Suffice it to say that (almost) everything about yesterday sucked.

However.

The one teeny tiny silver lining was that because we had the CVS done – and Sprog is, btw, free from chromosomal defects like Downs or Trisomy 18, so that’s a good thing too – we also got to learn what flavor we’re getting about 6 weeks earlier than normal.

Drumroll please! (For those of you who didn’t recognize the nursery rhyme.)

We’re having a son.  Sprog’s a boy.

Holy crap.  There’s a boy in there.

So, let the naming madness begin!  Thus far, Boris and Robin have both been axed as potential tags for our eventual offspring.  As have Napoleon, Sherman, and Hezekiah.  Along with approximately 560 other names of varying degrees of offensiveness to either myself or the Boy.

In fact, the way we’re burning through the baby name book, Sprog might very well be “baby boy sprog” on his birth certificate, if we don’t learn to compromise a little better…

And my project for the day is to start looking for clothing that doesn’t try to make a 3-month-old baby look like a construction worker.  I mean, really – is khaki absolutely necessary to preserve an infant’s feelings of masculinity?  I’m totally dressing the kid in bright colors until he’s old enough to complain.  Just sayin’.

1.  It’s getting easier to eat healthily because anything with oil in it?  Blech.  So, small blessing, but I suppose it’s a good thing that I’m not craving, say, potato chips or french fries.  (blech)

2.  The doctor yesterday was very kind, very capable.  Again, I feel as if I have been exceedingly blessed by finding such compassionate doctors.

3.  Kristin Hersh is playing an acoustic show in NYC in June, and I was able to get tickets.  If she plays a few songs from Hips & Makers, I will be ecstatic.

4.  I have tomorrow off, which is going to be a good thing.  I feel like I could sleep for a year.

5.  I was able to schedule one of my three appointments next week for a day off.  Trying very hard to not burn through my sick days before, say, May.

1.  Remember me mentioning how nice the doctors seem to be here in NYC?  Well, last night, at around 6pm, my brand new endocrinologist – the guy I only met a couple of days ago – called up to see how the CVS went, and to make sure I hadn’t had any problems.  ”I was worried about you,” he said.

I am astonished and touched and deeply grateful to have lucked into such spectacularly caring doctors’ care.

2.  Breaded chicken cutlets.  I wanted them desperately last night, and the Boy made them for me.  With lots of spinach.  Yum.

3.  My knitting pattern is – so far – working out nicely since the rip-out-start-over episode.  This is a good thing, because I hate ripping out, and if it hadn’t made a big difference, I’d've been sad.

4.  I decided to be really really grateful that despite the discomfort, the Doc had to go through my abdomen, instead of through my cervix for yesterday’s procedure.  Cervical CVS almost always produces spotting, and you know what?  I’m so over spotting.

5.  Another beautiful day out there today.  And I’m grateful.  It’s been a long winter and I’m starting to get ready for it to be over.  Come on, Springtime!

Chorionic Villus Sampling prenatal test was today.  And – oh my – am I ever glad that’s over.

Basically, what happens is that the doctor snips out a teensy bit of the baby’s placenta and that – rather than baby-cells – gets tested for genetic problems.  The advantage is that it’s a test that can be done very early, and the results are pretty damned definitive – they’re also available in 24 hours, unlike the week or so you sometimes have to wait to get amnio results back.  And in the hands of a specialist, it’s as safe or safer than amnio.  This all sounds great, right?  Well, maybe it does until you take into account that there are only two ways that Doc is getting into your uterus to take a sample – it’s either cervically or trans-abdominally.  Being the lucky girl that I am, I got to have both my CVSs done trans-abdominally.  Needles instead of flexible catheters.

Seriously, I thought I was past worrying about needles by this stage of the game, but these were really big honkin’ needles.   Not to worry anyone who’s considering this test, but it really sucked.

Not the needle-jab itself.  That was no big deal.  I mean, needles in the belly, yuck, but whatever.  We’ve all done this by now, right?  Once the pointy part is actually past that top layer of skin you just don’t feel it.  Doc doesn’t even do the numbing cream thing, because really, skin just isn’t that sensitive.  But my peritoneal lining?  Let’s just say it’s a damned shame they couldn’t have slathered a numbing cream onto that, because it felt like the doctor’s entire hand was poking around in my belly up to, about, his wrist.  (The Boy assures me it was just a needle, but I’m not entirely sure I believe him.)

Owie.

To be fair, Doc said that because of the angle of my uterus, he had to go in at an oblique angle, so that probably made it more uncomfortable than it would be normally.

And to be even more fair, it wasn’t like I was in writhing agony with tears running down my face (though I did whimper a couple of times.)  It just felt gut-wrenchingly – if you’ll pardon the pun - wrong.  Wrong to have anything moving around in there that wasn’t, you know, gas or half-digested food.  The full-to-almost-leaking bladder didn’t help matters either.  You know, staying tense so as not to wet myself sort of made it hard to relax those belly muscles when the time came to relax.

And then I got another jab because I’m rh-negative, and needed a rhogam shot.  I just can’t get me enough of those needles!

Anyway, I’m glad it’s over.  It sucked, but it still wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, and it was FAST.  Took longer to wipe my entire lower body down with iodine & alcohol than it did to actually do both procedures.   It will take even longer to remove all that iodine, I’m sure.  Which I’m about to go do.

But all that said?  I’m still really (really really) glad it’s over.  Going to go try to catch up on some of the sleep I lost last night, worrying about this procedure.  Sleep sounds like a really good thing right now…

1.  Another bill from my lab that was submitted to the correct insurance company!  This is two out of, say, fifty in the last six months!  Maybe, someday, they will completely fix the computer glitch and the lab nightmare will end.  Happy to pay my $15 co-pay, just for the novelty of not having to go argue with a phone-tech at this point!

2.  We still have so much good food in the house, and I’m even getting to nibble at some of it.  Apples with cheese are good.  Milk is still my BFF.  Stew, anything greasy or rich?  Not so much.  But bread is good.  Even buttered bread is good, provided I don’t slather it on the way I normally do.  And I don’t have to cook, which is good, given my current “to look at food is to experience heartburn” condition.

3.  It’s gorgeous outside.  55* and simply perfect.  Feels like springtime!

4.  Only another 6 days of PIO!

5. The Boy loves me even when I’m cranky and scared and lashing out and absolutely miserable to be around.  Damn, I’m lucky.

1. LOTR day was a success.  Alas, I was not able to fully partake of the hobbity eating, since rich food doesn’t like me these days, & the consensus was that hobbits are very fond of rich food, but it was still fun.  I got lots of knitting (actually ripping out, and re-knitting, due to an unfortunate color combination) done, and much laughter was had by all (and much rabbit stew was had by some.) At 208 minutes for #1, #2 at  223 minutes, and #3 at 250 minutes, that was 681 minutes of hobbity (& elvish and dwarven) wonderfulness.  Not to mention Viggo.

2.  A big old day of nothing planned.  We got to bed at about 1am, and while my body insists that 8am is the best time to wake up and get moving, I fully intend to nap throughout the day.

I am learning to really love naps…

3.  No need to cook tonight, as we have plenty of food in the house.  Rather obscene, the amount of food, if you really want to know…

4.  Cat Stevens.  I love his music, his old stuff, his pre-conversion stuff.  And it makes me smile whenever I hear it.  Which isn’t a bad recommendation at all.

5.  Sourdough bread for morning toast.  With butter & honey.  And a glass of milk afterwards.  Pure gastronomic heaven.

Lamb Stew is in the fridge waiting to be reheated.
Sourdough boule and pumpernickel baguette are waiting to be sliced.
Apples are set out in a bowl.
Soprasetta is sliced and ready to be et.
Ditto with cheeses of all sorts.
Hard cider is chilling for the non-pregnant geeks, ginger ale for the knocked up one.
Strawberries have been mashed with a bit of sugar.
Shortcake is cooling.
Whipped cream is chilling.
Seed crackers for the cheese & sausage are waiting to be put out.
Bagels are awaiting their cream cheese and lox (or butter & tomato pour moi)
Eggs and breakfast sausage (for anyone feeling peckish after all this) are at the ready.
Teapot is filled, and ready for constant use over the next 14 hours.

We’re all set for the guests to arrive.

Happy Lord of the Rings (and eating like a hobbit) Day!!!

(gollum.)

1.  I don’t have pink-eye.  Had a couple of hours yesterday morning when I thought I might, since I work with nasty little kids & when I woke up my eye was irritated & red.  But it’s gone now, so I’m thinking “pinkeye free”.  Whew.

2.  Velveteen.  Specifically, my brown velveteen shirt.  Soft!  Warm!  Lovely comforting shade of brown!  Mmmmmm.

3.  Sushi (well, fake, cooked sushi for me) for dinner last night.  Yum.

4.  The lab got one of my bills right!  Seriously – one of about 30, but still, I’ll take it – and even pay it sort of happily.

5.  Connie Willis’s new book Blackout.  Very excited to read it!

Sorry to anyone who was anxious.  A late night at work and a bout of snoring once I got home.  But all is pretty much well.

My new endocrinologist is a doll.  He’s about 80, behaves like a favorite grandfather, and since his daughter lives in Brooklyn, I’m ok in his book.  Or so he says.  We were actually chatting up a storm.  (He’s way too friendly to be a doctor.  Honestly, NYC doctors are among the nicest guys I’ve ever met.  Doctors aren’t this pleasant in the southwest.  What’s up with that?)

Anyway, my thyroid gland is enlarged, but it happens in pregnancy, so he’s not too worried.  We ran more bloodwork, the results from which won’t be back before next week, but he advised me to take an extra prednisone during the procedures for its immune suppressant properties, and assured me I’d be fine.  My pulserate was high (90bpm), but I told him it was because I was in a doctor’s office.  He checked again in a few minutes after we’d been talking about chickens and the Grand Canyon and it was lower (80bpm) so he laughed and told me not to worry so much.

(BTW, I’m sensing a doctor’s advice theme here, since it’s the second time I’ve heard that advice from a fatherly-type doctor in the last few months) which is sort of sucky because I’m so much better than I used to be.  Can’t I get some credit for that?  If they’d known me in full-on worry mode, they’d've probably checked me into an institution for the dangerously anxious.

Anyway, my blood pressure is still great, so he told me that unless I started presenting some symptoms other than a highish heartrate, they’d probably just monitor me (Yay! More blood work appointments!) and not try to medicate me with no cause (Yay!  MIght still be able to breastfeed safely!)  He said there was every chance that this would resolve on its own in another 6 weeks or so, and I decided that’s what I’m going to hope for.

It was very reassuring.  And I don’t have to dread going back there, because he’s a nice guy.  And I’m fairly convinced I’m not going to die next week or lose Sprog.

Whew.  Now if I could just be allowed a few days with nothing to fret about, I’d be oh-so-grateful.

Of course, I’m back to the Realm of Pain today.  So much for that brilliant idea…

1.  Only one more day before our LOTR-thon!  For the non-geek set, this means the Boy & I & a couple of dear fellow geeks are going to sit down in front of the tv with rabbit stew, bread, mushrooms, & other good hobbity things to eat, and watch all three Lord Of the Rings movies in one sitting.  The Director’s extended cuts, mind you, so we’re going to be there for nigh onto 12 hours.  Yes, we are weird enough that this sounds like fun.  If we get into full-on geek mode, we’ll have a computer playing it in the bathroom as well so that necessary hygiene breaks will not interfere with the full experience.

2.  I found another really nice, personable doctor in NYC.  What IS IT with doctors here?  Are they all nice fellows?  Seriously.  My shiny new endocrinologist is a doll.  A wizened though still, like 6′5″ 80-year-old doll who thinks it’s hilarious that my heart rate goes nuts in a doctor’s office.  ”I’m so flattered!”  he said, trying to make me laugh.  If he were 40 years younger, it’d probably be true…  Seriously nice guy.

3.  No bile-gushingly heartburn episodes yesterday.  Nor any bleeding, neither.    I could get used to not feeling like warmed over death…

4.  Snow.  Teeny bits of snow that will probably turn to rain.  Certainly not the sort of weather that a whippet wants to go for a morning walk in.  Not that I’m feeling lazy today or anything…

5.  Tomorrow might be a day to make waffles before our LOTR guests arrive, and I’m looking forward to the taste of maple syrup already.  Just sayin’.