went to pre-baby. While I did see other families there, let me just state for the record that I would not make the flight to San Juan, 3-hour layover, flight to St. Thomas, 40-minute drive to the ferry terminal, and ferry ride to St. John, for a total of 12 hours of traveling, with a baby. Hell fucking no.

So we're all caught up! I want to get back into taking pictures of my cooking/baking adventures--it's so easy to fall out of that groove.

A few last things: I'm due in January and the pugs have an announcement:

In case you can't see the picture, we're having a boy.

Finding out about the pregnancy happened in a weird way so I figured we'd do something cute to announce the sex of the baby, and get a big honking sugar cookie out of it.

I hope you are all well, and it feels good to blog again! 

40 comments:

  1. OH wow!!! Congrats!!! Looks like a gorgeous location for a babymoon!

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    1. thank you lauren! st. john was indeed a wonderful location for a babymoon--we just hopped from beach to beach with rented snorkel equipment, waded in, and saw some awesome underwater life.

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  2. holy crap! congrats on the babymaking, and sorry for the crazy random surgery?! glad you're betta, and even gladder your baking a baby in there. you're gorgeous, and sending you lots of love for the last weeks of pregnancy!

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    1. thanks kate, that's so sweet of you. baby is happily baking--i'm more terrified of what happens after the baby comes out of the oven!

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  3. MINA! AHHH. I'm so excited for you! You look awesome and yay for little boys!!

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    1. thanks sweetie! i will bore you to death with details in an email.

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  4. Congratulations!!!! I hope the remainder of your pregnancy continues to be healthy. can't wait to "meet" your little guy. :)

    Voodoo donuts is awesome. Did you visit Salt & Straw while you were here too? If not, you should come back and go. At least if you like ice cream. It's the best place ever.

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    1. thank you josie! yay, someone else who knows the wonders of voodoo donuts. i so wanted to go to salt & straw when we were there but we missed it! we will have to go on our next trip out there--portland was awesome!

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  5. Oh my goodness! A lot of really fun news that started off in a scary way - glad you and babe are A-OK. I love your maternity tankini - so adorable. The pugs are going to be awesome big siblings.

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    1. the pugs have been pretty nonchalant so far about the pregnancy, but i can't wait for them to meet their little brother!

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  6. Omg pug! Huge congratulations!!! Ive missed your blogging but this is a totally valid reason for a break! Haha. Now im imagining the ridiculously cute pug & baby holiday photos you'll be able to take next year..squeeeee!

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    1. penga!! poor pugs and baby have no idea what they're in for...i may have to consult with you for card ideas since you're so creative in that department!

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  7. Minaaaa!!! Congratulations! Way to scare the pants off me first, only to make me happy later in the post. :) So glad you're feeling better and gosh I'm so excited for you & Kevin. Woohoo!

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    1. thank you megan! i felt so derailed by the surgery that i have been awful about keeping in touch--also i was sad that we were moving further away from you guys! i miss maryland.

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  8. CONGRATS, CONGRATS, CONGRATS!!! YAY! A boy! That is so awesome and exciting! Sorry you had to find out in such a painful and dramatic way, but so happy for you that everything is ok.

    So, we're going to St. John over Christmas...with the baby! I KNOW. It's going to be a couple rough travel days. I'm so dreading that, but I'm hoping that after 10 days on the beach I'll recover enough from the trip down to do it again on the way back. Yeah, not sure what we've got ourselves in for. Any tips, advice or recommendations on what to do or where to go when we're there? We're renting a house in Coral Bay. Would love to hear more about your trip!

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    1. thank you for the kind wishes! i've been reading all your baby updates and tucking away nuggets of information for future use.

      sara, you are going to love st. john. don't be put off by my wimpiness about bringing a baby--like i said, i saw a good number of folks with young children and babies. if you're staying in coral bay, you will be close to one of our favorite beaches, salt pond bay. it's on the south side of the island so the water is generally calmer, and snorkeling on both the east and west sides is great. we rented snorkel equipment from cruz baby watersports in cruz bay (but i'm pretty sure there's a place called crabby's or something in coral bay for water equipment) and went from beach to beach, just wading in and snorkeling. we ate at several places in coral bay, including a random place called reggie's bbq that had awesome mutton stew (and kevin liked the bbq), and ekaete little pink corner (the owner there was really nice). we also went to aqua bistro or something, and the fresh caught fish sandwich of the day was good.

      i'm sure you guys will also be visiting the north shore beaches, which are famous. trunk bay was beautiful--people recommend getting there early during the high season to avoid too much traffic.

      FYI, we really liked leinster bay for snorkeling, but it is pretty rocky and not as "sit on the beach" friendly, plus there's a 1/2 mile walk. honeymoon beach was also very nice (pretty and quiet), sit on the beach friendly, but about a 10 minute walk from caneel bay--just to keep in mind depending on your guys' stamina and the heat that day.

      the ruins at annaberg were cool to see and close to coral bay (and not a strenuous walk--it's uphill but it's very short).

      you guys are renting a jeep, right? just remember to drive slowly and stay on the left! because we didn't like driving at night and are generally turn-in-early kind of people, we'd eat huge breakfasts and lunches, and then for dinner a few nights we would just have simple freezer meals that we bought from starfish market at the marketplace complex in cruz bay. we weren't up to cooking during our 4 days there, but you can get supplies there to do so if you're so inclined!

      it's going to be awesome--take lots of pictures and share!

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    2. Thank you! This is so helpful and exactly the kind of info I was hoping for! We're big into snorkeling and eating, so this sounds like a great place for us! We're also traveling with Ryan's parents so I'm hoping we'll have some free baby-sitting too so we can grab dinner together or go on a hike during the day. Thanks so much for all of this!

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  9. Congratulations! Missed you and your blogging. You look great! I love the pic of the pugs on the balcony, like they're whispering secrets lying next to each other away from mom and dad.

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    1. they are conspiring as to when to go into the baby room and pee. multiple times. it should really be called the "pee room".

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  10. GAHHHHHH I'm SO SO SO SOOOO excited for you!! I've missed your blog and always think about you when you come visit mine and leave a comment. Congratulations pretty mama! Glad everything ended up okay and you're healthy. You look gorgeous sweet friend. :D

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    1. thanks jessica! i've missed blogging. it's been so fun and helpful to read your blog and get a little preview of what's in store!

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  11. that is the cutest bump ever.

    I think the pugs want to come inside. mayhaps you should let them in.

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    1. i think what they really want is just to lay there and have us handfeed them their food.

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  12. Omg CONGRATULATIONS!!! What wonderful news! And you look fantastic! Hoping the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly, and that you'll soon have a healthy and happy baby in your arms!

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    1. thank you! i've definitely read your sleep training posts several times to try and educate myself regarding the "joys" to come!

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  13. AUGHHHH!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You are the cutest pregnant person EVER!!!! How exciting, and while it might have started off scary finding out that way, yay for a healthy pregnancy and can't wait to see pictures of your little one!! (Man, it's right around the corner!!)

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    1. thank you, you're so sweet! i know, i can't believe i'm two months away.

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  14. Congrats! We've definitely missed you on the blogosphere but glad to hear you're doing well. Can't wait for pictures of baby.

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  15. Wow- I've never commented here before (I think), but anyway... I thought you must have fallen off the face of the planet like many a blogger before. I'm glad you are still, in fact, on this planet. I'm so happy for you, and, while I'll be amazed if you have time for cooking/baking post-baby, I'm looking forward to what things you are able whip up here and there. I've missed the "ta-da" at the end. :)

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    1. still on the planet! and i should have clarified that cooking/baking posts will be up until the baby--after that, all best are off!

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  16. OMG!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for you two. That little boy is going to be AWESOME! Yay! I'm also jealous of your Babymoon. :) I'm glad to hear that everything was okay with you and the baby. All the best to you and K!

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    1. thank you sweetie! hope everything is going well with you!

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  17. OMG, congratulations!!! The pugs are going to have a baby brother!

    So, so happy for you guys and so glad you're back to blogging.

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  18. Congratulations on the lil one. What an exciting time you've been having. Glad to catch up!

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  19. Woohoo, congratulations!! You are the cutest little pregnant lady! :)

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  20. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I just saw this. I'm so happy for you both!!!!!

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  21. Congratulations!!! Oh my goodness! I'm so happy for you!! And I'm so happy you're doing well againtoo. You are one busy lady! Congrats again!!! Yay!

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  22. I was wondering where you'd gotten off to! I missed you! Congratulations on baby, and sounds like you had a wonderful year (besides the hospital stay, obviously). So jealous of St. John, and I totally agree that a tropical island is much better pre-baby!

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  23. PS - please give my regards to your sister. I was devastated by her loss, and I see she hasn't written since then, and I can't blame her, but I miss her too! Both sassy blogging sisters MIA; it was terrible! I think about her often, and I hope she is doing well.

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