Valentines

As usual, Jason and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day, where he planned a repeat of last year (per my request). I went to the gym, and arrived home to an anxious Jason with a back pack full of goodies. We went to the end of our street and had a romantic candlelit picnic along the water with sparkling views of Alcatraz, Tiburon Hills, and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges. Normally Jason cooks my favorite foods, but instead he went to Whole Foods and got all of them - fried eggplant, mac-n-cheese, string beans, squash and a saffron poached pear for dessert. It was perfect and kind of surreal, in that it would be a our last kid-free Vday for a while. It will be interesting to see what we do next year with kid in tow.

Jason and I don't exchange gifts on Valentines, but it was hard to help myself when just the week before he confessed that he wanted his own pregnancy book. Ok, if you know anything about Jason, you know that he doesn't read - recipes, directions, or books. Nothing. Except for Harry Potter. I was shocked beyond belief and thrilled that he actually wanted to be so involved with all my bodily functions. I knew I couldn't get him just any book. So I found this one at Borders:
Within 30 seconds of opening it, I knew it was perfect. We spent the rest of the evening reading it together, laughing our butts off. There are far too many funny parts to include, but here's one:

"By the last trimester, you may not even want to get your hands on your wife's breasts. You'll find that if you give them a squeeze, they may leak a few drops of colostrum (practice milk). It's thick and yellow and has the consistency of wood glue. Seeing it may make you lose all desire for sex. But it may inspire you to build that coffee table that you've been putting off for so long.

I know that you don't like having to put your favorite playthings in storage. The only comfort that I can give you is that since some men gain some weight when their wives are pregnant, you may develop a nice pair of knockers to fondle all your own."

Chapter Titles include: Not Tonight Honey, Your Basal Thermometer Is Giving me a Headache; How to Make Love to a Cup; My Wife as a Dog; Let the Bodily Functions Begin; The "I'm so Hungry I Could Eat Your Face" Syndrome; How to be a Domestic God; Heads She Wins, Tails You Lose; Twelve Things You Should Never Say to a Pregnant Women; Ways You Can Help Your Clutzy Wife; They Grow Up So Fast...In Utero.

We have a pretty big test this week - the first trimester combined screening (also called nuchal translucency screening) where they assess the baby's risk of having down syndrome. They do this via ultrasound, counting the amount of fluid in the baby's neck. The outcome is that they give you odds of having a baby with down syndrome based on the ultrasound test, a blood test, your age and background. If we get pretty good odds, we don't need any further testing for down syndrome and alike abnormalities. Keep your fingers crossed an look out for another ultrasound pic.