Shh...

Shh... Come close. I have a secret to tell you.

Actually, I'll let Charlotte tell you.

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She's going to be a big sister!

That's right, Baby Berry 2.0 is on his/her way!  She/he is due on March 9, 2012, so I'm about 9 1/2 weeks along right now.  It's still early, so we're not out of the woods yet, but I had my first prenatal appointment two weeks ago, during which I saw the baby and its strong and steady heartbeat.  They say the chance of miscarriage goes down once the baby's established a heartbeat, so I thought why not divulge it to my small readership?

(Oh and don't you love Charlotte's shirt? I ordered it from a seller on Etsy, purposely in a big size so that it will still fit when the baby comes.  And I can order a matching onesie. Yay! Those poor kids are going to hate being in matching clothes)

I've been feeling pretty good.  No morning sickness, just a crazy heightened sense of smell that has made me avoid the break room during lunch, and exhaustion that causes me to pass out in front of the TV at 8:30 or 9 each night. Seriously, Chris is annoyed that I can never make it through an episode of Mad Men without falling asleep, but I can't help it.  I'd say that apart from the sheer exhaustion, I feel  better even than last time, and I had a pretty easy first trimester the first go around.  The one difference is that I haven't been quite as hungry. Last time around if I didn't eat often enough I would get extremely queasy and shaky.  It's only just in the past couple of days that I've noticed that my appetite has considerably increased.

I still fit in all my clothes, which definitely was not the case when I was this far along with Charlotte. I guess it makes sense, since all my clothes I wear today were purchased post-Charlotte, and I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Point is, I still have room to grow in my pants and shorts for at least a few more weeks.

As I mentioned above, I've had one prenatal appointment so far. It was pretty routine, until the doctor reviewed my information from the last pregnancy.  Because Charlotte was over 9 pounds at birth, I have to be monitored more closely for both regular diabetes and gestational diabetes.  I was so disappointed to learn that I'd have to do a one hour glucose test right away and then again at 28 weeks. So right after my appointment ended, I went down to the lab and drank the disgusting orange glucola drink.  The good news is that I passed it with flying colors, so no three hour test! What a relief.  Let's hope the trend continues at 28 weeks. Oh, and because of Charlotte's enormous birth weight, they're going to keep an eye on how large this baby is too.  It doesn't mean I'll have to be induced early (unless I have gestational diabetes), but it could play a role in how long they'll let me go after the due date passes.


I ask Charlotte every few days if she wants a baby sister or baby brother, and she pretty much consistently says baby sister.  When I ask her boy or girl, however, her response changes every time. Still, I think she's ready to have a baby to read books to.

Here she is reading a Strawberry Shortcake book about Strawberry Shortcake's little sister, Apple Dumpling.

Anyway, there's the exciting news that I've been wanting to share for a while. I just told my new boss today, and her reaction was much better than expected, so I figured there's no reason to keep it a secret. I am, however, going to hold off just a little while longer before posting on Facebook.