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As you might have already noticed I did a minor re-design of the blog. I felt I needed something bright and happy, now that we are squarely in the pregnancy territory.

Once Alexis arrives, I’m thinking about completely re-doing the layout and possibly going with two sidebars and of course lots of pictures with our little girl.

Aside from the design, there are a few other changes to make life easier for you and me.

SIDEBAR

1. Along with subscribing by email or through an RSS feed, you can now subscribe to my blog through BlogLovin’ if that’s what you use to read blogs.  See the sidebar for the links.
If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, you’re always welcome to say hi and follow.

2. If you’d like to include our button on your blog, feel free to grab it from the sidebar.

3. The biggest change that is bound to make your life easier is the addition of Google Friend Connect.

You can now sign in and comment through your Google ID as well as add this blog to your account for easier access.
Please see the sidebar and connect.
To comment with your Google ID, just make sure you’re signed in ( there’s a little sign-in button at the bottom of the comment form), that way you won’t need to enter your information.

4. I also added 3 sections on the sidebar with the sites I frequently use: FOR MOMMY, FOR BABY and HOME DECOR.

4. I’ve never pointed it out before, but if you’re pregnant, TTCing (TTC= trying to conceive) or about to start TTCing, there are a few pages I put together with the research I’ve done going through the journey myself. That way you don’t have to search out the blog to find needed information.

The top bar has a page, called PRE-CONCEPTION RESOURCES. It lists ALL the steps we took in preparation for TTCing with links to appropriate posts, as well as some useful items, including THE BEST BOOK you could possibly read before trying to conceive.  Our actual TTC phase didn’t last long. Well, technically, we didn’t even have a TTC phase, since we got pregnant the first month, but I feel that a year of preparations was like spending a year TTCing.

The other useful page is called PREGNANCY RESOURCES. Since I’m only half way into this pregnancy, there is only some information there ( will be updated as I get further along). You can find a list of harmful herbs , all known teratogens ( substances that cause birth defects), water filters, pregnancy safe skin routine, maternity sleeping bras. I also listed ALL the pregnancy books I’ve read and which ones are a MUST and which ones are a PASS ( Like Bruno says “Nicht Nicht! or Ja! Ja!”)

And finally, NUTRITION. This page contains all the posts I did as a part of GET FIT GET HEALTHY challenge. This blog is not meant to be about nutrition, but I didn’t want those few things that were written about nutrition to be lost in the maze of this blog’s archives.

This blog was started as a way to record all the things we were going through to prepare to start TTCing. I spent about a year in just preparations, and I didn’t want all the information to be wasted. So the blog was started as a way to give women, who were going through the same phase, all the information I’ve gathered, save them time and headache. And while it morphed into a more personal blog about our journey, I would like to continue putting together all and any useful information I come across in the meantime.

5. Finally, please feel free to contact me via email (contact {at} prebabyblog.com) I love getting emails from you guys and will be happy to answer questions or just say hi!

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So we are done with  TTCing for this month. I have no idea whether I am pregnant or not. I also have no idea whether I could be pregnant. My BBT sort of gave out on me this month. The temperatures are making no sense, but I did switch the time when I take it, so I don’t know.  I’m usually pretty regular with my ovulation, so we’ll see. Also since we’re trying the Shettle’s method that has us TTCing 2-3 days BEFORE ovulation, I don’t think there’s a big chance that I could be pregnant this month.

And I am totally OK with that.

It’s kind of funny because I always read that “sex on schedule” will be boring and a chore. It couldn’t be far from the truth for us. We had so much fun trying that, honestly, it would be just fine if we get to do it next month {wink wink}. We both found it fun and exciting and couldn’t wait to get out hands on each other. I realize it’s the first month only, but I don’t see this getting old :)

Right now, hubster is super protective of me, which I love (in case I am pregnant, his words too, not mine). He is the one telling me that we have to think of it like it already happened, and think good positive thoughts. I am in the process of reading a fascinating book about the life of unborn babies and how our moods and feelings influence them and I re-tell him everything I find interesting. He has taken it so seriously, and asks me every hour how I am feeling and whether I’m positive and happy :)

So honestly, this rocks!

However, I am being very pragmatic and realistic, and not keeping my hopes up,  because I know the average chances are 25%, plus the fact that we’re avoiding the ovulation day and one before, and that probably takes it down to 5% or so.

We will keep on trying if it doesn’t happen this month or next and I will notify all of you as soon as it happens.

Oh and here’s what I decided about “to tell or not to tell” dilemma:

I am not a secretive person, and I hate keeping things from people because that makes me feel conniving. Plus, this blog is specifically a baby blog, so it’d be silly to ignore the first 3 months of pregnancy and not journal  here.

So I decided to annouce it here within a week or two of getting a positive pregnancy test (or earlier). However, I will not post it on Facebook or other social networks, neither will I tell anyone outside of this blog except for my family.

My closest friends, who I love and want to know about it, already read this blog. I will, though, make sure to tell them personally as soon as I find out. The rest are people I do not know in person, so I am not afraid of judgement or anything like this-  and I’d love support and feedback.

Those people that I wouldn’t want to know, in case that a miscarriage occurs, do not know about this blog.

So I think I feel pretty comfortable with that.

{I was going through our wedding photos and re-editing them and I bumped into this one. I love it and it’s so fitting: showing the beginning or our relationship, the excitement and the beginning of our new chapter in life}

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Do you guys LOVE getting mail?
Like going to the box and finding something there that is not junk?

Well, today I finally got an official acknowledgement from Blue Cross and Blue Shield that my new health insurance policy ( with maternity option) is going to start on March 1st!

That means that with my wisdom teeth gone and the insurance in force starting March 1, there is nothing holding us back from ditching birth control ( YIKES!) and doin’  THE NASTY!!!!

Well, except the 30 days waiting period before conception after the coverage starts ( but do we have to concentrate on that?). So the actual date WILL be April 1st like originally expected. But now it’s confirmed!

My thoughts on all this:

1. OMG Am I ready? I’m not ready! I don’t think I am ready! Shiiiiiit!!!!!  *breathe…*

2. Am I sure there isn’t something else I haven’t taken care of that I should prior to TTCing? (Vaccines-check! Pre-conception tests, blood work and physical- check! Can his boys swim?-YES! Dental work- check! A year of prenatals- check! Perfect eating habits- Check! Good fitness level- check! Maternity Coverage- (YAY!) MASSIVE CHECK! Ovulation schedule- Check! 3 pre-conception books and 5 pregnancy books read- CHECK! WOW I think I HAVE done it all! You can read about it here)

3.Do i want this? Is it time?  Am I sure? Shiiiiit!!! *breathe….*

4.  If we conceive in April (I know, long shot) according to my ovulation calendar, my due date would be around New Year’s. Not a good thing! Should we postpone it 1 month?

5. Man, we’ll get to have so much sex!!!!! I always want more sex than hubby. But I am not normal. I want to make this thing fun and not stress out about babies since all the planning is done and now it’s all about luck!

6.What am I thinking? I am not even recovered from my teeth surgery. Ay! It hurts…. :(

7.I still can’t believe that all the items on my Pre-conception to do list are done. It took a year of passive planning and 6 months of active planning to get fully ready for this, with the worst things being dental work and switching the health plan to the one with maternity coverage ( did I tell you BCBS health insurance sales people are morons and I had to literally research everything on my own and get answers from managers of managers? It was like pulling teeth)

And maybe soon, closer to the actuall start of TTCing I’ll tell you what we’re going to do to try and maximize our chances of having a girl.

Are you excited for us or what?

{self-portrait}

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Traditionally, one of the first steps of  planning a baby is going off Birth Control. Granted, with me, it takes a bit of a different course with all the pre-conception care and preparedness.
However, last month was my time to unleash the power of natural hormones. Oh boy, did I NOT know what I was getting myself into!

In order for you to understand what I am about to describe and not to schluff me off as one of those hypochondriac-y hysterical pregnancy prone chicks, you need to know this:

I have been on THE PILL my whole adult life. I started when I was 18 and have NEVER been off of it up until now, 8 years later. In addition to that, when I was working as a model in NYC, I had consulted with my doctor and he agreed that it’d be just fine if I were to take the active pills non-stop without making a break for the white placebo pills, thus skipping my period altogether.

I went on living my life without a period for two years, happy as a clam not to experience any side effects of having one. By the end of the 2nd year I was starting to wonder what having a period felt like – I’d completely forgotten. I could not  fathom why girls, who are already on the pill, would even bother putting themselves through the wringer that we call “mothernature’sgiftoallwomen”.
At that point I was completely unfamiliar with the PMS and period symptoms that most women experience monthly.

So when time came to go off my pill, I  cheerfully tossed my used pack in the trash and ignored the annoying daily calls from Target to remind me that my auto-refill prescription is ready.
Condoms became our friend # 1 and I went on to live what I thought was going to be a normal life.

The craziness started with light spotting on day 4-5 after I should have ovulated. I didn’t think much about it until I realized that day, that I had VERY SENSITIVE boobs… Like,the  not normal “can’t wear a shirt without a bra”, “do not touch me” sensitive boobs. I thought back and remembered that we had sex about the time that ovulation should have occurred. My thoughts started racing:”OMG! No way! We used a condom! I don’t have maternity coverage yet! I CAN’T BE PREGNANT YET”! I realized that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if i were to be pregnant, but i would have preferred to have maternity coverage and have my wisdom teeth out, etc etc…

My husband, of course, calmed me down saying that I am silly and there was no way i am pregnant. Ok, so I calmed down. For now. We all know how unreliable condoms can be, but he’s right, I can’t be pregnant.

A few days went by, I kept complaining about how strange it was that my boobs were SOOO Sensitive!!!  And then the emotions started acting up. I think I cried a few times in one day…and more than a few days that week.
“Oh Gosh! - i thought, Here’s the pregnancy emotions! Am i really pregnant? I have never felt that way!” At some point I remember crying in my husband’s arms, complaining about something, and then both of us laughing about how stupid what I am crying about was, which would send me deeper into my weeping hysterical non-sense fit.
“I must be pregnant!”- i thought. I don’t cry, I’m not a cry baby. My friends who know me well are well aware that I don’t cry.

That day I had to do my pre-conception bloodwork and urine test and they discovered some protein in my urine which can be a sign of pregnancy ( strangely enough no pregnancy test was performed), which further proved my fears/hypothesis.

To make a long story short, I waited for my next doctor’s appointment and asked them to do a pregnancy test which came back negative ( of course!) and life went back to normal leaving me wondering why on earth I was experiencing pregnancy symptoms without being pregnant. My husband’s guess was “hysterical pregnancy”, a made-up pregnancy where a woman is so anxious to get pregnant that she thinks she’s feeling the symptoms. I hated this “diagnosis”, because one – I am not anxious to get pregnant, i’m not ready yet on any of the fronts, not until all things are in place; and two- I really felt those things.  I mean, I was crying like a baby over something stupid like forgetting to brush my teeth, then laughing that i was crying over that, then crying because it was …all…. just….sooooo…saaaaaaaaad :) ahahahaha!

When my period finally came, once again proving (Thank God!) that I am not pregnant, a light bulb went off in my head:

I WAS FEELING NORMAL PMS SYMPTOMS!!!!!

The normal hormonal fluctuation and imbalance most women experience monthly and are very used to.

This was absolutely hilarious to me. I hadn’t had a period in so long that I completely forgot what it feels like: the mood swings mid cycle, the sore boobs, breaking out, crying, cramps, bleeding. It was so foreign to me that it never once occurred that what I was feeling could be normal. Most girls were very used to feeling this way and therefore didn’t pay much attention to it. For me, on the other hand, it was all new!

It was very satisfying to tell my husband that I really DID feel those things ( I’m suspecting he thought i was one of those crazy people), that i didn’t invent the symptoms.
We laughed, we cried, it was better than “Cats”, but at least now I know that if I am not supposed to get pregnant, I probably won’t, and it’s just my period :)

As far as protein in my pee, that was something completely different and is another story that you will hopefully hear soon.

Now, make me feel more like a normal (read: not crazy) person and tell me your own pregnancy scare stories in the comments! ( it’s a good time to introduce yourself if you’d like, too)

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Why the picture of my two adorable black kitties, Travis and Casper?

My test for toxoplasmosis antibodies came back. And despite the fact that I grew up with a ton of cats and currently have 4 adorable kitties, I am still NOT immune!

What’s a girl gotta do to get some toxo immunity?

Toxoplasmosis gets transferred from infected meat/animals to humans through their feces or raw/undercooked meat. My cats are indoors but they occasionally run outside.
So now, to my great pleasure, my cat litter duties were transferred to my lovely husband who is not thrilled by the 12 months lying ahead but will do what it takes! Kudos to supportive hubbies!

According to some sources, there’s a very small risk of infecting your baby if you contract the infection within a few months before becoming pregnant. If you know that you’ve been infected recently, some experts suggest waiting for six months before trying to conceive. Congenital toxoplasmosis can affect your baby’s brain, causing problems such as mental or motor developmental delays, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. It can affect other organs too, most commonly the eyes, leading to visual impairment and sometimes blindness.

So as always I’d like to NOT take a risk. Especially considering that darned weakened immune system of a pregnant woman. I tell ya, nature always finds a way to get things done, but damned if it finds the most convenient or best way. So to all us preggos or preggos to be, as if morning sickness, sore boobs, cramps, mood swings, growing belly ( and subsequently growing ass), bad skin are not enough, we’re gifted with a immune system of a 90 year old HIV infected grandma for good 9 months. Thank you, thank you very much Mother Nature!

Oh and did I mention having to squeeze a watermelon out of your hoohaa?
Wonderful!