MIA, again

Where oh where have I been? Well, to make a long story short, my computer at work has a virus. Or, I should say, it had a virus. Amazingly, my boss decided to spring for a new computer for me, so my sick computer went away and has been replaced with a dazzling new laptop. This means that I have internet again! Oh, sure, we have internet at home, but usually by the time I get home I'm too exhausted to get on the computer. Being almost 14 weeks pregnant will do that to you! And yes, I did break down and get a Crackberry a few weeks ago, but it is really hard to type posts and long e-mails on that thing. I'm trying not to become too dependent on it or else I will end up needing physical therapy for my thumbs.

Anyway, it's been quite a few weeks. I spent a whirlwind weekend in Minnesota for Emily's baby shower, which was a lovely event. I am so excited to meet Little K in just a few weeks! (Well, okay, I won't get to meet him/her for a while longer, but mainly I'm excited for the phone call or e-mail that reveals whether Little K is a he or a she! I am going crazy with the suspense, so I can't imagine how Em & Brett must feel!) I also got to attend the Lutheran Summer Music choir concert. My only regret was that Seth couldn't be there - he is a legend around that place and it doesn't feel right to enjoy LSM without him!

Last week my oldest friend Kelley invited me over to her parents' house to try on a big bagful of maternity clothes she is graciously lending me for the duration. I'm in an awkward in-between stage where you aren't really big enough for maternity clothes but nothing normal fits. Basically it's as if I've just eaten too many desserts, yet can't justify buying new clothes. Soon I'll be able to wear some of the great things she loaned me... and I must say, it was quite a trip trying on maternity clothes in K's childhood room where we used to hide from our brothers while they were off doing boy things!

I am feeling much better than I was a month ago. The nausea is about gone (knock on wood) although I will be very surprised if I ever eat chicken again. (However, we just learned that a Buffalo Wild Wings is opening here tomorrow, which has some of the best sports bar food ever, so hopefully I can still partake. Otherwise, an outing involving chicken and beer isn't going to be that enjoyable for me...) I've now moved on to the world of round ligament pain. The night before experiencing it for the first time, I remarked that I had no idea if I'd know what it was, considering I do not know where my round ligaments are. Turns out, I was wrong: I definitely knew I was in pain. YOWZA. Even worse, I consulted my two pregnancy books and neither of them spoke a word about this. Luckily, my trusty friend Google was there in my time of need, but what's with not informing women about this? If I hadn't known what it could have been, I would have been terrified. Okay, I'll admit it: I was terrified anyway. It was major, people... like pondering-whether-to-ask-my-boss-to-drive-me-to-the-emergency-room major. Still, I'm feeling much better overall, and we're starting to get really excited about this. The further things get, the more it feels like this might actually be happening! (I still haven't told my office, though, because it's been mighty dramatic around here with some client happenings and it just hasn't been right to drop "Oh, by the way..." into the conversation. I've been trying to broach the subject for over a week now! Hopefully tomorrow!?)

This weekend (well, tomorrow, actually) we are headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the wedding of Seth's cousin. It will also be a whirlwind trip, which is disappointing as we would have liked some more time to explore the Grand Tetons. I'm told Jackson is absolutely stunning and we're looking forward to our time there. But we have to get back by Monday because I have three hearings that day... so back we come.

It's been a nice summer. Seth has been singing Billy Budd with the Santa Fe Opera, and it is quite the experience. I've gotten to go a couple of times, to his show and to a dress rehearsal of Handel's Radamisto (which was spectacular). It's nice to know people in high places. :)

today in sports news...

This isn’t a surprise to some of you, but we think it’s finally safe to announce that, to borrow Sarah’s language, we will be drafting a rookie for Team Hartwell in late January! (If you don’t speak sports talk, like me, that means: we’re having a baby!)

After 28 months of charting, 14 months of trying, and many tests/procedures, our doctor told us it was time to start IUI/IVF. (As it happened, with our particular issue, they probably would have wanted to skip right to IVF.) Lo and behold, three weeks after getting this very discouraging news, a miracle happened.

I’m 10 weeks, 4 days along now, and we had an ultrasound yesterday which finally allowed us to be excited about the whole thing. (We've discovered that when pregnancy is hard to come by, it’s almost impossible not to feel anything but cautious and anxious at first.) Finally, we saw the baby moving and waving at us yesterday, and we breathed a sigh of relief… although I’m told that parents never breathe normally ever again!

I’m feeling much better than I have in the last few weeks, and we are telling the world. Except I’m not going to share with my office for a few more weeks (if possible), so if you know my boss, please don’t tell him! I'm pretty sure they just think I need to lay off the doughnuts.