A First Concert of Sorts

Since I've learned that around the sixth week embryos develop tiny ear buds, my venture last night to hear Al Stewart I suppose counts as the first concert to which I've taken the kid(s). I'm certainly no massive fan of Al Stewart-- he wrote a few hits that were popular the year I was born--, but his music is great all the same. And really, concert events in our area are SO rare (seriously! Why does the music world shun NC? I don't get it.) that any opportunity to see a somewhat obscure artist of interest is one that we should take.

So, last night, we loaded up the car at 4:00 p.m. and headed over to pick up some friends and drive out to Holly Springs, which is a little over two hours from where we live. We discovered that Mapquest STILL hasn't fixed their mile markers through Greensboro for the new I-40/Business-40 split that was opened almost TWO YEARS AGO, and so we got a wee bit lost, though since I had also printed alternate directions from Google Maps, we ended up taking a slightly different route (you hear that, Mapquest? Your directions SUCK. Why, oh, WHY can you not get the mile numbers straight? Two years, folks. TWO years of mistakes on a fairly major interstate... grr.) Anyhow, we managed to arrive with only one minor last minute dive into a poorly marked left-turn lane, but otherwise without incident. We ended up turning around once we found the location in Holly Springs to drive back to civilization to find dinner and ended up at a Pizza Inn buffet kind of thing. Preggo stomach was questioning that choice throughout the rest of the evening.

But at any rate, the concert was excellent. It was an extremely small venue, very intimate, and Al Stewart spent a lot of time chatting between songs, explaining the significance of this song or that. And since his main "style" is a self-called historical-storytelling-folk, there's often a lot to explain. He still sounds just like he did in his recordings back in the 60s and 70s, which is surprising because he has such a youthful voice. It's weird to see a man in his mid-60s rockin' out on stage, sounding like a 20 year old.

Anyhow, here are two clips, one of the song for which he is most known, Year of the Cat, in a version you may be familiar with:



And a second clip of another semi-well-known song of his, On The Border, from a concert that looks much like our concert did last night (it was just Al and his new performing partner, Dave Nachmanoff-- Al is on the right, Dave is on the left):




The only small beef* I had with the whole experience is that we did not get home until almost 1:00 a.m. And if I haven't made it clear yet, the main pregnancy symptom I've had lately is the need for excessive amounts of sleep, beginning somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. (9:30 is acceptable only if I get my daily 3-5 p.m. nap). So, staying out and staying mostly awake until almost 1:00 a.m. was torture. I tried to sleep in the car, even arranging for one of our friends to sit in the front seat to navigate for H so I wouldn't have to, but my well-meaning back seat companion kept talking to me, so I didn't sleep at all in the car. So anyhow, this morning, I'm feeling like I was run over by a truck. I did sleep later than I have in a long time (8:40! Party girl!!!), but it's still just not the same, depriving myself of sleep when I really needed it. BUT, it was a really good show, a great experience, and so ultimately, it was worth it. I just had to remark on the fact that the only negative from the whole experience is because I am old and lame and gestating and therefore, apparently, can no longer hang with the big dogs. Oh, well.


I know you only come here for gestation updates, so they are as follows: No news continues to be good news. I gave myself the progesterone gel thingy in the stall of a public bathroom during intermission last night, and if you've ever used these, you know that the applicator can make a distinctly farty sound as the gel is being squeezed out of the applicator. So that was fun. Symptoms continue to be tiredness, slightly achy boobs, a stomach that has an ever-growing question mark hanging over it, and bloating, bloating, bloating**. I am embarrassed to admit, but I actually bought my first pair of maternity pants the other day. I really, REALLY didn't want to, because I really felt like this is some sort of jinx, doing this so early, but with the way my bloat is sitting, I can't really button my jeans comfortably anymore. I have some jeans in one size up from my current size, but they are way too big everywhere else. I mean, I had no waist to speak of before I started IVF, so jeans were always slightly snugger in the waist than elsewhere, and with the bloat, there's just no way. So I tried some maternity jeans on, the kind with the giant blue stretchy panel. And all I can say about that is 'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE???' I should have bought a pair three years ago! These would have been great for those IBS-moments or PMS when the random belly bloat strikes and I can't bear to wear anything with a real waist-band. I'm a convert. I've worn nothing besides these jeans and sweatpants since I bought them last Thursday. Yes, I'm a freak, I know.

Next big milestone is Tuesday's ultrasound. At that point, I get to know more about baby B. I don't know if I really shared it in the right way, but baby A had a clear, distinct, perfect yolk sac, and baby B had this disorganized looking, fuzzy, possible sac. Yes, there is clearly a baby B, but it really isn't clear that baby B is meant for this world. But then again, it's not clear that he/she ISN'T meant for this world. It's really a bit of a place I'm in, because while I was told to act like this was any twin pregnancy, there is the very distinct possibility, far higher than other twin pregnancies, that the second baby really may not be anything, other than a sac with some stuff in it, because despite the very best view they could get, there still wasn't much in the way of the markers they look for at a gestational age of 5w1d***. So. One worry at a time, and this is my one worry. What will we see with baby B?

So. Now I need to go and feed myself, before this lingering question mark gets any bigger. And your weekend? Anything fun and interesting?

*The only other beef I had with my concert experience was being seated in front of little Spasti McSquirmer-Twitchington, a 12 year old child who, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary (controlled, perfect movement when walking, the ability to open and drink from a soda bottle, operate his voice in a normal, even timbre), appeared to be afflicted with some bizarre form of Tourette's, wherein upon growing bored and/or (insert whatever adjective you'd use to describe general 12-year-old boy assholery), he must exaggeratedly stretch his neck and back, flex his elbows, pop his knuckles, etc., in an effort to ensure that the concert experience of everyone around him was as disrupted as possible by his lingering malaise at having to endure live music. Dude. Leave little Twitchy at home if he can't manage to sit still for the 3-5 minute length of a song...

**I had suggestions from some of you that the bloat may be caused by intestine issues. And I assure you that, indeed, some of this bloat is definitely caused by the lower digestive tract. I have IBS, and have been dealing with it's consequences for a long time now. I take fiber supplements daily, just to keep things operating in that area. As of yet, despite some early issues with constipation, I've been fairly regular (with the exception of days that I work-- I think that says something, that I can't poo on mornings when I have to go in to this job, even though every other morning is no problem whatsoever. Stress much?). Unfortunately, one of the side effects of a high fiber diet (plus fiber supplements) is... BLOATING! So, even though I'm used to this type of diet, having eaten this way for quite a long time, I know my intestines are acting differently now, so the fiber, while helping relieve the lower-belly-bloat, may actually be a cause of the upper-belly-bloat.

***this would be the absolute only reason why you should not have an ultrasound earlier than the doctor wants you to, especially if you have a cruel office like mine who doesn't do repeat ultrasounds for two weeks. Seriously. In this situation, with a tenuous baby B, why would you not offer a second scan at six weeks? Grr.