First things first! Please check out this blog about Camp Caglewood!
http://thedeegandaily.blogspot.com/2010/03/thankful-and-camp-caglewood.html
Secondly, it's storming here in Germany! I have been waiting for a good down pour and finally we have one. I am slightly disappointed because the weather has been so incredible the last few days and can only hope that returns once the storm has passed, but I love a good storm.
Thirdly, I am beginning to seriously think that I do not have much longer in this pregnancy. Technically I have just under 4 weeks, but the way things are going I just don't see myself being pregnant for much longer than two weeks. It is a scary thought, there is still so much to do around the house to prepare for baby, and we're still waiting for a few packages, although we do have the car seat now so that's out of the way. A clean house would be nice to bring baby home to. I'll have to get on that this weekend. It is amazing how dirty a house can get in a matter of days.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Aaron is coming home! and Hospital Tour
My husband is finally returning home, after three long weeks of absence. I wasn't expecting him until Sunday night, but I received a phone call from him this afternoon and he said he will actually be home tomorrow! I am very excited to see him again. I'm also excited because this means that the Samoa's that have been taunting me from my freezer will finally get what has been coming to them.
I feel as though Kayla is really starting to notice Aaron's absence, so he's coming home at a great time. She talks more about doing things like her daddy does, or wanting to give things to her daddy or see him. The past two or three days she's had a couple fits that I can't help but wonder if they have something to do with Aaron not being around. After all, she doesn't throw fits under normal circumstances.
Last night I left Kayla with a friend and her children. Kayla had a blast as did the other children, I'm not sure that Kayla even realized I was missing. This was very comforting to me, because now I won't have to worry about Kayla while I'm in the hospital birthing Graham if for some reason my mom doesn't make it in time. I know that she will be well taken care of, and happy to boot.
I left Kayla last night to go on a tour of the labor and delivery ward of the local hospital. I was quite impressed with the facilities. They have all sorts of things available to women to help during labor. They even have a birthing tub for underwater births. I had wanted to do this with Kayla, and it didn't work out thanks to my doctor not telling me that she had given up her rights to the only hospital around that offered that option. I'm thinking that I will have a water birth with Graham.
Water births are becoming more popular. The laboring woman is weightless in the water for one thing so there is pain relief, it is also a more gentle entrance into the world for the new baby. After all, he's spent the last 9 months swimming around in warm water, what better way to enter the world than through warm water until you are cuddled up against your mother's body?
I couldn't be happier to be giving birth the second time around in Germany. They are much less into interventions than their counterparts in the United States, at least it seems that way based on the answers I was given by the doctor last night. We'll see what happens when I am actually in my birthing time. I do know this time around that it's okay to be vocal and tell my doctors what is going to happen and not let them try to scare me into choosing their methods.
I am very hopeful that this delivery will be the way that I visualize it to be. We'll see what happens in 5 weeks!
I feel as though Kayla is really starting to notice Aaron's absence, so he's coming home at a great time. She talks more about doing things like her daddy does, or wanting to give things to her daddy or see him. The past two or three days she's had a couple fits that I can't help but wonder if they have something to do with Aaron not being around. After all, she doesn't throw fits under normal circumstances.
Last night I left Kayla with a friend and her children. Kayla had a blast as did the other children, I'm not sure that Kayla even realized I was missing. This was very comforting to me, because now I won't have to worry about Kayla while I'm in the hospital birthing Graham if for some reason my mom doesn't make it in time. I know that she will be well taken care of, and happy to boot.
I left Kayla last night to go on a tour of the labor and delivery ward of the local hospital. I was quite impressed with the facilities. They have all sorts of things available to women to help during labor. They even have a birthing tub for underwater births. I had wanted to do this with Kayla, and it didn't work out thanks to my doctor not telling me that she had given up her rights to the only hospital around that offered that option. I'm thinking that I will have a water birth with Graham.
Water births are becoming more popular. The laboring woman is weightless in the water for one thing so there is pain relief, it is also a more gentle entrance into the world for the new baby. After all, he's spent the last 9 months swimming around in warm water, what better way to enter the world than through warm water until you are cuddled up against your mother's body?
I couldn't be happier to be giving birth the second time around in Germany. They are much less into interventions than their counterparts in the United States, at least it seems that way based on the answers I was given by the doctor last night. We'll see what happens when I am actually in my birthing time. I do know this time around that it's okay to be vocal and tell my doctors what is going to happen and not let them try to scare me into choosing their methods.
I am very hopeful that this delivery will be the way that I visualize it to be. We'll see what happens in 5 weeks!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
35/35
I have officially made it to one of the biggest milestones of pregnancy. 35/35. I have completed 35 weeks, and have only 35 days remaining until my guess date. Yesterday was my appointment. Everything looked great. My BP was back down 112/69. I think this had a lot to do with going into the center position that I learned from my hypnobabies CDs. Graham has finally decided to move head down! That is one less thing I have to worry about now, provided he doesn't flip back. I've been having crazy strong Braxton Hicks the last few days and it makes me wonder if I will make it to my guess date. I would like to make it at least that far, but babies tend to have minds of their own when deciding on their birthing time. Only time will tell.
Aaron returns home on Sunday. I am anxiously waiting for that day to come. The last few weeks has been very uneventful without him around. It hasn't passed slowly, or quickly for that matter, it has merely passed. I have been thinking a lot recently about the upcoming deployment. Why can't everything be as calm and okay for a deployment as it is for an extended field problem. In the grand scheme of things, they aren't so much different. Limited communication, and actually he's likely to have more communication while deployed than he has had during this field problem. I guess the only difference is that there isn't a significant chance of injury during a field problem, which there definitely is during a deployment.
This brings up another problem. What to do about vacations/leaving Germany during the deployment. On one hand it would make things a lot easier to leave and be with family during Aaron's "vacation in the sand". On the other hand, what if something happened and they couldn't get in touch with me because I had left Germany and not informed them (which I wouldn't). I think I've decided to seriously consider an EROD move. My final decision on this will be when I decide to enlist or not.
Aaron and I have talked extensively on the subject of my enlistment. We have agreed that if it's what I really want to do, which I'm pretty sure it is although that may change after Graham is born, than it would be a good thing for our family. The next question is when would I go to basic? I've always liked the idea of basic while he is deployed. That way it won't be any extra time away from him. If I decide to enlist, I will wait until Graham is at least a year old...so that would make it May 2011. Aaron returns (hopefully) June 2011. So that doesn't give me enough time to complete Basic Training before Aaron returns from deployment, and I would miss his homecoming which is definitely NOT an option. Therefore I will have to wait until he returns to complete Basic.
An EROD move might make sense, but only if I am for sure enlisting as soon as Aaron returns, which I am skeptical of doing since we will have already been apart for 12 months. However, what's another 13 weeks in a lifetime? My AIT will be accompanied since it's a year long and Aaron can be stationed at DLI in Monterey where my AIT will be held. So many questions need to be answered, I need to find a recruiter in Germany to talk to about everything. Or maybe just get in touch with my previous recruiter.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Aaron returns home on Sunday. I am anxiously waiting for that day to come. The last few weeks has been very uneventful without him around. It hasn't passed slowly, or quickly for that matter, it has merely passed. I have been thinking a lot recently about the upcoming deployment. Why can't everything be as calm and okay for a deployment as it is for an extended field problem. In the grand scheme of things, they aren't so much different. Limited communication, and actually he's likely to have more communication while deployed than he has had during this field problem. I guess the only difference is that there isn't a significant chance of injury during a field problem, which there definitely is during a deployment.
This brings up another problem. What to do about vacations/leaving Germany during the deployment. On one hand it would make things a lot easier to leave and be with family during Aaron's "vacation in the sand". On the other hand, what if something happened and they couldn't get in touch with me because I had left Germany and not informed them (which I wouldn't). I think I've decided to seriously consider an EROD move. My final decision on this will be when I decide to enlist or not.
Aaron and I have talked extensively on the subject of my enlistment. We have agreed that if it's what I really want to do, which I'm pretty sure it is although that may change after Graham is born, than it would be a good thing for our family. The next question is when would I go to basic? I've always liked the idea of basic while he is deployed. That way it won't be any extra time away from him. If I decide to enlist, I will wait until Graham is at least a year old...so that would make it May 2011. Aaron returns (hopefully) June 2011. So that doesn't give me enough time to complete Basic Training before Aaron returns from deployment, and I would miss his homecoming which is definitely NOT an option. Therefore I will have to wait until he returns to complete Basic.
An EROD move might make sense, but only if I am for sure enlisting as soon as Aaron returns, which I am skeptical of doing since we will have already been apart for 12 months. However, what's another 13 weeks in a lifetime? My AIT will be accompanied since it's a year long and Aaron can be stationed at DLI in Monterey where my AIT will be held. So many questions need to be answered, I need to find a recruiter in Germany to talk to about everything. Or maybe just get in touch with my previous recruiter.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
33 weeks 1 day
Yesterday I had my doctor's appointment. He was concerned with the amount of weight I had gained between my 25 week appt and my 31 week appointment I think he said it was 6 kilos (12 lbs roughly) granted that is 12 lbs over the course of 6 weeks which amounts to 2 lbs a week, which most books will say that in the 3rd trimester women gain anywhere from 1-2 lbs a week. However, I tried to explain to him that my weight at the 31 week appointment was inaccurate because I had literally just gotten off a 14 hour plane trip. Next week he will be concerned that I dropped weight between 31 and 33 weeks because I lost 3 kilos between those appointments. I got a little worried as well at the end of the appointment because my blood pressure was high...147/71. It has been running about 117/70. High blood pressure is what got me into the mess with Kayla's delivery and I will not go through that again.
I found out that they will let me go 10 days past my guess date. I would have appointments every 2 days for an ultrasound and fetal monitoring to make sure everything was still working like it should be in there, and at 11 days if I didn't go into labor on my own they would check if my cervix was mature and if so use pitocin, if not use prostaglandins to mature it and then start pitocin. I will be everything I can to make sure I don't make it to that 11th day.
I found out that they will let me go 10 days past my guess date. I would have appointments every 2 days for an ultrasound and fetal monitoring to make sure everything was still working like it should be in there, and at 11 days if I didn't go into labor on my own they would check if my cervix was mature and if so use pitocin, if not use prostaglandins to mature it and then start pitocin. I will be everything I can to make sure I don't make it to that 11th day.
Operation Kayla STTN Morning after Night 4
Las night was a total bomb! I felt completely awful to begin with so sticking with the routine was very hard, but we managed to do it. Kayla had her bath at 1930, only it was 1945 when we got out of the tub and laid in bed. I read one book and then just couldn't read anymore, I needed to go to sleep. So we just laid in bed. I passed out almost immediately. I have no idea what time she fell asleep. I woke up again at 2145 and went to my bed. 30 minutes later Kayla was crying for me, so I went back to her room where I slept until 0015. I prayed that her streak of waking up at 0030 would stop, thankfully it did. She awoke again at 0220. I tried to leave her bed around 0300....she woke up I laid back down. At 0400 I tried again, she woke up again and I laid back down again, only I couldn't get back to sleep. I was tossing and turning trying to get comfortable, this kept her awake so we woke up and went to my bed so she could watch Tinkerbell and I could fall back asleep. It was 0500 by the time I fell asleep for any good amount of time and then she joined me and fell asleep about 0530. We then woke up at 0745. I think I'm going to start a running tally at night of how long I sleep in my bed compared to hers
My Bed(without Kayla) 2 hours 30 minutes
My Bed with Kayla (2 hours 45 minutes)
Kayla's Bed 3 hours 35 minutes
That kind of sleep time is not very conducive to having energy during the day to run around after her. This has got to be right soon..I really need an uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep, without Kayla in my bed!
My Bed(without Kayla) 2 hours 30 minutes
My Bed with Kayla (2 hours 45 minutes)
Kayla's Bed 3 hours 35 minutes
That kind of sleep time is not very conducive to having energy during the day to run around after her. This has got to be right soon..I really need an uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep, without Kayla in my bed!
Operation Kayla STTN Morning after Night 3
Kayla fell asleep quicker last night than I've ever seen her fall asleep. She almost fell asleep in the towel in my arms while drying off after her bath. I didn't let her because I wanted to keep the same routine. So she fell asleep about 2015 in her bed after reading a couple books.
Once again, the girl was awake at midnight thirty. This time however, she actually made it to my room before I woke up which I did with a start! I had to stay in bed with her a couple minutes to get her to fall back asleep and of course fell asleep myself until 0200. Then she woke up at 0500 and again made it into my room before I woke up. She tried to wake up for the day. I didn't allow it so we slept until 0715 in her bed and then got up. The nights are getting better for sure. I can't wait for the 0030 wakeup to be over with. I might actually wake up at 0500 if it's the first time she wakes up....who am I kidding no I won't. I need to train her to not get up before 0700 on the weekdays and 0800 on the weekends. That would be nice.
Once again, the girl was awake at midnight thirty. This time however, she actually made it to my room before I woke up which I did with a start! I had to stay in bed with her a couple minutes to get her to fall back asleep and of course fell asleep myself until 0200. Then she woke up at 0500 and again made it into my room before I woke up. She tried to wake up for the day. I didn't allow it so we slept until 0715 in her bed and then got up. The nights are getting better for sure. I can't wait for the 0030 wakeup to be over with. I might actually wake up at 0500 if it's the first time she wakes up....who am I kidding no I won't. I need to train her to not get up before 0700 on the weekdays and 0800 on the weekends. That would be nice.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Poor Aaron
I woke up this morning to frost on the ground. Aaron and his soldiers are on a field training exercise (FTX) sleeping out in the cold and what not. He's gone for a total of 3 weeks. I know how he felt with Kayla and I gone for so long. I'm lucky to have a good friend to pass the time with. We have been sharing dinner duty as well. I think I may run out of things to cook before the time is up though.
Today and tomorrow are pretty busy days. I have a WIC appointment this morning, along with a repairman coming to fix Kayla's shower. I need to make an appointment at the doctor for Kayla so that we can do the mommy and me gymnastics class, or she can go to daycare. I also need to go by the housing office to get the permit paperwork for fencing in our backyard.
Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment at 1315, I also will be dropping my car off at the repair shop to be fixed. I will feel so much better once the car is fixed. It was very unfortunate that it was wrecked, but what can a girl do, unfortunate things happen all the time you just gotta keep pushing through.
Keep on Pushing!
Today and tomorrow are pretty busy days. I have a WIC appointment this morning, along with a repairman coming to fix Kayla's shower. I need to make an appointment at the doctor for Kayla so that we can do the mommy and me gymnastics class, or she can go to daycare. I also need to go by the housing office to get the permit paperwork for fencing in our backyard.
Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment at 1315, I also will be dropping my car off at the repair shop to be fixed. I will feel so much better once the car is fixed. It was very unfortunate that it was wrecked, but what can a girl do, unfortunate things happen all the time you just gotta keep pushing through.
Keep on Pushing!
Operation Kayla STTN Morning after Night 2
Last night was slightly more successful than the first night. I can only hope this pattern continues. Kayla was ready for a bath at about 1945. We finished in the tub about 2015, put lotion on, then Kayla's big girl panties, and laid in bed to read books. After about 10 minutes of reading she was falling asleep and I left the bed a few minutes after 2030.
I went back downstairs and finished cleaning it up (a repairman is supposed to be coming this morning to fix Kayla's tub) After cleaning I got ready for bed and listened to my hypnobabies program for the night. Kayla remained asleep until 0030. I don't know what it is but this is the second night in a row that she has woken up at exactly 0030.
I remained in bed with Kayla until 0220. Kayla woke up again at 0415 and I remained in her bed with her until 0700 when we got up for the day.
So like I said at the beginning of the post, there was some forward progress. I'm really hoping that second wake-up will be over with tonight or tomorrow, it's the one that really gets me!
I went back downstairs and finished cleaning it up (a repairman is supposed to be coming this morning to fix Kayla's tub) After cleaning I got ready for bed and listened to my hypnobabies program for the night. Kayla remained asleep until 0030. I don't know what it is but this is the second night in a row that she has woken up at exactly 0030.
I remained in bed with Kayla until 0220. Kayla woke up again at 0415 and I remained in her bed with her until 0700 when we got up for the day.
So like I said at the beginning of the post, there was some forward progress. I'm really hoping that second wake-up will be over with tonight or tomorrow, it's the one that really gets me!
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