The Junior Project

Kumquat, Fig & Lime.

Each week a site called BabyCenter emails us an update, which, among other things,  likens the size of our fetuses to various fruits and nuts.  Those above represent weeks ten through twelve, and coincidentally seem like they might also go nicely together in a compote.  Jeanne's been feeling good recently, with the exhaustion of the first trimester starting to finally wane.  And we're anticipating with excitement and lessening trepidation our next big appointment, on February 5th, when we'll find out the sex of the little whippersnappers.  In an exciting development, Lin's mom Patty is going to fly in from Oregon for a couple of days to attend the appointment with us.  At our wedding Patty hit it off famously with my stepmother, Patti, and wanted to see her, so we invited her along too!

My nerves are still a bit on edge, and it didn't help that I got really sick this past week, finally having to submit to antibiotics. It had been a long, lingering chest cold lasting for weeks that reared into a flu-like banshee at the end.  My fever's almost gone and I'm actually feeling better than in a while now, so that's nice. And the nerves, really, they're fine, to be expected...normal, everyone says.

In totally unrelated news, we went to Saturday Night Live last weekend.  A friend was unable to use his tickets and with the help of an acquaintance who works for the show we got them transferred over. Martin Short was in rare form as the host, and Paul McCartney was the musical guest. The stage where the band plays is to the left of the main stage, and our seats were in front of the piano he used for the first number, a sweet, recent love song called "My Valentine".  I'd had a funny interaction with Sir Paul while getting frozen yogurt a couple of summers ago in Amagansett; there were few people around and suddenly I'd locked eyes with someone that turned out to be him.  Pretty much involuntarily I said, "Hi there..." and he responded with a long "Hiiiii."  It was surreal.  Anyway, he also played with the remaining members of Nirvana in the Kurt role, like he had earlier in the week for the Sandy benefit.  At one point I asked Lin who it was that had formed a tight circular huddle just a few feet beneath us, where the stage entrance/exit was; when the huddle broke it was Paul and Dave and Krist that emerged, and made for the stage to play.  It was a sight to see, and the song was pretty good too - Paul can still wail.  Also after the show wrapped, Paul and his band took the stage again and played not one but two(!) Beatles songs,  "Birthday" and "Get Back" - by that point all the chairs had been cleared out from the floor, and probably 200 staffers, vips, and who-knows-who, occupied the floor and it was an exhilarating 8-minute concert.  I won't soon forget it, and I also won't forget how genuinely cool and humble and playful and sweet Paul McCartney is.  Good egg, him.

But all in all, things are good.  The holiday season has revved up, the city is filled with shoppers jamming up the works, and there's plenty to be cheerful for.  A work trip of mine to Idaho got cancelled, replaced with what will be my last trip to the Hamptons, followed by a final trip to the Bahamas. Followed by a couple of more weeks at work in the city and then... on to a little rest and then something new, to be determined...

Merry Christmas! 

 

 

 

Bleating Heart.

I've been dreaming a lot. The other night it was that I had a baby goat and no clue how to feed it.  That it was my goat was clear, but I was doing a horrible job taking care of the thing.  I said in my sleep something about a bleating goat, which probably sounded a hell of a lot like bleeding goat to Lin, bemused by my side.  The night after I dreamt that I had the two developing embryos in my possession, each in its own quart-sized ziploc bag and floating in liquid, which seemed reasonable at the time. Thing was, I lost and then couldn't find them.  This was less a dream than a loop that replayed unceasingly throughout the night. Pregancy and parenting anxiety is strongly indicated.

It's been a great few weeks, though.  Lin switched to working days, at least temporarily, so we get to do things together during the week, which is a treat.  We saw a production of The Exonerated, which shook and inspired us both, we hosted a beaujolais nouveau party which evolved into a 2am dance party, we spent a weekend outside Woodstock with friends and another in Harbour Island over Thanksgiving.  The holiday season is upon us -- even if it was unsettlingly 63 degrees today - and there is plenty to celebrate and be grateful for.

We had another ultrasound this past Tuesday.  What Google Maps advised us would be a two-and-a-half hour drive to Norwich, Connecticut in fact took four hours, but we made it to the tail end of the appointment, in time to see those heartbeats again - still two!  We also heard them in all their rabbit-fast glory!  No gasp from Lin this time, but Jeanne's friend, who was also in the exam room, said our faces were something as we comprehended the sound. It was wild.

It's a delicate process, letting ourselves get excited again.  Last summer's setback is increasingly in the rear-view, but we don't want to get burned again.  That said, the doctor told us that the chance of an early miscarriage at this point is "very low", and he even offered us his congratulations. Which is a load off. But being at only 10-and-a-half weeks still, I expect another twisted dream or two in the near future.

At this point Jeanne has been "released" to her own doctor, and our frequent trips to Boston are at an end. The IVF clinic will be there for us if anything goes awry, but at this point it's just like any other pregnancy, with standard check-ups and appointments along the way.  As aided by science as this pregnancy has been, it's now gliding into the deliciously humdrum state of: routine.

It's been fun telling a wider circle of friends  and acquaintances about the pregnancy.  The response is universally happy, and inspiring to us. People seem to think we're going to be pretty good parents. Maybe I can record a few saying such things, and play it back to myself as I fall asleep. 

I leave for two weeks of work travel on the 19th of December, after which I'll be phasing out of the job I've had for nearly six years.  With twins on the way, I won't be able to travel as I have, and new opportunities and adventures of all kinds should be unfolding in the new year. I'm excited.

Happy holidays, y'all.