Pregnancy Induced Retirement

That's right, you read correctly. Pregnancy Induced Retirement, or PIR for short. After being placed on lifting restrictions related to my pregnancy, my manager promptly made me fill out short term disability forms. Apparently I suddenly became a libility in the PACU (post anesthesia care unit, where I functioned as an RN), so they shipped me off to the sticker factory, better know as Health Information Management. The "sticker factory" is what my husband dubbed it after I gave him my new job description. It goes like this: I sat in the back of the medical records warehouse by myself for 9 hours a day, 4 days a week, placing color-coded stickers onto future medical file folders. After about 4 weeks, I advanced to tearing stickers off and blacking out memos on other folders. On special occasions, I was able to organize fetal heart tone monitor strips from other pregnant women. So, I tell you all of that to get to this... I could work on restrictions for only 8 weeks, and today was my last day! For the remainder of my pregnancy, I will be at home, getting ready for Maya, our baby! My husband says the PIR is my "practice" for my future role as a stay-at-home-mom. I couldn't agree more, and I plan on making the most of every moment before my responsibility level goes through the roof come late spring!

Will FELT Maya Move!

FINALLY! Will felt Maya move as we were laying in bed, getting ready to go to sleep. Will always cuddles up to me, with his hand rested on my belly, before he goes to sleep. I could feel Maya moving, so I placed his hand in the right spot and put some slight pressure on my belly. She moved a few times, and I waited for him to say something... FINALLY, she moved just right, and he felt her! It was pretty awesome. I feel so lucky to get to feel her move all the time. I've been dying for him to share in the experience! Yay!!

Will FINALLY Saw Her Move!

Will came in the bathroom to chat with me while I soaked in the tub... one of many luxuries I'm trying to take advantage of while I still can. As he stared at my belly, Maya must have completely rolled over because all of a sudden, Will goes, "Was THAT her?!" Yep, one big roll, then she was still. I think he was in total disbelief. It's pretty awesome to feel her moving around, and it's crazy to watch her! It kind of looks like there's a little alien in there or something! The movements are only going to get bigger and stronger as she grows. Hopefully soon, the movements will be strong enough for Will to feel!

Her Name Will Be (drum roll please)...

MAYA REESE DEATON! Okay, so we've known that her first name would be Maya for quite a while now, at least, since the 8th, when we found out we were having a girl. Way back in 2003, during our honeymoon in Riviera Maya, Mexico, we agreed that if we ever had a baby girl, we would name her "Maya". We were still just as much in love with that name as we were 3 1/2 years ago, so the first name was a breeze. We were stumped on a middle name. It's not that we couldn't agree, we simply couldn't come up with any that we were crazy about. I liked Reese, Grace, and Star, and Will had differing opinions on each of them. He liked Reese. He did not like Grace at all. He felt a little superstitious about names like Grace, Hope, Faith, Angel, and so on because when he rotated through the pediatric ICU, it seemed as though there was a large population of patients with inspirational names like Grace. Crazy, right? It seems like kids with those kinds of names should somehow be protected from bad things, but Will's perspective is different based on his personal experience. I had to go with him on this one because he felt very strongly about it. Star, though we both love it in my name, just didn't seem to fit. We both want her to have her own name, her own identity. In the end, we chose Reese, in honor of my late grandpa, Maurice Runyon. We thought Reese could be a shortened version of Maurice, and actually, when you say, "Maya Reese" together, it sounds a lot like Maurice! It accidentally turned out better than we anticipated! We love it, and we hope that she does, too!

Babymoon in Mexico!

Ahhhh... beautiful Mexico! We're finally out of the bitter cold and snow of Michigan and ready to bask in the warm rays of the Caribbean. We're staying at El Dorado Royale, in Riviera Maya, the same exact place we honeymooned 3 1/2 years ago! It's awesome to be back... celebrating our "babymoon" this time! When we arrived, there were these gorgeous flowers on a towel sculpture, so I swiped them off the towel and created my own art! I think my baby belly looks beautiful sprinkled with these bold red flower petals! This picture was taken a few days into the trip... we're clearly relaxed and enjoying our time together! My only gripe is that I'm not showing more! I feel like I'm still at that stage where people would see my belly and think, "Aww... she's going to have a baby!" OR "Wow. She could stand to drop a few pounds!" Will assures me that I'm obviously pregnant, but I think he's just trying to make me feel better! What a great guy! Ahh... I'm loving this tropical atmosphere!
As you can see, even Mexico isn't a balmy 90 degrees all year 'round. While we've been MUCH warmer than we were in Michigan, the weather hasn't really lent itself to swimming, either. Most days, we just lay out by the pool (which isn't really comfy because I cannot lay on my belly... it feels like there's a hard rock in there!) or the ocean. I got in the water once and didn't stay long. It's a little chilly. The winds have been really high, too, causing the surf to be quite rough. I guess Mexico even experiences a "winter". However chilly, it's still refreshing and relaxing, everything a vacation should be!
Speaking of relaxing... on our last day at the resort, I booked some spa treatments. Yay, my favorite! I enjoyed a pedicure, facial, and full body prenatal massage. It was lovely. Before my scheduled appointment, I returned to our room to shower and get ready. Maya was getting really active, so I laid down on the bed, just to feel her dance around. She moved and jumped and kicked and went on and on... until finally, I had to get ready to visit the spa! Once I arrived at the spa, I was given a robe to change into. I made myself comfy and waited to be called back for my first treatment. The whole time I waited, Maya bounced and bounced. I began to think that the treatments weren't going to be so relaxing! I was called in for my facial, and as soon as I settled into the chair, and the woman started the treatment, Maya settled right down. She didn't move the rest of the time. Apparently, she's going to be just like me! She was SO excited to go to the spa, she couldn't stand it, but once the experience began, she settled right down to soak it all in. I hope this means that I'll have a spa buddy!
Throughout our trip, I couldn't help but to write her name, over and over again, just to see it. It is a beautiful name, and I know she's going to be a beautiful girl. I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to go on one last vacation before her arrival. It was nice to spend some carefree, quality time together, just as a couple. I know it will be hectic once Maya arrives, and we won't have much one on one time together, Will and I. In a way, this trip was like the "calm before the storm". It was so nice to reconnect in the same place we honeymooned and dreamed of this little girl... now our dreams are becoming reality. There's no one else I'd rather share this experience with. I love you, Will (aka "babydaddy")!

IT'S A GIRL!!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today, and we found out that we're going to have a little GIRL!! We couldn't believe it. Up until the ultrasound tech showed us proof positive that I am carrying a girl, we were both convinced that this baby was a boy! I was totally stunned. I have always wanted to have one of each (a boy AND a girl), but I always thought that I would have the boy first. I guess I was wrong! WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!! YAY!!

After studying what must have been a billion ultrasound pics on www.pregnancy.about.com, I was actually able to tell the sex BEFORE the tech told us what it was! I was pretty proud of myself, plus it was cool to figure it out on my own. All that studying paid off! During the ultrasound, the baby sucked on her hand and thumb almost the entire time. It was so cute!

This afternoon, I went shopping at Babies 'R' Us to buy her first girly outfit. Until now, I had only bought clothes if they were totally gender-neutral OR more boy than girl, just in case. I figured that a girl could wear boy clothes, but not the other way around. Now that we know we're having a girl, I'm buying PINK! I found the cutest little Adidas track suit! It's bright pink with light pink stripes down the jacket sleeves and pant legs. I also bought two shirts to go under it. It's a 6-9 months, so she won't be able to wear it for awhile. That didn't matter... I HAD to have it! I can't wait to see her in it! I guess it will be about this time next year that she may be able to fit into it. Oh my gosh... in ONE year, I will have a 7 month old! AND, she's a GIRL! Buying the pink outfit helped me to wrap my head around the fact that we're having a girl. For some reason, it just doesn't seem possible that it's a girl. It must be that I have 5 brothers... sometimes I forget that it's possible for someone to have a girl. Well, guess what? That someone is ME! WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!!!