Meet Stanley

Meet Stanley, our new car. Named by D. She has a knack for naming things spontaneously and once it's out of her mouth I feel compelled to agree. I fear we're going to have a great list of baby names and then the baby will come out and D will proclaim them to be "Fred" or "Petunia". Uh oh... cause you know I'll say it was fate and that's what their name will have to be!

Here's Stanley:


I haven't actually seen or driven the car since we brought it home this weekend. I was planning on driving to work this week but then reality hit and I figured it was easier to take the subway (and cheaper). This is what I had long suspected when we'd discussed buying a car in the past. It will likely sit in our garage 5 days a week only to be used occasionally on weeknights but mostly on weekends. Of course things will change once we have a little one but for now Stanley can rest in the garage and wait for our weekend adventures this summer! We're actually off work after today until Monday so we'll have a lot of time to enjoy the car this week!

Anyway.. off to work and then my first OB appointment this afternoon at 2:00 pm. I can't wait!!

Pride... Pregnancy etc

Pride is in full swing in Toronto but we haven't really spent any time in the village. I guess it's a bit different for us because we LIVE in the middle of the celebration and our neighbourhood is fairly gay year round! We did meet up with some friends to say "hi" but we left after about 5 minutes. I am so over loud parties! I can't stand them at all. We didn't even make it to the Dyke March. Instead we were picking up our car (yipeee). The drive home was sweet.
In pregnancy news... I've been feeling y-u-c-k-y! I'm pretty sure people said I'd be feeling better by now! When is that going to happen? I'm not nearly as tired and the constant car sickness is gone but I'm throwing up so much! I'm guessing that the diclectin I've been taking has prevented me from being sick over the last couple of weeks. Well, I ran out and figured that I'd had "enough" so I didn't re-fill the prescription. That was a mistake! I've been sick so many times over the last few days. I picked up more on Friday! I hope it works because I'm starting to feel homesick in my own body. It's a very weird feeling not being able to control or make yourself feel better.
And.. I wasn't going to mention this but I have to get it off my chest. When am I going to stop feeling so jealous and bitter towards other pregnant women? One of my friends posted a picture of her and two other pregnant friends. I felt a huge pang of jealousy. Especially since they are all on #2. TTC is behind us for now but it isn't gone from our lives forever. We are about 2 years from TTC #2 and I'm so worried that we're going to go through the same pain again. I hate how it seems so easy for some people while others struggle so much.
Maybe once I'm big and round I'll feel like I've succeeded. Until then.. I'm jealous.

WTF?

I'm officially OUT as being knocked up and it's pretty cool. We're at 13 weeks and I'm showing more than I'd like to admit (I'll post a picture when I get home).
I posted on Facebook (my u/s photos) on Monday night and have received many congratulations from friends and people at work who have found out. Everything was going great until my first WTF experience. My co-worker (that I BLOCKED from Facebook before I posted) found out and wrote me a cute little e-mail:
Heard the news today! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! I’m really excited for you (and I’m not talking about the purchase of your new car – but congrats on that too)!
Really great news!!! When’s the bambino due!!!???
BEFORE I could respond she CALLS me and started to ask questions. She asked if we had done IVF and when I said "No" she asked if it was "like with some anonymous guy in a room that they made me have sex with". RIGGGHHHHHHTT
People like this do not really exist, do they? This is a MANAGER with an MBA. She's not stupid. WTF?
Anyway... regarding that anonymous guy I had "sex with"...I just bought my last 4 vials so we're now the proud owners of 6 vials for baby #2!!!! YAY..

Intelligender

Well folks... here are the "results". lol
First I need to mention:
Chinese Gender Chart = GIRL
Heart Rate= GIRL
Intelligender= GIRL????

I had to go to the intelligender website to see examples of what a "boy" looked like because in my opinion you could read this either way if you really wanted a certain outcome. It does look like "boy" is a very dark green not just a murky unattractive urine-like orange colour. You can check it out HERE if you want to see the examples.
I couldn't wait to throw this down the garbage chute this morning. I think it may be toxic because it got really really hot. We'll have to save the BOX for memories.

ETA: Before I tossed it I decided to stir up the bottom and the contents turned Dark Green. So it was a murky orange colour to begin with but once shaken it was Green. The instructions specifically said not to disturb the contents before reading the results so I honestly have no idea! D is all for team pink and I have my fingers crossed for team blue!!! I guess we'll have to wait another 6 weeks to find out!

Spoiled Brat

We did it! We finally bought our car. We ended up going with the Nissan Versa Sedan. Our options were Dark Grey, Silver or Black. We chose Silver which is so BORING but it looked so much sharper than the others. I guess sometimes boring is OK. Who knew? We’ll just need to pay extra attention when parking in large lots otherwise we’ll lose it in the sea of other boring normal cars.
My title Spoiled Brats doesn’t really relate to us – I’ll get to that later. We thought through buying a car for years and feel we’ve made our decision at the right time. There was no moment of panic or buyers regret. We’ve always said we’d buy a car when renting became inconvenient and it has. I partially blame the discount code I’ve been using at the airport ($10/day) since it makes renting extremely cheap but completely inconvenient (travelling to the airport from downtown). It’s a tough sell to say let’s rent down at Union Station (where we used to rent) for 3x the amount of the airport. In the end we’ve stopped renting and we have a huge backlog of chores that require a car. This may have given us the jump start but there are many other reasons. It’s time. I’m sick of being trapped in the city (I hate inner city grocery stores). This is going to give us ultimate freedom! Also, considering the current strike of outdoor workers in Toronto which means no pools, we’re getting the car just in time to drive to my dad’s house to enjoy his beautiful pool every weekend!!
Now, Spoiled brat…
That would be my brother! Ugh. He’s been so obnoxious over our last few visits and he’s just getting worse. I blame my parents!! I really think they need to get him involved in activities with other children. He’s booked constantly with performances and he misses out on things like birthday parties and school fairs. I’ve started to see his involvement in these things as detrimental and somewhat selfish of my parents. For example, they have a ritual of going out on Friday night to a couple of bars/clubs. My brother joins in on a jam session at both (one is traditional Irish) but if you look at it he’s in a bar while my parents eat fish and chips/wings, drink beer and brag about him. His world is about him being a musically talented and my parents love the attention as well. He’s young and he plays well but he isn’t committed to lessons – just gigs and jam sessions where he makes money. I digress. The point of this rant is that he is a BRAT. He thinks the world revolves around him. He walks all over my parents and gets whatever he wants. They bought him a $900 laptop this past weekend. He’s 10 years old… he doesn’t need his own laptop! This kid needs a new soccer ball and some friends to play with!!! Seriously!
ANYWAY – my point is that my brother is turning into someone I do not like. I’m sad that he is not a normal kid. I’m so sick of how overprotective my father is. They are always together and have been since day 1 (my father is a SAHD). I wish my brother could experience summer camp or team sports! I wish he had activities like swimming lessons or art classes. These are all things I had when I was his age. I know that times are different but when I was a kid I was out with my friends ALL THE TIME. We’d alternate weekends sleeping over at friends houses and play at the park until the streetlights turned on. Will my brother, at 10 years old, have a chance at a normal childhood? I doubt it and it makes me very sad. I may not LIKE my mother right now but I appreciate how structured my childhood was. My mother may have been aloof and rarely around but I had camp all summer, community centre programs and lots of FRIENDS. I have very fond memories of my childhood. I hope that we do the same for our children. How do you make sure you do not turn into your parents? Lol

BTW, the Intelligender arrived today! We’ll be trying it soon and will post the results!

12 weeks & First Trimester Screening

We had our First Trimester Screening today. I have a feeling we may have messed it up because the blood lab refused my requisition form. I ended up getting blood taken at my doctors office but they seemed totally clueless about what I actually needed. I'm not all that concerned because if need be I'll go for another ultrasound (no problems with that)!!
Overall I found this ultrasound to be a bit more stressful. The good news is that the clinic I went to had a flat screen tv mounted specifically so the patient can watch the procedure. I was able to see EVERYTHING which of course made me panic! The baby wasn't moving a lot and the tech had a hard time getting the measurements she needed. She kept shaking my belly to get the baby to move around and it wouldn't. We did see some leg kicking/arm waving and at one point it looked like it had hiccups (is that possible at 12 weeks?). I'm pretty sure I saw the heartbeat was at 180bpm and the measurement was 5.63 cm crown to rump. This was the first ultrasound where I felt a bit giddy (between panic sweats). The baby LOOKS like a baby! Hopefully that magic day when I'm ready to chill out and believe this is REAL will come soon!

Here are a couple of pictures. The first is a giant poster on the side of the hospital we're using. I have my first OB appointment there on June 30th! The tall burgundy building is D's office tower. She has the most amazing view of the city (in my opinion it is better than the CN tower)!



The second is our 12 week picture.

The Car - my Dad & our Donor

We’re going to buy our car this weekend and I’m so excited! We’ve narrowed down our choices to the Toyota Yaris and the Nissan Versa (both Sedan). Without actually test driving the cars available we know that our preference is the Versa. It has a bit more power and more interior room. I also think the interior is a lot nicer than the Yaris (I’m not a fan of the center console). These are two of our favourite rental cars so it will be hard to choose. We’ve never driven a long distance in the Yaris but we’ve had the pleasure of driving to New York City in the Versa and it performed well. Especially in the white-out condition blizzard on the way home! As far as the Yaris, it has proven itself as a handy little city car although I will admit I drive it hard and I’m not sure if that is good or safe in the long run.
I’m not going to ask for advice because I’ve found that people are REALLY touchy when it comes to their cars. I’m sure many people IRL are laughing at my desire for a sub-compact car and in return I have to say that I am amazed by how much people are willing to spend on their cars. I’m buying a used 2008 and I’m dipping into my savings to pay cash. My one friend is trying to convince me into leasing because “I won’t want the car in 3 years anyway”. I can’t justify paying over $300 in monthly leasing for a car I’ll owe thousands on if I want to keep in the end. Buying used with cash makes so much more sense for us!

In other news, my father has FINALLY asked about our donor. I was very surprised when he accepted my explanation of “we went to a clinic” when I told him I was pregnant. 7 weeks later he’s curious and I suspect he was suddenly worried about what the guy looked like. He was cute about it. He said he had to ask me what I thought the baby would look like. My first response was that "he’d" be the tallest member of our family! My dad is 5’8ish maybe 5’9 (although I doubt it). He was a bit shocked when I said our donor was 6’2 and asked why we’d do that. I left out the status of his size 14 feet and didn’t tell him that height is apparently a coveted feature for donors since most are taller than I’d have wanted. He asked what nationality he was and amazingly I still can’t answer this question with any accuracy! I said Irish and my Dad was happy about that. I also sent him the picture we have (after he begged) and when he saw the brown hair and brown eyes he said that the baby could have red hair and brown eyes just like "his brother"... oops he meant to say "his UNCLE" (MY brother). Oh and he said “He”, “His” or “Him” throughout the entire call. Do you think he’s hoping for a grandson?
QUESTION: Have people asked you about your donor (Family, close friends, etc)? My mother could care less and doesn't want to even see a picture. Would you share the picture or give details? I asked my dad NOT to show my brother. I think that would be too confusing for him. I don't want anyone to think of our donor as the "father" and I doubt my 10 year old brother will understand it any other way.