Pregnancy & the Male Brain

I noticed Redhead Riter is posting today concerning men's perspectives on late-life pregnancy. I love the meme idea, but seeing as we just had our 2nd child, I'm not sure my husband could picture our children being grown.

However, it reminded me of a conversation I had with Gunlover the other day. Let me start by saying, men have the strangest perspectives on things. Bunny is his first child. He considers Jewel to be his daughter also, but this is his first experience with the whole process. And apparently, he didn't have much curiosity concerning his Moms pregnancies, so there have been a lot of things for him to learn.

He had no clue how epidurals work...even after me receiving one (I was having terrible back labor), he still didn't know what the process entailed. So when I got up from the couch and commented on how the stitches hurt getting up and down, he joked that perhaps life would be easier if I just peed in a bag. I stuck my tongue out, and told him I'd had enough of that at the hospital. That caught him completely off guard, because he hadn't even noticed. Then he wanted to know why I'd been cathed. I gave him a funny look, and pointed out that it would be hard to get up to go to the bathroom, with my legs numb. He had no idea that the epidural numbed you from the waist down. He thought that it numbed where the baby came out, and that was it. Just as I think we're having a good educational conversation, he looks up with a flash of inspiration and says "oh! That's why you had gas so bad."

Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen...the whole labor process, and his defining memory is that I had uncontrollable gas. His explanation being, that he thought it was "cute" that I kept apologizing for it. I will never understand men...he experienced the miracle of birth for the first time, and gas is still a defining feature of his memories. Lesson learned - potty humor never gets old for boys, no matter how old the boys may be.

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Patience & the Art of Remembering

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my grandmother's passing. She was a wonderful woman...generous, honest, and a hard worker in God's service. Today I left a message on my Mom's Facebook wall. I reminded her that today didn't mark a year that she'd been absent from our lives, but rather it marked a whole year that she's been living in God's presence. I had to remind myself that several times throughout the day.

Today was also my due date...we were trying very hard to have this child today...something good to help extinguish the pain. I can tell right, it's not going to happen...it would have to be the world's quickest labor at this point. And although I'm having contractions off & on...what are the odds of having a child in less than an hour? Not that good. So this child will be born in her own time.

In a way this whole day has been a reminder of God's perfect timing. We didn't think it was Grandmother's time. But He must have had a reason. We did nearly everything short of a medical induction (which I refuse to have), to have this child today...but neither she nor God thought today was right. And although I secretly suspect that God's sense of humor will come into play and we'll have an April Fool's baby, there is a reason she didn't arrive today. Although the real prank would be if she turns out to be a boy. But I digress. God has His timing, and man can do what they can to artificially stall it, but in the end, their efforts will be ineffectual. This coming weekend, take some time...time to slow down, and realize His perfect timing in your life.

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7 Quick Takes Friday #1

Company girls welcome! Hope you are enjoying your Coffee Friday. :) Once again, I will ask the question, what beverage are you enjoying today with your blog explorations? Tea? Coffee? Cocoa? Soda? If you're enjoying a tasty treat with your choice beverage, feel free to share that as well...pregnant women like talking about food..hehe.

---1---

I'm really excited that Gunlover will be home soon! It is a little over 5 days until he gets here. For him, there's only 4 days left. This child is squirming around..I think she's excited too!

---2---

Babies are cute, no matter how many you've seen, or how impending your own is. I held the neighbor baby yesterday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. And I think babies can sense each other...cause my kiddo rolled over and kicked him..poor thing!

---3---

Dumb things sometimes happen for a reason. Apx 1.5 months ago, I had severe prego-brain, and locked myself out of the house. I knocked on my neighbors door, and she kindly housed me until the realtor came (hours later), and unlocked my door. We have since hit it off, been out to eat several times, went to the craft store yesterday, and were up until 4am just having girl time with our other neighbor.

---4---

God's perfect peace is an incredible blessing in difficult times. The antagonist went off the grid for a few days...shortly after we dispatched a demand letter to her, informing her that we require custody be given back to me, or should this go to court we will revoke all of her (non-existent) grandparent rights. However it didn't worry me. I'm a veteran, with an active duty husband, with guaranteed insurance/housing/income, in training for a work-from-home job, vs. an alcoholic, pain-med-addicted, bitter woman in a broken-down trailer.

---5---

God's mercy is extended to all, and I'm grateful that He keeps that in my mind. Again, this helps with the perfect peace. Despite all that the antagonist has put me through, I'm not angry with her. She upsets me, frustrates me, makes me sad, but I don't hate her. I actually feel sorry for her. She dearly needs the love of God in her life, and my family & I pray continually that she would find Him. She's about to be at her lowest point...in that place, you either wallow in your self-destruction, or you climb out through the grace of God. We sincerely pray for the latter.

---6---

Good friends & family are a Godsend in these times. My aforementioned neighbors are Christian women, and mothers at that. So rather than merely being shocked at my situation, they hurt for me in a way that only mothers can. I hear it in my own mothers voice when we discuss how things are going. Knowing that others are pulling for me, praying for me, and sincerely desire for me to come out on top, makes all the difference.

---7---

God is awesome!!! I finally received my VA paperwork, and I will be receiving a paycheck for the rest of my life. Now while being "disabled" may not seem like a good thing, extra money is absolutely extra money, and we believe with all our hearts that beloved Jewel will be returned to us soon, so this feels like God providing us extra income for extra expenses.

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One Step Closer

Alright my blog is all about little steps towards a greater goal. Inches towards the miles, progressing towards the final goal. So ladies & gentlemen, I present to you, proof that I'm inching closer to an eventual goal...I reveal Magnificent Roundness!!! Tada. :)

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Better Use of My Time

I've been thinking a lot about this one here lately. I'm due at the end of the month, and so I haven't been going anywhere, or doing very much, cause we want to make sure this kiddo waits for Gunlover to be home. So I spend a lot of my day, vegging out. Then I realized, rather than watching TV, I could be reading a book. Wow! A novel thought...if I could do something else other than watch TV, what else can I do with my time?
I spend a lot of time on or around my computer, because Gunlover talks to me via Skype (I love technology), and so I started figuring out ways to better spend my time on the computer. I remembered that I had written articles for eHow before, so I started back up on that, and then I found out that about.com had an opening for writers on the topic of Military Families. So I spent the other evening writing an article & submitting my application. So we'll see!

Quick shout-out, welcome Company Girls! What coffee/chocolate/cider/tea are you enjoying today? :)

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Today's Havoc

Well this was certainly an eventful week. Sunday I tested out a new church...think I liked it. Monday, nothing much happened. Tuesday, I was on the phone 3 times with the antagonist. She just kept calling...yikes! Wednesday I was on edge waiting to see how my Mom was. Wednesday would have been my grandmother's 67th birthday. Thursday was quiet, but Friday more than made up for it. This morning I had an appointment..the doc isn't sure I'll make it to the 31st. Then I went to Family Dollar to find trashcans, and found an incredible deal. Framed Asian art for $3 a pop. I bought 6 and finally have my empty living room wall decorated. Then I went to Publix and bought more fruit & juice. Then I came home, and set out to do one final slam dunk on the house, before settle down for the duration of my pregnancy. And let me tell you, it was an enormous amount that I got done in one afternoon. And I'm really hurting now...I'm definitely done. I hung up the artwork, cleaned out the dining room, cleaned out the living room & hallway, put flower decorations on Jade's wall, vacuumed the ling room & hallway, and re-shelved my displaced Avon items. Then the Florida batch came in and brought a crib with them. 30 minutes before the arrived, my printer stopped working. Just completely malfunctioned, and nothing I did would work. The lights were lit, even if the printer was turned off. Only unplugging it would stop that, and as soon as it was replugged and turned back on, it would do it again. So they very kindly bought me a new printer. I had been in the process of copying very important paperwork. So it was very much appreciated!

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Update on my pockets :)

My pockets as of late, haven't been the stuff that makes very good pictures. :) Yesterdays pocket consisted of me getting all the unpacked moving boxes out of the house, and get them to the trash. I recently moved and my trash goes out on Friday. Unfortunately for the first few weeks, Friday was all I could remember, so I wasn't getting my trash out until, you guessed it, Friday. Which of course was too late. I finally got them out there last night, and when I woke up this morning, they were gone. Like magic. Yay!
Today's journey involved fixing my phone. I'm 35 weeks along, and my husband is in Korea, so I keep my cell phone near me at all times. Unfortunately, this led to my cell phone being accidentally knocked into the bathtub. Yuck! Thank God, I have insurance on it. But my new phone won't be here until Monday or Tuesday. Today I mourn the loss of my other arm, my lifeline, my boredom buster...okay so it's a little dramatic. It is however, my business number, so this is frustrating! Today, I had my doctors appointment, a visit to the cell phone store, just to discover that I needed to file an insurance claim on it, called the insurance provider, made the claim, contacted the customer care department of the printing service that screwed up my t-shirt I just purchased, and then I napped. Yep, that's right. Pregnancy kicked in, and as of 2 in the afternoon, I was pooped. So I slept, and now I'm up at midnight...wide awake. Oh the sleep cycles of the pregnant, and new mothers. We have fun!

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Long day....1 pocket accomplished..lol

Okay so technically I got a few things done today. Just felt like I got nothing done. We're military and currently at separate locations. He got stationed in Korea, while we got sent to his follow-on location in Georgia. I was given POA, and a set of his orders showing that we're assigned here, but I can't get anything done because heeee's not assigned here. Ugh!

So I fought with the housing office trying to get a waver for my utility deposit (which we are authorized, being military), but they wouldn't help because he won't be here until October. This also means that we're still getting the housing allotment for our old base, rather than for this base. This would be aggravating enough normally, but being pregnant, it really got on my nerves.

I did however get my library card, so I can start taking out the reading challenge (woot!), and I got my trash taken out (too bad I forgot today was trash day so it's not gone, just outside..lol). I learned that Security Forces on this base doesn't know where anything is, that base housing is a pain, and that pregnancy hormones really will make you cry at the slightest provocation...and that chicken nuggets can make you feel better no matter what..:)

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My pocket for today

So, looking around this house, I have a lot of pockets I could do. After all, I'm still moving in. However, on top of the general weariness of moving, I've got a baby coming soon, and I've been sick. Yuck! So obviously, some days are better than others. Today is a not day.
I took some nighttime cold/sinus stuff last night, and when I woke up (coughing up everything that had been chilling while I slept) at 5 something in the morning, I felt so lousy I took another dose. Then my phone went off a few times early in the am, my doorbell rang with an unexpected package, and my husband called when he got back to his dorm in Korea. all that meant my sleep cycle was severely thrown off, so I didn't wake up until after noon sometime.
So today, I'm looking around, and I realize that even though it's one of the smallest pockets, one of the things that annoys me the most right now, is my Avon stash. I have several boxes of supplies, all of which are laying in my dining room floor, half of which are partly or fully emptied on to said floor. So today's project is to clean up that disaster, so that should someone need to make a purchase, or request a brochure, I can actually figure out where those items are. Pictures will be posted later.

As promised, the photos:
This is what it looked like before...scattered all over my dining room floor.

















This is afterwards, when I neatly organized everything in my shrunk. Still in the dining room, but much neater. Now I just need customers. Speaking of customers, I was very excited...no more had I finished this project than my phone rang, with my first (non-family) customer!!! And because I had just organized this, I knew exactly where the correct brochure was, and was able to get this taken care of simply and easily.

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