Becoming a mother...

I had my first prenatal appointment yesterday morning. As should be obvious from the newly installed pregnancy tickers (There's one on the bottom, too. It was too long to put in the side column). The official due date is Dec 9, so I guess the possibility of having this kid on a Marian feast is not outside of the realm of possibility.

First of all, I have to say that I am already 1000% happier with this doctor's office than I have been with my prior doctor. You may recall that I've complained about my doctor previously, and I've been meaning to change doctors but hadn't gotten around to it yet. The pregnancy kind of gave me the kick in the butt to get it done and I really wish I'd done it before. So I went with Matt's doctor, who is also the doctor who took care of Therese and delivered Ileana. The first appointment was with one of the nurses who assist with prenatal care, and she was fantastic. She gave us plenty of information, answered all kinds of questions, and gave us a full picture of what the next 8 months or so will be like. She also explained exactly what will happen at the next appointment (which will include a full physical, something I am ashamed to admit I haven't had in years) and really emphasized that we should call if there were any concerns or questions between now and then.

It was also great that when I began explaining about NFP, she was very interested in it and wanted to know more about how to get her daughter in touch with a practitioner to help with infertility. The only reason I brought it up was because my mom, freely admitting that she was being an overprotective grandmother, asked me to ask for a progesterone level when they do my blood work. When I explained to the nurse why my mom was asking for that, and what my mom does, she said that she really admired us and my mom for using NFP. It was nice to know that she was supportive of this, and I really feel so much better already with this office.

I would have posted this yesterday, but I spent pretty much all day taping off and priming the hall and living room. This was the ultimately frustating and tedious process, because according to the research I'd done online, and asking my aunt who did this in her house, every groove in the paneling needed to be cut in with a brush. By the time Matt called me when he was on his way home from work, I was cranky and annoyed and it didn't help when he said "I just don't understand why it's taking you this long." For the record, he wasn't being a jerk, he was just honestly floored when I told him how long I'd been working on it. 7 hours, also for the record.

But to his credit, he did take the brush out of my hand when he came home and sent me into the kitchen to cook dinner. That might sound like a terribly chauvenist thing to do, but he knows that cooking for me is relaxing, so he couldn't have done better. And he arranged his schedule so that he was only doing two stores today, and then he helped me to paint the first coat when he was done. I'll post before and after pictures when I finish the second coat and clean up a bit tomorrow.