pregnancy vs. the little things

Woohoo, I'm 30 weeks today! (And yes, I had to look at the ticker in my sidebar to figure that out.)  75% done, right?  Well, unless baby comes late, which is quite possible.  This pregnancy has been going rather well, with only one minor hiccup (I came this close to having gestational diabetes and now have to limit my sugar intake).  The rest of the issues are just standard pregnancy fare, but I thought I might let you know some of the fun problems I've had to solve.

• Shoes.  I was wearing flip flops and sandals, which were easy, but the weather is turning colder.  I don't like my feet being cold and needed something to wear with socks.  I was just using my regular sneakers, but it is so hard to tie my shoes!  I actually had to call my sister and ask her how to do it.  So, here is my $10 well-spent at Payless in the past month:

Yep, lace-less sneakers are my new best friend!

• Pants.  I've had a ton of people tell me that maternity pants are the "most comfortable thing in the world."  Yeah, not really.  I got two pairs from thrift stores, one from Target.  The problem is that I started wearing maternity jeans in September, and here in FL, it is still darn hot then.  The very last thing I wanted was something on my belly, so I just fold the full panel down.  Whenever I bend over or squat to pick something up (this is quite often, as I'm a total klutz!), the pants start falling down and then fall down every time I sit down or stand up.  So basically, every time I wear jeans, I am constantly readjusting all day long.  I will say that the gray slacks I "splurged" on from Motherhood stay up quite nicely, but it might be because I wear them infrequently and haven't stretched the panel out to high heaven yet.  One of the thrift store jeans doesn't have a full panel, but the elastic is really thick and too tight (oh well, they were $1).  I just got some black maternity slacks from a consignment sale ($2!) that just have an adjustable waist and no panel, so we'll see how those do.
• The weather.  I hate being cold; I hate having to change my clothes when it's cold (we keep our heat setting pretty low to keep the bills down, so it's only kicked on like twice lately).  I just want to cuddle up in my UGA Snuggie and not do anything or go anywhere when I'm cold.  On colder days, I have to do some crafty planning and layering since my coat won't button (and it's not worth it to buy a maternity coat when the cold weather season lasts 3 months at most).  But the good thing is that this is Florida, and some days, like yesterday, are just nice and in the 70's.  I own some cute elastic-waist skirts that have worked great for pregnancy!  I was able to wear one of those with some sandals to church yesterday, and it felt awesome.  
I will say that I've had a lot of comments about how I was "smart" not to be super-preggers in the heat of summer.  I honestly don't think it would've mattered.  I was actually miserable in the heat of summer this year even though I wasn't huge yet.  The first trimester is mean to everyone.  And the place I volunteer is on the second floor of an old building with no elevator.  I'm winded every time I show up!



Yeah, you're jealous now, but I could hardly breathe on those humid August days.



• My abs and sleep.  I feel like I have no core muscles any more, even though I can still hold a plank for 30 seconds.  At night, when I need to roll over to the other side, it takes a big orchestrated effort.  I currently sleep with four pillows--one for my head, one that kinda wedges under my chest (I had been waking up with a burning sensation there and this definitely helps), one between my legs, and a big body pillow that I really only use to push against when on my left side.  It's my little fortress, but it seems to be working.  The good news here is that I have rarely had to get up in the middle of the night for the bathroom since the first trimester.  I doubt this will last much longer, but I'm enjoying it while I can!
  Also, in regards to sleep, I have occasionally woken up with a "charlie horse" in my calf, and yowch! those things hurt.  I pretty much go from completely asleep to sitting up in 2 seconds flat with those (I guess my abs do still work).  I read the best tip about these recently, and it said if this happens, just to get out of bed and stand up.  Well, I can vouch for this now!  It totally worked and I wasn't sore the rest of the day like I had been the other times.

So, really, this pregnancy has been good to me!  I'm still working out on the elliptical a few times a week and walking a lot as well.  I'm super-duper excited about our Thanksgiving trip to my aunt's place in Lakeland, FL (a 9-hour drive to be in the same state but a different time zone).  My immediate family is coming down from GA to join in the fun as well--they're taking my nephew to the newly-opened LegoLand there.  

We'll be some taking maternity pictures with my camera while we're there--gotta put something on the Christmas card!--so I've been gathering up pose ideas for the shoot (I hate exposed bellies, and I have a pretty gnarly linea nigra so no thanks).  We're not telling anyone the name, but I'm totally doing some takes with Scrabble tiles to spell it out that will remain in top-secret custody until she is born!

And here's a photo I took on Saturday.  What I see when I look down:

Where did my feet go??

 

well, that's one way to announce a Christmas list

I'm linking up with Goodnight Moon's What's Your Song? today!


 I got an Etta James album at the library and listened to it on my trip the other week. Of course we've all heard her signature "At Last," but I've been enjoying her more sassy side.  This song just makes me laugh:


I just love her voice.  Are you an Etta fan as well?

the start of our military farewell

Last week I got what will hopefully be the last "military surprise" dumped on me.  In the grand scheme of things, it's really not a big deal at all, but it has changed some plans around.

B put in his official resignation letter with the Navy last week.  We knew this was coming; we planned on this.  However, when he submitted it, he was told that he has to get out in August.  We have been telling everyone November 2012 for the past year or so.  I know it's only a matter of months, but it was still a bit of a surprise.  He even asked to be extended a few more months, and the powers that be weren't having it.

Discharging from the military is simultaneously frightening, liberating, the most natural thing in the world, and apparently the most unnatural thing around this base.  The base we are currently at seems to have two types of people: those who just joined the military (currently in A-school or flight school), and those who are only a few years from retirement (currently teaching/commanding A-school and flight school).  For the record, B works at a command with a ton of civilians, and it's not A-school or flight school.  I've met very few people in that mid-range level, but I love it when I find them.  It usually happens around here that when I tell people, "He's getting out," they respond, "He's retiring?"  At our last base, I watched oodles of men and women separate from the service, and no one batted an eye because they knew how much it sucks to be on a ship.  I guess here they're still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?

B and I have gone back and forth about him joining the Reserves, and after a talk with an O-6 from the aviation world who discouraged it for submarine officers, I think we both agreed that we will be fine without those headaches.  (In case you're wondering, B has a degree in electrical engineering and can also do nuclear engineering thanks to the Navy.)  When I first brought up the Reserves, B told me I should join it.  I'll keep that in my back pocket if times get rough--I think I'd make a good Reservist!

We purposely planned to have our first child while on this shore tour.  The timing worked out right, he's home all but 3 predictable days a month, the pre-natal visits and birth are free, and we were ready.  I'm glad that our plan is panning out, but the fact that we will have a child adds a bit of worry to the date bump-up.  B doesn't want to start a new job until October, so I'm trying to factor in the cost of insurance to our 2012 budget.  If it was just the two of us, we'd probably just go without.  It's not looking very cheap right now, but hopefully we'll get some answers when he goes to his Transition Assistance class on base.

You may have noticed that I rarely post about the military on my blog.  I started this whole thing to pass some time while he was deployed last year, but everything went rather swimmingly so there wasn't too much to vent about.  Plus, we'd already been through it before (with me as a girlfriend), and it was ten times worse.  I purposely never branded this thing as a "milspouse" blog, since I've known that B wouldn't be career military since the moment I met him.  I also realize that I will have spent just as much time out on my own in civilian land (post-college) as I have under the protective cocoon of the Navy.  That's about three years with each.  That fact won't stop me from missing the amazing perks we get around these parts, namely the commissary, free healthcare, and a free gym.

One thing I realized I really won't miss are the military traditions.  I didn't grow up in a military town, I don't have any close family who made a career of it (except my grandfather, but he died before I was born), I didn't know the difference between officer and enlisted until meeting B, and frankly, B just isn't into the traditions, so I guess I'm not either.  He wouldn't even take me to the military ball once we got married (we went to one in Virginia when we were dating, and it was pretty lame so I don't blame him).  I've only seen B dolled up in his dress whites once in our entire 5-year relationship.  I'll still have a soft spot for submarines, especially women on subs, but that will probably be all I take with me.

Oh, and this great picture of him with the Blue Angels from yesterday morning:

B is in khakis and black jacket on the right.

Since this post is semi-appropriate for the upcoming Veterans Day, feel free to see some thoughts and research on the semantics of that word (and whether it applies to B and other active-duty submariners) from a post I did last year.

While I'm ready to tackle the civilian world, I'm still wary about the next place we live possibly being our "forever" home.  But more on that later!