"What does this mean?" "What does this mean?" My husband repeated the question before I could even speak. I held a home pregnancy wand in front of his eyes, the little plus sign visible.

I explained the red plus meant our first child was on the way. I then echoed his question, "What does this mean?" But instead of wondering about the result of the home pregnancy test, I wondered what the pregnancy would mean for me--physically and emotionally.

The questions swirled in my mind: "What's my due date?" "When will I start showing?" "How much weight should I gain?" I didn't have to wait for my first appointment at the OB/GYN office. I found the answers just a mouse click away on the World Wide Web.

To start the ball rolling, I conducted a search of pregnancy Web sites. I got a quick answer about my due date at The Parents Place Interactive Pregnancy Calendar.

I typed in dates specific to my cycle, and the site built me a customized calendar detailing the baby's development from conception to birth. It told me my due date was November 9; the doctor's office said November 10. Of course my baby had his own time table when he arrived two weeks early.

Parents Place.com proved to be my favorite and most-visited pregnancy site. It offers live chats with other expectant parents and dozens of bulletin boards that cover topics ranging from morning sickness to the family bed to household tips. I registered and signed in with a user name and password.

I spent a lot of time reading the Expecting Clubs Bulletin Boards at Parents Place. This feature allows women expecting in the same month to share their joys and fears, and also compare notes about the stage of pregnancy they're experiencing.

When I awoke with a nose bleed early one Sunday morning, I typed in a note on the November 1997 Expecting Club board, and it didn't take long before I received advice from other expectant women telling me nose bleeds are often common.

Sharing the experience with other women helped to alleviate my worries and concerns. We discussed everything--from our fears of labor pains to the dread of strangers patting our bellies to getting our husbands involved in the process.

We used the board to vent our frustrations and to rejoice in the upcoming births. We talked about what foods we craved, how we planned to decorate the nursery, and whether to breastfeed or not. I wonder how I would have made it without their emotional support, and also the valuable advice from seasoned moms.

I felt so connected to this board that I sent out a post before heading out to the hospital. My water broke at 2:30 a.m. on October 29, 1997. I took a shower, shaved my legs, did three loads of laundry, and then logged online to tell all of my friends on the Expecting Club board that my baby was ready to join the world.

The cyber-congratulations I received from around the world was heartwarming.

A similar site is The Stork Site . Every time I logged on, the first screen would say "Marla's Front Porch," and would tell me exactly how many weeks/days I'd been pregnant Now that my child is here, my Front Porch announces my baby's age.

The Stork Site contains bulletin boards, chat rooms, articles in the "Storkzine", and pregnancy and childbirth questions answered by Tori Kropp, RN.

I combed through the site's "name nest" looking for ideas. My husband and I narrowed our search to Benjamin for a boy and Sierra for a girl. We're still waiting to use the name Sierra.

The Baby Center is a site I keep high on my list of bookmarks. The Baby Monitor includes breaking news on pregnancy and babies, and has provided me with essential information about product recalls.

I signed up for a newsletter which keeps me up-to-date about the current stage my baby is growing through. And I received a bonus for filling out an online survey at The Baby Center: I won an interactive book in the shape of a turtle for my child.

My husband and I enjoyed seeing the ultrasound of our baby, although we turned our heads when the technician checked the sex. We didn't know until delivery that we had a son.

Before the actual ultrasound took place, we looked at some ultrasound images at Childbirth.org . The site answered our questions about how ultrasounds work and how they are performed.

I'm so glad I was wired during my pregnancy. I found support and useful information on the Web. Just about the only thing I didn't do was give birth on the Internet. But I read the articles recently of a woman who did just that.

Now that Ben is here, I guess I'll have to start surfing again. Let's see, I think I'll start with Sesame Street.