Rest in Peace

Today my grandmother Apolonia passed away.  She passed peacefully in the comfort of her suite at my parents' home where she was surrounded by loving family.

Apolonia was a great woman, and deserved the best in her final days.  That is exactly what she got, the royal treatment.  My mother, father and aunt all behaved like angels in the last years of Apolonia's life.  They brought her over from Poland when my grandfather died, just before my wedding.  My parents gave her their first floor master suite and moved themselves up to a bedroom on the second floor.  For three years, they took care of her day and night all by themselves.  Their empty nester life literally turned upside down, yet they never complained about it.  Apolonia was the mothership of our family.  Without her, none of us would be here nor would we be the same.  Her strong and stubborn and endearing character molded us into what we have become.

As I embark on a new chapter of my life, I wonder if my child would do the same.  I hope I will do the same as well.

A religious woman, Apolonia went to church every single day until she moved to America.  In the U.S. she prayed all day long by watching mass on TV, listening to Polish Catholic radio, and reciting the rosary.  She ALWAYS prayed for me in my life's crossroads as well: to get into grad school (check), to get married (check) and now to have a baby (almost there).  She knew I was expecting, and I believe she will continue to pray for us and this little baby as our guardian angel from heaven.

I can't wait to preserve her legacy by recounting hundreds of amazing stories about Apolonia and our family.

Until then, I love you Babcia Pola.  May you rest in peace.

One of my favorite photos ever.  My mom, her sister, my sister, my cousin and my nieces with the Matriarch herself, Babcia Apolonia, at my bridal shower in 2010.

Ailments, Aversions and Attitude

Welcome to Week 9 of pregnancy, where pregnancy symptoms include:

 pregnancy symptoms at 9 weeks

• Moody. Those hormones just keep raging. Sorry mama-to-be -- but they should tone down in the second trimester.
• Morning (or all day) sickness. Do trial and error to see what makes you feel better.
• Frequent peeing, fatigue, nasal congestion and/or headaches (thanks again, hormones).
• Weight gain. You'll likely gain between 1 and 5 pounds during the first trimester.

And I have all of the above.

Ailments:

• Headaches: O.M.G. the headaches!  I've had bouts of bad headaches my whole life, but these are out of the ballpark.  It feels like some gremlin is literally digging his thumbs on both sides of my head trying to squeeze my head flat.  I've noticed that I can temporarily diffuse them by drinking a liter of water, but that helps for like twenty minutes and then I need to drink more water.  Which brings me to
• Peeing: Again, I've never won the award for best bladder, and been known to frequent the loo.  But as hubby will attest to, I now wake up in the middle of the night ON THE HOUR EVERY HOUR, as it feels like the same gremlin is literally sitting on my uterus pushing it down so hard, that I have to run lightening speed to the bathroom ten feet all night long. I guess this is how your body gets you used to sleepless nights
• Fatigue:  I was felling so good those first 6 weeks.  I was running 3 miles a day, and going to a strengthening class every day.  I haven't done jack in two weeks.  Not only can I not muster up the energy to run or attend class, but I now take a daily two hour nap right after work, and yet still am able to fall asleep at 10pm at night.

Aversions:

• I don't have the awful, over the toilet morning sickness.  But I do have the round the clock gagging reflex aversion sickness.  Starting when I wake up, I literally start gagging at the scent of pretty much anything, and can't seem to take anything down except starch - which is the worst thing I can eat for both the baby and me.  Again, the first six weeks I was on a roll cooking homemade lentils, quinoi, kale patties etc.  Now the though of health food grosses me out and all I want is "hangover food," greasy, starchy, nasty fast food, and soup.  I've been trying to be good, so I'll usually start with soup with will quench the hunger, and then I only want starchy food instead of the greasy and starchy food.

Attitude:

• I have no energy for niceties anymore.  I am so uncomfortable all the time, and I am not even showing yet, which makes me even more frustrated because nobody thinks I have an excuse.  All I want is to feel better, or normal, but until these headache and pee gremlins go away, and I can go an hour without gagging....get out of my way!

Chicago Cubs or White Sox?

My husband and I have a lot in common.  We both grew up in Chicagoland, went to private and Jesuit schools, joined the Peace Corps after college, moved to Manhattan after that, and even have heaps of mutual friends made before we met each other.  However, there is one main difference that affects our children, he is a White Sox fan and I am a Cubs fan.

Although we've been discussing it for years, we still have not come to an agreement of how we are going to raise our baby, Sox or Cubs?  My hubby thinks fate will make the baby a Sox fan, since on the day of our wedding, the Sox beat the Cubs in a friendly.  However, fate may just have landed on my side, with a little help from my family.  We received another adorable gift today, this time from my aunt with the following note:

along with this adorable onesie.

Surely, since this is the baby's first outfit, they will be a Cubs fan right?  Only time will tell.  Watch, the baby will follow the Houston Astros.... 

Cousin Love

9 weeks in utero today, Baby Mac got his/her first gift from none other than his cousins (and only aunt)!

My sister sent us one of her kids' favorite bedtime books and a card signed by everyone in the family.

Her son's well wishes made me particularly chuckle.

Baby Mac is so blessed to have these awesome older cousins show him/her the ropes!

First Prenatal Appointment

I've been waiting this day since I found out I was pregnant weeks ago!  Unlike the movies, OBGYNs will not accept an appointment with you right away to confirm your pregnancy.  They actually make you wait until 6-8 weeks fending for yourself wondering if you are eating right, sleeping right, breathing right.  At 7 weeks pregnant, I finally had my first prenatal appointment today.

Unfortunately my husband had to go out of town for business unexpectedly and was unable to accompany me much to his chagrin.  He sent me flowers the day before the appointment to let me know he was thinking about it, such a sweet surprise.

It was extremely difficult getting an appointment with my doctor.  She is one of the best and was only taking selected referrals at the time.  Fortunately we have some doctor friends who helped us make the cut, right before our OBGYN stopped taking new patients all together.  One step into the practice, I knew why.  Clean, beautiful, cozy office in brand new state of the art Women's hospital with a spectacular view of Houston...this is something I can get used too.

After the standard physical, I had my first ever ultrasound.  As soon as I saw my baby, and its heartbeat, and then actually HEARD its little heartbeat, I gasped and giggled uncontrollably.   It REALLY is as shocking and amazing as it may seem in the movies.  I was simply stunned.  I didn't want to stop watching the screen!  Best. Reality. T.V. Show. Ever!

Since I couldn't bring home the ultrasound machine with me, the doctor gave me some photos to dote on in the meantime.  Here they are, first pictures of baby Mac!

The yolk sac provides nutrition to the baby in early pregnancy, filtering in what I eat and drink.

Here are three different views of the baby.  Doc says everything looks good so far.  Next appointment is in 4 weeks!

The Big Annoucement

So, I decided to tell my family that I was pregnant this week.  I know it is early, but even if anything did happen, I'd undoubtedly rely on my family for support so I thought it was time to tell.  Plus, I couldn't wait any longer.

I called my mom and dad on Saturday and told them over the phone first. After many tears, hoorahs and squeals they agreed to keep it a secret for 24 hours until I could tell the rest of the family Sunday night.  My family gets together every Sunday night for dinner at my parents, so I knew that my sister, nieces and nephews, aunt and uncle, cousins, brother and grandmother would all be at my parents house.

I asked them to Skype me before dinner so I could say hi to everyone.  Instead of telling them straight away, I sat my dog Tito on my lap with an "I'm the big brother" bandana on and waited for someone from my family to notice.

My hubby, Tito and I waiting for the family to notice Tito's bandana.

I think one of the kids first read his bandana and exclaimed, "But Tito doesn't have a brother or sister!" Then my brother read the bandana and exclaimed in pure delight, "Oh wait, are you guys getting another dog!!!?"

LOL

I replied, "No, this time it will be a baby."  At that point, everyone started cheering and hoo-hawing, which was immediately followed by a tray of vodka shots brought out by my mother to celebrate Polish-style :)   

All in all, a wonderful way to spread the good news, a close second to being there in person. This baby is going to be brought into a loving and fun family no doubt, lucky kid.  I received the following text from my sister after the dinner.