As of yesterday, we've made it to 7 weeks! Notice in the picture, no discernible tummy bulge but the butt seems to be packing on those oh-so-lovely fat reserves.

So, according to my Pregnancy Countdown Book, "At 7 weeks, your baby is about the size of a blueberry -- around 1/3 inch (8.4 mm) -- with a short tail." Ugh! I can deal with all of the weird descriptions, except the tail-thing; the thought of it just makes me queasy, but, then again, everything makes me queasy now. I had been having everything-but-morning-sickness until today. That is, I'm usually fine until about noon, and then Terrence looks at me and says, "You know you have to eat something." And I glare at him. And that doesn't get us anywhere, so I eat something anyway and he gets to suffer through me complaining about how awful I feel. But, as of today my everything-but-morning-sickness seems to have turned into all-day sickness. Fortunately, I've yet to vomit, though -- just lots of nausea, headachiness, and dizziness. Most of the time I just feel like I've got a really bad hangover. Let's just move on to other things. . .

Yesterday, I also had my first doctor's appointment as a pregnant lady. It wasn't too exciting, though. I went to see my regular doctor at the University Health Center, Dr. Ciesielski, and we just touched bases regarding my abrupt departure from anti-depressant land. Thankfully, I haven't had any horrible mood problems; nor have I had the bees buzzing in my head (one possible side-effect of quitting the a-ds cold turkey). Then we talked about how confusing insurance was and that it's pretty ridiculous when an MD and a PhD can't figure out the difference between a "preferred" provider and a "participating network" provider. I mean, I would understand if I couldn't understand this stuff if I was reading internal insurance information, but even the stuff for public consumption is convoluted and confusing. George! Do something about this! (FYI, George is my dad; he's an insurance adjustor; he understands the secret codes -- I think it's kinda like being a Mason -- trade secrets, secret meetings and handshakes, eventual world domination, y'know, that sort of stuff.) OK, I'm done with my insurance rant. Sorry, George. Please don't send the Kafka-esque insurance police after me.

Anyway, so I called the midwifery center this morning to talk to them about prenatal care. Terrence and I have got an orientation/information meeting to go to next Wednesday (Terrence doesn't know about this yet, so keep it quiet until I can tell him), and then sometime after that we'll have our first official appointment; so, probably another 2 weeks or so before any "real" proof of this pregnancy. But I think that by the time we have our first appointment, we should at least be able to hear a heartbeat if not see an ultrasound.

That's all the news for now!

Well, there it is! Yep, a few weeks ago (around Easter) Terrence and I got pregnant! We've already let our parents in on the secret (as well as my dissertation advisor and our great friends, Jenn and Danny, who conceived their daughter Maya across the street from us exactly one year earlier than we conceived), so now we can let the rest of you know! (Although, several people seemed to know before I did, including Terrence, my mother, Jenn, and Will, the guy who owns our favorite pizza restaurant.)

Terrence and I are both very excited and just a wee bit nervous, but everything seems to be going pretty well. We've got our first doctor's appointment next week with my regular doctor who's going to let me know what she thinks of the ob/gyns and midwives in town. So, other than that, not much medically to report, except that I've already gained 5 lbs (in addition to the 20 I gained after I quit smoking -- which I'm oh-so-happy I did a year ago, rather than having to do it now -- so I'm feeling like a bit of a whale already); I had to stop taking my antidepressants (another joyous side-effect of quitting smoking!), but, thankfully, my mood seems to be bolstered enough by the baby news that I haven't noticed the lack of medication; and my skin looks great except for the occasional, huge pimple.

Now that we've broken the news to you, keep in touch and stop back here when you can -- I'll try to keep everything up to date!