Packers and pregnancy

Well the packers are here. Neither Mark nor I slept very well last night. We didn't fall asleep until after midnight and Mark was up by 5:15am. I got up with him at 5:30am, but I also got up at least 4 times between 12am and 5:30am to pee, put a sock in the door to keep it from rattling, and shut the window bc the blinds were blowing and it kept waking me up. And I woke up with a headache. Every time I'd wake up I'd have a hard time falling back asleep bc I kept thinking of everything I had to do before the packers got here, and I was worried about how Ollie would be with them. He's a handful at times and during our first move with him, he bit one of the movers and made the guy bleed. Lately he's been EXTRA protective of me too, so I knew it was going to be rough. Luckily, he hasn't been too bad. Both the dogs are sitting on the couch with me right now and they're finally not barking or whining.

There are 3 guys here packing up our stuff. All of them keep saying how much stuff we have..... We do have a lot of junk, but we've also gotten rid of a lot of it too! I think when we get to Phoenix I'm going to go through all my clothes and get rid of a bunch of them. I have clothes that are too small though, and I still have hopes of getting back into them, which is why I haven't gotten rid of them yet. And now I have bunches of clothes since I don't fit into my normal clothes anymore.

Here is a picture of the stuff we're moving ourselves. I'm still not 100% sure it's all going to fit in our SUV and Jetta...



Ollie's been pretty worried. He knows something's going on, but he hasn't figured out what yet, so he's been extra needy lately. (2 days until that damn mustache is gone!!!) As soon as we get the suitcases out, Ollie positions himself on top of them.



This week I'll be 32 weeks pregnant. I've been feeling pretty good lately, considering all the stuff I've been trying to get done. I have my last appointment here on Wednesday and my mom will be with me for that one since it's right after I pick her up from the airport. My hip/pelvic pain hasn't been too bad at all, and I think she might have finally flipped, although I'm not sure. I've been feeling her up high a lot more lately, but not at all in my ribs, like everyone else always talks about. I feel her on top on the sides and on top in front, and she really wumps me sometimes. Mark's been able to feel her a lot too lately, which is neat.



My stretch marks are pretty much getting out of control.... They're terrible. And I've been putting lotion on like crazy, and they're still getting worse. Pretty soon they're going to be from my belly button all the way around my side. You can see the new ones coming in further away from my belly button. Luckily I can only see them if I look in the mirror, but it's shocking every time I do bc so many more have popped up. I hope to God they at least turn white and shrink a bunch after she's here. I know they won't ever completely go away, but as long as they don't look this bad forever, I'll be happy.



I'm still getting used to the fact that other people (strangers) can tell I'm pregnant now. For some reason I have it in my head that I just look extra fat, so when people make comments about me being pregnant, it sometimes catches me off guard. Mark and I were renting a movie the other day and the check out girl was like "How are you, besides very pregnant?". Haha! I think I look like I'm more than 7 mos pregnant too... I'm not sure I want to have 2 more months of gaining weight... I'm already up about 20-25lbs.... Yikes.

Last week in Enid (hopefully)

I feel like I've been busy all week, but haven't gotten much done. I mark one thing off my "to do" list, but then add three more to it, so I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. However, I have gotten quite a bit done. I just have one more utility to set up a shut off time for here, and 2 more to set up in AZ. I have a BUNCH of stuff separated out and set aside, that we want to move ourselves. The cats are up to date on their shots, and I got the dogs more heartworm pills. I made my friends sling last night (before my sewing machine started giving me problems again... Stupid thing!). I've thrown out some stuff in the freezer and fridge that I know we won't use. I've organized all the baby stuff and I have my packing lists ready. This weekend we just have to organize a little more and then get our suitcases packed up. I'm going to start taking inventory pictures today so that will be done too and maybe do some laundry. I really want to sew some more, bc last night put me in the sewing mood, but the machine was really frustrating me when it kept messing up, so I gave up. Maybe it just needed a break.

Mark didn't fly yesterday, because they cancelled flying due to the Special Olympics being on base, or today, due to weather. So he flew once this week. He has 7 rides and 2 sims left to complete (as do 2 other guys in his class), one guy has 5 rides left and 2 guys have 3 rides left. He heard a rumor that they're going to try to get them all done by next Friday, but I think there's a higher chance of me giving birth next friday than them being done. We'll see though. I just hope his graduation isn't on Friday because I'd be bummed if I missed it.

Not much more to report. Better get back to work!

Almost funny

Mark was cancelled for the FOURTH day in a row today. It really is almost funny. In fact, when he tells me he's been cancelled now, I actually do laugh. He told me today that he'll just meet me in Phoenix and hopefully he'll be there by the time Abbie arrives (due date May 27). EVERYONE else in his class flew today and he's now officially behind everyone. Good thing his CO told him a month ago he'd make him a priority. I'm seeing that pan out quite well. Mark said he's going to shave his mustache today because it's been bad luck. Hopefully he'll stick to his word on that!

All I have to say is it's a good thing that I already have it in my mind that he's not going to the shower. If I was still holding out hope, I probably would have had a complete breakdown today, in the middle of Wal-Mart, when I found out he was cancelled again. Instead, I just laughed. What else can you do at this point? As long as he's done with training by April 10th (instead of April 1), we'll still be able to stick to our current plan. Although at this point, I wouldn't be TOO surprised if he wasn't even done by then. He said that he'll just call his mom (who's flying into Phoenix on the 14th) and tell her we'll pick her up at the airport on our way into town. We'll see how close to the truth that is... =)

Finally a few answers..

Even though it's not the answer I wanted, at least it's an answer and something to go with. Mark talked to his CO (commander) today, and the CO said there is no way he'll be done by next Friday, which means Mark doesn't get to go home with me for the shower. Big bummer. But I'm much more calm about this whole thing now that I have a definite answer. Now we can plan accordingly instead of waiting to find out what's going to happen.

So as far as planning accordingly - the movers will be here in a week to pack up our house. On Tuesday, they will load up our house and take all our stuff to AZ. On Wednesday my mom is flying down to Tulsa, where I will pick her up at 11am and then make it back to Enid by 1:30pm (it's a 2 hr drive) for my last OB appointment here. We're thinking Mark's graduation is going to be postponed, but if it's not it'll be at 3pm Wednesday. Wednesday night I'll spend cleaning the apartment. Thursday we'll move Mark into TLF (temp lodging facility) on base along with stuff we want to take ourselves to AZ, but that I don't want to drag all the way up to IL and back and then I'll "check out" of our apartment and my mom and I will hit the road as early as possible to head back to IL. It's an 11hr20min drive alone. I'm not sure how long it'll take with stops. Depending on if Mark already had his graduation or not, we might head back to OK Sunday evening or Monday morning. If he doesn't graduate on Weds, there's a possibility he'll graduate at 3pm on Monday, so I want to get back by then so we'd have to leave Sunday night. Otherwise we'll leave IL on Monday morning. Monday and Tuesday of the following week, we'll spend the night in a hotel in Enid while Mark outprocesses and then we'll take our time getting to AZ. We'll probably get to AZ on Friday or Saturday, but the earliest our stuff could be delivered will be on Monday, I think. Mark's mom is flying down to Phoenix Wednesday night, and both of our mom's are heading home on Sunday (4/19).

I'm much more relaxed about everything now that I have somewhat of a plan in place. My biggest fear (that Mark wouldn't be able to come home with me) is a reality now, so now I just have to deal with that. I'm not NEARLY as worked up about when Mark will be done because I guess it really doesn't matter now. Mark, on the other hand, came home pretty stressed, because once again, his flight was cancelled today. He's slightly worried about this block of training that he's in because it's tough, and he will be going on 5 days since he's flown last night. We seem to alternate when we stress out, so that past 3 weeks were my time, and tonight was his. He's better now though and so am I. We'll get through all this craziness one way or another.

On a different note, it's weird not working now. I still have a ton to do, but I barely made a dent in my list so it feels like I didn't do much today, even though I was busy almost all day long. And I miss my work friends.

The Lipizzaners

Mark and I went to see the Lipizzaner Stallions in OKC on Sunday. My mom took me to see them when I was younger, since I've always been a horse lover, and I wanted Mark to have the experience too. They are beautiful animals and we enjoyed the show.


Only 7 more days and he can shave that damn thing off....



They train the Lipizzaners in Vienna, Austria

This one they rescued from somewhere in the US. He was starving when they rescued him, but now he's one of their top performers.

They used the stallions in battle.

They used this manuever to break through enemy lines.

One of the reasons the show is called "Airs Above Grounds"

Hard to tell in this picture, but he's
completely in the air.

More war manuevers. All Lipizzaners in the world stem from 6 bloodlines.

This is an Andalusian - close relative
of the Lipizzaner.

Final routine.

We had really good seats. This photo wasn't
zoomed at all.

I couldn't take my good camera, which is why the pictures didn't turn out the best. They said no professional cameras, and I didn't want to risk not being able to take pictures, even though I'm not sure our SLR would be considered a professional camera. Either way, we had a good time.

I want off this rollercoaster...

So after a week of being fairly optimistic about Mark being done with training, today that was not-so-much the case. He was supposed to have a sim in the morning and a flight in the afternoon. However, he got bumped out of his flight (for the 3rd or 4th time) so another guy in his class could fly since the other guys jet broke when he was supposed to fly in the morning. This didn't piss me off until I found out that every other person in Mark's class flew, except for him. I thought his commander said Mark was supposed to be priority? Obviously that's not really the case.

In other words, we're back to being fairly certain Mark's not going to make it home for the shower. I'm ready to throw in the towel and say screw it all. I'm tired of dealing with all these changes and I'm very close to my breaking point. I just want to cancel the whole shower (and we might end up doing that) and take the cats to my parents in St. Louis when they're there next weekend. If Mark would let me drive home by myself for the shower (with the animals), I might consider that, but he refuses to even entertain that option, and I really don't want to have my mom fly down here so she can babysit me on the ride home. I'm pregnant. I'm not dying or disabled. I'm perfectly capable of driving myself home, but at this point I'd like to just crawl in a hole and stay there for approximately the next 2 months. Besides, if by chance Mark is done by next Friday, I don't want to waste our money, or my parents money, by buying a plane ticket for my mom to fly down to drive back with me if it's not necessary. We also don't know if we should stick to the original plan of having our stuff packed up next Monday and Tuesday (which the movers are already scheduled for) or to push that back a week. There's too many choices and changes and I absolutely give up on trying to figure it all out. I'm done. I'm throwing in the towel. And I want off.

Thank you

Thank you to all of you who left comments and emailed me and called me and left messages on Facebook. I really appreciate all your suggestions and support. It's very nice to know there are many people who care about how I'm feeling, and that in itself made me feel much better.

Things are looking up. I hired a doula from Phoenix who will help us during the birth process. She said that she is willing to do whatever we need her to do during labor, whether it be massage or breathing techniques or being our liaison to the nurses/doctors or getting Mark food or staying with me while Mark gets food or supporting Mark while he supports me, etc. I think we're both a little relieved that we'll have someone there on our "team" and we're looking forward to it. She'll come to our house when labor begins (unless we want her to meet us at the hospital) and she's meeting with us the week we get to Phoenix so we can meet face to face and so my mom can meet her also. We're excited.

I also set up my first OB appt in AZ today, which means I have an OB there lined up. I'll be going to Dr. Rebecca Branaman. She's in a practice with 4 doctors, including her, 3 females and 1 male. They said her c-section rate is around 30% including repeat c-sections, and that they thought she'd be open to different birthing positions. It's another big relief to have that set up and not have to worry about that anymore. My first appt there is April 21.

Mark hooked (failed) his first ride ever in training yesterday. He's learning to basically dogfight now, and learning to max perform the jet he flies. He over G'd the jet, which is an automatic hook, so he was a little bummed about that. They're allowed to pull 6.1 G's in the jet and he pulled 6.18 G's, so they didn't get to complete their flight. (When you over G a jet, you have to immediately stop the flight and go back to base and land so they can check the jet over.) His instructor was really bummed because he said Mark was doing exactly what he was supposed to do and he was beating the guy he was flying against. Mark redid that flight today and passed. I was worried Mark would be really upset with himself for hooking. All through phases 1,2 and 3 of UPT, he never hooked a flight. (He hooked twice in between UPT and IFF, but mainly because he wasn't getting enough hours and one of the hooks was after he'd been out of the jet for over a month because he was at survival trainings.) He only got sat down once during EP's (emergency procedures) during UPT also. (Ironically enough, by your husband, Lisa. *grins*) For those of you not "related" to the military, they have to do briefs before their flights, and they go over emergency procedures and they have to stand up in front of the class and recite what they'd do if certain emergencies happen. If they don't get the EP right, they get "sat down" and then sometimes they don't get to fly that day, depending on the instructor.

Mark was worried that I'd be mad at him about hooking his ride yesterday, and that made me feel bad. He walked in the door and I knew immediately that he hooked by the look on his face. He was worried I'd freak out because he had to redo that ride, which put him another day behind, but I was more worried about how he was handling hooking the ride. He's pretty hard on himself sometimes and we talked (or he talked and I listened) about everything he could have done differently. He's flying tomorrow and has a sim and then he'll do the last flight in this block on Monday. So after Monday, he'll have 6 flights left and 2 sims, and he'll have 7 days of training left. Things are looking good as long as the weather holds out for us. Please say a prayer or two if you think about it, for him to be done on time.

Oh, and the jet he flew yesterday and hooked in? Today they made it an IP (instructor) only jet because I guess 8-9 people have over G'd in it so they think it's extra sensitive... Go figure.

At my stressed out limit

The past few days have been rough. Maybe normally (in a non-pregnant state) I'd be handling things better, but then again, half my worries would also be non-existant. This is mainly going to be a vent. (You've been warned - continue reading at your own risk.)

Here's the list - in chronological order, starting right now.

1. Sophi (my cat) is bugging the hell out of me. She's currently laying on my arm and rubbing her face on my hands. Apparently she didn't get the hint that I didn't want her on me the first 19 times I pushed her away, so I gave up.

2. My last day of work is Friday - aka no more money coming in from me (which ties into other worries I'll get to later) and no more spending time with my good friends there.

3. Mark's graduation. He's currently at 9 flights and 3 sims. Weather is BEAUTIFUL this week - perfect for flying and naturally, it's spring break so all the instructors are off. We still have no clue when he's going to be done.

4. Driving home for the baby shower. Still no clue if it'll be just me or both of us, or when that's going to happen, bc it's all dependant on worry #3.

5. The shower. People aren't RSVP'ing, and that stresses me out. I like to plan things down to the last detail and that's hard to do when 60%+ of the people you invite don't respond. Plus I invited a lot of old friends who I'd LOVE to see, so I'm anxious to know if I'll get to see them or not.

6. The actual move to AZ. I thought since we had a place in AZ lined up we could schedule a delivery date for all our stuff to the new place before we left here. I've been thinking this for the past 3 months. Yesterday I find out that no, you have to be AT Luke (base Mark's training at in AZ) to schedule the delivery date/time of your junk, and they have up to 6 weeks to get it to you, but usually it takes 2-4 days. We're getting to AZ in Monday, my mom is flying out on the next Sunday. If we have to wait until Thursday or later to get all our junk, my mom isn't going to be able to help much, which leads me to #7.

7. Getting settled in AZ. As I said in a previous blog, I'm worried about setting up a 2 story house at 8 months pregnant. People keep telling me to not worry about it, but if I'm in an un-set-up house and 8 mos pregnant, with a newborn on the way and guests coming to see the newborn - that's a recipe for STRESS in my book. That will 100% stress me out. I will not be able to just live in a pig-sty. Besides, if I don't get it all done before she gets here, I highly doubt I'm going to have the time/energy to organize things AFTER she's here. Maybe I should just put it all off until she's like 4 months old. Mark mom might come out Thurs - Sun to help us get settled, which would be great. But that kind of leads to #7.5, which is I LOVE organizing my own junk and rearranging things. I don't want to just sit and watch other people do it for me, but I highly doubt Mark's going to let me lug things up and down stairs. I guess we'll figure that out later.

8. Finding an OB in AZ. This is an overwhelming process for me, which is why I've been putting it off so much. I've gotten tons of recommendations, which I truly appreciate, but I'm worried about finding a dr that I "fit" with. I would prefer a female, since I've never had a male, except for the one I go to here, but he's only examined me once on my first visit and all the rest of them I've been clothed. I have a very definite idea of how I would like my birth to go and I know it's not the "popular option" these days and I still don't know how to get a straight answer from a dr when you ask if they are "natural friendly". Of course they're going to say, "oh sure, unless you need a c-section", which then leads me to "define 'need a c-section'" and so on. More on this later.

9. Doula or no doula. First I wanted it to be just Mark and me for the birth. (Not even my mom. Just us.) And then I found out a friend was having one and I thought, well that might be a good idea, so I looked into them. Then I decided I'd get a midwife and therefore, didn't want a doula bc a midwife should be okay with delivering naturally if possible. Then I found out there are no midwives in the area accepting patients, that Tricare (insurance) covers. So then I went back to wanting a doula. And then I found out my friend who I thought was having a doula, didn't have one, and decided I wanted it to be Mark and me again because I didn't want to pay $500 for a doula and I wanted it to be Mark and my experience and I figured it's my birth, damnit! If I don't want drugs I can tell the nurses I don't want drugs and we can handle it. And then last night I talked to a friend who basically said that having a natural birth without a doula is damn near impossible and she's been to 7 OB's in 4 states and none of them were "natural friendly" and Mark's not going to want to do all the support work by himself and I'm going to want extra people around to help me because he's not going to be there the whole time since I'll probably be in labor for a day or two and he's going to need breaks, etc, etc, etc. Needless to say, that stressed me the hell out. So I talked to Mark last night and come to find out he wants a doula and he's not worried about paying $500 for one and he'd like the extra support. So now I have to get that all set up too.

10. (This is a minor one, but I'm still nervous.) Half the reason I didn't want a doula is because I just viewed it as one more person to stare at my crotch and see me naked. I'm self conscious as it is and I told Mark we could have a doula as long as he was naked the whole time I was so I'm not the only one with all my junk hanging out. He said when the time came I probably wouldn't care about it, which is true, but right now I do.

11. Where will I deliver? I'm not too worked up about this, but it would be really nice to have an idea of where I'm going to deliver. But in order to do that, I have to set up a dr. And then we have to move there so I can tour the hospital before the big day.

12. Money. Mark gets a significant raise in June since he's going from 1st LT to Captain in the Air Force. However, my income is ceasing next week... So there's a good 2 months in between where we're going to be bringing in less money. And we have a BUNCH of big purchases to make in the meantime - mainly for the baby. I'm not really expecting people coming to the shower to buy us big stuff and even if I get stuff used I figure it's still going to be about $1500-2000 just for stuff for her - including furniture, baby monitor, stroller, carseat, etc. Plus we still have to pay our taxes and we owe over $650 in those, plus the doula is $500, plus moving in general is expensive - buying random things for the new place, restocking the fridge with stuff you can't move with you, that sort of stuff. Mark's not worried about money, but I am.

13. The whole birth process. As I've touched on before, I'd like to do this naturally and people these days make it sound like that is next to impossible. You say you'd like to try to do things naturally as far as the birth goes and they look at you like you just said you want to saw off your right leg with a spoon. That annoys me. If there are complications, fine. Drug me up, cut me open and get her out. But in the 90+% chance that there aren't complications, leave me alone and let me do my thing. Maybe I'll change my mind when the time is here, but for now, let me live in my dream world that I can do this without medical intervention.

14. Visitors after the birth. We have most of this worked out, but I'm still trying to figure out what his grandparents are planning on doing. If they want to come down after she's born, I'd prefer them come the same time his parents are there too. Mainly because Mark is going to be in training, so he's going to be gone 12+ hours a day and I am about 110% positive I'm not going to be up for entertaining while I'm trying to figure out life with a newborn. And everyone keeps saying "well you don't have to entertain them". Well yeah, but by entertain, I mean be even halfway social. It stresses me out because I feel like I have to clean and cook and make a good impression on his family and I'm worried about not being able to keep up with it all while I'm learning to feed and take care of a newborn.

15. July weekend. This is a ways away, but I'm on a roll, so I thought I'd add it just for fun... We'd like to go home 4th of July weekend. Unfortunately, as is everything else with the military, we won't know if we can go until MUCH later - like after she's born. I want to go home and have her baptised and have her meet my 93 year old grandma, but we won't know if Mark can take leave until sometime in July. Just for ONCE I'd like to be able to plan something in advance and know that it was going to work out and the plans weren't going to change 15 times and/or be cancelled all together.

Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this military wife stuff. I like to have goals and plans and I make lists for everything and plan everything down to the last detail. I like to know that I have things under control, and that really just isn't possible with the military. Basically the military is in control of everything and I have to sit back and wait until the last minute (literally) for them to tell me what we're doing. It's really hard and I'm surprised I don't have a stomach full of ulcers. No wonder they think my blood pressure is high.

Speaking of blood pressure, I have an OB appt in 30 mins. If you actually read this far, I'm impressed. Sorry for the rant. (And I'm not proof-reading this so sorry for all the mistakes.)

Self-diagnosing

The past two days, and even more so today, I have had REALLY bad pelvic pain. So I did some research and I've concluded I have this. (If you're getting this by email, you'll have to go to the actual blog to click on the hyperlink.) Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, also known as pelvic arthropathy. Pretty much all of the symptoms of SPD described on that website, I have. "Any activity that involves lifting one leg at a time or parting the legs tends to be particularly painful. Lifting the leg to put on clothes, getting out of a car, bending over, sitting down or getting up, walking up stairs, standing on one leg, lifting heavy objects, and walking in general tend to be difficult at times. Many women report that moving or turning over in bed is especially excruciating." <~~ Yeah... That... Thank God the toilet is literally 5-6 steps from my bed. Sometimes it takes me 30+ seconds to go those 5 steps when I get up in the middle of the night to pee because my pelvic area hurts so bad. Sometimes it takes me 15 seconds just to roll over in bed, let alone actually get out of bed. It seems to sometimes be worse than others also, which is weird. Earlier this week, I didn't have all that much pain, but for the past 2 days, it's gotten a LOT worse. I have an appt on Tuesday with my OB, but as that website says, some doctors don't think this is a true pregnancy symptom. Either way, it doesn't look like there's much they can do about it besides give you pain killers.

As we get closer to the move date, I'm getting a little more nervous about getting settled into our new house. We are SO excited about that house, but it's 2 story, which means it has stairs. Stairs and I don't get along very well now, or as the case is today, WALKING and I don't get along very well right now, let alone another month further into the pregnancy. I'm worried about getting everything situated in the house, and moving things up and down those stairs. Thank God my mom will be there. One of Mark's brothers was going to come down to help us get settled but he decided to come down after the baby is born instead. At the rate I've been moving today though, I guess he'll still be able to help us get settled then, because I won't have everything done by the time she's here or the time they visit. Mark's been laughing at me all day because I've been moving REALLY slow and I guess I've been walking funnier than my normal waddle also, but I can't help it! Every step hurts a LOT.


Mark ordered us a webcam and we got it today, so all of you on yahoo messenger and skype that have webcams, we do too now!

Thursday update.

It's kind of been a calm week this week. Not too much going on. I've been working a little more than normal to help them get caught up before I leave. Next Friday is my last day at work. I'll miss some of the people I work with, but I won't miss all the drama that goes on there. There's so much petty BS that goes on in there, and it's stressful since most of it is caused by one of the people on the management team, who's bad side you don't want to be on. It seriously feels like we're in high school again sometimes, and that gets really old, really quick. 6 more days, which equals 24 hrs of work, and I'm done.

One of my friends gave me a 30% of coupon to Old Navy this week. It's only good from today until Sunday, but it's reusable. Today I got $65 worth of stuff for $40. I LOVE Old Navy tank tops, and I got 2 maternity tanks and 2 regular tanks (in a size bigger) for $3.50 each! I'm pretty sure I'll live in them in the AZ heat. I did when we lived in FL. Mark said I could go back and get a few more if I wanted since they were so cheap, so we might go back on Saturday to get some more tanks for me and stuff for him too. And I got a cute maternity dress that should be cool (temperature-wise) to wear in AZ. And I got a pair of pajama pants. I pretty much live in pajama pants when I'm at home. Some of my maternity pants are getting tight again, and a lot of my pajama pants even are getting tight. So I bought these a size up and they fit well and are super comfortable.

The class ahead of Mark in IFF is supposed to graduate tomorrow. While they're probably still going to graduate, they're not going to be done completely and will have to finish up flights next week. The weather here hasn't been compatible with flying lately. (It snowed pretty much all day today, but none of it stuck. Rats.) Luckily Mark flew twice this week while the weather was good, so he has 10 flights to do, and he's down to 3 sims left, but it's not looking good since the class ahead is behind. He has 15 days of training left, including the day they're supposed to graduate, so it's still possible he'll be done, depending on the weather. They can't fly if they clouds are too low because they can't practice some of their maneuvers in clouds, or if it's too cold and there's precipitation in the air bc they run the risk of something freezing on the plane. It's supposed to be nice next week, so hopefully he can fly at least 4 times, and then he'll only have 6 flights left, which would be good. If they graduate on Friday instead of Wednesday, that would be okay because we could still get home by Saturday for our shower, we'd just have to come back to Enid for a day so Mark could out-process. But that would still be better than Mark not being able to go home at all. Please keep him getting done with training on time in your prayers. We'd really appreciate it.

A weekend of showers

We had 2 showers this weekend, one thrown by my co-workers on Friday, and one thrown by our friends here, on Sunday. I can't believe all the stuff we got!

Here are Mark and I, at 28weeks4days pregnant, at one of our showers.

The shower on Sunday was with our military friends here. They were so sweet to have a shower for us, especially since I haven't known some of them very long - only for a month or two!

We played "Name that baby food flavor", which was lots of fun. I even got over half of them right! All of the girls in this picture are spouses of guys that are currently in IFF training, and Elijah, in the back, is in Mark's class. The shower was thrown at his (and Krystal's - sitting down in the striped shirt) house.

We also played "guess the size of my waist" (what waist?) using a peice of ribbon cut to the length you thought it was. Lynn, the girl standing next to me with her hand by her face, apparently thought my waist was over 5 feet around. HAHA!! It pretty much feels like it is to me so I couldn't blame her for thinking that too. Her piece of ribbon when around both me and Lisa, who is 38 weeks pregnant also!

We got so many gifts for Abbie! I couldn't believe how are friends really went "all out" and got us TONS of stuff. Below we're opening one gift, from Lisa, who got us so much stuff! We were really touched by how generous our friends are.

Here are our gifts from our Sunday shower.

We both had a really great time, and we were excited that there were a few guys there too! Our friend, Krystal, said that real men attend baby showers, and I agree. I'm glad Mark was able to participate in this one, especially if he ends up not being able to go to the one in IL.

Here is what I got from my co-workers. In the bag is an adorable newborn outfit with tiny little shoes and wet wipes. And the other thing is a baby bathtub full of towels (one with her name on it) and bath toys and wash clothes and a stuffed animal. I loved them!

Here are I am with my friend, Elyse, who I've worked with for over a year and a half. She's 7 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, and the shower at work was thrown for both of us.

Elyse had to try out one of the hooded towels she got for her baby (who is Lillian Grace). As you can tell, Elyse is lots of fun to work with. I'll miss her a lot.

Here we are with the cake they got for us. It was really good! (And yes, even though we look the same size, she's 7 weeks ahead of me.... Ugh.)

I truly feel blessed by everything that's been given to us for our baby so far. It's so nice to know that other people care about you and are excited for her arrival also. Getting all these gifts has really put me in an organizing mood though, so it's driving me nuts that I just have to pack them into the closet with all the rest of her stuff, until we move. I'm going to go into organizing overload once we're at our new place because I'll not only have all of her stuff to get ready, but an entire house to organize also. Luckily my mom will be there to help me and I know Mark will be a big help also. We're not going to get any of her big items (like furniture) until we move because we're thinking they'll have a better selection in Phoenix and it's a few less things to worry about in the move.

Yesterday after our shower, it was BEAUTIFUL outside - almost 70 with just a slight breeze (instead of the typical OK 20 mph wind) - so we took the weinas for a walk. We walked a little further than normal and maybe a little faster too and on our way back, I think I might have had a few Braxton Hicks contractions. They didn't really hurt, but my belly got really tight, and there was a weird pulling sensation, and my whole belly was hard. It felt pretty weird, but kinda neat too. I guess I shouldn't walk quite that far or fast next time. I was thinking walking would help my pelvic pain though, but it didn't at all and last night it was TERRIBLE. Sometimes it hurts so much when I try to get up from laying down that it takes my breath away. And any way I roll, hurts. I've tried getting up different ways to avoid the pain, but they all hurt. And this morning it took me 3 tries to get out of bed because when I would roll on to my side it felt like I was pinching a nerve in my hip and my leg would cramp up really bad. Ouch! I told Mark he's going to have to build some sort of bar thing for me so I can pull myself up, although that would probably still hurt. My other huge challenge right now is trying to put on underwear or pants. The movements of bending over and then bending my legs just don't work too well for me right now and it hurts also. So I try to sit on the bed, but I still have to bend over and bend my legs. Oh well. She'll be worth it and I only have 3 more months left anyway! I'm so excited!

Outlook not so good...

Last night was not a good one for me. Mark called me on the way home from work and told me that his flight, yet again, was cancelled for tomorrow. Two of his flights were cancelled last week and 2 of them were cancelled this week, so he only flew twice both weeks instead of 4 times. It's either the stupid jets breaking or people in his class hooking (failing) a ride and having to redo them the next day causing Mark to get bumped out of his flights. Essentially, he's been in IFF for a month and a half almost and he's done 7 flights. He has 17 work days left before he's supposed to graduate and 12 flights and 8 sims to do. There is pretty much no way he'll be done on time, especially if he keeps getting his flights cancelled. At this rate, he'll be lucky to be done by August. I'm really annoyed because he's supposed to be top priority in his class of 6 because his move date is the soonest (along with another guy) and I'm pregnant (which puts him at top priority). Yet there are 2-3 guys in his class who are 2 or more flights ahead of him.

So basically our plan of having them pack up our house on March 30-31 and leaving Enid by April 2nd to go home for our shower is not going to work at all. I'm thinking now that I'll drive home by myself on Wednesday, April 1st, and come back on Monday, April 6th, and have them pack us up sometime that week so we can HOPEFULLY leave Enid by that Friday and get to Phoenix on Sunday and have our stuff delivered in Phoenix on Monday, April 13. We'll have to get a hotel room for my mom since all of our junk will be packed while she's here and we only have 1 blow up mattress (which I'm not at all looking forward to sleeping on at 33 weeks pg, but we can't stay in the hotel on base bc they don't allow dogs).

My only hope for Mark being able to come to the shower is if he flies to Dubuque on Friday and then rides home with me on Monday in the car, but I'm not even sure that will work out. That would require him to take leave (vacation) and they were told at the very beginning they're not allowed to take leave during IFF. I don't know if his commander would allow him to take leave because they're not done on time or not, and he won't be able to ask until probably the week before, since he won't know how far behind he is until then. If he's too far behind he probably won't be able to leave at all, and he'll miss our shower. I'm kind of betting that's what's going to happen. Yay.

I am SO tired of the hurry up and wait mentality of the military. I am not at ALL good at just relaxing and waiting until the very last minute to know what's going to happen, especially when it involves me driving 12 hours by myself at 32 weeks pregnant. My pelvic bone has basically felt like it's going to fall out at any minute for the past few days and sends shooting pains to my hips and back every time I move, which I hear is normal. It's a long drive when you're not pregnant, but add pregnancy tiredness and being big as a house to the mix, and having to do it by yourself, it's just not a good combination.

In other good news, we got our lease yesterday and they're only asking for $2790 by March 15.... Our rent is supposed to be $1095/month, and on the ad I saw for it, it said there was a $1195 security deposit. I've always understood security deposits to be refundable. We get the lease and it has $895 as a security deposit, $200 as a non-refundable pet fee and $400 as a non-refundable redecorating fee?? It didn't say anything about a pet fee or redecorating fee in the ad I responded to, and either way, the deposits and fees add up to $1495, not $1195. I emailed the landlord about it yesterday, but I'm still waiting to hear from her. Kind of annoying.

I'm just tired of this emotional rollercoaster basically and all these pregnancy hormones aren't helping, I'm sure. One minute he's not going to be able to come, the next minute his commander is telling him not to worry and the next minute he's getting further behind. I don't like this. At all.

28 weeks down, 12 to go

I had another OB appointment yesterday. I had to do the glucose test, which tests for gestational diabetes. I'd heard that the stuff they make you drink is terrible, but I really didn't think it was all that bad. It tastes like a watered down orange pop without the fizz. I don't have the results yet, but hopefully they are negative.

I got to see her again on the ultrasound. He said she weighs 2.7lbs, which is in the 52 percentile, and her heart rate was 143 bpm. She was super active, as usual, and he commented yet again on what an active baby she is. Hopefully she'll be a little less active once she's out. I get to go back in 2 weeks and then again in another 2 weeks, right before we move. Mark missed this appointment even though he could have gone to it since his flight was cancelled. He forgot I had one, even though I'd reminded him the night before. Turd...

Here's our first US picture. The white "stripe" on her head (on the left) is HAIR! And the dr said she has long toes. She definitely gets that from Mark. He has freakishly long toes. She gets the hair from him too actually since I didn't have any hair until I was about 2. The blob in between her head and foot is her little fist.

He didn't mean to print this picture, but I thought I'd post it anyway. It's of her little legs and feet.

This one is kind of hard to see, but she was holding on to her big toes with her hands. The highest round blob is her hand and then you can kind of see her other toes below that and to the right.

He said she's still breech and still in a piked position (her feet are up by her head). Her head is basically right by my ribs. I asked him what the heck I was feeling down low then, because I always feel her kicking (or something) in my pelvic area and on my bladder and he said he really didn't know. She's either bouncing - literally, on her butt- on my bladder or she's hitting it with her hands or she gets her feet down there somehow.

Here's my 28 week picture. I know you're all jealous of my stylish outfit and I'm available to give fashion tips any time you need them..... (By the way, I made those pants! They used to be huge and what do you know? Now they fit.) I finally got the guts to make the ring slings and the natural thing of course, was the test them out with the weina dog. Here's Ollie chilling in the sling. I think he rather liked it. I haven't 100% figured the slings out yet, because it seems like there's a TON of material. I don't remember my friends being that "bulky" when she showed us hers, but I used the amount of material the pattern called for, and I didn't even use a "bottom weight" fabric, which would have made it even heavier. Maybe I'm just not wearing it right. I'll have to practice some more I guess. (He was laying in it for a while, but I looked even more like a beached whale in those pictures, so I decided to use the picture where only 3 of my chins are showing instead of the others..)

Only about 12 weeks (give or take a few days) to go. I'm SOO excited to meet her!

March madness

I truly cannot believe it is already March. February seemed to fly by! I only have 3 weeks of work left and if all goes as planned (keep your fingers crossed for us) we'll be leaving Enid in exactly one month. We already have a house lined up for Phoenix (which can be seen HERE, and if you're receiving this by email you'll have to go to the actual blog for the link to work), so that makes it seem more real. I spend a lot of time picturing how our furniture will fit into the new house and how we'll decorate.

My least favorite thing about March is that it is "mustache march" for Mark. For the non-military readers, in the pilot community of the military everyone grows (or tries to grow) a mustache during the entire month of March. It's kind of a contest I guess, or a bonding thing maybe (don't ask me how you "bond" when you grow mustaches together because it is beyond me), but mainly they end up looking like a bunch of child molesters. And people that aren't associated with the military give them lots of weird looks. So for the "mustache" aspect of March alone, I hope this month is over quickly.

This Friday my work is having a joint baby shower for me and my co-worker, Elyse, who is 7 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy. I'm excited because it'll be my first baby shower. And then on Sunday my (military) friends here are throwing us a baby shower and I'm really excited about that too.

Above is a shot of some of the clothes we have for Abbie. (By the way, we're 95% sure we'll be naming her Abbigale Rose.) Mark says she already has more clothes than he does.

These are the cloth diapers we're going to try out. I'm not 100% sold on them yet, but I figured we'd give it a try.

My stretch marks on my belly are pretty much out of control. And recently they've started itching like CRAZY!!! It seems like every day I get another one somewhere and there are two clusters of them on either side of my belly button. I guess the plus side is that my belly is so big now I can't really see them unless I look in a mirror. I'm praying to God they go away after she's born. Mark says he'll love me either way. =)

This week I am going to start the ring slings that I bought the materials for 2 months ago. I am bound and determined to at least have them started before my sewing class on Wednesday. I don't really know why I'm so nervous about starting them because theoretically they don't seem all that complicated to make, but I am nervous. Here's the material we picked out for them Mark picked out the teal ones and I picked out the pink ones. The material with the pattern on it will be the outside of the slings and the solid colors will be the inside of the slings.

And I wanted to add a picture of my nails. I've never in my life been able to grow decent nails because the break pretty easily, so I wanted proof that I had decent nails. I gave myself a french manicure last night.

March menu

I usually try to make an outline at the beginning of every month as to what we're going to eat for that month. It helps me with my grocery shopping a BUNCH, I don't wander aimlessly around the grocery store trying to come up with things to make, and it keeps us from eating the same thing 5 times a month. We just try to use it as an outline, and things frequently get switched around or sometimes skipped altogether if we go out to eat or if we have leftovers that we heat up instead of making a new meal. I only plan for 6 days a week because we usually eat out at least one day a week with friends and also sometimes we have leftovers. I've had a few people ask me to post one of my monthly menu's so here it is. Some of the days I plan the entire meal, other days, I just plan the main course and then add the sides to it depending on what's on sale that week or what we have in our cabinets. I plan meals for Monday - Saturday.

Monday (3/2) - Goulash and garlic bread
Tuesday (3/3) - Chicken parmigiana
Wednesday (3/4) - Pancakes, sausage and hash browns
Thursday (3/5) - Grilled hamburgers and baked potato wedges
Friday (3/6) - didn't plan a meal for this day because Mark has a roll call and then it's First Friday after that, so we won't be home
Saturday (3/7) - Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and applesauce
Monday (3/9) - Beef stir fry and fried rice
Tuesday (3/10) - Lasagna and canned fruit
Wednesday (3/11) - Pounded chicken (pound it flat and cover it in egg and flour) and green beans
Thursday (3/12) - Broiled salmon and sauteed asparagus
Friday (3/13) - Sloppy joes and canned fruit
Saturday (3/14) - Corned beef, red potatoes and carrots
Monday (3/16) - Homemade pizza
Tuesday (3/17) - Chicken scampi pasta with broccoli
Wednesday (3/18) - Chili dogs
Thursday (3/19) - Spaghetti and salad
Friday (3/20) - Reuben's and baked potato wedges
Saturday (3/21) - Tator tot casserole
Monday (3/23) - Provolone and prosciutto chicken and sauteed broccoli
Tuesday (3/24) - Pork chops and sliced,fried potatoes
Wednesday (3/25) - Baked Ziti
Thursday (3/26) - Fried chicken strips and green beans
Friday (3/27) - Grilled steak, sauteed mushrooms and baked potatoes
Saturday (3/28) - Club Sandwiches
Monday (3/30) - Fish sticks
Tuesday (3/31) - "Taco Tuesday" - meal we eat every month at the Club on base - its free.

This month is a little different towards the end since we are theoretically moving April 1st. It's hard to plan for meals when you don't know how packed up your house will be and what dishes you'll have available to you. We'll probably just end up eating whatever's in the freezer or fridge that needs to be used before we leave. We always end up throwing a TON of food away when we move and that's one of the most expensive parts of moving - replacing all the fridge/freezer stuff at the new location that you couldn't bring with you. It all works out though and I try to give some of the stuff to friends who are still in the area that want it.

If you want any of the recipes for any of these meals, let me know.