Car accident

Yesterday I went to get an ultrasound to more exactly determine the age of the pregnancy. I am 7 1/2 weeks pregnant, with estimated conception date November 11, and a due date August 5. My husband K and I got to see our embryo’s heart beat, which was very exciting.

On the way home, we got in a car accident. Now my neck is stiff and my lower left back hurts. My left hand and right knee are also sore. Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any major, lasting damage. The accident was not my fault. There was an oncoming car that I thought was going to hit me head-on, so I moved my car to the right, but lost traction in the snow and slid against a parked car (not really doing damage to it – we tracked down the owner and he wiped the scratches right off his car). The car that had been tailgaiting me hit me a moment later, breaking my rear bumper and bending a metal panel on the car.

I fucking hate Massachusetts. After the accident, we got lost twice (twice!) trying to get back to work.

The story so far…

I had been feeling nauseous, fatigued, and out of sorts, and it wasn’t going away like being sick usually does. I told a coworker at my office, and she said, “Maybe you’re pregnant!” I thought, *ding!* “What if I am?” As I thought more and more about my symptoms, it seemed to make sense, especially since my last period never really happened. It was all spotting and I never even used a pad.

I took a home pregnancy test on Saturday, December 15th and it was a strong positive. I couldn’t believe it. I threw the stick away, but kept fishing it out of the garbage to look at it again. Finally I just kept it on the counter so I could see it any time I wanted. The evidence was there, but it took a while to sink in.

On Monday I called my OB-GYN and got a prescription for pre-natal vitamins. I also went to the lab to have my blood drawn to confirm the results of the pee test. On Tuesday a nurse called me to tell me I was definitely pregnant, and perhaps even more pregnant than I thought. I had been thinking that we conceived around Thanksgiving, but perhaps it was earlier in the month. Today, Thursday, I have an appointment for an intravaginal ultrasound to help determine more exactly the age of the pregnancy.

K and I hadn’t been trying to conceive, but on the other hand we had talked about starting a family and had been, as a rule, very careless about using reliable methods of birth control. While the news came as a surprise and even a shock, it was very easy to see how this could have happened.

Telling people has been interesting. It makes it feel more real, and more exciting, for people to know about the pregnancy. At this point we have told our families, coworkers, and close friends by phone, and announced it to the world via gmail chat, livejournal and facebook.

I do have to say, though, that there are a lot of things about being pregnant that I already don’t like. Our culture has a lot of bad ideas about what it means to be pregnant. I have known that I am pregnant for all of six days, and already I have a long list:

1. Pregnant women should eat whatever their bodies tell them to; their bodies know what they really need.
2. When you are pregnant, your body is not your own any more.
3. Being pregnant means that you need to follow a strict regimen of diet and exercise, and if you don’t, your baby will suffer.
4. Pregnant women don’t know what is best for themselves, and need experts to tell them.

People blithely make the most insensitive comments. I’m sure I’ll have more to report on the subject.