This time last year...

This time last year Brandon and I were getting ready to start a family.  We didn't know it yet.  But, I was either pregnant or "almost pregnant".  We were lucky enough to get pregnant on our first try and I can only hope that the same thing will happen next time, when we are ready for another child.  Though, sometimes I think a surprise would be even more exciting!

I can't believe how much my life has changed since September 2010.

Before we got pregnant, there was a lot of prepping on my end.  I am a major planner, so even before our final plan I was planning on how this plan would go.  All this entailed....

1. READING!  Lots of reading and googling to make sure I understood how to track my cycles and all the womanly things that go with it.  Very interesting.  I read about prenatal vitamins and basal body temperature, etc.  
2. Starting a prenatal vitamin:  I just bought mine from Walmart and didn't bother with anything else.  They have everything in them that is needed, plenty of folic acid, etc.  (I checked beforehand).  I started taking them in December before we got pregnant.  So, that was about 9 months prior.  It is recommended to start taking them  a few months before you want to get pregnant and I figured, why not even earlier, just in case?  There are alot of perks to them (nails strong & long, hair grows fast, and of course healthy baby!)  I still take them now and will continue to do so. 
3. Visiting the doctor:  I had a regularly scheduled GYN appointment and talked with the doctor about trying to conceive.  I think they took some of my blood and made sure my vaccines were up to date.  She gave me a couple pointers, most  of which I already knew.
4. Saying bye, bye to ortho-tri-cyclen:  In February prior to conceiving I ran out of pills and that was that.  I read that it can take awhile to get them out of your system so I figured that 7 months was time enough.  
5. Downloading a free iPod app:  There is an app for EVERYTHING.  The one I used is called FemCal.  The best thing about it is that it is FREE.  You track everything.  Cycles and illness and especially basal body temperature.  Every day when I woke up before getting out of bed, I would stick the special basal body thermometer (your temperature is recorded to the "T") in my mouth and record my temperature.  It was very useful starting this months and months prior to trying to conceive because I got to know my cycle and my body really well.  Your morning temp can tell you if your ovulating if it increases and if it stays up after ovulation for 18 days then it is possible you are pregnant.  Therefore, it is very useful to check.  
6. Buying ovulation predictor kits: I apparently wasted my money on these.  The entire cycle that I did them I never got the smiley face that told me I was ovulating.  I am still not sure why.  It could have been that they did not work.  Or, I was doing them at the wrong time.  Or, I was already pregnant when I used them.
7. Buying pregnancy tests:  I did not waste my money on these.  When I found out I was pregnant, I think I took AT LEAST one a day for the first week, just to make sure.  Haha.  I think I just couldn't believe it!    

We were definitely ready to start a family and it was the perfect time for us.  I remember in about December of 2010, Brandon had told me he was ready to start trying.  And I had been ready since the day we were married, but I knew I wanted more time with Brandon as my husband before he became a father and me a mother.  For me though, my job was important to me and I didn't want to miss alot of work.  So we planned it according to my summer break.  

I don't know what will happen the next time we decide we want another child.  I don't even want to think about another one right now, but I know we want at least one more.  Just to think back on this time and remember how blessed we were and still are with a healthy baby, I just worry that since everything worked out the first time, that it won't the next time.  I can only hope that things fall in our favor!