It was a nice try...

Looks like this pregnancy is going the way the five before it did - another miscarriage. That makes six total for those keeping count. I'll talk to my doctor tomorrow about next steps - I'm guessing I wasn't on the right dosage of blood thinner.

Ah well - it was a good effort.

Doctor AND Hair Appt? In ONE DAY?

Today was a busy day at the Ritchie house. First, my housecleaners came at an earlier time. Those of you who haven't hired housecleaners may not understand the stress this causes.

It takes way longer to clean up before the cleaners actually get here than it does for the cleaners to actually clean my house. I mentioned this to my sister, who responded "Uh, YEAH - you're doing all the hard stuff." I sort of disagree with her. I think any job that requires a toilet brush is considered hard.

So they came at 11:30 instead of 1:00 so Jason and I could go to my doctor appointment. I got my first ultrasound today. Because I am a high-risk pregnancy, this is the first of hopefully many ultrasounds. I am so barely pregnant (5 weeks, 5 days or thereabouts) my doctor wasn't sure he would be able to see anything yet. Well, he thinks he saw the gestational sac, but he's not sure and couldn't get a picture. That's comforting! So, I'll go in on Monday and get another blood test to make sure it's still on track, and if it is, I'll get another ultrasound next Friday.

So after that weird non-event, I went to see my awesome hairdresser Kati to get my hair cut, finally. I was supposed to go at the end of February, but Jason's dad got sick and with everything going on I kept putting it off. It's actually good that I let it grow so long. See, I don't make decisions about my hair anymore. Kati is in complete and total control of what my hair looks like. The first time I met her, I said to her, "I'm going to be quiet and read this magazine, and not look at what you're doing, until you're completely finished. Are you okay with that?" She immediately said "Yes" in her Chilean accent and I knew I was at the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I don't know why I trusted her so completely that first meeting. We still talk about it. I think it's her confidence. She's the expert, and she is good at what she does.

About six months ago Kati decided I was going to grow my hair out. I have all but given up on ever having hair that was longer than 3/4 of an inch. Every time I tried to grow it longer my head would turn into a giant mushroom. My hair didn't grow down, it grew out. Turns out I hadn't met the right stylist. I let Kati shape and style my hair throughout the process and didn't even realize I was growing it out until last week, I instinctively put it in a ponytail - albeit a tiny one.

My hair is now exactly how Kati envisioned it and I am telling you I never thought my hair could do this. It's straight, and it actually bounces! My hair has never bounced!

Here's a pic:




Kati is a genius. She's opening her own salon next month and I will of course follow her anywhere.

We then had dinner at Bubbe's house - yummy sweet and sour chicken with rice, salad and fresh berries for dessert - very healthy and delish. Bubbe generously took care of Charlie all afternoon while I was getting probed and primped. We went home and after C went to bed, we got things ready for our 1st ever garage sale, which will be happening tomorrow morning, bright and early!

Oh. We're still struggling with potty training.

Changes

It's been a long, long time since I posted anything. My apologies - things have been bizarre around here.

Most of you know that Jason's father died on March 1. I haven't known what to say about it, so I haven't posted anything. It's been a huge adjustment, an enormous change in our lives. There's a hole in our family now. I have found myself trying to be upbeat and talkative when sadness comes around. Turns out I'm not too comfortable with emotion. Time doesn't heal, but it softens the edges a bit. We have developed new routines. We've been keeping Andie busy. We're all doing our best.

I've done my best to distract everyone by getting pregnant - again. This is the 7th time I've been pregnant. You all know I have just the one kid, so do the math. This time, though, I am under the care of a specialist who has me giving myself daily injections of a blood thinner right into my belly. I'm also on progesterone, high doses of folic acid, and baby aspirin. I'm about 6 weeks along. I've toyed with waiting until 12 weeks to report the news, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. One, with the conditions I have (Factor V Leiden and MTHFR) the risk for miscarriage does not reduce after the first trimester, like it does for most women. Awesome. So waiting until 12 weeks doesn't make much sense. Two, this is what we're going through right now - it's exciting and scary and painful and full of possibilities. It's life at a time we've been through so much death. I'm okay with tell you all if you're okay with the possibility that at any time within the next 34 weeks I could come back here and tell you it's all over. It's sad, but it's reality. And hopefully, under the care of my doctor, I won't be reporting any bad news at all!

Charlie has been the light for all of us the last couple of months. He's ginormously huge. Tall. I don't know how that happened, since his parents are not giants by any means. I still haven't cut his hair. He talks all the time, elaborate discussions that begin with "Sometimes....." or "One day....." or "One night....." His favorite book is "Oh, the Places You'll Go." He knows all of the words. He's interested in adding. He gets to walk the dog on the dirt path portion of our walk - he switches the leash from one hand to the other behind his back like a pro. He's been spending a lot of time with his Bubbe. He has lots of friends, both in our little neighborhood and in his playgroup. He gives us "O" kisses and says, "I love you TOO". We're always amazed by his happiness and excitement.

So that's the Ritchies right now. We're riding the roller coaster!