Thursday, August 18, 2011

Recap of my Vacation

Just back from a tour of the West Coast.  The West Coast of Michigan, that is.  We hit up the chain ferry in Saugatuck, the lighthouse at Grand Haven (in an absolute downpour during a Red Flag rip current warning), Manistee (including Michigan's largest make-your-own-sundae bar with over 50 toppings),  the East Bay of Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City.  We also visited the Grand Traverse Pie Company (I had chicken pot pie) and North Peak brewery where I had a fine root beer float. Additionally, we road the steam locomotive at Clinch Park (the kids were wearing their Thing 1 and Thing 3 shirts...why had I left Thing 2 at home they all wanted to know).  We enjoyed playing Venice of the Midwest walking along the docks on the Boardman River behind Front Street.

The East Bay is pretty neat.  It's shallow (as you can see in the picture) for miles.  You can start at the beach and just start walking into the water, and it doesn't go over your head.  Chuckles and Mr. Long-Suffering set out and walked for 20 minutes.  It never got over Chuckles's head and was at its deepest only at Mr. Long-Suffering's waist.  It started to get shallow again, so they turned around and came back.  They had wanted to walk to the drop-off, but alas, that wasn't to be.

But the best part of the whole vacation?  There was a water cooler in the lobby of our hotel that dispensed ice cold water infused with fruit essence.  The hotel was nice with a good (free) breakfast, but next time, I think we'll stay at the Holiday Inn.

Oh, and I saw a billboard on US-31 for Michigan's Finest Medical Marijuana dispensary in Saugatuck.  I never saw the shop (nor did I smell it), but it's there should you have a need.

On the other hand, all 3 hotels we visited while in Michigan were 100% smoke-free on the grounds (must be 25' from a doorway).  I don't know if that's the law or just good business, but I liked it.

My frugal travel tip if you're staying at a hotel without free breakfast:  I pack instant oatmeal packets, spoons, and disposable coffee cups.  I use the hotel coffee pot to heat the water.  The kids eat it while sitting on the king-sized bed and watching Cable TV (which we don't have at home so they got to see their first-ever Sponge Bob).  Another frugal tip for West Michigan:  have lunch at Russ'.  Russ' has some great specials, and their kids' meals are only $1.99 and come with a peach half (and if your kids are like mine, in a restaurant they eat ice, crackers, and the peach half, then demand a snack as soon as we're in the car on the way back to the hotel).

So I mentioned that I had donated blood back on August 2nd during a heat wave and people were faring poorly? Yes?  Good.  I did well at the donation.  No issues.  However, the next day I felt awful.  Like hit by a bus, OMG I can't lift my head.  Awful.  I felt better Thursday but still not great.  Friday I think I fell asleep on the couch after dinner.  Saturday, I had a really low fever of about 99.3, but I rallied and went to the beach (to play with my wave runner...but only 300' or more from shore).  Swimming the 100 yards out to the wave runner was not so much fun. 

Sunday morning I woke up around 4am, rolled over, felt ill, and realized something was not right.  I got up to go to the bathroom, decided to pee-on-a-stick, and I married your brother.  Anyway, the plan was to pee on the stick, drop it in the drawer, and come back to it in the morning.  However, while I was washing my hands, I glanced over (in the dark with just the little night light) and saw OMG two pink lines, what the hell is that?  I have NEVER seen pink lines so dark.  (And then I had to wait FOUR HOURS until morning to tell my husband...who was shocked!)

Now here's the weird part...the dates are all crazy.  LMP is July 12th (the day of ridiculous PMS rage).  The ONLY time I had marital visitation that entire month was July 24th.  I had morning sickness starting on August 3rd  (3w1d...who has morning sickness that early?) and got the absolute darkest hpt+ of my entire life on August 7 (3w5d).   So, dear internet readers, what the heck?  I had ess-e-ecks one time and got pregnant.  What am I?  A teenager?

I debated whether to tell you since it's so early (5w2d), but why hold back?  If something awful were to happen, I want my internet posse behind me leaving me comments telling me that it sucks, and that I'll be OK.  I even don't mind comments like "it's probably for the best" since I kind of roll that way anyway.

Because (apparently) I am not infertile, when I called the doctor's office, they didn't want to send me for a beta or anything.  Sheesh!  So, I have my first pre-natal appointment on Tuesday, August 23rd (which is 6 wks), and they will probably just have me pee on a stick or something (I don't actually know any fertile people in real life, so can anyone who had a non-medically assisted pregnancy tell me what happens?).  I think I am going to tell them that I'm not sure about my dates, because this whole thing seems highly unlikely to me.  I've only ovulated a handful of times in my life and never before CD20+, so this would just be crazy-talk.  If I'm not sure of my dates, they'll send me for an ultrasound, right?  And since it would be 6wks or more, there should be a heartbeat.  Thump-thump-thump.  For now, I'm operating as pregnant until proven otherwise.

And now you know why I had a root beer float at the brewery.

6 comments:

  1. When I went, I was unsure of the dates as well. They had me do a pee test and then made me drink two full bottles of water and wait to do an US.

    CONGRATULATIONS! I am so happy for you. As someone on the fence about #2...I was really interested to read your thought process.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats! That's great news!

    I got pregnant both times without any medical assistance whatsoever, beyond the discontinuation of birth control. But I'm old, so the second time around I got a super early fancy pants ultrasound and extra blood tests. And I spot in the first trimester, so I got lots of in-office ultrasounds. So maybe I'm not the best person to ask about what happens next.

    Oh, and I got morning sickness almost as soon as I was impregnanted both times. Second time around, that was how I knew it was time to pee on a stick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wah-hey! Congratulations! And, in terms of normal - well, the first time I got pregnant, I didn't even have to pee on a stick. The dr took my word for it and just sent me for blood tests... nice & easy (but I was a bit, what - you don't want to check I'm not crazy-lying about this?!?)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I knew it was time to pee on a stick (well, four actually) when I spontaneously threw up after getting home one night after work. We'd been trying for about two months. Went to the doctor, had a pee test. It confirmed positive, and then I freaked out because it's effing impossible to get an ob/gyn or a family doctor here (I didn't have a family doc at the time). And I was older then, than I think you are now.

    Congrats again!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! That is awesome! Congratulations!!!!

    No real idea from me about what happens in unassisted pregnancies. No beta tests? No super early, internal ultrasounds? I don't understand...

    Also, the vacation sounds lovely! And I did actually wonder why you had gotten a root beer float at a brewery. Now I know. ;-)

    Keep us posted! I want to hear how it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. p.s. You married my brother only if: surprise it's twins! If not, you're still my sister! I meanwhile find infertility to be quite reliable as a bc method. ;-)

    ReplyDelete