I got a smiley face! My kit told me yesterday morning that I'd ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours! This is day 15 of my cycle and I'm pleased to note that this is about when I thought I ovulated in past months based on my CM and basal temperature charting. Now, I know getting pregnant is hard — and can take a while — even when you have sex exactly when you're ovulating, but I'm still very happy to have confirmation that my body seems to know how to do it.

Okay, now here's a confession: We're not going to have sex tonight or tomorrow. The reason for this, even though I know it's not politically correct to say, is that I'm not-so-secretly hoping for a girl. It's not AT ALL that I don't want a boy eventually. I do! I would love to have both a boy and a girl. And really, I want a healthy baby, above all else, of course. But if I'm honest with myself, I think that having a girl first would be a little easier for me. I was a little girl at one time, after all, and I just feel like I could relate to a little girl a tiny bit better than a little boy — at least during my first crack at parenting. (I'm thinking dolls and tea parties are a little more up my alley right now than trucks and basketball — pardon the stereotypes.)

We've started!!! And the timing couldn't be better. Yesterday was our first anniversary, and we geared up for it with a weekend of baby-making sex. We've really had a great first year of marriage (we worked out a lot of the relationship kinks during our long engagement), so we're both feeling really good about us and our future. I can't think of a more romantic way to enter this phase.

We celebrated by going for a couples massage on Sunday and going out to a fancy dinner that night, which all felt like a big treat. There was lots of hugging and kissing and handholding and telling each other how grateful we were for one another. And of course, there was sex — free, loving, condomless sex.

My new ob-gyn said I could take an over-the-counter prenatal vitamin or she offered to give me a prescription for one. I opted for the prescription kind (they usually have a little more folic acid). And now that we'll be officially trying in a matter of days, I went to pick up the vitamins. I also picked up a DHA supplement (an omega-3 fatty acid that's been shown to boost brain development in babies). Yay — exciting stuff.

This actually wasn't the first time I went to get prenatal vitamins, though. I bought some over-the-counter ones a few months ago, but that time I felt a little weird about buying them. I think because we were a few months away from trying to get pregnant, I felt kind of like a poser getting the prenatal vitamins. And the worst part was, the guy at the cash register at GNC didn't make it any easier.

"Are you pregnant?" GNC guy asked as he looked at my purchase while ringing me up.

"No," I answered. Who asks that? To a stranger?

"I'm trying," I added. Why I divulged more information, I do not know. I guess I felt the need to explain to this guy — who I will never see again in my life — why I was buying prenatal vitamins when I wasn't pregnant. And that should've been the end of it. But it wasn't.

Fortunately, my husband and I have been on the same timetable as far as when we wanted to have kids. We both agreed that getting started with pregnancy about a year after marriage would be good timing for us. Sure, he probably wouldn't have minded waiting a little longer if I were still in my 20s so we could save more money before we spend it all on a child, but his friends are becoming parents now too, so he's actually looking forward to it all — so he says!

I have to admit, though, that I got a tad obsessed with having a baby ahead of schedule, during our nearly year-and-a-half engagement. It got to the point where I even had fantasies of having a baby during our engagement and then still having several months to try to slim down before our wedding day. But those were just daydreams (daydreams that included baby names that my husband sweetly considered; no, I'm not going to reveal them), and I knew we needed time to be married and to enjoy our life as a couple before we truly thought about kids.

So, how did I get over my baby obsession, and wait it out this long? One word: Lucy. We decided to get our adorable Havanese puppy, Lucy, a little over a year and a half ago. I was obviously dying for a baby to take care of (and I grew up with dogs), and my husband had always wanted a dog as a kid. Having her in our life has made me so happy — and my husband too. I mean, who doesn't love coming home each day to a little creature who is so excited to see you she can't contain her squeals and wiggling body? I can even leave the house for just two minutes, and I'm still greeted as though I'm a rock star. Talk about unconditional love.