To Grandmother's House We Go (And Other Odds And Ends)

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written, and I’m once again finding myself in the position of having to catch up…

My grandmother’s birthday was a few weeks ago. We decided (kind of at the last minute) that we would fly out and surprise her for her birthday (both with our presence and with the news of our pregnancy). Our plan was to take the red-eye out on Thursday night, get to Florida by Friday morning, spend all day Friday and Saturday with the family, and fly back early on Sunday (and back to work on Monday morning!). Kind of a whirlwind trip, but we were so glad we did it in the end. Grandma was beside herself with our news, and we got to spend a lot of quality time with the rest of my family (who otherwise probably would not have been able to see me pregnant).

The day we left for our trip, we had our first appointment with our actual OB – we absolutely LOVED him! He took the time to go over our AFP results (all negative), as well as to answer all of our questions (even after we warned him that we were THAT couple, and proceeded to pull out our list). We also got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again, which always makes my husband tear up a bit. It was nice to have that reassurance before we left on our trip.

I keep going through these cycles – I am absolutely elated when I am able to hear a heartbeat, or see the baby at a doctor’s appointment. The elation eventually wanes as time progresses and we get nearer to the next appointment. It then turns to worry as I wonder if something has gone wrong, or if everything will be as it is supposed to be at the next appointment. Then I go to the appointment and the cycle begins all over again. I suppose I will reach some level of relaxation (I’m not sure that is the correct word – reduced anxiety?) once we start feeling the kick on a regular basis (or even a single kick would be nice!!). In the interim, we have rented a baby Doppler and are able to hear the heartbeat on a whim – what a reassurance that is!

Finally, a lot has been made recently about our decision to not have a baby shower before the birth. We have had to explain to numerous friends, as well as my husband’s family, that we are following the Jewish tradition of not having the shower until after the baby is born – it’s more of a superstition than anything else, like a jinx, but why tempt fate when we have been though all we have? A large part of the idea behind it is that, until the baby is born, it’s still in G-d’s hands. I also read somewhere that the tradition is also partly based on respect for those that are having difficulty conceiving – that really resonated with my husband and I and kind of sealed our decision.

I’m leaving you with a pic of my belly at 17 weeks (and note that I am now shopping at the big bazongas section of the lingerie store) – only a week and a half until we find out the gender!