good morning
i actually didn’t know whether i would have time to post this AM — time completely got away from me yesterday afternoon and i ended up having to get up early to finish my powerpoint for a presentation i’m giving today.
luckily the topic is one near and dear to my heart . . .
the other reason for my tight schedule this morning is it’s ultrasound day!!! today is my nuchal translucency screening, a test done at 11-13 weeks to assess risk of down syndrome and a few other abnormalities. currently, my age-related risk is 1 in 909, so i’m not too stressed out this time around. however, the figures skyrocket with age! check it out:
the countdown is on . . .
afterwards, i have a regular OB appointment as well and will have some screening bloodwork done [also to look at risk of chromosomal disorders/neural tube defects]. but admittedly, i’m mostly just very excited to get another look at my rapidly developing little one.
the facebook ultrasound
i had to avoid facebook for quite a while during the most frustrating of my TTC days. every time i saw another ultrasound picture and happy smiling mom-to-be, i felt hot and jealous tears well up. it was completely involuntary, and not only was it unpleasant, but i hated myself for it. one day, i decided to just stop looking. and it was the right choice.
no matter what, my fetus will never make it to profile pic status!
but now, things are [obviously] different. and i have to admit: i feel ready to bring my own announcement to the ol’ FB feed. i want to tell friends + extended family that i’m not as in-touch with, and reach out to others who are currently expecting or who have young babies at home. those who have struggled with infertility often struggle with this part: here’s one example.
however, i think that for me that this is just another part of allowing myself to enjoy and celebrate the pregnancy experience, rather than treating it as something to be terrified of/guilty about. after all, i don’t have any guarantee right now that this baby will grow to term as a healthy new life. i also don’t know how much i’ll have to struggle for it to happen again.
so for now, i am going to share and be happy about it. i feel like i’ve waited long enough.
life is short . . .
or hang out with others drinking good wine. fine with me!!
oddly, i am actually enjoying my designated driver role. i don’t miss wine that much [!!!] and i definitely don’t miss that dehydrated icky feeling i used to get even from one glass sometimes.
we had a lovely dinner with k + dr s last night [some previous k + dr. s dinners: here and here]. we talked wine, health insurance, and pregnancy [dr. s is a maternal-fetal medicine fellow!].
i got to break out my new favorite serving tray:
my only souvenir purchase from LA from a cute venice beach boutique
while it does look very orla, it’s not. but i love it!
we moved onto a sumptuous meal of braised lamb chops + root vegetables, plus roasted asparagus:
and finished off with fallen chocolate cakes topped with coffee ice cream:
decadent + amazing
another fun sunday dinner with friends! a lovely gateway into the new week. happy monday!
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