"This is one doodle that can't be undid. Your eggo is preggo."

I'm pregnant :) But if you read this, you already know that because only people close to me read my blog. MAN! Pregnancy is a roller coaster. As a first timer I'm freakin' out of course because as much as I've heard about pregnancy, you never think to yourself, "I should get ready to have heartburn for the first time in my life, and every day for the whole thing."

We went to Sumatra in May and had to take Doxycycline (antibiotic) for a week ahead and for a month after which is not recommended during pregnancy although its not a big deal, you just stop taking it when you find out you're pregnant. And I really

liked taking it because it cleared up my acne :) But when June came around my biological clock alarm went crazy, and I HAD to start trying, I risked malaria and quit the doxy. I did every old-wives-tale thing to ensure that I got pregnant on the first try, as well as the stuff you really should know. By the end of June I got a faint but immediate second line on my pregnancy test.

I was so happy I couldn't say anything. I showed Hyrum the test, and he looked at me and said, "What does that mean?" I still couldn't speak so I went back in the bathroom and grabbed the box and showed him the picture on the back with the arrows that say "control" and "pregnant". He looked at me again and said, "I had already decided you were so I'm not even surprised." But he was happy. We both were.

We told a couple of people because I can't keep a secret of my own to save my ever-loving life, but didn't want to tell the families until after Sean's wedding. This gave me time to sort out my feelings and why I wanted to wait to tell at all. Ultimately I decided that I wasn't going to wait for the end of the first trimester because if there was a complication I was going to tell people about it, and I'd have to tell them at that point that I had been pregnant, because I can't go through things like that without talking about it. That's just me though.

Then I got sick. No really. I got strep throat so bad that I got fever blisters (that's right, cold sores) all over my lips- 9 of them. I also had blisters all over
my gums and and they were so infected I couldn't brush my teeth because it would have wiped off the flesh of my mouth. I didn't know it was strep- I've never had it before- so I was thinking, "If this is how I do pregnant, this is our only kid." Two and a half weeks of pain so bad I couldn't function, mouth so infected I could neither chew nor swallow, so malnourished I lost 7 pounds and couldn't support my own weight, and so scared I was starving my baby that I sobbed every day until I nearly passed out, and then I came through it. I bought Cheetos for the first time in my life because I wanted to eat something crunchy simply because I could. I've never been thankful for my gums before, but I sure am now. After that, queeziness and heartburn aren't that big of a deal.

Spiritually I feel like the baby wasn't affected
adversely by the Strep or malnourishment, so I could enjoy having lost a couple of pounds. This is my 9 weeks preggo picture in Las Vegas, the day the last cold sore disappeared.

Yes, I am finding out! What am I a pioneer?! If this was 30 years ago and its wasn't normal, then sure, I'd wait and the surprise would be so sweet! But is IS normal and easy to find out, and I am a planner- I NEED to know what paint to buy! I have to pick the theme colors for the first several years of this child's life! What would people get for me at showers? Yellow stuff?! NOT. ME. I have 2 months until I find out because I want to be as sure as possible- so 20 weeks. But did you know that there's a test that they do in Europe all the time that's non-invasive, tests to see if you're making Y chromosomes, is 98% accurate and you can do it as early as 7 weeks? Wanna know why we don't do it here? Because it "just hasn't caught on." Whaaaaa? This is AMERICA! How hasn't some militant group of mothers insisted on this to the point of it being weird NOT to get at this point? I just don't know where I am anymore.(http://www.babycenter.com/204_mothers-blood-test-reveals-babys-sex_10356334.bc)

Incidentally, I think its a boy. And if it is, I'm pretty sure his name is Henry. I didn't choose it, its just his name. If its a girl, I like some names but nothing as strongly as Henry. Stella is the front runner at this point but I just keep thinking of this baby (the size of a chicken egg this week) as "him" and "Henry".

Sigh. Henry the name is a whole 'nother post. Its rising quickly in popularity, and that... well it is not a good thing. As for today, this is my 3 month "belly picture". A girl on BabyCenter.com took all of her pictures in the same place in the same outfit, and it made the comparison awesome. So this is my belly location and outfit. More to come.