Written November 14.  12 weeks (!!!!!!!!!).

Finally.  Another milestone.  FINALLY TWELVE WEEKS SO WE CAN FINALLY TELL OUR FRIENDS AND COWORKERS AND IT IS WONDERFUL AND EXCITING.

I had told a few close friends of mine about the baby a couple weeks ago, and it was so fun and wonderful because for the most part, they were completely unsuspecting, which made it that much more exciting.  I wish that I could secretly snap a picture of everyone’s faces when we tell them the news, because it really is SOOOOO wonderful.  And our friends are amazing because they are all so supportive and just giddy with excitement.  Sigh.  I’m smiling like an idiot right now.

Peter and I were REALLY excited to finally be able to share the news with our coworkers.  A handful of mine have known for a couple weeks (hey, I did shockingly well), but now I don’t have to whisper about it, so I’m ready to sing all the time because I’m so happy.

I think that the way Peter and I told our respective coworkers shows a lot about our personalities.  I went to people’s offices to tell them.  For some people, I showed them the picture of the ultrasound, and for others I just walked in and said, “I’m having a baby!”  So there’s that.  I mean, now that I can actually tell people, why skirt around the edges??  Everyone had pretty much the same reaction: they are so supportive and wonderful and excited, quickly followed by “I can’t believe that you actually kept this secret for this long!”

Peter, on the other hand, sent out an email to his coworkers.  And you guys, it was SUCH A GOOD EMAIL that a part of me was like hmmm maybe I should have considered that.  But then I was like we all have different strengths.

(By the way, I promise you that I did not change a single thing about the subject or content of this email.  I’ve married a great man.)

From: Peter Romenesko
Date: November 14, 2014
To: Amazing BTF coworkers and friends
Subject: ‘Bun in the Oven’ (and other Baked Good Puns)

Good morning everyone;

Both Sara and I are excited to announce that we are expecting a new member to the Romenesko family in late May.  Please celebrate with us by enjoying the calorie – and fat – free baked goods in the break room!

There are a few things that I’m sure some of you are curious to know, so I thought I’d answer a few up front:

1. First, we are not going to find out the gender.  Well, ultimately we are, but you get the point.  Sara wants a girl and I want a Star Wars fan.

2. Second, everyone is healthy.  Sara gets sick at the smell of frozen pizza which – as all of you know – REALLY puts a dampener on my dinner of choice when I’m left to my own means.  There is going to be a lot of Arctic Grilling at the Romenesko house this winter.

3. Third, I have been able to negotiate keeping the “Packer” themed room in our home.  The Jordy Nelson autograph, Packer Stock, and Brett Favre trading cards are all safe (for now)!  This means the “Brewer” themed room will be turned to the Nursery.

4. Finally, I must publicly apologize to J as she has asked me DIRECTLY at least twice when this announcement was coming (including yesterday!) and I have had to lie to her.  I’m sorry, J.  I hope you accept my apologies.

Thank you all for being great co-workers and mentors; we are very excited to share this news.  BTF hired me as a recent college grad, joined Sara and I through our marriage and is now sharing in this exciting adventure!

Peter

Wasn’t that so great??  In a similar email that Peter sent to some of his buddies, he wrote “Sara can hardly go 10 minutes without telling someone at work” (true) and (this is my favorite part because it makes me swoon) “Seeing this tiny, living human being move was the scariest, most humbling experience I have ever had in my whole life.  People have shared with me the pictures of their ultrasound — it wasn’t until I saw the smallest Romenesko to date shadow boxing on the monitor that I realized that awe isn’t rooted in the technology that takes the picture, it’s rooted in what the technology reveals and what the picture represents: the fragile gift of life.”  Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

Pete and I decided that we would wait to tell our extended families at Thanksgiving, because it is so much more fun telling people in person than it is over the phone.  I mean, the timing really is perfect.  Only a few more weeks until we can tell the WORLD and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!

Written October 29.  10 weeks.

Finally!  FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY we got to go to the doctor and it was amazing and wonderful and there are two best news items.

1. Baby is doing great.  So wonderful to finally see the little bugger!
2. LOVE THE DOCTOR.  God obviously had a hand in making sure that she had an opening for me.  Because SHE IS AMAZING.

I guess the third item would be that there is only one baby in there, which was a pretty nice sigh of relief for me and the future dad.  Twins run heavily in my mom’s family, so it was a legitimate fear…  But there’s only one!  And it’s the size of a kumquat!  Which I had to google because I don’t know how big a kumquat is!!

As you know, I had been waiting and waiting and waiting for the doctor’s appointment.  I just really wanted someone to say, “Everything you are feeling is normal.  And everything is fine.”  And that’s just what she did.

Obviously the best part was the ultrasound, where we got to see the babyyyyy that will be joining our lives in about 30 weeks.  Yay!  It was such a wonderful moment, seeing the tiny little being that has been making me feel so nauseous for the last few weeks.  My favorite part was seeing the little flutter of the heartbeat.  And tied for favorite part was seeing Peter’s reaction to seeing the baby.  This is so cheesy, but seriously you guys, I fell in love with the man again, and I am just over the moon that he is going to be a dad.  He’ll be such a good one.  He just kept saying “I’m going to be a dad.  Sar.  This is so amazing.”   Swoooooooooooooooon.

The baby started squirming around a little bit during the ultrasound.  That was Peter’s favorite part.  Because he said “Look Sar, it has my fight, not your flight!  So that’s really good!.”  I thought it was equally parts offensive and hilarious.

SO!  Without further ado!  Here he or she is 🙂

You guys.  That’s our baby.

Read Baby Romenesko Post 9: Telling our coworkers

Written October 19.  8.5 weeks.  Happy Birthday Adrianna!

As I’ve said countless times, I am REALLY REALLY bad at keeping surprise secrets.  Especially from Jenna.  Jenna and I talk every day, and if we miss a day, then we’re like OMG I HAVEN’T TALKED TO YOU IN SO LONG, I HAVE SO MUCH TO TELL YOU.  So not being able to tell her that her kids were going to have a COUSIN was horrible.  My only saving grace was that I haven’t seen Jen since we found out about the baby, and I wouldn’t be seeing her until we planned on telling all the siblings about the baby.

Peter and I had this whole plan worked out (when will we learn that we shouldn’t plan anymore??) that we were going to tell all of our siblings when we were a little over 12 weeks along when we were all in Milwaukee together seeing Lion King the musical.  It was a great plan.

Until Saturday, when I woke up and said, “I HAVE TO TELL MY SIBLINGS THAT WE ARE HAVING A BABY.”  I called my mom first to see what she thought if we just FaceTimed everyone, and she was very supportive.  Then I had to wait 2.5 hours for Peter to wake up because I knew he wanted to be there.

A tiny slice of my heart was sad that I wasn’t able to wait to tell my sisters and brother in person because I really wanted to be able to give them all big hugs and cry with them.  But the majority of my heart was REALLY HAPPY to be able to take a picture of all of their reactions.

We called Rachel first.  I NEVER FaceTime with her, so right when we called, before she even said hello, she asked, “Are you pregnant??”  Now, I need to say that Ray used to ask me this ALL THE TIME, and I finally had to be like RACHEL PLEASE STOP ASKING ME, I PROMISE WE WILL TELL YOU WHEN WE ARE.  And she was all BUT I’M SO EXCITED!  But she stopped, which I really appreciated.

When Ray asked us if we were pregnant, all I did was smile and nod my head.  She was OVER THE MOON AND IN COMPLETE DENIAL saying things like “I swear to God, Sara, if this is a joke I’m going to kill you.”  And “are you serious right now????”

When we were FaceTiming with Ray, Adrianna came in the house from outside, so we told her.  She was her usual stoic self.  No tears, but definite excitement!

Then, we called Jenna.  We FaceTime with Jenna and her kids quite often, so it wasn’t an odd request when we wanted to talk to her.  Over the last couple of weeks, Jenna and I have been talking about babies a LOT, because it seems that every other day someone on Facebook is announcing their pregnancy, and it is KILLING ME to not be able to say “CONGRATULATIONS, OUR KIDS CAN BE FRIENDS BECAUSE THEY’LL BE BORN ONLY A MONTH APART!!”

Anyways, when we were FaceTiming with Jenna, this was how our conversation went:

S: JENNA.  You are NOT going to believe who else I found out is pregnant!!!
J: WHO?!
S: US!!
J: *stunned silence*

It took Jenna about 5 seconds to be like ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!  I only wish I would have been faster to get a screenshot of her stunned face!!

Joshua is very excited to have a little cousin.

And then there’s Taylor.  I called Taylor MULTIPLE times throughout the day.  I FaceTimed her.  I texted her.  She never responded.  She FINALLY called me back on Saturday night and the first thing she said was “Are you pregnant?” So obviously I lied and said, “No, I honestly wanted to show you this new purse that I got.”  So then she was saying how she saw all of my calls and texts, and ignored me (typical), and then she talked to Mom and Mom asked if she talked to me, and then she thought we were pregnant.

So I stood up and let Peter take the iPad so that I could model the purse that I wanted to show Taylor.

The purse was actually a diaper bag that my mom got me.  But Tay didn’t know it.

T: Sara. That’s huge.
S: Really?  Do you think it’s too big?
T: Sara, it’s seriously like a suitcase.
…
Pete: That’s because it’s a diaper bag!!!!!
T: Oh my gosh, are you SERIOUS??!?!

It was SO FUN and wonderful telling all of my sisters the news.  We haven’t told Laura yet, but I’m not quite sure she’ll understand what’s going on until there is a new baby taking the attention away from her….

Today, we were able to tell Marty and his lovely girlfriend Kathleen in person, which was just fabulous.  Pete and I had already made plans to meet them for lunch while Marty was visiting Kat, so it worked out perfectly.  Kathleen was so sweet – we would be chatting and she would just say, “I can’t believe that the whole time we were playing that board game you were pregnant.”  Marty is thrilled for us as well.

How I EVER thought that I would be able to wait until November 15 to share this news with my sisters and brother was clearly some kind of sick torture device my mind was trying to play on me.

I adore being able to talk about it openly with them 🙂

Read Baby Romenesko Post 8: The doctor appointment
Read Baby Romenesko Post 9: Telling our coworkers

Written October 16.  8 weeks.

Officially 8 weeks today, and getting really excited about 2 things: 13 days until my first doctor appointment (!!!!!!!!!!!!) and only FOUR MORE WEEKS until I can share our news with the world.  Can.not.wait.

I spend about 75% of my day feeling nauseous.  So that stinks.  My days have typically been looking like this:

6:00 am – Alarm goes off.  Feel ill.  Hit the snooze.

6:09 am – Alarm goes off again.  Still feel ill.  Hit the snooze.

6:18 am – Alarm goes off again.  Still feel ill.  Decide to shower.

6:35 am – Get out of the shower.  Go to the kitchen and get a Sprite.  Get back in bed and sip my Sprite hoping to settle my stomach.

6:55 am – Stomach is not settled, but realize that if I don’t get up and moving, I will be very late for work.

7:25 am – Put 3 granola bars in my purse, take my vitamin, and grab a brown sugar Pop Tart to eat on my way to work.

Around 9:30 am – Suddenly I’m STARVING.  Eat a granola bar.

Around noon – Am I hungry?  Maybe?  Go to Subway and get a chicken sandwich.

Around 12:30 – Realize that I wasn’t hungry, now feel really sick.

Around 1:30 – Feel pretty alright.  I’ll make it through this day!  Afternoons are generally pretty good.

Around 4:45 – On my drive home, realize that I actually kind of feel like shit.

5:00 pm – Get home.  Look around the house and see that laundry needs to be done, the kitchen needs to be cleaned, and that Peter has been eating frozen pizza for dinner every night.  I WILL cook something tonight!  Eat a granola bar.

6:00 pm – I feel like shit.  Put on my pajamas.  Watch tv.  Cry a little because I’m feeling really guilty about being a horrible wife.

6:30 pm – Pete gets home.  Asks how I’m feeling.  Tell him I’m feeling shitty.  He hugs me and says that I should lay down.  I cry because he’s being so nice.

9:00 pm – Go to bed.

The other night, Peter was being SO NICE to me, and watching tv with me as I laid on the couch wondering if I was going to throw up, or if I was just going to continue being uncomfortable.  Then, I started to cry.

S: I’m so sorry, Peter.
P: Why??  What’s the matter???
S: Because I haven’t cooked or cleaned and I feel like shit, and you are the one that has to deal with me because I can’t just start to cry at work.
P: Sara!  Oh my gosh, don’t worry!
S: *crying harder* YOU’RE JUST BEING SO NICE TO ME AND I’M NOT BEING THAT NICE TO YOU.

The good news is that Peter has actually really been enjoying eating frozen pizza for the last two weeks.  He feels like a bachelor again.

The bad news is last night when I got home from a Pampered Chef party, he had made a frozen pizza, and the smell just about put me over the edge.

So, needless to say, he’s slightly concerned about his love affair with frozen pizza.

Written October 5.  6.5 weeks.

So, lying sucks.

Last week, I was in Madison for World Dairy Expo.  This coming week I’ll be helping with a tour of around 180 international visitors.  Tours include dinners each night with lots and lots of wine.

Last year when I was at a conference in Uruguay, I was suffering the affects of Dramamine and was also very congested, so took a preventative Advil Cold and Sinus.  The first dinner, I didn’t have a glass of wine and my oh my did my coworkers let me hear it!  Was there something I wanted to tell theeeeeem????  I was like “Seriously, you guys, I’ll be completely off my rocker if I mix any alcohol with this medication cocktail I’ve already got going on.”  I told this story so that you can see that I was already being bothered about not having a drink a year ago when we weren’t thinking about starting a family.

This past Thursday, I went to dinner with a bunch of my coworkers, and it was really fun and I laughed a lot and we had a grand time.  Everyone ordered an alcoholic drink.  I ordered a water.  The waitress came back, and I stuck with water.  And then I heard allllll about how I’m only having water.  Honestly, I’m beginning to think that people like liquored up Sara better than sober Sara.

Obviously, because I don’t do well in situations like this, and because I couldn’t yell ALCOHOL MAY HARM THE FETUS THAT IS THE SIZE OF A LENTIL INSIDE OF ME, I lied.

I took preventative cold medicine because I was feeling a little congested and didn’t want to get a cold right in the middle of this busy two weeks.

I thought I was SO SMART.  No one can dispute that!!  Then, my coworker next to me said, “Oh, actually, you know what you should have if you’re feeling congested?  Scotch.  That’ll clear you right up!”

I pretended I didn’t hear him.

The following night, we had our welcome banquet for all of our international visitors.  I was one of the first people to arrive because I had to set some things up.  After two of my coworkers left, I approached the bartenders.

Hi, friends, I have a big favor to ask you.  I am expecting, but I do NOT want my coworkers to know or suspect anything, so when I come up to the bar, I’ll ask for a rum and Diet Coke, but if you could just put Diet Coke in a drink glass with a lime, that would be fabulous.

They offered their congratulations, and said they were happy to help.  Woohoo!

A bit later, I was chatting with my coworker T, who was at dinner the night before and one of the people giving me grief about sticking to water.  She mentioned that my cheeks were really flushed as we were walking up to the bar to get a drink.

Yeah, I’m feeling really warm, so I’m just going to drink a Diet Coke.  The last thing I need is alcohol in my system making my cheeks rosier than they already are!!!!

After I got my drink, I continued talking with T.

T: It’s really nice that they put the drink in a bar glass for you – it makes it look like a real drink!
S: I know, I’m really glad about that.
T: Yeah, no one will think you’re pregnant.  Not like last night when there were 7 people around the table thinking you were when you only got water!
S: Hahaha! I know!  Seriously though, T, do you REALLY think that I could keep it a secret if I were pregnant?
T: No, you’re right.  You definitely would NOT be able to keep that a secret.

So here I am, with five and a half more weeks of having to keep a secret.  Which, as previously stated, is just torture.

Read Baby Romenesko Post 6: Poor Peter

Written September 26, 2014.  5 weeks.

Do you know what is PURE torture for an over-sharer?

HAVING TO KEEP A SECRET FOR MONTHS.  Literally.  Months.

I’m going insane, and am fairly certain that I will also drive Peter insane.

Last night I went over to B’s to celebrate the return of one of our favorite shows – Scandal.  It was fabulous.  You know how you KNOW that someone is a true friend?  You can show up at their apartment immediately after exercising/sweating profusely for an hour and they are still happy to see you and are not judgy at ALL.

Side note: sweating is one of the “side effects” of pregnancy.  Joy.  Just what I DIDN’T need… more sweat.

She made a fabulous dinner of steak, sweet potatoes, and glazed carrots, followed by pumpkin cupcakes for dessert.  It was the perfect night!

My problem, however, was that being only 5 weeks along, according to the internet and then confirmed by the nurse I talked to on the phone today when I made my doctor’s appointment (ah!) I didn’t want to tell her about the human that was the size of an apple seed developing in my womb.  Let’s get serious.  I WAS DYING TO TELL HER but I knew that I shouldn’t.

Anyways, B and I had been talking about this enjoying a bottle of wine (Frozen Tundra White by Parallel 44) with our dinner for weeks.  If I didn’t have a glass, she would know.  After trolling the internet, I decided that one glass would be fine.

After a glass, B was like “Want another?” and I said yes.  (B is going to die when she finds this out.)  So, she poured me another glass.  I took a little itty bitty sip of it.  A little bit later, she went to the bathroom and I RAN (“ran”) TO THE SINK AND DUMPED OUT THE GLASS OF WINE.

And then there was only a teency bit left in the bottle, so B and I “finished it off”, which meant that I took another itty bitty sip, and then ended up dumping the rest out with the lame excuse of “not wanting to finish the last 2 sips because I was driving home.”  I felt like a dope.

Another side note: I am a horrible liar, so hopefully people are actually believing this bologna.

Read Baby Romenesko Post 5: Secrets