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!)

Bitty Communicating

Well, first, just to make sure I have documentation of everything on the blog, we did take the at-home gender predictor test which said we are having a boy! We have some friends out here that it was accurate for, but my sister-in-law Sarah said she had 3 friends that all got boy results and had girls! So, we'll see...we should be able to have an ultrasound on Monday and find out, but we're cutting close to get to our plane in time!!

Today I kept having intense stabbing pains in the uterus area, and I had heard that heat can help. So I took a warm bath and was listening to classical music and the pain went away. After my bath I went to the kitchen to get a snack, and the pain came back even worse! I was trying to get a pear out of the bag and rinse it off and it was nearly impossible I was hurting so much. So, I got my pear and went back over to my classical music and the pain stopped. So as long as I'm here at the computer listening to music it's fine! I think little baby likes the music! :)

Home in TWO days!!!!!!! Today we're cleaning up everything so we have a nice place to return to! :)

Registry Update!

Note: the registry has changed slightly! We have now also registered at Babies-R-Us! And some items that WERE at Target are now on Babies because we were able to actually see them in person instead of rely on online reviews

So here is the link: http://www.toysrus.com/registry/search/index.jsp?_flowExecutionKey=_c55A854C3-6C08-AF3E-8E74-AE7AB41C9058_kF952C793-A56D-5E70-E56B-55C057179214&overrideStore=TRUS

[There are some items at the bottom of the registry that cannot be bought online--in stores only]

(Registery #46263604)

If you look for us without the link, remember that there are plenty of Sarah Jones! You can look in Monterey, CA or even possibly my maiden name (Below). It will be Sarah and Michael Jones in CA! Oo, the registry number makes it super easy! And that can be easily shared with people that don't have the blog.

And here's the Target link again: https://www.target.com/registry/baby/1UDO2O63QPWR8

(Registry ID #014399701461787)

Also, if you get something off the registry, please please please purchase it through the registry so it comes off the list and we don't have to deal with multiples! :) If you find the same item elsewhere for cheaper, just let us know and we'll remove it from the list so no one else gets it; we're all about bargains!

As for clothing, we have no reason to register before we know the gender, so that will come in time. Also, it's not something we're too picky about; baby clothes are cute in general! Speaking of, there are some things on the register that ARE gender specific--in some cases we picked the girl and boy version (sometimes just one), just so it's on there and we don't forget about it. We will update it after we know!

9 days until TN!!!!!

Updates

So we just passed our four month mark! Today we are 16 weeks and 4 days--moving on up!

I meant to update every time we had an appointment, but this last one wasn't terribly eventful; I ad blood drawn (uck!), and we listened to the heartbeat for a few seconds, but Mike wasn't able to be there and it was pretty quick.

I believe Bitty is growing and moving--sometimes I'm not sure if I feel movement or not, but this morning it felt like a fish swimming around in my belly for a second so I believe that was baby! I also had a dream last night that we were taking a home test to find out the gender and it was undeniably a boy! But we are getting so close to that time that we should be able to know soon!!

Also, we started registering for stuff at Target! http://www.target.com/registry/baby/1UDO2O63QPWR8

(Also Registry ID: 014399701461787)

We've just started browsing around, so there will probably be items added with time; some things we want to go see in stores before registering for!

My friend Vanessa that lives in our apartment complex has a baby heartbeat monitor so we recorded the little bitty for you all to hear! (PS...sorry to disappoint, but it looks like I have a bigger baby belly in this [after food and in the position I was sitting], but it IS on the way! And my body looks odd shaped and it took me awhile to realize the extra "lump" on my abdomen was my hand! :))

TN BOUND IN 15 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D CANNOT WAIT!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We decided that before I get stuffed with food for Thanksgiving (our friends are cooking a FIVE COURSE MEAL!!--The fourth course being traditional Thanksgiving food!! :-0), we should get a picture of little bitty and his/her bump on mommy!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :-D We know what we're thankful for this year! :)

Bitty Jones' Rhythm

Play Bitty Jones' Heart Beat. [DOES NOT WORK YET--WE'RE TRYING TO GET THERE!]

Today we are 12 weeks and 6 days--one day shy of our second trimester! And we got to hear the little heartbeat! :) When Dr. Walker first put the little machine up to my stomach (note: not belly YET! Still stomach.) it took him a minute to move it around and find the little one, and then apparently him and Mike heard the heartbeat and I was sitting there anticipating when it was going to start. Little did I know that you don't hear the "ba bump, ba bump" I'm used to, but "woosh, woosh." With that knowledge, I was able to finally hear that there is in fact a live beat there! (Though when we listen to the recording now I still have to have Mike point out to me when it starts.)

I was worried I wouldn't be able to find our baby in an ultrasound picture (thanks to the trouble Rachel has in "Friends"), but I thought surely I would notice a heartbeat!

The pregnancy continues wonderfully--no sickness still, just a few slight headaches now and then (nothing a massage and a funny sitcom can't cure). My body has started to grow/make room for growth, but nothing noticeable on a day-to-day basis to passers-by. Of course, I obsess probably every day that I'm getting uncharacteristically fat (not due to baby), but it always subsides by the next morning (a big hip, hip, hooray for bloating!).

Next appointment comes in 3 weeks, but it will probably just be blood work so there may not be much to report, but belly growth may be popping any day now!