13 weeks, and the reaction

13 weeks this past weekend! Yay! I celebrated by feeling terrible again and relaxing on the couch all day. I've come to realize that in my newly pregnant state, I'm unable to tolerate the heat. Or at least, that is my interpretation of why every time it gets above 75 degrees here in Boston, I seem to shut down. On Saturday I walked to our town center, about a 3/4 of a mile walk, in about 85 degree heat, and ended up totally sick again that evening. It was hot, but I walked slowly, and with water, and it wasn't THAT far! Regardless, I was out for the count the rest of the night and all of Sunday. I feel like such a weakling every time it happens, even though Josh is fabulously understanding. He never complains about taking over the brunt of the housework, and reassures me constantly that he understands, all while fetching juice and water and snacks.

Last night at 10:30pm, he even drove to the grocery store to purchase green olives stuffed with jalapenos (I know, yuck) and plums, because after seeing people on the television having martinis with olives in them, I became desperate for them. The olives, not the martinis. And plums, well, just because. I have no explanation for the strange combinations.

I also told my work last week, and wisely told the head of our department, who is a woman with three children. They were very excited! In fact, the head of the department jumped up and down! And then another senior partner told me to name the baby after him, whether it was a girl or a boy. I told a couple of the other partners, and a few associates, but left the news to travel on its own to most people. So far, everyone has been very enthusiastic and excited. The partners have offered part-time (3 days a week) or flex-time (4 days or some other combination of home and in-office work) or any other combination I'd like, as alternatives after the baby is born. I'm definitely coming back to work for a number of reasons, but I will likely have to wait and see how I feel after the baby is born before deciding the number of days I'll work. I can also take extended maternity leave, although my regular maternity leave is 5 and a half months, and my mom thinks that might be enough time for me. We'll have to wait and see.

I was extremely nervous going in to tell them, but was very pleasantly surprised. It was a great experience, and everyone has been happy and excited for us. The head of the group even gave me lots of breastfeeding and pumping advice, since she pumped for all of her kids even after she came back to work and breastfed for over a year. I feel very supported, which is great.

And just in time, because I am starting to show these days! Only two people told me that they'd wondered about my new growing belly, which surprised me, because I am finding it rather obvious. Today is the first day that my stomach appears to be bigger than my boobs! I figure that is the big giveaway to most people.

So all in all, it has been a good week. I have ups and downs with the nausea, but I feel good most of the time. The best part of all this is that I am starting to get very excited over the whole thing! We have done absolutely nothing with regard to the pregnancy, and we are probably going to start some minor preparations soon, especially while I feel good. The guest room that will be the nursery is in shambles, so we'll have to start emptying and rearranging that stuff around the house. The closet is still full of Josh's clothes, so we'll have to empty that too, and then I might start looking at paint samples.

I can't remember if I've mentioned that we aren't finding out what this baby is, so I can go ahead and look at colors and bedding if I feel like it. Josh thinks we should get two sets of bedding, one girl and one boy, and then return whichever one we won't use. I have to decide if I want to do that, or pick something unisex. I have lots of time, though!