work already knows that i won't be back afterwards

Well for a couple of weeks, every now and then, work has been asking me about my maternity leave and I've been trying to give vague answers so that they won't get the idea that I won't be coming back and decide to just go ahead and let me start my maternity leave before I'm even showing or feeling the baby move or anything.

But this morning, the guy I open with asked me a question DIRECTLY related to staying at home for good after the baby comes, and followed it up with "I know you're not coming back and so does [our boss]." It was said in a good-natured tone so I answered him and we talked about it a little more. I asked him if our boss was mad or anything that I wouldn't be coming back and he said no, so that is a big relief for me. Now I can just keep on going and not have to worry about when I'm going to tell them that I'm not coming back.

Speaking of work, YAY I have a long weekend now. :D I think this will be the first time in my entire working life where the office I work in is actually CLOSED on Memorial Day. And with the wedding earlier this month (which went fine, the dress turned out great and the bride was beautiful and the groom was nervous and everyone ended up happy at the end of the day), this weekend coming up is my first weekend in a long time where there's not a big "something" to do (either work or go out of town or something). So I plan to use it to catch up on some sewing. Especially since I'm finally feeling better. i have piles and piles of fabric just screaming at me to be made into fabulous garments. And hubby will be working on most of the days so I'll have to find SOMEthing to keep myself busy. Sewing will fit that bill nicely.

starting to sink in more after hearing the heartbeat

Wow.

Is there really any other word besides that to describe the feeling you have when you hear your own unborn baby's heartbeat for the first time?

No, I don't think there is, so I'll say it again.

Wow. :)

Ok now that I've gotten that out of my system, here is the long story. :) Our long-awaited second prenatal appointment finally happened yesterday. We get to the place and I miss the turn *again* and have to double back. I told hubby that when we get to our weekly appointments then I will remember where to turn. We go inside and check in and the receptionist sends me to the lab to give my regular specimen. Hubby wanted to come with me but I made him wait out in the lobby. When I got back he was pretending to be asleep. Poor thing is entering his busy season and was so tired. He tried to scare me when he "woke up" but I didn't go for it. :P

We get called back pretty quickly and the medical assistant takes my weight and blood pressure (I've gained 5 lbs according to the scale but think I'm just having a "fat week" because for these last 4 weeks I was at the exact same weight except for 3 days ago.). BP was 118/71 or so. The doctor came in pretty quickly and went over my normal-to-the-point-of-boring lab results and asked if I had any questions and briefly mentioned the optional quad-screen test that would be coming up probably the appointment after next.

We had gotten to see our baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound 3 weeks ago, and I was expecting to eventually also hear it via doppler. I had read things online that said it is easiest to hear the heartbeat after 12 weeks so I wasn't even expecting her to try and listen to it today, but she did. :) There was a doppler and gel and everything right there in the room ready. Before she got started she said that if she couldn't hear it that we could go over to the ultrasound and take a peek. :) She put the want on my belly and kept finding my pulse at first and saying "That's you..... that's you again..... that's still you......" then there was a bit longer pause and she found the baby's quieter, faster heartbeat. :D It was so amazing. I am so in love with this tiny child already.

On the way home, hubby kept saying, "You have something alive growing inside you." lol. Later that evening I said to him that maybe I am pregnant after all, but I want to take one more home pregnancy test to make sure. He of course knew I was joking though. My coworkers were teasing me though saying that it might not be the baby's heartbeat, it might be my stomach growling. lol. I told them that my stomach had never growled so rhythmically before. :P

27 more days until my next appointment and hopefully my morning sickness will be gone by then. It's not too bad but just bad enough to make me want it to hurry up and be over. And at least it's very mild, I have that to be thankful for. Anyway that is about all for now. I'll try to update this thing more regularly. :P

tired all the time but the chores don't go away

These past couple of weeks I have been SO sleepy. I am trying to take little naps in the afternoon b/c hubby doesn't get home until around 7:45 usually, but then I have to go to bed around 9:00 or 9:15 to get up way early for my work. Very much looking forward to the day that I don't have to work outside the home anymore. :) And that day may come sooner than expected. Our debts are going to be entirely paid off by the end of October. Hubby's work is going very well and it's possible that we may get the chance to move sometime before the end of the year. I don't know how we'll handle that with a baby on the way but we'll have to see. Depending on where we end up, we may be able to afford me quitting my job earlier.

But there's not even really anything on the plate or anything at this point. I'm just going to sit it out through the summer and then see where we are. When we first moved here, the then district manager told us that we'd be here for at least two years, and those two years won't be up until next May.

I got another box of maternity clothes in the mail yesterday. :D I'm so excited. This one has a whole bunch of dresses and a very cute jumper and several long-sleeve tops and even a maternity coat! Now I don't feel so much pressure to sew right away... which is a good thing because that is one of the "chores" that I don't have the energy for.

I'm slowly getting to the mindset that in December we really will be having a baby. I'm still not really having any symptoms and don't have any weight gain or "showing" yet, but I've seen a sonogram pic of a woman who is just a couple of weeks ahead of me. My sonogram was just a dot, but hers has a head and arms and everything. I think that when we have our next ultrasound it will be ultra-real to us. My next appointment is next week and I'm looking forward to it.