So... It's been a while, has it??

I keep hearing that it has been a while since I've last blogged. Guilty as charged. It has been a very busy couple of days(weeks?really?) And honestly, I haven't really wanted to get on the computer and post things. Especially not from home. My computer, as previously mentioned, is the worst. That is a deterrent in itself, and I also really enjoyed spending time with my hubby. Who wants to blog when you can be doing that??

My lack of blogging, however, is no reflection of a lack of bloggable events. Just of a lack of motivation. So, let me sum up for you what has been going on in the busy Payne household since I last left you before Christmas.

First and foremost: I had my Thyroid levels drawn the week of Christmas and I was called by the office the next day with the results. ALL OF MY LEVELS ARE NORMAL!! Praise the Lord!!!! A Christmas miracle!! God is so good. Thank you for all of your prayers. I am to continue on my current medication doses and will be rechecked in 6-8 weeks! Anyhow, back to CHRISTMAS!

I worked many, many nights in a row surrounding and including the Christmas Holiday. In this was included a lack of very well needed and well appreciated, sleep.

Dan and I spent the Christmas holiday at Jess and John's house with Maddie, Marcie and Larry. We had a wonderful morning opening presents together, as we do every year. =) I love family time.

The 26th of December was spent celebrating a certain special little girls 2nd birthday. I can't believe Maddie's 2! I had a wonderful time there, unfortunately Uncle Dan had to play at church and was unable to attend. =(

I worked a couple more nights, and tried to steal some hours of sleep here and there. My mom and her husband George came in for a visit on the 29th. They stayed with Dan and I, and our dogs, plus one of Marcie's and Larry's.  :) George loved that. Matt came and stayed with us New Years Eve through the 2nd of January. So we had a very full house, it was great. We all had a great time laughing and playing games. We did not take any pictures. :( I was too tired to think most of the time, with the staying up late, and getting up early (for a night shift person). But we did have a wonderful time. It's always great having out of town family in town. Unfortunately, the weather here was kind of cold their entire stay, and rainy. But we made the best of it.

December 30th was a very memorable day for multiple reasons:

Dan and I had our first appointment with our new OB on December 30th. I wasn't nervous to meet her, but as mentioned above I had worked many nights in a row, had family just arrive into town and was working off of maybe 3 hours of sleep?? Needless to say, I wasn't my normal cheery, excited self. The most excited I got was thinking about my wonderfully comfortable bed. =) The people that worked at the office were very nice. They were helpful and cheery, like they enjoyed their job and were happy to be there. What a change from the midwives office! OB Office:1 point. We met with the doc and she was very nice. She was personable and seemed to know her stuff. She was very thorough, and went through a long history with both Dan and I. I kind of blanked during the questions part. I didn't ask all of the questions I wanted too, but there is always next appointment. I felt weird asking her about the possibility of going back to the midwives if everything went well with the remainder of the pregnancy. Like I was going to hurt her feelings or something. :/ I'll have to get to that at the next appointment. Despite as wonderful and kind as she was, I still longed for the midwives. Midwives Office: 1 point. I feel like I didn't even really take this appointment seriously because I felt like I was still a patient of theirs, not hers. Sigh.

Anyhow, she measured my tummy and listened to baby boy with the fetal doppler. Heart rate was still in the 150's and sounded great. She mentioned that my Perinatalogist had sent over the results of my anatomical ultrasound and that everything was perfect. I was somewhat hoping that she would want to take a look at baby boy since she has never seen him before, and he is a sight to behold. ;) Well, he is. But she seemed perfectly comfortable with taking our word for it instead. She asked if I had been feeling him move at all, and boy have I. I feel him move ALL DAY! It is the most amazing thing ever! I absolutely love it, I have been loving pregnancy so much. Every movement I tell someone about. It never gets old. He is kicking me as I type. =) I am scheduled to see her again in 4 weeks.

That evening:

One noteworthy point worth mentioning: on the evening of December 30th my mom and I went shopping at the Kroger across the street. Whilst in line checking out, a random lady, A STRANGER, was checking out in front of us. I haven't gotten to the mentionable part yet. She turned around and looked at me and said, and I quote, "Look at you popping out! You've got a little one on the way, huh?" To which I replied, "Yes, yes I do. He's finally started to pop out and show more. It's really exciting!" "She asked, "How far along are you?" At the time I was 18 almost 19 weeks, so I told her. She looked astonished. She said, "Well, you've got a long way to go yet!!" Not sure how to take that. BUT I was so excited that someone, who does not know me, knew that I was pregnant just by looking at me. JUST BY LOOKING AT ME. This was a monumental moment. I no longer just have chubs people, I look pregnant. !!!!!!!!! WOOT!!

Later on that night:

We were watching movies sitting on the couch. Pretty sure I was eating. When am I not? Baby boy was giving some really good kicks. I put my hand on my belly to see if I could feel it, and I could! Dan and mom were able to feel baby kicking for the first time that night! It was so awesome! He would be a little shy at first, but then he would just kick away. He literally kicked for a couple of hours on and off. I couldn't believe how awake and active he was! He is definitely a night owl like mom and dad. He sleeps most of the morning away and is crazy active at night. A couple of days later I realized that the reason baby boy may have been so active was perhaps in reaction to my illegal coke slush I had at Target earlier that day. SSHHH! Don't tell Dr. Krishna! Poor baby rarely ever gets exposed to caffeine. So I imagine he was bouncing off the walls in there.

Baby boy is most active as previously mentioned in the evenings. Also whenever I am due to eat I will get a few kicks like he's saying, "What are you waiting for?" He also kicks the entire time that I am eating. I imagine he's doing a dance in there cuz he is so excited about the food. He's taking after his dad already! ;) He also for some reason kicks EVERY time I am feeding a baby at work. Jealous much? =) I love this little guy so much it's unbelievable.

Since we have had our anatomical ultrasound and they have confirmed that it is a boy, Dan and I have started the shopping extravaganza. We have only bought a few outfits to date, but have our eye on a crib set, that we are waiting to go on sale. We are pretty sure about our stroller/car seat/high chair as well. I just have to do some consumer report look ups and that will make or break the deal. We spent this past Monday at Babies R Us browsing around. We were both exhausted by the end it. Really, really exhausted. I was asleep on the couch at 8pm, and I had to work to stay up that long. With all this excitement, I have neglected my rest to make sure to do everything that needed to be done. Thank goodness for today, I was able to sleep in til 11. I feel much better and am back into the grind of work already. Good thing I love my job. Of course I would much rather be home, but who wouldn't?

Did I mention yet that I love being pregnant?