Bun, meet oven.

So I had my annual gyno appointment today. Was very routine, discussing the usual stuff with the nurse, Tiffany, and mentioned that hubby and I were trying for a baby. She did her thing, blood pressure, height (still only 5'1"...guess I should stop hoping for that 6 inch growth spurt!) etc.

Then Dr. Murahata came in and we chatted for a bit and it occured to me that I should ask for a pregnancy test, even though we've only been "trying" for a short time and my PCOS makes it hard for me to get pregnant, so it would be highly unlikely that I actually was. But I figured, I'm here, we might as well, right? So Dr. M stuck her head into the hall and told Tiffany to do the test before she tossed my sample. Dr. M & I chatted a few minutes about health history and all that normal stuff.

Then Tiffany came back in and changed my life.

She had this huge smile on her face and was sort of tiptoeing in, carrying this little plastic rectangle in her hand. She grinned at me and chirped, "It's positive!" and showed me the two little lines. My heart stopped for a minute and I started doing that simultaneous laughing/crying thing and actually clapped my hand over my mouth to keep in the near-hysterical giggles.
"You're kidding! Oh my god, I totally didn't expect this!" I laughed and Dr. M laughed too, saying, "We can tell!" because I was so obviously bowled over by the news. And then I asked if there was any way if it could be a mistake and she said no because of when I'd had my last temperature spike*. I was so excited I had to pee, even though I'd just peed in a little cup for Tiffany. (I pray this peeing thing is not an indicator of things to come but oh, basically everyone tells me it is. Sigh.)

It turns out that I'm like, two weeks pregnant or something, but thanks to my handy little temperature spreadsheet, I can probably tell you on which exact day I conceived. So right now that means the baby, which I have been calling in my head "the peanut" since April when we got serious about it, is actually nowhere near as big as an actual peanut. Rather, it's just a clump of cells and looks like something you'd find in a petri dish. Actually, it prolly is something you'd find in a petri dish.

I got dressed and made my appointment for my first ultrasound - July 15th. We'll know for sure then when I conceived and what the due date is. I had all these other errands to run after but I was so excited I went straight home to tell Mr. Fantastic. He happened to be home from work today, so he was there when I got in. He was on his way to the bathroom and I just said, "Honey, guess what!" before we'd even said hi. He kissed me hello and then asked what and I told him.
He was as shocked as I was and didn't say anything for a second - then he just grabbed me in this huge hug and kissed me. And then he said things like "You're kidding!" and "This is so cool!" and "Oh, wow, I'm going to be someone's dad," and stuff like that.

Also, I happened to have a home pregnancy test under the bathroom sink, so just to be extra sure, I took it. That second little blue line popped up right away, clear and bright as possible - no faint line to make us unsure. I dunno why I felt compelled to take it - it's not like I don't trust the doc's office; more that I can't believe it happened so quickly and that I didn't trust my body to make it this easy.

Because of the PCOS, Mr. Fantastic and I have talked a lot about what we'd do if we didn't conceive naturally within the first six months. At 35, I'm already a borderline high-risk pregnancy and the PCOS just makes it worse. So we've talked about the whole range of things to do to get a baby, from adoption to IVF to taking fertility drugs. I was already so prepared for there to be problems, it almost didn't occur to me that I might get pregnant without intervention! Who knew.

It is still sinking in and I know a million things can go wrong but it's going to be so hard not to tell EVERYONE! I wanted to wait until I was through the first trimester. However, I'm pretty sure we're going to have to tell soon because we're going to Vegas with Mr. Fantastic's family and my brother Steve next week and his mother at least will wonder why I'm not having a pina colada at the pool! And I can't wait to tell my cousin Heidi (aka H3), who is due Christmas Eve - we both wanted so much to be pregnant together and now we get our wish!

I'm off now to go buy my copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting and maybe one of those Hitchiker's Guide to Babies kind of thing that says "Don't Panic!" on the back for Mr. Fantastic.

*Yes, I've been obsessive about getting pregnant literally since the day I went off birth control back in April. I knew the PCOS was going to make sprogging a challenge so I wanted to do everything I could to help. Anyway, for those not in the know, you have a temperature drop right before and then a spike right after you ovulate. It's supposed to tell you the best days to do the deed. Guess my scientific method helped out after all! And now I can stop being on hold for that fertility-diet book at the library that I've been waiting two months for.

And so the 12 Days of My Birthday begin!

Yes, if you're a longtime reader, you will recall that 'round about this time every year, we start the twelve days of my birthday, wherein I have somehow wrangled my loved ones into celebrating my birthday numerous times over about a two week period.

So Saturday was the Fantastic Family birthday BBQ - Mr. Fantastic's birthday is on the 24th, mine's this Friday on the 20th - so every year we have a combined family BBQ to celebrate our birthdays. We had a wonderful time at Mummy Fantastic's, BBQ'd steaks and corn and had ice cream cake and got pressies. One of my brothers couldn't be there and one of Mr. F's brothers and his family couldn't be there, so we missed those guys, but it was still great.

Got some nice gifts, including movies passes and a gift card to PF Chang's and t-shirts with names of our fantasy football teams on them. And Mummy Fantastic gave us each $100 cash for our upcoming trip to Vegas. All in all, a great start to birthday season! Happy 29v6th birthday to me!

Weekend update

Phew! What a busy weekend.

~ Thursday, played poker with Vader and our friends Daniel and Jesse stopped by. Was great to see all of them. Haven't been playing much poker lately...just not as fun as it used to be. Now I mostly go to socialize and the poker is secondary. It's funny - I hang out with Vader a lot and everybody tends to think we're dating. One of the guys at the poker table started to tell me he thought I was pretty and then stopped and apologized to Vader for basically hitting on his girlfriend, and Vade was like, "No, no, it's okay, dude - I mean, she's married, just not to me!" and then he looks at me and says, "OMG, if we keep hanging out, I am never getting laid." Lulz!

~ Friday, went to cousin H1's where her in-laws, who have a spa in Larkspur, come up a couple times a month and do a spa day at her house. So I got a hot stone facial, which was excellent. If you've never done it, you should. Now I want to get a whole hot stone body massage. I was so relaxed after the facial, I can't imagine how I'd feel after the massage. Anyway, H & T actually went to the Rockies game but I stayed and had dinner with the 'rents and the twins and T's cousin, which was a lot of fun. I think I got my first mosquito bite in years, but it was worth it sitting out in the back yard having a glass of wine and chatting. Oh, and I got to meet their new puppy, Jax, who is an 11 week old Shiba Inu and quite possibly the cutest dog I have ever seen in my life.

~ Saturday I went to cousin H3's and we went to this flea-markety thing which was lame but we also had lunch which was good. Then we went to her house and she showed me her kitchen remodel plans - their house is gorgeous to begin with, but the kitched was outdated. The new kitchen is going to be so cool. And then we ended up in her closet having me try on a bunch of her dresses because I've had no luck finding a dress for my upcoming trip to Vegas with Mr. F, a bunch of his family and my brother Steve. Anyway, she had this one adorable dress in a size 12 that I didn't want to try on because I thought it would be too small, but she forced me to try it on anyway because it's so cute - and it was too big! No so big that I can't get away with wearing it, but still, I was shocked that I fit into it. Still have some body dysmorphia going on, I guess. I ended up with three dresses and another outfit that she's letting me borrow and I am so excited! For once I'm going to look cute in Vegas. And she's all excited for me to wear her dresses because, as I have mentioned, she is knocked up and won't be wearing them for a while. Oh - that reminds me, her due date is Christmas Eve - the same birthday as Steve!

Then after I got home from H3's, I went and met H & T and Co at the People's Fair. Always good fun, food, people watching. And I just live a few blocks away so I was able to avoid the parking hassle and just walk down to meet them. And H and I got matching mendhi on our ankles - the Japanese symbol for happiness. Now I have an idea if I want to get a tatto there or not. (I'm thinking prolly not. I should take a picture and see what you think.)

~ Sunday I spent the day with Steve and Dad. We had lunch and then went and tried out Steve's new Wii. It was excellent fun! If I was ever going to allow a video game in my house, it would be the Wii. We did all sorts of games - tennis, bowling, boxing, baseball, etc. I absolutely loved the boxing; Dad prefers the bowling. And there was some awesome slasher game called No More Heroes which was incredibly complicated but totally sweet. Ooh, and we did Guitar Hero, which Steve rocked and I TOTALLY sucked at. Failed every song I tried. I did kick his ass at the boxing, though. Lots of fun.

Sweet!

I'm flipping channels and just watched a dog walk up a flight of stairs carrying a glass of water on its head. Yes, we are all aware that I'm a huge dork. I'm sorry, I can't help it. That was FUCKING AWESOME.

Still need your myCoke rewards

Hey, my brother is still collecting myCoke rewards codes. If you have any that you won't be using yourself, we'd be thrilled if you'd give them to him.

The reward codes come on most Coke products, including Minute Maid juices, PowerAde, and Dansani water in 20 oz. bottles. They're found inside the bottlecap or the 12-packs.

You can donate your codes via the web - he's made a webpage where you can post your codes directly. No signup or screen name needed - you can even post your codes anonymously.

Thanks much in advance, and please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in helping!

Seriously. BABIES. EVERYWHERE.

Stay away from me if you don't want to get knocked up! Apparently I am harboring some sort of pregnancy-inducing virus that only I am immune to. Because EVERYONE I KNOW? IS PREGNANT. Seriously, even males of my acquaintance should start steering clear, just in case.

Today I got a call from my cousin H3...turns out, she's pregnant too! Kisses and congratulations to her and Mr. H3...I'm so excited for them. ♥ And wouldn't it be so cool if I could manage to get myself sprogged relatively soon so that we can be preggers together? Eee! C'mon, body, get with the program! *shakes fist*

Oh! And I forgot to mention previously that my friend Michelle just had her second baby on Tuesday - a little girl named Morgan Paige. Aww. Now can I have one of my own?

No, really! It's me!

Last night someone I know pretty well but haven't seen in about eight months didn't recognize me. Heh.

I was at a bar with my good friend Vader*, and our buddy Kevin who we used to play poker with once a week walked in. Vader called him over and they exchanged hellos, and then Kevin turned to me, stuck out his hand and introduced himself. I laughed and told him it was me and he was absolutely shocked. Like, surprised into momentary silence. He said he thought I was Vader's new girlfriend! And then he apologized all over the place until I explained that no, really, it's a compliment.

[dork]Made me feel good, especially to know that I am apparently cute enough to be a hot guy's girlfriend. [/dork]

*Not his real name.

Babies, babies everywhere. Except here.

I recently had the following conversation with my dad. He was asking me about how things were going on the finally-getting-him-a-grandkid front and wanted to know about the, er, process as far as the surgery and the PCOS and everything.

Me: blah blah a year after surgery blah blah OBGYN said to go off birth control and use an alternate method for a month.
Dad: Alternate method? What's that?
Me: Non-hormonal.
Dad: What do you mean?
Me: *leading* Something different from the pill that doesn't use hormones...
Dad: ...
Me: CONDOMS, Dad. *headdesk*
Dad: Oh! Right.

God love him. And please don't make me ever have to say "condoms" to my dad again.

In related news, you may be pleased to know that I have finally gotten my period. Only 17 days late! Oh body, how I curse your wackiness. In similar related news, WHY IS EVERYONE PREGNANT BUT ME? We just got back from my friend Erin's daughter Georgia's first birthday party. Erin is due with her second on October 8. My friend Sarah is due with her second on November 3. And my friend Cherie is due with her third in like a month. This is like when you buy a new car and suddenly realize that everybody else has that same car. SIGH.

*\o/* Well done, California.

California ban on same-sex marriage struck down

Iron Man

Saw Iron Man. LOVED IT.

Seriously, it had some problems but I DIDN'T CARE. I'm a total sucker for big hardware. I love explosions and battles and things that fly and Iron Man had all of that. And it had a cleaned-up version of Robert Downey Jr. who was HOT LIKE FIRE. Yum.

So, yes, a couple of problems - [SPOILER ALERT] (highlight to read) the plot was a bit predictable, the explanation about the heart thing didn't make sense later, because they said it would take a week to kill him and then when the bad guy stole it, Stark was immediately feeling the effects. I tried to chalk it up to the pain he must obviously be experiencing. And at the end, it took Stane exactly no time to figure out how to use the super-suit when it took Stark a good while to master his. [/SPOILER]

Other than that, I was completely GLEEFUL through the entire thing. There was much squeeful bouncing and clapping and intent starting at the screen.

RDJ was totally hot, he looks so good now. And he got seriously ripped for this part - his arms and chest looked fantastic. And can we talk about the Iron Man suit? The suit fucking ROCKED. All the versions of it - and that's something else I really loved, watching him make each version. Again, geek for hardware. And his awesome computer system/CAD/butler/AI thingy was super cool. Gwyneth Paltrow didn't bug me at all, Jeff Bridges was great, and I suprisingly adored Terrence Howard as Tony Stark's buddy/mentoree, Jim Rhodes.

For your Iron Man needs, check out Inside The Suit. It's an LG phone promo, but if you enter the code LG883, you can access some nifty extras - video, stills, wallpapers, etc. Plus, I entered the contest to win the cool Iron Man phone.