It's a Boy! We think?!

On Tuesday the 23rd, I had another OB appointment.  I've lost two more pounds, but the Doc says she isn't super worried about it.  My bloodwork and bloodpressure are all excellent.  She said that many times women will start eating much healthier during pregnancy, and it will cause weight loss instead of gain.  I don't think I've really changed my eating habits much at all though.  Because of the gastric bypass I had in 2000, I can't fit much into my stomach at one time.  I have to be so careful what I eat and how much of it, or I end up losing it all.  Sometimes, if I eat the wrong thing or too much, I have to lose it just to be comfortable and function through the rest of the day.  So I've finally decided that what that means is that I have to eat about half of what a regular serving would be, but eat those small servings every 2 to three hours throughout the day.  Hopefully that will work.  How ironic is it that you try to lose weight your entire life and the one time it's acceptable for you to gain, all you can do is lose?! :)

It also doesn't help matters that work has been completely out of control the last month or so.  I was there so late on Tuesday night that I ended up getting a hotel room in Irving rather than make the hour and a half commute home.  The audit is winding down though, so I'm hoping my schedule will calm down considerably.  I'm sure everyone I work with is glad for that too.  I am normally able to control my emotions pretty well - or so people say.  I always feel that when I'm raging on the inside that it shows, but no one usually sees that.  Lately, however, my hormones have contributed to some venting sessions that can be seen and heard by all!  I take pride in the fact that I am able to remain in control in the most stressful of situations, so these little "losing it" sessions have been quite embarassing.  I pray daily that I will remember the big picture and what is truly the priority in my life - and  that is NOT work.

On Thursday, I had my sonogram to find out whether baby Payne is a boy or a girl.  I was joined by Mom and Dad and Tim of course.  It was wonderful to have everyone in the room while we got to see this little miracle inside me.  First, and most important, is that baby looks perfect.  The spine is beautiful and shows no signs of spina bifida.  The heart is equally beautiful and has four perfectly visible chambers.  The baby is growing just exactly as expected.  Baby was moving around quite a bit and we could see the little fingers and toes just wiggling up a storm.  The brain looks perfect and baby has a good size head - thanks to me :)  Dad reminded me though that my big noggin' is necessary to house all those smarts.  So we already know that baby must be super smart as well :)

Profile Shot of Baby Payne

The sonographer took his sweet time showing us every angle of the baby before he said anything about gender.  When he started to look to see if we have a boy or a girl, baby Payne thought he'd make things interesting for us by putting his little hands down between his legs!  The pranks have already started - we'll blame his daddy for this behavior.  The sonographer looked and looked and even shook baby a little to try and get him to move.  He finally found what he called "the little testeronies and a little turtle".  It was all I could do not to laugh at this description of the male genitalia!  Tim's comment was "that doesn't look like anything I have" LOL.  It just looked like some little white dots and a tiny protrusion.  The sonographer gave us 80-90% odds that we have a little boy :)

Baby Boy Payne - We think!

So now.... it is back to the drawing board on names.  We had the perfect name for a little girl (thanks to my wonderful friend Brianne who came up with the name), but we are having a little difficulty finding an equally perfect name for our little boy.  This of course drives me crazy because I cannot stand loose ends!  Any suggestions would be welcome!

I cannot believe I am nearly half way through my pregnancy.  It is just flying by.  I am so looking forward to the showers and decorating the nursery!  We have the furniture all set up and I will wait to post photos until we have done some decorating.  The furniture is from JC Penny's and it really turned out to be beautiful.

Until next time..... much love from Mommy and Daddy Payne and our already difficult little Baby Boy (we think)!