13 Weeks

Hello everyone, welcome to the Belly Blog. Sorry we didn't start it sooner, but we heard that you're not supposed to tell people until right about now... so let me get everyone up to date. Some of these are excerpts from our diaries.

So here's how it went. Right about the day Mom and Dad Ryan (soon to be grandpappies) rolled into town, Taiga decided that the dull pain in her boobs may not be from falling on her avalanche beacon while skiing, but from a burgeoning peanut in her uterus. Turns out she was right, or so said the pregnancy tests (all 7). She tried calling me at work but I answered while on a control route. Taiga deemed it best to wait until I was finished playing with explosives. Later that night, Taiga got to meet my parents. Two days later, we celebrated my mother's 60th birthday and had the great pleasure of the whole Colorado clan coming up to Frisco for the night. Nothing like a little secret to grease the family wheels.

We chose to go to the doctor and get some information before we told our immediate family. The first doctor's appointment, was a bit of a watershed moment for various reasons. Taiga's OB doc is in Denver and after enduring 2 months of relentless high pressure in the mountains, it decided to snow a foot when we were driving down to Denver for our first appointment. So instead of taking 1 hour to get there, it took 2 1/2. Luckily we left early and were relatively on time. But as a precaution, we called the doctor's office to let them know that on our drive down from the mountains, we encountered heavy snow and traffic and would be a little late. They said that they would excuse us given the circumstances. 2 minutes later, they called back saying that if we didn't make it there in 15 minutes, we would have to reschedule. So imagine the situation. Taiga's already high BP was rising, and now we were probably taking risks we shouldn't have on the road. So we get to the office, Taiga (the asthmatic) ran upstairs and I parked the car. I got up to the doctor's office and we got a "NO". I was upset and probably should have bitten my lip, but I think a mild freakout got us in. Probably not, because Taiga's dad works across the street.

"Even though the circumstances leading up to the pregnancy weren't necessarily normal, I am nevertheless experiencing what I deem to be normal expectant-father emotions. One day, inexplicably stressed and the next, filled with love for the Peanut (yeah, that's right, we're calling it Peanut) inside Taiga and of course, for my beautiful woman herself. It's hard for me to know what to do right now since none of the changes are happening to me. I mean, I guess I'm ok with not being the one puking up every meal, but it's hard to know how to help. After all, I don't have a human growing inside me. But I know that the most important thing I can do is love Taiga. And guess what--that's the easy part." Reed 2/1

Let's see, what else has happened....oh, Taiga had about a 5 week bout of morning sickness. The most noteable period occured when I got rather sick and happened to kindly pass it on to her. It turned from a flu with me to brochitis and sinusitis with Taiga. The real bummer was the constant coughing turned on the puke button, which was especially miserable. The kicker happened at work when they made her wear a mask and following a rather productive cough that made its way to her eye, causing conjunctivitis. Yeah, Pink Eye.

Interesting cravings? Salmon Meatloaf, pickles (always), crunchy fruits and veggies, oreos, and that's about it.