Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... sweet music to our ears

We heard the heartbeat! It was a quiet whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh... about 150 beats per minute. Oh my God! There's really a baby in my belly. Geez!

In other news, I'm starting to feel a little bit like my normal spastic self. I must be getting my energy back! (11 weeks now, so I guess I'm right on time) Hopefully this new energy sticks around... although I am completely open to the possibility that I could have a relapse.

Also, I told my boss I was pregnant last week. I was really nervous about it! I know from talking to other women at HP that the way you are treated during pregnancy and after birth is absolutely dependent on your manager. It's true! HP has decent leave policies, but most of them are entirely dependent on "manager approval". Translation = if you have a good relationship with your manager, he/she values your contribution, and he/she has kids, it should go ok. If you don't have these things, then it can really be a struggle.

I'm so lucky... my manager was awesome! He told me over and over (and even called the next day to tell me) how excited he was for me. In my meeting with him he said, "You do what you feel is best for your family and we'll make the job work around it". I'm so fortunate to be working for him right now. What a relief!

Then I spent some time yesterday figuring out how much time I was going to be able to take off without loosing health benefits and according to how much money Johnny and I can save in the next 7 months (something we're typically not the best at). It looks like I'll be able to take off about 4.5 months and then go back to work part time (20 hours) for the rest of the year. I might offer to my manager that I can come back at 30 hours after the first three months of being back... something like that. That way I can slowly transition back into work and Johnny can slowly transition into being stay at home Daddy (which I think might be our current plan). We're also talking about different nanny situations. We'll see... so many decisions to make!

Better go... love you all!