Getting Pregnant (a much more exciting title than the copy actually reads, sorry to disappoint)

I've been wanting to post for a while about our sweet, precious, new little man who joined us on April 1, but it's been such a long time coming that the thought of sitting down and writing this is incredibly daunting.  How far back do I go?  How much detail do I include?  Is this an outlet to share our story with others (the three family members who check this blog, who likely already know our story), or a record of our feelings and experience for us?  Or maybe both?  I don't know, this might be an un organized hodge podge of emotions and boring details, but here goes.

Matt and I got married in May of 2001.  We were young, but when it's right, it's right.  We always knew we wanted kids, but were fine experiencing life, traveling, working, and having all kinds of adventures before we decided to start "trying" to have little ones.  I think when we first got married we said we'd try for kids in 2-3 years, 8 or so years into our marriage we decided to "not prevent".  We actually got pregnant pretty quickly the first time, but miscarried at about 7-8 weeks, in March of 2009.   We were incredibly disappointed, but surprised to learn how many people experience miscarriages, how common they are, and that it likely was the case of something being wrong with the fetus.  There was a lot of tears and heartache, but we moved on and understood it to be "right".  After that, we decided to start trying, and not just prevent.  Over a year went by and we were incredibly disheartened. I did have a positive home pregnancy test, which was followed by two tests at the hospital that were negative, and then an incredibly painful period where I laid on the floor crying and vomiting.  Good times.  It's too bad that getting the news that you're not pregnant includes physical and mental pain - there's gotta be a better method for that.

After that, we went into the hospital to try to figure out what was up (actually a few hospitals, and got the run around a bit, all in all it was frustrating, but probably not worth going into).  This just added to the frustration, because they couldn't find anything.  Matt and I both were normal in every way.  I had a lapraoscopy to see if I had endometriosis, and plenty of other tests… but we fit into that 5% of people with undiagnosed infertility.

Then in 2011 I got pregnant again naturally.  We were in Europe for several weeks, had a lay over in Boston on our way home, and bought a pregnancy test at a Walgreens while there in Boston.  At 5 am we took the test and it was positive.  We were beyond thrilled, though slightly cautious.  Again, we miscarried at 7-8 weeks.  This time was horrible.  There was just a little bleeding on and off, we went into the hospital and saw the baby's heart beat were assured that things were looking good, then came home and bled more.  It went on for a week and was completely awful, full of up and down emotions,  and left me in a depression for many months.  So where do you go from there?  

We decided to keep trying for a while, another year, and nothing.  We were starting to accept the fact that it might never happen for us.  We got tired of "trying", buying ovulation predictor kits, etc… I know everyone says as soon as you stop trying, you get pregnant.  That wasn't exactly true for us.  We had stopped trying for well over a year and then it happened again for us.  We had been in South America for several weeks (notice a theme here - vacation is a great time to get pregnant, you're relaxed, have time together, eat whatever you want...), and although my body often acted like it was pregnant by displaying many symptoms, I had a hunch this time.  Matt wanted me to wait another week before I took a test, because I have a long cycle, but I bought one anyway.  I took the test in the morning while he was still asleep, and woke him up with a "Matty, wake up, I'm pregnant".  I think he was so confused and still asleep.  But given our history, we were incredibly timid and cautious.  This go round we didn't read many books, we took care of me, but we were very gun shy.  I was so nervous to do anything the entire first trimester.  I remember stepping off of a curb that was lower than I expected and I was nervous.  I thought my body was just so fragile based on past experiences.  I got into the hospital ASAP and they put me on progesterone and baby aspirin.  I don't know if those were the variables, but it kept.  of course, I bled a tiny bit at 8 weeks while Matt was out of town (had just landed), and he hopped on a plane to run home and take me to the hospital.  But, everything was okay.  We finally started telling people around 17-20 weeks, and overall the pregnancy went pretty smoothly.

At 38 weeks we had some concerns because my doc said it appeared that baby boy hadn't grown.  Of course we were feeling like everything had been too good to be true.  He was measuring in the 20th percentile for size, and less than 5 percentile for stomach size.  What does that mean?  We felt like we were starving our baby, but didn't know what to do about it.  It was pretty rough, and we felt helpless.  I was afraid to do anything… a familiar position.   They monitored me closely for a week, and then induced me on Monday March 30.  The labor story, to be continued…

Super Bowl 48

When your team makes it to the Super Bowl, and that Super Bowl is in New York City… you go.  Or at least you give it the old college try.  It's so fun to see the energy a city gains when their sports teams do well.  Denver was on fire for a couple of weeks, unfortunately just not the week it mattered the most.  Oh well, we had an action packed weekend full of energy and delicious food in NYC (again with a cold, and 7.5 months pregnant).  It went a little something like this… 

Thanks to Voodoo Donuts' voodoo Brady donuts, Denver properly shellacked the Patriots in the AFC championship game.  

I was fortunate enough to have a front row seat (er… no seat, but stand) in the sunshine.  

After going down multiple paths, and trying multiple sources, we finally made the ticket purchase and were on our way to NYC.  Of course hotel, flights, and restaurants were booked (a la Matt) before the Broncos even won the game.  Who's surprised?

Our lovely hotel in the perfect location for our activities.

We went to Buddakan the night we landed.  It was worth going just to see the restaurant.  Huge, diverse, gorgeous, and the food was awesome too.  

A little dim sum variety to get the party started

Lobster something or another fabulousness

The best dessert we've had in NYC, and trust me… that's saying something.

Of course we had to visit the Doughnut Plant again for a little taste of something sweet and fried.  

Okay, this is a little out of order… but "conveniently"  there was a major UFC bout in New Jersey the night before the Super Bowl.  Being the fan Matt is, we went to that too.  It was clearly a weekend of food and sports.  

Broncos gear, check… we started the journey to the stadium.

Too bad he doesn't have any muscles.  

The hugeness and large scale production of it all made it so fun… regardless of the outcome.  At this point we were still optimistic, unaware of what was about to hit us.  

These LED hats were awesome, they went off at different times making all kinds of patterns in the stands.  

Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers put on an incredible halftime show.  

Too bad the confetti was the wrong color… 

The meals are out of order, but we ate some of the best, most extensive, most elaborate meals of our lives over this little weekend.  The meal that starts above and continues below was Eric Ripert's Le Bernadin. It was worth the hype.  

tuna tartare over toast and fois gras

I already can't remember all of the ingredients, but know it was a scallop in a shell, with an amazing broth.  

Lobster lasagna with caviar on top

salmon with some mushrooms and other ingredients which I also can't remember…. sorry.  This was a really earthy dish.  They're all tiny, so you can eat them all, but you definitely leave quite full.  

white fish with a port reduction over a quinoa cake, and tropical fruits on top

I'm not doing any of this food justice… but there are like 30 processes in this little plate pictured above. some meringue, some demi glaze, some dehydrated oil, etc… 

Matt in his required "jacket" and super bowl bracelet which he wore for at least two weeks after we got home.  

chocolatey, nutty, caramely, fudgy, creamy dessert

Second desserts… because they HAD to congratulate the pregnant lady.  

The view from our second world renowned restaurant… Thomas Keller's Per Se

This meal was even more elaborate than Le Bernadin.  The classy part, I was sick and had to keep blowing my nose and using the potty because baby Jones loves sitting on my bladder and all.  

When the staff brought out the different menu items, they would tell you where each of the products were purchased from, etc… 

"Oysters and pearls" dish that Thomas Keller serves at his other flagship restaurant The French Laundry in San Fran.  It was truly out of this world.  

Passion Fruit mousse… the first of at least 5 desserts.  Seriously.  

Because two desserts just weren't enough - we were then served truffles, french macaroons, and toffees/nougats.  

Next layer of dessert… Matt carefully choosing which fine chocolates he'd like to try.

When I said five desserts, I think I meant 7.  

This had a cappuccino flavored ice cream in it.  It was a never ending display of gluttonous, beautiful sugar.  AND they sent us home with a box of treats for "later".

The central part of NYC was bonkers.  There were people everywhere.  Some people were watching live broadcasts, some were trying out their kicking legs - trying to make field goals in the center of Times Square.  There were a ton of festivities.  

And the day we left… it snowed.  Adieu NYC until we meet again.