Spilling

First, a short story.

After a mere one week of being newlyweds, my husband and I were immediately bombarded with the question: "So, when are you going to start having kids?"

As I mentioned before, I don't find this question offensive at all. I find it a natural progression to be honest. And as my standard response to this question I would say, "We can start trying in March--it'll still be safe to travel and I can still fit into my matron dress for my best friend's wedding."

Well then, how's this for a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Warning: behind this cut is potential too much information. If you're reading this via Tumblr, my apologies as I do not have the ability to hide things behind a cut. I solemnly swear that I tried my best to be more language sensitive for this entry.

As anticipated from the stress of preparations, visa denials and whatnot, I was late in March and because I was traveling, I completely skipped April. I know I haven't posted much of the rest of our Ireland 2012 trip yet--my apologies for the truncated Travel Saturdays but my excuse is that there really are far too many photos to re-size and I've been a bit lazy with that--but we were all over the place. Literally all over the place.

A short list of our trips after the wedding include:

1. The Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham Gaol
2. A return trip to Howth to walk the cliff path (the shortest path has, I believe, a straight walking time of 2 hours but we took it very slowly)
3. A walking trip from our hotel in Rathmines to Dublinia and back (still walking)
4. The National Gallery and Trinity College
5. A day trip to the Cliffs of Moher
6. The National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts and the Old Jameson Distillery
7. The National Museum of Ireland, Archaeology

Oh and because it's Ireland, of course we had a few drinks. Loads of top ups during the pre-wedding picnic, to celebrate the wedding, and I even got to do a mini whiskey tasting at the Jameson Distillery. And of course, a little Guinness to warm up.

Now that you have been properly primed...

Upon our arrival back home, we were already suspicious that something was amiss. Okay, I wasn't. My husband was.

I think most of you will find it interesting that my husband was more conscious of this, probably because he actually did perceive the missed period as something of note whereas I was treating it as though it were normal. With good reason, I assure you--I've not yet traveled to a foreign land and worried about finding a (just because I think it's cute to say) privy chamber.

So I said, "Let's wait for this month's date." So we did. And I ended up asking one of my godmothers for a reference to an obstetrician (OB).

It took us a week to get schedules sorted out but we finally managed to pay the OB a visit by the end of the week.

I figured "Oh, missed once...I'd be 6 to 8 weeks along, max."

The OB put me on an estimate of 11 weeks, counting from March. I was about to protest but figured "Well, that was the last confirmed date." Figuring for that, she estimated she'd be able to use the Doppler on me and check on the baby.

No luck.

So she ordered an ultrasound and, to my horror, a blood test. If you don't know yet, I am scared of needles. Not the sewing kind, mind, just the pricking, blood taking kind.

Obediently, we went. And guess how shocked we were to see this:

Yes, this is a real ultrasound and it's mine. And that is my little monster.

and to see that the estimate, based on several measurements, was that yes, I was really 10 to 11 weeks along. If you've never seen an ultrasound before, Googling baby ultrasounds or something similar will yield results on how a fetus should look at each stage. And if you can't decipher what you're looking at, feel free to let me know. ^_~

Remember what I described above about our trip to Ireland? That must have been the cheapest travel abroad for three.

Okay, maybe it's not as funny as it sounds now that I've told it. I did confess to having no comedic timing or normal sense of humour. But it did amaze not just us, but our families, and friends that

1. We had no idea I was that far along
2. There were three of us wandering around...and drinking...Dublin--I can't help repeating this particular fact because it is with much relief that there seem to be no ill effects from the early pregnancy drinking

So in the spirit of over-sharing--hopefully in a good way since this is blog is all about journeys--we move from newly-wed to mother-to-be. The speed in which things have occurred wasn't exactly according to our plans but when we thought of having children we both prayed that the Lord grant them to us when we're ready.

I guess He thinks we are.