24weeks

I finally made it to 24 weeks!! I know this doesn't seem very far along, but for a labor and delivery nurse, this is very exciting. After 24weeks the baby is viable and could survive if born. Not that I want her to come any time soon, but it is just reassuring. When I tell people at work I am 24weeks, they all get really excited and say congratulations.
She is more than a foot long now from head to foot, and she is over a pound. I have finally cleaned out the room that we are going to use as the nursery and have set it up some of the things we already have for her. It is a lot of fun to walk by it every morning and see all the precious little girl things. I am loving getting little girl dresses and have been displaying them in the room b/c they are just too cute to put in the closet. I can't wait to put them on her!!

Let it Snow!

Today was the first really snowy day of 2009. It is absolutely beautiful outside. It was so fun to look outside and see the puffy white snow falling, although less fun when I realized I had to go to work. I picked up an extra shift, so I had to work from 9-1. The roads weren't to horrible, but definitely not that great. I almost didn't go b/c I didn't want to become a patient on labor and delivery trying to get there to work. I got to and from work safely, though, and am planning on having Steven drive me to work tomorrow.
Our little one on the way is doing well. She is moving a ton, and sometimes I can actually see my belly move. She tends to move most after dinner if Steven is putting his hand on my stomach or at night, when I am about to go to bed. If she is moving a little, and Steven puts his hand on my stomach, it is like they start playing tag. She will just keep kicking and kicking over and over again where is hand is (sometimes I have to tell him to stop because it can be too much...she is strong!). I think we have a future soccer player on the way....surprise, surprise!
I worked this weekend, and it was pretty slow, so my coworkers were able to do a sonogram. She was looking down so I couldn't see her face, but we could tell everything looked good. She had her little hands up by her face, and she was kicking a lot. It is good to see her heart beat, and know that she is producing enough amniotic fluid. All seems to be going well

On another note, Mary Elizabeth, a friend of mine from UVA, who was a year ahead of me and was in my sorority, just had twin boys. She had a really hard pregnancy, and was on bedrest starting at 16weeks. She actually made it to 38weeks, which is amazing for twins, but after the delivery, things have just gone downhill. The twins are in the NICU now, and have been having problems breathing and have had several seizures. The doctors are currently testing for genetic or metabolic disorders. Please pray for them! You can also visit their website at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stonetwins.

20 weeks

I am now 20weeks pregnant! Half way there! It is nice to finally hit the 20week point. I can feel her move around, and she is quite the mover. During the sonogram, she went from head down at the beginning to head up by the time the sonographer was finished. It is still hard to feel her from the outside, but I can definitely feel movement inside.
It is also nice because at 20weeks, if I need to go to the hospital for any reason, I will get to go straight to labor and delivery and bypass the ER. I hate ERs, so this makes me very happy, although, I hope the only reason I am going to the hospital in the next 4 months is to go to work. But as a Labor and Delivery nurse, it is something I think about.
Lots of people have been asking what we are going to name her, but honestly, we don't know yet. Surprisingly, we have yet to talk about it since we found out she is a girl. It is really hard to pick a name, especially since we haven't seen her yet. Who knows, we may wait until she is born to actually choose one.
I have been looking online a lot to try to register for things for the nursery, but that is also a hard thing to pick. Crib bedding for girls can be so fru-fru, and we are not really into that. It is fun to look for things that are gender specific, though, and I am having to stay away from baby clothing stores because it is so tempting to buy all the cute little girl dresses and outfits I see! I am sure we will have more clothes than we know what to do with by the time she is born, or so I am told by other new moms, so I should probably avoid buying too much anyway.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years filled with lots of family, relaxation and fun! What an exciting 2009 this will be!