Ten Years

This weekend was my ten year high school reunion. I am officially "old". :) It seems amazing to me that its been that long since I was the girl wearing flannel shirts made for a 6 foot tall man, big red glasses and braces.

Anyways, I did not attend the typical reunion; it was $95 a person for drinks and "heavy" appetizers. I can't drink, and Jeff doesn't, and I doubt we'd eat $200 worth of appetizers. Not to mention I was not what you would call "popular" in high school. I had a group of friends and we just didn't care who was homecoming queen or the star quarterback (incidently, the quarterback was really messed up on drugs, and since then "found Jesus"). One of my friends organized an alternative reunion with about 10 girls. I haven't seen most of them since graduation, so I was a little nervous.

My BF, Julia, took me shopping for maternity clothes first after I told her I was too fat to fit into anything. She patiently held my clothes and helped me decide what would work and what wouldn't. I swear, she is the absolute BEST!! Even though our friendship has gone through so many different paths, we've landed in this perfect groove.

We got ready at my house, much like one of the dances, which was so much fun in itself!
Then we get there; I was so nervous, but once I saw these girls, I could barely hold back my tears! We went through everything from boys, make up, clothes, music, to the tragic death of a friend at 16. And as we all talked, I realized I would be friends with each and everyone (minus the one that is still so super neurotic I could scream) of them. All of these women were so strong and sweet and compassionate. I talked about my pregnancy, and with it IVF. None of them blinked an eye; just shared stories of friends they knew going through it. The women sitting next to me had a million questions about it.

I felt so proud after our "reunion". I was proud that I had the sensibility to pick such awesome people as friends at such a young age. I was proud that I was still friends with the most awesome person in the world (besides my Jeff). I was so proud of all of these women living there lives and fulfilling there dreams. In high school, I took these girls for granted. Now that its been so long and I'm all grown up (kind of), I don't want to do that anymore.

Girlfriends RULE!!

The Beating of a Heart

I should have posted this Monday when it was still so fresh, and I should have written in my journal, but I am feeling so lazy and so tired! I finally got around to developing my Month 1 and Month 2 belly pictures, and I can see a difference. No one else can... I totally have the start of a belly. It looks like I have just eaten too many milkshakes, but no... Its a belly! And, did you know pregnancy is a great diet? I've lost 2 pounds!! I have started wearing maternity pants, although I totally don't need them. I don't want to buy pants in the next size up... And I just feel cool wearing them! How long will that last???

Anyways... Monday J and I had our first OB ultrasound... However, it was still the fun internal type, and this wand was definitly not as smooth as the one at my RE's. The one at my RE looked like a dildo. And it was smooth and round. This one was a RECTANGLE! Why? I don't know, but it was more painful than the one at my RE's. Also, I think the u/s techs at my RE spend a lot more time showing you things... But, alas, it is so much more fun to see this little being than seeing the "empty womb" pictures and the pictures of ovaries with 20 follicles on them... My Sprout no longer looks like a turtle or a tadpole, but a real baby! It has fingers!! And little frog legs! AND... the tail is gone!! Little Sprout was actually moving, which was so cool to see!

And then, I heard the most beautiful sound I have ever heard... the heartbeat. I cried. I couldn't help it... It was so fast and so magical! I wanted to listen to it forever! Its so amazing that this little bean started as a single cell, developed into 10 cells, was frozen, thawed and inserted 2 months later, and now it has a heartbeat and fingers and frog legs.

How can I be so in love with something I have never seen?

Girl or Boy?

It is so amazing at the opinions every single person has on finding out the gender of YOUR baby! And they aren't shy... Here are some opinions:

"Don't find out; life doesn't have a lot of surprises"
"Don't find out, you aren't the super organized type who needs everything done" (This was from Bitch Girl at work and it was kind of a slam in a way to my organizational skills)
"If you find out, you don't get as much stuff at your shower" from Jenn, who didn't find out and got almost everything on her registry! yahoo!!

Then I get...
"Find out because if you don't you won't get as much stuff at your shower", totally contradicts what Jenn said, which is why I found it so amusing... My friend is convinced if you don't know what you are having, people don't buy you as much stuff...
"Its fun to know"
"Its still a surprise, just earlier!"

My husband really wants to know, but I'm not sure. I have about another two months to decide, so I'm not worried.

Here is my other funny thought... The Chinese Gender Prediction chart says that according to my due date, the baby was conceived when I was 28 in August, so will be a boy. Yet, since this baby was frozen for two months, it was actually conceived in JUNE, so it will be a GIRL... And I also wonder about the whole zodiac thing... Is it based on conception, or birth? This baby was conceived in June, so its birth should be March, not May... Does that change its personality?

These are the things I think about. I'm slowly going insane...

Oh, and my pants no longer fit. I cried until J reminded me it wasn't b/c I was getting fat, its just because I'm pregnant. Its is still an alien idea to me. I'm waiting for the call... "Haha! Just kidding! You aren't pregnant! We'll give you a sock monkey instead for your troubles"

Good thing the nausea has stuck with me; its a reality check!!