Hockey!!!

Well, I spent Memorial weekend playing hockey in Arizona. It was fun, if a little cautious. I felt fine - I haven't had morning sickness or anything - so why not. The last couple of games were fairly intense, but we ended up winning the championship in a division far above my skill level, so that was nice.

I had told Annie and Corky and Dalia. Sue already knew. Someone had to know in case I was knocked unconscious or anything. But it was fine and I love hockey and I want to play as long as I can.

Taddle-Tale!

So I've pretty much told two or three people at work, my parents, a couple friends. I can't go through this alone! Mark hasn't told his parents yet.

I'm impatient. I hate waiting.

Results - not easy to get!

I call in the morning. They tell me someone will call me back.

I call around lunch time. They tell me someone will call me back. "Oh nobody's called you yet?" "No." "Okay, well, the doctors are busy with patients right now, so they'll call you as soon as they can."

It's about 12:45. I am quickly grabbing a couple tacos from Mrs. Garcia's with Troy, a classmate who came into the office for some volunteer usability testing on our prototype. I have a meeting at 1:30 at the client's office 30 minutes away, so I'm prepared to scarf my tacos.

The phone rings. They seem not to know why they are calling me back - and it's not a doctor, just a nurse. "What was the blood test for?" she asks. I am not really ready to tell Troy... but he's 1 foot away and it's not exactly easy to keep quiet... "Pregnancy" I say, trying to be subtle/quiet. "What?" I give up hiding it. "It's a pregnancy test." "Oh, okay. One moment."

Three or four minutes later she gets back to me. "It's positive."

"Really!?" I burst out, as if I didn't already know.

"Yes," she huffs, as if that was the stupidest response she'd ever heard.

So we make some arrangements for my first exam, with Dr. Collier, whom I've never heard of, but since Dr. Chow is no longer doing prenatal and delivery, I don't have much choice. She asks when my last period was, and we get into the whole spiel about how it could be 5 weeks along or 10 weeks, due to Mark being in Toronto or Atlanta and me never seeing him, and that my last period would barely qualify as a period (April 20).

Anyway, we make an appointment for June 1 and I'm excited but it seems like forever away.

This is one big waiting game.

Blood Test

Okay, so I went into my Ob/Gyn office and get the referral to go to the lab to get a blood test. All in all I'm there for about 40 minutes, and in that time I find out that my beloved doctor of 12 years has retired from obstetrics. I'm horribly disappointed... now what am I going to do? I love Dr. Chow! Now I'm mad from waiting so long to get pregnant.

Ugh.

Results should be in tomorrow morning.

What to do!?

So... I've never been pregnant before, and I'm not really sure what to do. But I'm busy as hell at work (Tuesdays my clients are in our office) and can't really find the time or place to privately call my doctor.

Mark calls for me, but before he can tell me what they said, I continue to call them. When I finally get through, they are a little less than friendly, as if I should already know what to do.

"You just come in and get a blood test."

"That's it, just a blood test?"

"Yes."

It's like, they have to know I'm pregnant before they'll take this seriously.

Okay, so tomorrow I'll get a blood test.

DAY 1 - Discovery

It's Monday, May 16. My dad's birthday, which I will soon be too distracted to remember.

I've been getting fat. I know this is because I eat like a pig and don't exercise. I keep telling myself that when I graduate from b-school I will start a better diet/exercise program. That and my tae bo dvds haven't arrived yet.

But I just have this nagging feeling something else is going on "down there" for months. Is it gas? Is it some horrible disease or a tumor? I decide I'm overdue for my annual exam anyway and I will call my doctor this week.

7:40 pm.
On a whim, I decide to buy a pregnancy test at Sav-on. I buy a three pack. After all, we're going to start trying to get pregnant next month, so it will be nice to have some on hand.

8:15 pm.
It's positive. I'm in shock. I laugh, I cry. I'm not ready for this. It can't be right. The box says I have to wait for the digital display to clear before I can do another test - which means a few hours.

10:15 pm.
Mark is at the Microsoft party for E3. I'm sure he's having a great time.

The test is positive. It takes less than a few seconds to calculate...

This is weird. I have had periods. There are distinct times Mark and I could have conceived as he has been out of state for most of the past three months. I try to mentally trace the timeline to determine how far along I must be.

I cry. It's a good cry. I'm in shock. I'm not ready for this. How am I going to tell Mark? He's definitely not ready for this. I can't wait. I call him and ask him how the party is going and when he is coming home. I'm exhausted and want to go to bed.

Shortly thereafter...
I call Laura. She's my best friend since high school and she's an M.D. She'll be excited for me and she'll help me think through this. She does. I love Laura.

I don't know what to do next. I guess now I really need to call my OB/Gyn!

Later, I'm sort of in bed, not sleeping. Mark comes home. I let him tell me how much fun he had. Then I say, "I have some good news and some good news." (I've hidden all signs of the pregnancy test.) He says, "Is this subject to interpretation?" I say no. "We don't have to worry about 'hats' (condoms) any more because you're pregnant?" I try to keep a straight face. "No." "Okay, what is it?"

"The good news is, this has not been confirmed by a professional yet."
"And..."
"You'll be changing the litter box for the foreseeable future."

As I had just misled him, it takes a moment for the light to go on. "You just said you weren't pregnant!"

"I said I wasn't going to tell you we don't have to worry about hats any more." I laugh.

He collapses on the bed. It's a night of shock and weirdness. He wants to snuggle all night. I think he needs reassurance. He's cute. That's why I love him.

:) To be continued.