Sorry. It's been a minute:)

Update: My glucose was normal, so the orange liquid is now a memory. And the remnants of the orange liquid came out of my cardigan, so uniform saved! Starting Dec. 21, I go to the doctor every 2 weeks instead of 4 weeks. We have our hospital tour this weekend, and my childbirth classes are scheduled for January. I have started the kick count routine, which Ella makes very easy. 10 movements in 10 minutes. Done and done. As of today, there are 11 weeks and 3 days left to go, and little girl is apparently the size of a small cabbage, weighing about 2.9 lbs and measuring at 17 inches long. I've had a couple of less than fabulous nights lately - a lot of tossing and turning (which itself is becoming more difficult) and crazy dreams. I've always had crazy dreams, and I remember every detail, so for me to categorize these as particularly crazy is saying something.

Now, on to my thought for the day. Someone asked me yesterday if I was looking forward to drinking alcoholic beverages again. My answer was simple: no. I've never liked the taste of anything alcoholic. Therefore, I simply don't drink. It's not a moral stance - I just don't like it. Simple as that. So I didn't have to give anything up, and I don't crave it now. This conversation meandered into, "Well, if it's not alcohol, then what did you have to give up?" Oh...many things, my friend....many things. Granted, I'm a bit of an obsessive person, so there are some things I possibly could have been more lenient with, but basically, if the book said, "Don't do it," then I didn't do it. A lot of things I could care less about, but there are a few I'm anxious to have back. So here is my list of things that I look forward to being able to do/have again:

1. Turkey sandwich. Turkey sandwich. Turkey sandwich. I'm going to tear Jimmy John's up. No lie. Not many people know that you can't have deli meats due to the risk of listeria, but it's true. Apparently, as long as it is heated to 165 degrees right before you eat it, you should be safe, but it was a chance I wasn't willing to take.

2. Sleeping on my stomach. I don't care if it is just for an hour or two at a time. It will be glorious.

3. Goody powder. Less than fabulous, I know. But I have always had terrible headaches, and pregnancy really just increased them. If I laugh or cough, I immediately have a throbbing pain in my head. Goody powders are strictly forbidden, as is pretty much everything else. I can take Tylenol, but they might as well be M&M's for all the good they do. The doctor gave me a prescription, but I've been hesitant to take it. I think I've taken two pills the entire time, and it was because I was pretty sure the bones were about to pop out of my head.

4. Cheese dip from Taqueria del Sol and bleu cheese chips from Buckhead Diner. Soft cheeses are another no-no. Again, if it's bubbling hot, then you should be safe, but it still has to be in moderation. I've had about 10 chips from the Taq and 10 chips from the Diner in the last 7 months. This is about a 6,450% reduction in intake. 

5. Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper. I gave up all artificial sweeteners. This means no diet sodas, unsweet tea with Equal, chewing gum, etc. I read the labels on everything to check for artificial sweeteners by their many names, and if they are present, it goes back on the shelf. I've limited myself to one caffeinated beverage a day because it helps with my headaches. 200 mg daily is what you should limit yourself to, but I've been keeping it at about 50 mg.

6. Popping my back. Dear sweet baby Jesus. I've needed every bone in my back popped for about 5 months now, but I can't twist the way that is necessary, and Kyle certainly can't walk on my back. But as soon as Ella is here, I'm going to twist and crack in every way possible.

That's is. There are other things I gave up (hot dogs, steak, Mountain Dew), either because I had to or because I now have an aversion to them, but nothing that I miss. All in all, it hasn't been hard. I mean, it is for a pretty good reason:)

Two down, one to go...

That's right. I am officially in the third trimester. According to my handy dandy "What to Expect" app, Ella is as big as a head of cauliflower - 16 inches long and 2.5 pounds. We've only got 12 weeks and 5 days left until she is estimated to make her grand debut. At my appointment this morning, the nurse said that she is currently laying on her side, and her head is positioned in the top right corner of my abdomen, right under my chest. This explains why I have surges of pain down my right side and back. Her little head is nestled right in a spot that keeps pushing on nerves or something that triggers it. I certainly don't mind, but it would be nice if she found another position comfortable:)

I also had my lovely glucose screening this morning. For those of you who don't know, the purpose of a glucose screening is to check for gestational diabetes. Basically, you can't eat or drink anything for an hour, then you have to drink a 10 oz. bottle of orange liquid (for me, it was a cross between cough syrup and syrup you would put on pancakes) in 3-5 minutes. Doesn't sound difficult, but downing the whole bottle is 3-5 minutes was a challenge. Then, they have to draw your blood one hour after you finish drinking the liquid. My appointment was at 9:30 this morning, so I had to drink the stuff in my car on the way there, just to make sure that I was there before I reached the one-hour mark. I got about half of it down and then I started gagging. I ended up spitting a bunch of it up, and I didn't have any towels or napkins in my car. Therefore, the light blue Georgia Aquarium cardigan (my work uniform) bit the dust. It was totally gross, and even harder after the gagging had been triggered, but I eventually got it all down. Now hopefully, I will pass the screening, and it will be in the past. If I don't, I have to go back in for a four-hour test. Not sure what all it entails, but I have zero desire to find out.

On a more fun note, most of the time when Ella is moving around, I can see it. I took this video with my phone the other night and sent it to my sister. Brittney kept hoping to feel her moving around while I was home for Thanksgiving, but Ella didn't cooperate. I figured seeing it might be a fun consolation prize. Focus on the white line of my shirt against the red at the 5-6 second mark. You will see two small bumps.

What's in a name?

Rihanna just came on my iTunes at work, so I'm inspired to share the latest development in the babydom (as in kingdom...another one of my made-up words). So basically, I'm one of those people who plans life events way in advance. Way, way in advance. Case in point. I've basically had my baby names narrowed down for the last two years or so. I know...I'm special:) The challenge I face now is, even though Kyle and I are calling Little Miss by her name, I still haven't declared it publicly. It's because I have a problem committing. The only two decisions I can recall never second-guessing were marrying Kyle and deciding to bring Little Miss into our crazy life. Everything else requires thorough research, discussion, deliberation, pro/con lists, etc. I overthink everything. Absolutely everything. And while I'm pretty sure I've aged myself a bit for less than worthy reasons, I'm still doing pretty well, so no reason to change my practices now, right?

I'm telling you all of this so that you can appreciate how incredibly difficult what I'm about to do is for me. I am going to share baby girl's name with you. And honestly, I'm really nervous, because like I said, I haven't declared it publicly. Whenever I've shared it with anyone, I've prefaced it with, "I'm pretty sure it's going to be..." But the thing is, whenever I've pictured her during the last couple of years, her name has always been the same.

Ella.

The middle name is new, though. Harper. So there you go. Ella Harper Payne.

I say that Rihanna inspired me to blog about it because "Umbrella" came on, and Brittney and I have talked over the last year about how we can't wait to sing it to her. You know..."Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh..." (I also can't wait to sing songs from "Cinderella" {the Disney movie, not the hair band}. I will figure out a way to make them work.) So I decided to put it out there in the universe and see how it felt. Feels pretty good so far, but I haven't hit "Publish Post" yet. We shall see how it goes...

All things new...

There are lots of (relatively) new things to talk about, but I haven't had time to write. That's new, for one. It's been a while, so I'll dive right in.

1. We bought baby furniture! I thought that having a girl would make it an easy decision, but it was just the opposite. I've gone back and forth for weeks about what kind of furniture I wanted, and last week, I finally narrowed it down to two choices. On Saturday, I took the bull by the horns and made a decision, ordering her crib, dresser and hutch. I'm in love with it, but I was in love with a lot, so hopefully I will stay happy with my decision. It should arrive in December, so I will put a picture up after it comes in. Now I just have to decide on the bedding...

2. Pictures! Kyle ended up going with me to take a few. I think he got tired of me crying about it and said that it obviously meant a lot to me. I thanked him through my heaving sobs (read previous post) and promised to make it as painless as possible for him. The photograher was amazing. She did our engagement pictures four years ago, so I knew she would be. I only hope our daughter is more photogenic than her mother. The photographer did a fantastic job - I just don't give her much to work with. My smile is really small; the wind killed my hair; in hindsight, I could have picked a better outfit. That's how it usually works, though. At least fo rme...

3. New job! Not for me, for Kyle. Two years ago, he left Fox Sports to go to the Atlanta Spirit (Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers). On Monday, he will begin at Turner Sports, working for NCAA and NCAA.com. I'm beyond excited for him. Turner is one of those amazing companies that people spend years trying to get into. I was offered a position there a year ago, working in PR for Cartoon Network, and I chose to stay at the Aquarium. I love my job, but I still wonder sometimes if I made the right call. Kyle will never have those worries, because he always goes for it, and I love that about him. Plus, Turner offers daycare. Not just any daycare...it's a really, really amazing facility. Their waitlist, however, is more than a year. We are going to put our names on it, but Little Miss will have to go somewhere else for maybe 6 months-1 year. Which brings me to...

4. We found a daycare! It's a fantastic place with great people. When I talked to them on the phone a month ago, I knew it was my favorite. I tried to stay unbiased when we toured it, but after meeting the people and seeing the babies there, I knew that my first reaction was correct. Kyle agreed, and that pretty much solidified it for me. We toured several places, and by the end of the day, I had committed myself to taking a 30-minute detour in the morning and afternoon (on top of my 1-hour commute) to take her there. It's absolutely worth it.

5. Last thing. Little Miss has gotten big enough for everyone to feel her doing jazzercise now. She judo chopped the girls at work. It was one of the best moments ever. Their faces are absolutely priceless, and I'm simply overwhelmed every time. I can't wait until she gets here:)

Batten down the hatches...

It has started. I was so proud of myself, and now, it's over. The streak has ended.

People kept asking me how I was doing "emotionally" during my pregnancy, i.e. mood swings, fits, etc. I was proud to report that I was doing just fine. Naturally, I'm a pretty emotional person, but even considering that, I've been incredibly even-tempered. No crying. No fits. No crying fits. Yeah...well...

Batten down the hatches, boys. Thar she blows.

That comment is also appropriate because it was written in reference to...all together now...a whale. And what am I if not a whale?  I can answer that for you...

A blob. An emotional blob. I've cried for the last three days. Sometimes with a purpose, sometimes without. I put a hole in Kyle's car door. That was a reason to cry. (Basically, when I was getting out of his car, I was in a big hurry because it was raining. I didn't notice that my seatbelt didn't go into place, so when I slammed the door shut behind me, the metal part of the seatbelt was sticking out in the perfect position and actually punctured the inside of the door. Yep. Made a nice hole in the Lexus. Let the sobbing commence.) I then cried EVERY time I recounted the story. The recounting was done twice because someone asked why I was crying, and that made me cry more.

Later, my sister asked me on the phone if everything was okay because I wasn't upbeat. Immediately, tears. Then sobbing. While driving. I later cried because my favorite winter coat wouldn't button. I cried because Kyle refuses, absolutely REFUSES, to do maternity pictures with me. Then I cried while trying to explain that the reason I was upset was because all of my pictures would look like I was an unwed expectant mother. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I would just like to have my husband in a few of them, but the other option is to not have any at all, which isn't really an option for me. Then I cried and had a meltdown because someone asked me what daycare we had decided on, and we still haven't toured any of them. We're going next week, but that was prompted by my meltdown. I cried because I hadn't folded the towels yet. I cried because I couldn't figure out what to have for dinner. And remember, this is just since Tuesday. Today is only Thursday. How does my emotional rollercoaster affect (no, not effect...I checked my AP Stylebook) my child, you might ask...

It's not. I'm pretty sure she's hanging out in there, doing her jazzercise, thinking, "This chick is CRA-zy. How did I end up with her?" Other than that, she is doing well. Doctor appointment on Wednesday confirmed that. Her heartrate was 160 bpm, which is a little higher, but the doctor said it's because she won't quit moving. Even right now, as I type, she's doing Zumba in there. Pretty fabulous. I think she's trying to remind me that I don't have anything to cry about, which I'm thankful for:)

She's a chunky monkey...

That's right. I will never call her that, of course, once she is old enough to understand. But right now, Little Miss is a chunky monkey. When we had our ultrasound last month, the pictures of her heart weren't adequate. Since her heart is of the greatest importance, we went back today for more. This also meant that I got another round of 4D pictures. We got great pictures of all her important parts today, including confirmation that she is, indeed, a she. She was incredibly active, moving constantly. At one point, we visible saw my stomach move from where she was doing her morning jazzercise routine.

Despite all that exercise, sweet pea is a chunky monkey. She weighed 1 lb 3 oz, which doesn't seem like much, but she's about a week ahead. I'm 22 weeks and 3 days, and she is measuring closer to 23 weeks and 3 days. The nurse said it was genetic - that if Kyle and I were big babies, then she was likely to be a big baby. Not what I wanted to hear. This girl...8 lbs 15 oz. That's right. The idea of a 9 lb baby makes me a little nervous, but hey, it just means she will fill out her Juicy Couture bloomers. Here are two pictures from our appointment this morning. We've decided that she has my nose and Kyle's mouth. If she had my mouth, there would be no way to tell that she had lips. She still has a lot of growing to do, though.

How weird is the top of her little head?! Since she is still pretty new, the bones at the top of her head haven't fused yet.  My girl likes to have her mouth in front of her face. She kept it there almost the whole time. She stretched once, but it went right back into place. 

Out with the old...

Yay! New background! I decided that since I now know Gretel is a girl, I could girl up my blog a little. The last design wasn't exactly masculine, but it was my idea of neutral. This one is aptly titled "Fairy Tale," and since I'm having a princess (note the crown to the right side), I decided it was appropriate. It makes me happy. And since I'm in a good mood, here are the things that make me happy today...

1. The princess ballerina in my belly. Or soccer player. Whatever she prefers. But every time I feel her bumping around, which she does often, I imagine her doing pirouettes in there. I can only feel them, obviously, so she may actually be working on her free-throw shooting form. I've said before, she may be her mother's daughter, but there's a distinct possibility that she is actually her father's. In which case, it would be her 3-point shooting form.

2. Capri Sun! I freaking love Capri Sun. Kiwi Strawberry only. I take a lunchbox to work with nothing in it but Capri Sun. That is all.

3. Driving a red car. I kind of feel like a rock star.

4. Having two computer monitors at work. I'm somewhat of an online mogul at work (mostly website...Mallory rules the social realm). I have my laptop monitor and then extend my desktop onto another monitor. I can't imagine my life without it:)

5. The husband. He gave me four tickets to tonight's Thrashers game (awesome seats) so that I could give them to someone I work with (hello, brownie points!). He even drove them to me at work. And then he is taking me to the Hawks/Heat game tomorrow night. Although he did change my channel last night when he realized that Glee was a rerun (I chose not to offer that information up)...

6. Thriller. As in MJ. We worked on the Aquarium's Halloween e-card this morning. Think Thriller and Flash Mob. It's going to be AWE-some.

7. Modern Family comes on tonight. Yay!

8. Willow Smith's video for "Whip My Hair." Kid is 9 years old. Insane! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymKLymvwD2U

9. Did I mention Gretel?

10. And pretty much everything else. I think today is a good day. Tomorrow may be different, and yesterday wasn't fab, but today...so far, so good.