Holidays

Steve doesn't believe in Mother's Day in much the same way that I do not believe in sex before ten o'clock in the morning. Although we could both justify our positions with sound reasoning (Steve arguing against commercialism, no doubt, while I would point to the well-known dangers of exposing oneself to the unhealthful effects of morning air, particularly after exertion) I think the fact of the matter is we really just don't want to be bothered.

And it is fine, usually. The lack of a well-financed (Patrick made me a card at school) Mother's Day, I mean. You would have to ask Steve how he feels about the moratorium on morning intimacy, although do wait until noon, won't you? He's strangely grumpy before then... . Anyway, I do not need Steve to buy me something for Mother's Day. It's enough to have Patrick insist that I hold his hand at Lands End so that *I* don't get lost. What else does any mother need, really?

I say "usually", though, because this year I really wanted Steve to get me something. Not because I was feeling especially in need of a big "Thanks for being the greatest mother in the world to our precious child, my darling" but because there was a watch I particularly wanted. The three of us had been in a store the week before and there was a watch made out of Scrabble tiles that I wanted more than I have ever wanted anything since Barbie's Dream House (which I never got, by the way). I drew Steve's attention to the watch. I tried it on for him to admire. I mentioned what a thoughtful gift it could make, especially with Mother's Day just around the corner. I rhapsodized on the importance of supporting local artists. He merely looked noncommittal.

I was hopeful that he would surprise me with it after all but that Sunday passed. No watch. Alas.

This past Tuesday I came home from running errands and found a neatly wrapped box on my desk. Inside was my Scrabble watch.

"Happy Feast of Maximum Occupancy!" yelled Steve. He is stubborn in his adherence to his beliefs, but sweet nonetheless.    

++

I am feeling really weird about the ultrasound tomorrow. I admit that my uncharacteristic confidence from the past week has faded, daily. I am no longer expecting to breeze into that dark little room tomorrow and start naming the twins. In fact I have no idea why I thought this was such a certainty in the first place. TWO? Do I look like the sort of person who is suddenly going to have TWO healthy embryos? Of course not. And don't I usually get morning sickness by now? Where's the morning sickness? Why do I feel so spectacularly unpregnant?

I am getting nervous again and I hate it.

Ultrasound tomorrow afternoon. Update posted at REDBOOK.

PS I just saw my reflection in the window and I have only now realized EXACTLY who I look like when the humidity gets this high. Remember the hairy little neanderthal kid in Land of the Lost? What was his name, do you recall? Whatever it was I look like his sister.

Comments

[Pam L]

Pakuni?, and I didn't even watch the show I had to look it up. Ooo, you make me work sometimes looking up the odd Voltaire reference and wondering if the Seige of Drogheda was something I should really know about.
Mother's Day here is always about plants. And the gift is from my son((s), when there were two here.) At first, when we were poor it was maybe a garden mum, then it was a rose bush. This year it was 2 large honeysuckles from the younger (thanks to Dad's $$) and my oldest brought me a small cappucino maker. We are co-dependent in our coffee addictions. We didn't LET him drink it when he lived here but I didn't set the best example to prevent it either. The Scrabble watch sounds awesome. have you played the new improved Super Scrabble version? It's great, you play longer and the scores are much higher. Fun for all, espcially for me when the hubby didn't know there was such a thing as an adz and challenged me. Ha!

[kathleen999]

First pregnancy of mine was a girl (miscarried at 10 weeks) and I had bad morning sickness. Started every afternoon at about 1pm though. Twin boys pregnancy, no morning sickness. I started having to keep food in my stomach at all times at about 6 weeks in, though. But I never threw up once.

My sister and mom said I'd have really bad morning sickness because they did with every pregnancy. But apparently with twin boys it was a different set of rules. I'm just saying that you never know.

How was the m/s with Patrick?

[electric boogaloo]

Oh man I hate the nervousness part. Hold onto the backwards-universe magic thinking. Redbook! Focus on how much you want to not be pregnant for REDBOOK. That will keep you pregnant like nobody's business.

Good luck tomorrow. For super real.

[cathy b]

I think the kid from Land of the Lost was called Chuka. And whenever I see Ron Howard's little brother, he reminds me of him, although I don't think he was the actor inside all that fur.

I empathize. I have hair like that, too.

Happy Maximum Occupancy!

[kelli]

I never got the Barbie Dream House, either - dammit!

[Lisa V]

I hate those bitches Trepidation and Fear put Hope in the closet. Tomorrow may she run free once again.

[Sally]

Lots of luck tomorrow. If your technician has the clover on their belly, then all the better.
And yes - Chucka, or Chukka. Why couldn't we all be blessed with hair like Isis instead? AND Chucka - HE SO DOES REMIND ME OF RON HOWARD'S BROTHER TOO and that is so strange because I was just thinking that as I read the previous comment. It's not him?

[Jaz]

Chaka.

And I have spectacularly flat hair that won't hold a curl and it just gets flatter in humidity. So I have no sympathy there.

Anxiously waiting to read your post tomorrow, and keeping my fingers crossed, and sending as many healthy pregnancy vibes that a woman with no uterus can possibly send.

[ProfessorDog]

I love the Feast of Maximum Occupancy. I want to be the kind of person who celebrates bizarre, random holidays, but I never remember in time for any of them--I'm lucky everything about American mass culture makes it impossible to overlook Christmas, or I'd be the one showing up every year two hours late with presents I bought at the gas station.

Anyway, good luck with the u/s.

[terri c]

Everything crossed here; warm wishes heading to you.

[Beth]

James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree took great care of his mother though he was only three.

Does Patrick know that poem?

[Slim]

Sally's comment made me snort. Good luck in the land of the Care Bears.

When the m/s runs you down like a locomotive, do we get to tell you you wanted it?

PS Who DID get a Barbie Dream House? Or an Easy-Bake oven? We know you're out there, so 'fess up. Were you also the first one picked in gym?

[reenie]

Thinking happy baby thoughts today...also, how many people are allowed to eat at the Feast of Maximum Occupancy - I can never remember what #, if any, was on that sign. If only I could call into work for something like that. It MIGHT work, my bosses know how much I love food. MMMMM Sacrilicious.

[swissmiss]

Hope the ultrasound goes well.

For what it's worth, I felt spectacularly unpregnant my entire pregnancy with my singleton son. I used to wish for morning sickness just to be reassured...

[Mary]

Slim, I got the Easy Bake Oven BUT it didn't work. "Santa" returned it and did not bring home a replacement. My sister and I added water to the cake mixes I kept and ate the batter unbaked. Still have my one and only Barbie, though, complete with chewed-on shoes and no Dream House.

[Candy]

This year for Mother's Day I got a puppy. I didn't want a puppy. I wanted two kids to go to college so I could get my life back. (Oh I'll miss them and all, but ooh, to be able to go away for the weekend with the husband after 18 years.)

So, I wanted an herb garden.

And I got a puppy.

[maggie]

Good luck with the ultrasound! I have a lovely pendant with my initial made of a Scrabble tile, but a watch sounds pretty divine.

[cursingmama]

For Mothers Day I got a vase (stolen from my collection) covered in tissue paper & glue. It's pretty but we all know the moment I try to use it the glue will get sticky, the color will run out of the tissue paper, I'll get pissy and throw the thing away.
So, basically I lost a vase for mothers day.

Now I'm waiting for Maximum Occupancy Day - but know it's way too late for that too.

++++++++
hope your gel is warm and the wand is kind

[Kay]

Heh. I'm still waiting on my Valentine's Day gift, my 6th anniversary gift, my Mother's Day gift, and my birthday gift. I've decided not to hold my breath, since my kids *do* need a mother. My son was sick the week before Mother's Day, so I didn't even get a handmade craft. Not a single card, even. Bummer. The same for my birthday which was 4 days later.

[Sadie]

I had a Barbie Dream House, but before anyone hisses or throws things in my direction, my dad got it out of the garbage. So it was missing some doors and windows, and of course it was only the house itself, no furniture.

What a thoughtful husband you have, and good luck at your ultrasound.

[Isabel]

Oh, I can't believe I'm doing the whole I-had-the-same-thingy-and-it-worked-out-great-so-don't-worry. I NEVER do this. But here it goes anyway: the ONLY time a pregnancy stuck was with my twin boys and I never had one day of nausea. Freaked the hell out of me for a good 4 months. I felt unbelievably un-pregnant until I was clearly showing at 3 months, and STILL I was skeptical because of the lack of nausea...

Wishing you all the very, very best u/s results!

[Jana - theboysmom]

OK, never seen Land of the Lost but I also have thick wavy hair and I used to walk around looking like a frizzball all of the time UNTIL I walked into Linens N Things one day a couple of weeks ago and stumbled upon a hairdryer that has changed my life. It's called a Conair Infiniti and it had an "As Seen on TV" sticker on it but I have never seen the informercial for it. It has this comb/straightener attachement to it and ceramic and tourmaline parts. Whatever, all I know is that it works and I love it. And, it takes so much less time than the drying, straightening and flipping the ends that I had been doing.

Gifts- My dh and I buy ourselves whatever we want. We don't hint and beg and get upset when we don't get something we really wanted. We just buy it. Glad you got your watch!

Good luck today!

[Mandy]

I'm glad you received the watch for,er, Maximum Occupancy day. :) He's sweet despite his stubbornness.

Good luck - I'm really pulling for you.

[Steph]

I only got the Barbie Country Camper because my parents split up three days before my birthday. I can still remember the way the vinyl on that thing smelled.

[Beth]

Best of luck today!

[Denise]

Scrabble watch? I want one!

Simpsons' reference? I didn't get it on my own; had to look it up.

Thinking good thoughts for you on the ultrasound.

[Denise]

Scrabble watch? I want one!

Simpsons' reference? I didn't get it on my own; had to look it up.

Thinking good thoughts for you on the ultrasound.

[Catizhere]

I was driving home the other night & some reporter came on the radio who's last name was heard in my head as "sleestak".
I could NOT remember what show that was from.
Thank you Julia.

[BG]

I hope today goes perfectly. I have a good feeling though about this time, a really good feeling.

[libby]

Chaka. I have Chaka hair as well, and I live in Seattle, so it's often Chaka-esque here. I sympathize with you.

Here's hoping your uterus is at Maximum Occupancy, and stays that way.

[Natalee]

I too, never received the Barbie Dream House. My feeble attempts to fashion one out of cardboard boxes were never quite as satisfactory.

I am almost 30 and still bitter. How pathetic is that?

[bec]

Beth beat me to it, but Patrick might enjoy "When We Were Very Young" by AA Milne. The poem "Disobediance" in particular.

[Anita]

I feel too stalkerish on REDBOOK....but POST!!

POST!! I am so sure it's good news!!!

[Ollie]

Happy Maximum Occupancy. Brilliant.

Blow the doctor and techs AWAY today with a superior ultrasound of viable glory. That's more aimed at the fates than you directly, but hopefully it achieves the goal.

[Kristin]

I believe the kid was Chaka, and he belonged to species Paku (pl. Pakuni). And as for summer hair, well, If you're his sister, I would at least be one of your close cousins.

Hang in there....

[seasonalkat]

I love that you got a gift for Feast of Maximum Occupancy, that cracked me up. I never had much morning sickness at all with either pregnancy, which did worry me a lot at times. I felt vaguely queasy on occasion, but I also feel that way when my blood sugar goes too low, so that wasn't unusual. I hope that you see happy embryos at the u/s, and as was previously said, may the gel be warm and the wand be kind. Oh, and not too uncomfortable. UGH!

[Danielle]

Just saw the post at REDBOOK! Yea!! Congrats and NBHHY!

[Reese]

Just saw REDBOOK - holy crap. Yay!!! (NBHHY!)

Woohoo!!!

[Becca]

I too didn't have much of any kind of sickness with my twin pregnancy. Saying a prayer that good news will come tomorrow.

[shari]

Omg, just saw your redbook post - congrats! I've been following your blog since my infertilily struggles for quite a while (found you thru Tertia) and just had to delurk to say I'm so thrilled for you. I know you have a long way to go, but this was one huge hurdle. I was fortunate enough to have twin girls after many yrs of infertility treatments and you brought back all the memories of that first u/s....just blows you away doesn't it?

Congrats...hope to see only great news in the months to come!

[BG]

I knew it. I just knew it. Long time reader here and you know what? I know this one (excuse me TWO) is going to work out. I just really, really know it.

It's scorpio time. It just *is*.

[Karen]

I just saw your redbook post and I know that I could register over there, but I just don't have the time right now... but hooray, Julia!! You have twins! With heartbeats! That's so wonderful. I hope the coming weeks bring you joyous news just as today did. I'm so happy... you made my weekend.

[FishyGirl]

Woo hooo!!!!! Praying the rest of it goes as swimmingly for you, Julia.

[nate]

Another one just checked redbook. YAY!

NBHHY...NBHHY...nbWh...

[heidi]

Delurking to say I just saw your Redbook post and am totally thrilled for you! Continuing to send good vibes your way...

[Lisa]

Also just checked REDBOOK and WA-FREAKIN-HOO!

Land of the Lost ... I was driven up the wall in a philosophy class in college by a guy that sounded like a sleastak - strangely, he was from Arizona...

I had the Dream House (I won't tell you it wasn't cool - it was. The elevator went up and down!) AND the camper AND an easy bake oven. Realizing in retrospect how spoiled I was. Sheepish. (I also had Baby Alive - I force fed her food to my little brother. Really sheepish.) I was not, however, picked first in PE class.

[Jennifer]

Maximum occupancy indeed! Steve didn't even know that he was prophetic, did he? Now you just have to think of (because I'm an analytical lawyer type and not creative) creative nick names for the embies using variants on thirteen-betcha Patrick can help with that. Crossing eveything that I can that things keep going well. Have a great weekend!

[cherylc]

I also just saw REDBOOK. Congratulations. I remember your last twinnish pregnancy, and you said you had always had a vague premonition of twins someday, didn't you? Maybe this is it.

Anyway, I'm very happy that you've made a good start.

[lunac718]

My parents, who weren't exactly swimming in cash, surprised me one Christmas with not only the Barbie Dream House, but the Barbie Corvette, Barbie Swimming Pool, and Barbie Camper (all gently used). My father could have gotten it from the back of a truck for all I know, but I certainly didn't care at the time. I also had Baby Alive, which my mother promptly threw away when she heard that people were finding maggots in them...