Half way there!

Today marks my 20 weeks of pregnancy. We're half way there, folks!! (Which, incidentally, reminds us all that there are only 20 weeks left until Christmas!) Pretty scary how time has just flown by. Whew!

It's been an emotional week and it's only Wednesday night. Among other things, Jerome left again and won't be home until Sunday or Monday. I just hate not being able to communicate with him. The good news is that I'm keeping busy, so the time goes by much more quickly. Work is really taking up a lot of my time, but I'm enjoying it much more than I had anticipated. I'm actually at a training from today until Friday, but really--trainings seems more draining than actually teaching. (side track: some not so smart person decided to have us sit at cafeteria style seats at the training...killing my butt and back...) I'm really liking my class and as soon as all the kinks for the class schedule and routine is set, I will be able to relax more. Until then, I stay after school for an hour or two afterwards everyday. *sigh*

Still don't know if Jerome got his leave approved. Won't know until he comes back--or if I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a random email.

Here's my week 19 belly. :)

We're having a Girl!

So I went in for my "big" ultrasound. It was a great experience--and although Jerome couldn't make it, (due to circumstances beyond our control) I had a great visit. By far my favorite doctor's visit. :) I had to drive all the way to town (Waikiki) and the office was specifically for ultrasounds, stress tests, ets. So no urine test, no blood taken--all good news for me. When the tech came in, she was really friendly and noticed my school staff shirt. (dude, I just came from work and barely made it...I didn't have time to change!) Her son goes to a school in the same district, so we had a conversation. She asked if I had any dreams or such about the sex of the baby and I said no, however, I was almost POSITIVE it's a boy. I don't know why, but I just had a strong feeling. (also, all those Chinese/African calendars said I was having a boy!) I then said, "I'd be shocked if it's not a boy." So after searching around my tummy, she replies, "So how shocked are you going to be?" I was taken aback and shocked, totally not expecting that she'd say that!! So yes, we're having a girl. There was a labia--nothing else. hahaha--Jerome was just as shocked (Crystal was speechless) but after the news had settled, we are all happy and excited.

Here are our first pictures of our little girl. Because I was so chatty with the tech and the doctor, I ended up getting almost 20 pictures printed and a CD of 81 pictures and videos. Jerome and I had a great time looking at them together. :)

Here are her little feet, which I'm starting to feel kick in my lower abdomen throughout the day.

It's definitely a girl!!

Her thumb on her nose, fanning out her fingers, as if to say, "neener, neener--you thought I was a boy!"

Contemplating life in the womb

The tech said she was cute--I think she looks like an alien.

She's finished with pictures now.

She is healthy and normal, exactly the size/weight that she should be at this stage. (exactly what the books say too...I'm telling you, I'm textbook pregnancy!) At 19 weeks and 2 days, she is 15 cm. long and weighs 9 ounces. Thank goodness for not being a huge baby!! :)

We are elated and can finally start looking for girl friendly stuff for her. I probably won't do much pink, since I'm a cheapo and want to use the stuff for the next baby--in a few more years. So we're looking at lots of gender neutral stuff (greens, yellows). Doesn't stop me from buying her girly clothes tho!!

Plans for my going home are still the same--still coming home Labor Day weekend. Jerome MAY be able to come home with me, but won't know until the command approves his leave. Either way, I will be home! I will probably not have a baby shower, rather, I'll have gatherings of family and friends of sorts. Baby Shower just gets too complicated--can't bring gifts back anyway!! But if you want to get our baby girl a gift, we have created a registry on Amazon and Babies r Us. :)

I'M HALF WAY THROUGH THIS PREGNANCY!? CRAAAZY! :)

Just for Crystal

Ok, so my trip home over Labor Day weekend may be changing, so keep posted. It's getting all confusing and complicated, but changing the flight may turn out for the better. :) Anyway, Crystal has been bugging me to post pictures--specifically of my belly. I'm definitely showing, but not as much as you'd think. I'm just waiting for the day my belly just blows up...which, I read, literally happens overnight. So, here are some pictures of me at 18 weeks. :)




Ok, so it doesn't look like much, but it sure does look like it from my end!!! Anyway, here are some other pictures I wanted to share. :)

My cutie patootie nephew, Brandon.



A view of Jerome's sub on the day I was able to watch it do a personnel drop. (My first time seeing the sub in motion!!)



So that's all for now. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I'm getting quite nervous! I guess it's the normal "I hope I'm ready" nerves...but it feels like the very first day of teaching for me!! I guess in a sense it is since I haven't taught 6th grade (or upper grade, for that matter!) before!! I hope it'll be ok! :)

Last Chance

I just booked my flight home for Labor Day weekend. It'll be my last chance to go home until probably next June, when I'm on summer break and I can take home baby. Hopefully Jerome will be able to come home with me. Anyway, I will be home from Friday, August 29 to Monday, September 1. Hopefully I can have a baby shower sometime during that weekend...but that's not important. I just want to see my friends and family! :)

Jerome is back from his 6 days and it was fun going to the pier and watching the sub pull up. It was my first experience and I had a great time. Great weather, great company, and especially great seeing Jerome after 6 days! He gets to be on top of the sub when they pull up, so I don't have to wait for him to get out of the metal tube to see him. :) It was nice. Too bad no photography was permitted on that part of the base (or any part, for that matter...) so I can't show you anything!!

The keikis come back on Tuesday!!! I'm getting nervous. Open House tonight and I get to meet parents. F-U-N.

Reality

So the time has finally come. Jerome's sub is officially out of shipyards and that only means one thing. Actually, it means a couple of things--but the main thing is that he is now going to be gone more often. Now, I've been used to him not being home....sometimes it's for one day, other times it's two days. I'm a fairly independent woman and I can usually keep myself busy. But now the time apart is one week, later on will be a few weeks. Soon enough, it will be months. I really thought I would be able to handle it--afterall, we're used to being apart. (Like when Jerome lived in South Carolina and I was in LA for those 3 years.) But it's different now. There's ZERO communication. He can't call every night and I can't tell him about my day. I can't expect a call from him at a specific time. I just have to hope that he'll call some time during the day. He was gone for 2 days this past week, and when I picked him up, I swear I had diarrhea of the mouth! I had to tell him everything that had happened since he was gone. He was totally overwhelmed.

But there is a bright side! There will no longer be 12 hour work days--Jerome says if anything, their hours will probably be 4-6 hours/day. So when he's here, he'll be HERE. When the sub is here, life will be "normal"....whatever that is. There's always a silver lining, right?

So life here is becoming more hectic. I'll be starting up work again--teachers go back on the 24th, students back on the 29th. I've been in my classroom for a few hours a day, a few days a week. It's finally getting to the point where I'm comfortable enough to say, "this is my classroom." I've worked so hard to get it to where it is now! It's a complete 180 from how I inherited the classroom...it was disgusting...and now it's much better. Jerome helped me move some furniture and now it's starting to make more sense...much better flow....much better learning environment. :) Let's hope the kiddies think so!

We are also planning on moving within the next month. We want to move out of our house now b/c I'm very wary of the carpet. It's what I term "dorm carpet" because whatever you spill on it, it disappears. Who knows what's on the carpet! Nothing I'd want my baby to crawl/roll/play on, that's for sure. That's the main reason why we want to move. We do qualify to move to another military housing community and as a last resort, we definitely will do that. It's a newer housing community and the houses do not have carpet, which can be a pain, but at least it won't have nasty carpet. Our optimal choice would be to move off base, into a house/townhouse that has 3 bedrooms. We really want 3 bedrooms so that there can be a baby room and a seperate guest room/office. We looked at a community where Jerome's buddy lives and I really liked it--so we're looking in that area. It's actually the halfway point between Jerome and my work, so it's perfect. Now if only we can find a place.... (btw, we want to move within the next month b/c after this sea trial, Jerome will be in port for about month, so he and his buddies can move us!)

Pregnancy is going well. I went to see my new doctor and it was a good visit. We heard the heartbeat and everything seems to be going well. They took more blood (quad screening test) and I had to pee in a cup again--same 'ol, same 'ol. I have an 3D ultrasound on August 1, where we find out the sex of the baby. I'm getting so anxious to find out! Too bad we can figure out names...

Alright, off to bed I go. I really need to start adjusting my sleeping schedule, because this sleeping at midnight and waking up at 8 or 9am is not going to be good for me once school starts! I've been making my own lesson plan/grade book (because I'm too cheap to buy one...but don't ask me how long it took me to make this one!) and now I have to make other stuff for my classroom. *sigh* It's good to be busy, right?

Model (pregnant) Student

My pregnancy has been pretty textbook. Everything that's supposed to happen week to week (according to the books and the websites I subscribe to...which all say the same thing) basically happens to me. Maybe it's all psychological and I'm willing it all to happen?? Or maybe it's all been happening and I just notice it once I read that it's "supposed" to happen? Some examples:

- Nausea & fatigue is supposed to subside by your 11th week. This is because your body should be adjusted to the wacky hormones running through your body. My nausea (for the most part...like 90% of the time) went away at 10.5 weeks and fatigue, although I'm still tired at times, has gone away significantly. I'm feeling MUCH better than in weeks 5-10.5.

- Because of the uterus expanding so rapidly at the end of the first trimester & second trimester, you start to pee like no other, every half hour. This has been me for the past month...basically when I started my 2nd trimester, I've been needing to pee. This is quite possibly the most annoying part so far. (I'm sure mentioned this plenty of times! :0)

- At your fourteeth week, you may experience stuffy nose & headaches. Guess what I've been dealing with for the past 2 weeks?? You got it! Blowing my nose like no other, problems breathing through my nose at night, and waking up with wicked headaches. Headaches can get so bad that I have to resort to Tylenol (which is allowed, btw) otherwise I just get nauseaus and have to throw up. It's almost like a migraine. yuck.

- Also at fourteen weeks, your hair and skin should start to change. Some experience hair falling out, some experience thicker hair--I've notice that my hair is a lot less oily (not like the so-oily-have-to-wash-it-everyday-hair in my first trimester) and is thicker. Also, my skin is drier and if I don't apply my lotion every night and morning, I get all itchy. (btw, Crystal, I rub the Mama Bee on my tummy everynight!)

That's about it so far. The good news is that I'm in my 16th week and the uterus is *supposed* to be adjusting and so my frequent need to pee should get back to normal soon. *whew!* I have a Dr. appointment next Wednesday, my 17th week, with my new doctor. Jerome is trying really hard to be there, but we're not sure he'll be able to. :( We're still debating on getting the amnio--I don't want to because we already know that if we find that there is something wrong with the baby, (knock on wood) we'd still keep it, so what's the point? Jerome argues that if we do find something wrong with the baby, then we'd be more prepared for whatever is to come. That makes a lot of sense to me too. I'm leaning towards "no" because I don't want a big needle in my tummy. If Jerome isn't at the appointment, I'm DEFINITELY not doing it. I guess we will see. We also *should* be able to find out the sex of the baby--but since I'm going to a new doctor, I don't know what to expect.

I should start going to sleep now. I have to drive way the heck downtown for a training and I hate driving in that part of town. Just a few more weeks and I'm back to work...it went by so quickly!

Johnny Depp

For some reason, I've been watching movies starring Johnny Depp. They've been on TV, so it seems that it's Johnny Depp season or whatever. Just the other day, "Benny and Joon" was on TV and I had to watch that again. Then I watched, "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" on TV a few nights ago. Last night, "Sweeney Todd" came on Netflix and Jerome and I watched that movie together. Ok, I've decided that I really enjoy Johnny Depp as an actor. He's freakin' amazing! He plays such great roles and he's so convincing.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about Sweeney Todd. Now, that movie is STRANGE. I don't want to give much away if you haven't seen it, but let me preface it by saying it's a musical (so Johnny sings!) and it's really dark. Anyway, apart from the one scene where I almost threw up (seriously, I almost did!) the movie was quite entertaining and sealed my newfound admiration for Mr. Depp. He is, afterall, Capt. Jack Sparrow!

We finally got a Wii! After months and months of trying to find one on the island, (it's almost impossible) we stumbled upon a shipment at Walmart yesterday while trying to buy some cleaning products. It was meant to be! Now, if only the games we want weren't sold out as well.

No new pregnancy news here. Today marks my 15th week. wee!