Pregnancy questions, answered

Thank you guys so much for the outpouring of supportive well wishes yesterday. Torsten and I (and Piglet) (and Montana) were truly, incredibly touched. I read all the comments as they came in and then just now I went back and re-read the whole batch at once and cannot stop smiling. You guys are so great! I think you are almost as excited about this baby as we are.

And, I know I didn't provide much detail in yesterday's post. Mostly I just wanted to announce what was happening, and follow up with details later. So, here are the details! I tried to sort through all your comments and address every question.

You sneak! Why did you say you weren't going to start trying for awhile?
I was actually really surprised that all of you were so surprised! I guess when you carry around such a big secret you start to feel like everyone can magically tell that you have it. I was expecting at least a few of you to say that you knew it, but nobody did!

Anyway, to answer the question, I said we weren't going to start trying until Torsten had a chance to get his company off the ground. He said he wanted a year to focus on the company before the baby was born. We bent the timeline a teeny bit on this one, but guess what? My due date is also the one-year anniversary of the day he filed his company's LLC papers. He wanted a year? He gets exactly one. Assuming Piglet doesn't arrive early, of course.

How are you feeling?
Aw, you guys are so thoughtful. I actually had really terrible morning sickness for about a month. It came to a head in my 11th week, when one day I couldn't keep any food down at all, and every time I tried to eat I got tightness in my chest in addition to horrifying levels of nausea. That was when I realized that the problem was related to my lap-band (chest pain usually accompanies food that gets stuck in the band), so I called my surgeon's office and they had me come in right away to have some fluid taken out of the band. Apparently all the vomiting I'd been doing during just the regular morning sickness had inflamed the tissue around the band, causing it to tighten and reject all food. Once they pulled some of the fluid out, the morning sickness improved vastly.

I've been feeling so much better since then that I don't mind the other, milder symptoms so much. I've had pretty much the whole constellation: extreme fatigue, constant peeing (I've been waking up three times per night to pee since before I even got the positive test), headaches, acne, constipation, bloating (and the accompany, charming belching), heartburn, the works. At the moment I'm in kind of a lull, symptom-wise (though I could still out-belch a whole fraternity of drunk 19-year-olds), and trying to enjoy it.

The only first-trimester symptom I never really had was breast tenderness. I didn't have the feeling the books and websites talk about where you think you'll kill your husband if he comes anywhere near your boobs. Though recently I have started to get dull aches and intermittent stabbing pains inside my breasts. I suspect that's related to milk duct development? But really, who knows.

Are your families excited?
Yes, yes they are. No surprise with my side of the family (my mom has been collecting items for her "grandchild box" for years), but we were a little unsure of what to expect when we told Torsten's parents. We told both sets of parents the day we found out, when I was about 4 weeks along (just with a phone call--no creative announcements here), and got equally thrilled reactions from both sides. And Torsten's parents have been very sympathetic and understanding toward me throughout their visit.

Will you find out the sex?
If Piglet is cooperative, yes. We'll have the anatomy scan at 18-22 weeks, so late August or early September, and if the legs aren't crossed, we'll find out. And I'll share the news here, don't worry.

Have you been dying not being able to tell us?
YES. It was the right decision for us not to tell until the second trimester, but I HATED keeping it a secret. It just felt wrong, and disingenuous. I'm so glad now everything is out in the open!

Any other questions? What am I forgetting?