6 months!

I've been meaning to update this for awhile, but we don't have wireless internet and I don't really like sitting at the desktop computer, so I've kept pushing it off! But here's what has been going on!

Zoe has been making so much progress! A couple of weeks ago she started responding to light and my voice which was really cool! I was reading for my lit class, and decided I would read out loud to her. Well, I started getting tired of reading out loud, so I would stop and read to myself. But every time I did that she started kicking until I would read out loud again! It was so cute. So then I decided to test her with light: I got a really bright flashlight and shone it on my belly and she started kicking and hitting it. I moved it around a little (still in the same general area), and she would hit it wherever I moved it. And she did that until I guess she got tired of it and I felt a big move when I suppose she rolled over or moved further back or something because I couldn't feel her right up close anymore and she stopped kicking! Since then I've only tried the light on her one or two times because she does not seem to care for it! :)

Then we had a doctor appointment and took another ultrasound peek at her to confirm that we do indeed have a little girl!! And no other names have come up, so Zoe is looking positive. But still no middle name. And I haven't really been thinking of any, so maybe it will come to us some time in the next four months!

Oh, and the other day (as well as today) she was especially dancy and RIGHT up againt me so we could definitely feel her--not just when she moved, we could just feel my belly and feel her! It was awesome! We don't know for sure what we were feeling, but I think it was her head, and Mike thinks it was her butt. But it was just good to feel her. And since then she's been up close like that a few times. And we talk to her, and using certain tones make her move! (usually just annoying voices I do make her kick.) Also, sometimes she's moving around so much it looks like my belly is boiling--like lots of bubbles under my skin!

Time has still felt like it's dragging on! We hit 24 weeks on Wednesday, and it made me realize that when we were back home for Christmas (which had seemed like awhile ago), we were at 20 weeks--only 4 have gone by since then!! But classes start on Monday so that should help. And my friend Vanessa is due in 3 weeks so that should be a good distraction!

Until then, Zoe keeps growing, and I keep growing (just not quite as fast as her yet). We didn't take a new picture this week because there hasn't really been a change, but here are our 23 week pictures!

Gender, name?, kicks, and mommy growth!

On December 20th we skirted into the doctor's office for our ultrasound about an hour before we had to get onto our plane to head to TN for Christmas break, and we got this beautiful picture of our little baby:

Everything looks perfect and healthy, and Dr. Walker said he was about 99+% sure that we've got a little baby girl!! He was kind of hesitant at first, thinking he saw girly parts; but then we actually got to see her pee, and that was the selling point for him! Part of me is still a little hesitant because we never got a really clear shot of the genitals, though. I'm not sure if we get another ultrasound, but I'm hoping we do so we can look for some confirmation.

And then came the baby name book! Kind of...

We got it out to start looking for names, but way back when we had talked about Zoe, and that one has pretty much stuck around. We aren't 100% sure, but since we like it we haven't really been looking for other names. We don't have much on a middle name yet. We've tossed around Grace, but it isn't totally settling right with either one of us, so we don't really know yet!

Anyway, on December 26th after eating some noodles for dinner, I was not feeling very well so I went down to bed early. But a few minutes after lying down I was feeling mini explosions in my tummy (weird way to explain it, I know, but it really felt like tiny fireworks going off), and I let it go for a little bit, but then I decided to put my hand on my belly to see if I could feel anything--and there it was! Little Zoe's first kicks!! I texted Mike (who was just upstairs), and he came running down and was able to feel them as well! It was so awesome!! Especially because I hadn't been 100% sure I was feeling her move around in there; I'd feel something now and then, but I couldn't tell if it was baby or just my body. So the first time I know I definitely felt her, Mike was able to confirm and feel her movements as well!

Since then she's kept moderately active; she's pretty relaxed as of now and doesn't move around a whole lot. And she lets me sleep at night! A lot of my pregnant friends tell me they are woken up at night with baby movement, but Zoe stays quiet throughout the night (either that or I'm just so passed out--which is quite likely), and when I wake up in the morning she gives me a few wiggles to say good morning!

She's also started some more profound movements I'm quite convinced are body slams. It doesn't hurt me or bother me at all since she's still so tiny, but every once-in-awhile I feel her just slam her whole body against my belly instead of a few little movements. Also, I'm convinced she's going to be gigantic! Most women talk about the butterfly flutters they feel in their bellies, but I feel Godzilla stomping around when I feel her move! She doesn't move all the time, but when she does she likes me to know she's there! :)

We're at 21 weeks today and counting....! (very slowly, I may add. I know it's supposed to go by fast, but I guess when you're counting every day that slows it down a bit!)