20 Weeks Pregnant and Growing

Our baby girl has gotten super active within the last month. I can definitely feel her moving around like crazy and she likes to kick her momma pretty significantly sometimes. Zane too has been able to place his hands on my belly and feel her kick however she's pretty defiant at times and doesn't necessarily kick when I want her to, go figure.

I have been feeling great and watching my belly as it grows more and more each day. I am officially wearing maternity pants which are heaven sent, by the way. There are things that are starting to become more difficult to do without my belly getting in my way or at least noticing that its there. I know I have a lot more growing to do so it will be interesting to see how I manage to adapt to my new figure.

Work has been going great and hasn't affected my pregnancy at all. I think that I am now used to the hours and sleeping schedule which is a bit chaotic at times but I'm handling it pretty well. I honestly feel amazing and can't complain. This pregnancy has been really easy so far and I just hope that it stays this way until she's here...oh and it can remain "easy" after she's here too, but I have to be realistic, after all, she's a girl! haha.

We decided to start working on the baby room. We tore up the floors and painted the walls. Zane will be making and installing new wood floors and my very talented neighbor Erin and I will be painting some designs on the walls. We still need to shop for all the furniture and all that fun stuff but we couldn't wait to get started. The wall color is a sage green and I plan to paint pink and yellow flowers on the wall. I can't wait until it's all done...until then, it's a work in progress.

It's a girl!!!!

Today was my ultrasound appointment to find out the sex of the baby. Zane and I were super excited and couldn't wait to hear the news. When we got there, Zane was asked to wait in the waiting room while they started the ultrasound. I spent 20 minutes in in there while the ultrasound tech checked to make sure everything looked good healthwise. I too wasn't able to see anything during that time so I was just getting more and more anxious as time went by. Finally, after all the official medical stuff, Zane was called into the room and the tech turned the screen so we could both see.

There she was, floating around and waving her hands, stretching out her legs, and looking oh so adorable. We spent a good 10-15 minutes watching her and looking at her every angle. It was amazing. Finally it was time to find out the sex of the baby. The minute the tech put the ultrasound picture at an angle where the sex could be seen, I blurted out, "It's a girl!" I knew right away. It was pretty obvious. I was very surprised because I had been thinking boy this whole time but I was thrilled at the same time. When I asked Zane about what he thought he said he was in shock, he too thought it was going to be a boy. After the initial shock wore off he became super excited and started talking about names, baby room colors, and all that fun stuff that comes along with having a girl. We can't wait until she's finally here so we can love her and give her an amazing life.


Girl parts

A salute to Daddy

Profile

Drinking the amniotic fluid (mouth open)

Stretching our her legs

In Case of an Emergency...

People always say that nursing is one of the best professions to have because they are needed everywhere and finding a job would be a piece of cake. I too was under that impression. After graduating nursing school and passing my boards I couldn't wait to get out in the real world, have a real career, and make real money. My plan was to get settled into the house and go down the street to the hospital and get a job. To my surprise, since I was a new graduate they required an extensive new grad training program that had just started a month prior and the next one would not start until February of next year. I was devastated because I knew that I couldn't start a 6 month program being 8 months pregnant and having to take time off in between that time. So I looked around for what seemed like forever and I kept coming across the same issue, new grad + no experience = not hireable.

Finally I decided to look at a nearby town and check out their hospital to see if maybe, just maybe, they would be willing to train a new grad. I contacted HR and was pleased to find out that they did in fact train new grads. I soon had an interview and I just found out that I got the job! I will be working in the Emergency Room, 12 hour shifts, 3-4 days a week, from 7pm to 7am. Although I'm not necessarily thrilled about working the night shift, I am super excited about having the opportunity to work in the ER since new grads are usually not placed in a "specialty" area. The ER is a great opportunity for me to see various groups of people, from infants to the elderly, and apply my critical thinking skills. I can't wait. I just hope that I am able to adjust to the night shift without too much difficulty and that my pregnancy will not be an issue during work although I know that by the end of it I will be waddling down the halls.