2nd Trimester!!!

Well, I'm back from vacation in Disney World with MrKLB and the ILs and I'm happily in the second trimester now! I will be 13 weeks pregnant tomorrow!!!

Vacation was great.. we walked a lot and I did find myself getting tired, but it really wasn't that bad. I think if I had gone at 6+ months pregnant it would be a different story. I feel like I gained 10 pounds while I was gone, though, because we ate so much food!! Oh well.

So, today I went in for the NT Scan or "First Trimester Screening". This is a screening to determine your baby's odds for having chromosomal defects such as Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18 or 13. This involves an ultrasound as well as a blood test. We had the ultrasound today and everything looked great! We got to see the baby on the u/s for a long time and it was amazing! The baby was moving around a lot and we could see the face, arms, hands, fingers, legs, spine, ribs, heart, etc.! It was crazy! Anyway, we were happy to hear that everything looks good, and we'll get our odds for those defects when the blood results come back in a week or so.

Everything is going well and I'll meet my new OB, Dr. A, next Monday. I should have a chance to ask a lot of questions at that time and find out what is to come in my next few appointments. It's a very exciting time!

Less than 200 days to go!

According to my ticker, I now have 199 days to go in this pregnancy! Wow! Very cool.

So, lots of "telling people" has been going on lately. I finally got in touch with two of my best girlfriends who didn't yet know that I am pregnant and told them. One of them just had a baby a few days before Thanksgiving and she was excited for us and happy to share lots of great information with us as I go through this pregnancy. The other doesn't have any kids yet and after she told me how happy she is for us she said "Now I'm the only one!!!" LOL! I think she took comfort in the fact that I didn't have any kids yet, so that made it okay that she didn't, but now she is feeling the pressure.

I also went to happy hour on Tuesday with a bunch of friends that I used to work with and I told them. I told a couple of more people at work, but I have no idea how to actually spread the word to everyone there. I don't want to send out an email to the entire company that says "Guess what? I'm pregnant!" but it also doesn't have to be a secret anymore, so I guess once I get back from Christmas I'll start trying to find ways to tell people. I work with people all over the world, so it's hard.

Then, we made our Christmas cards and sent them out. On the inside we made the announcement that Baby is due on July 7, 2009. Some people probably received those cards yesterday and others will receive them in the next several days. We already got an email from MrKLB's aunt congratulating us and saying that it was a great Christmas present!

And finally, last night we went to a holiday party with a bunch of our friends we hang out with here in Atlanta and I wore a T-shirt I got that says "Pregnancy is the new black"... kinda goes along with my blog title. :) Anyway, that was a great way to do it because as soon as I walked in the girls that were there saw it and said "Uh... are you trying to tell us something? What does that mean?" So, we were able to go ahead and get the news out of the way rather than having to find the right time during the night and make a big announcement of it... which seems kinda weird.

So, the secret is out and it feels great! The first thing every woman asks me (other than when I'm due) is how I am feeling. My answer is "I feel fantastic!" I really do. I think it is safe to say now that I have not had any morning sickness. I still cannot believe it! It feels too good to be true and I start to feel a little guilty about it when they tell me how lucky I am.

I leave Monday morning to go to Disney World with MrKLB and his parents for a week. I can't ride roller coasters, but I still think we'll have a great time. I'm happy to be off work for a week, that's for sure! On Tuesday, while we're at Disney, I'll hit 12 weeks and officially be at the end of my first trimester! I'm so thrilled to finally reach this milestone.

So, first trimester recap: I've gained a few pounds and can still wear all of my normal clothes, but they are getting a little tight. No morning sickness and just some cramping every now and then. Through about 8 weeks I was really really tired, but it has gotten better since then. I still have to pee all of the time. Overall, things could not be going better!

So, Merry Christmas to all and I'll see you in the second trimester! :)

Saw Dr. B today

I went back to see my OB/GYN (Dr. B) today for the last time. Basically it was just a pelvic exam but then he used the Doppler and heard the baby's heartbeat again! We got our first measurement of the hb today, and it was 163! Dr. B said that anything above a 120 is good. So, that is great! The visit took a long time, but it was mostly just waiting. I had a list of questions to ask, but decided to hold most of them for when we meet with our OB that will be with us through the pregnancy. Dr. B asked if I knew any of the other doctors in his practice and I said no, but my brother and SIL had a baby with Dr. A a couple of years ago and they loved her. He said that everyone loves Dr. A so he was going to request that she be my OB. So, that's great! I haven't met her yet but hope that I will like her. We have an appointment to see her the first week of January.

I talked to Dr. B about the NT scan, which is where they can test for some chromosomal deficiencies. He said that he recommends it for all patients that are 35 or over, and that normally based on my age he wouldn't say that I need it, but he said that if I want to do it, it would be good for peace of mind. So, his office is supposed to call me tomorrow to try to schedule it. I will ask if it is covered by my insurance and as long as it is, we'll do it. It will be a good chance to get another u/s anyway, since it doesn't sound like we'd have another one until 18-20 weeks.

Well, overall, it was a great visit I can't wait to meet Dr. A in January!

Told my boss I'm pregnant

I told my boss I'm pregnant this morning. I'm glad to get that off my chest! I had thought about waiting another week or so, but I thought he might be catching on and we have our holiday party on Thursday night and he was already talking about the shots we were going to take, etc., so I figured it was going to become increasingly obvious! He wasn't actually all that surprised. I closed his door and said "I have some official news to give you." He looked worried so I said "the good news is that I'm not quitting... If that's what you're worried about" and then he said "but you are going to be taking some time off, right?" I said "Well, you just ruined it!" I was actually glad he had already figured it out, though. He said he had been hinting around a little and also mentioned that the doctor's appointments gave it away. Anyway, I guess I have to talk to HR now, but I'm just glad he knows. He asked how long I was planning to take off and I said I wasn't sure, but probably 12 weeks. That's some of what I need to figure out with HR, I guess.

Oh, I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow! Baby will be the size of a lime!

That's all the update I have for now.

Bad day at work

I'm having a bad day... mostly related to work. So, this afternoon instead of working I created my pregnancy avatar and ticker. LOL! It's on the right side of my blog under "baby countdown". Now any time you check my blog you can see exactly how far along I am... assuming the script I wrote works. I can only hope I look that good when I get my baby belly! :)

Ultrasound Pic

Thought I'd post the picture from our ultrasound last week. The head is on the left (black spot is the brain) with the legs sticking out to the right like the baby is laying on his/her stomach or back. :)

We told our parents

Well, Thanksgiving is over and I'm back at work. So sad. Anyway, I had a fantastic holiday break. It started on Wednesday with our u/s which I've already posted about. Then, MrKLB and I bought a new car! We have been shopping around for about a year and a half - literally! - and had been looking at different SUV's. We finally decided on the Acura MDX and took one home for a test drive Tuesday and Wednesday, then bought it on Wednesday! Nobody is buying cars right now since the economy sucks, so we got a really good deal. I love it! It will be perfect for when the baby is here and also has lots of room for the dogs!

Anyway, then on Thursday we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house. That's when we told my mother, brother, and SIL. We used the poem that I posted before, but MrKLB sorta blew it before my mother could read the poem. We had this craft tree that we made that was leftover from a neighborhood cookout we had. You're supposed to put things you're thankful for on the leaves of the tree, so we wrote the names of all of our family members on there and one of them just said "baby". It was in the kitchen but nobody had really noticed it when MrKLB handed it to my mother and said "here, look at our tree"... right about the time I was giving him the evil eye trying to tell him not to do that, my mother said "who is baby?" Well, I wasn't good at thinking on my feet so all I could say was "well, I guess I'll give you this now" and handed her the poem to read. MrKLB felt bad and I was actually a little upset at first because that's not how I had planned it, but I'm over it now. So then when my brother and SIL arrived we just handed them the poem to read themselves. Of course everyone was excited.

Friday we went to see MrKLB's parents in Columbia, SC at his aunt's house. He only wanted to tell his parents for now (and not the rest of the family that was there) so we ended up taking his parents for a short ride in our new car and then he parked in a parking lot and we gave them the poem. His mother read it out loud and it took her a few lines to figure it out. Then she got choked up and I didn't think she'd make it through. I couldn't tell when his Dad figured it out. His mother was so excited, though, and his Dad said "you've made her one happy woman." Then he said "not that I'm not happy, too, but you know she is." This will be her first grandchild (his dad has two from his half brothers, but he never gets to see them - long story). MrKLB told his mother she had to keep it a secret until Christmas and she is going to go crazy! :)

Saturday we went to see my Dad. We gave him the poem, but he figured it out before he even got the frame out of the box. He saw the end that said "love, baby ". He read it out loud, though, and he and my step-mother were really happy for us. They said we had to have a boy since they have 3 granddaughters! I told them that if MrKLB has anything to do with it, we will. LOL! I know everyone will be happy with a healthy girl or boy, but I do think there are a lot of people hoping for boy!

So, that was our exciting and busy holiday.

Next step: Deciding when to tell my boss!