Looks like my stay here on the preconception diaries will be short. I took a hpt test on Friday, August 24th, and I had a faint positive. That was also the day I left for Germany. I called Karl when I got the test to tell him... it was quite an overwhelming day.

Nausea started the day I got to Germany. Basically, if I didn't have food in my tummy, I was sick. So I ate, ate, ate. At the end of the week Karl joined me and we had a great time driving around Germany and Austria. Then the trip back to Texas was horrible. I was sick the whole way. If you thought it was horrible throwing up at home....try it in a small airplane bathroom! GROSS! I couldn't believe how many people asked if I was OK while waiting for our luggage. There are many kind people in this world.

I felt so bad when I got home I called my OB and she said to come in. She tested my urine and found out I was dehydrated (I didn't keep anything down all day). Then she did a vaginal ultrasound to make sure it wasn't a tubal pregnancy...and it isn't. She said the pain I was feeling was due to a cyst that is trying to rupture by my right ovary. Once she found the yolk sack she couldn't find the tadpole...but said she would look again next week when I have my first regular appointment. I'm guessing I am about 6 weeks along and my due date is around June 2nd. She then admitted me to outpatient to get major fluids run through me and gave me medicine for the nausea. I stayed home from work the next day (Oct. 6th -- my birthday) because I still felt horrible and Karl called me and told me EVERYONE knew about my pregnancy. Ugh. It kind of took the wind out of my sail. But I am still excited...or as excited as can be with all of this nausea! ;-(

Next week I will tell everyone how my first appointment was and if it is a viable embryo (the doctor says being this sick is a good sign!).

Here some baby dust for everyone ***********************

Katrina

Well, it looks like we've cleared the first hurdle. Katrina tested positive about 2 weeks ago, and if everything is on schedule, we're guessing that we're about 6 weeks along. Katrina left for Germany for a business trip the day she tested positive, and I joined here there at the end of it to do some sight seeing. She experience some serious nausea, etc. on the flight back Tuesday, so we went to her doctor to confirm that everything was OK. I was shocked that at this early stage, they could do an ultrasound and show us the 'black blob' that in 7 or 8 months will be our baby (knock on wood!).

The secret has started to leak out due to a bizarre chain of events. Katrina is a little miffed, but when I think about the big picture, nothing can dampen my spirits. In addition to finding out about the pregnancy, and the trip to Germany, we found a house that we wanted to buy and had our offer on it accepted. Needless to say, the last 10 days have been pretty overwhelming. It hasn't all be rosy news, though. When we returned from our trip, we discovered that a person that we work with, who had been diagnosed with cancer a few months ago, took a serious turn for the worse and has been given only a few more days to live. He is in only in his forties and has several small children and a baby. In addition to the immense grief that I feel for both him and his family, I feel a certain guilt that at a time that things are going so well for Katrina and I, they are going so badly for them. He and his family are in our prayers, and I'm trying to keep my emotions on an even keel.

Until next time,

Karl