Carlton is Home!!

YAY!! It's been a long wait and the last week seemed to crawl by as we were waiting for our guys to finally make it home! We had a drawing to choose several spouses who would be allowed to go on one of the tug boats that goes out to meet the submarine as it pulls into port and I was one of the wives that got to go!! So I have some pictures of the sub as they pulled in and then some of the guys (including Carlton) came out on top as the sub continued its way into port.

Carlton waving

Offloading passengers onto the other tug

Pilot riding with the others on the sail

Getting the sub ready to be tied to the dock

Getting out the lei that the wives made

All lined up, standing at attention

The lei is out!

Getting the sub tied up

Waiting for the bridge to be placed

First hug and first kiss recipients

Each homecoming there is a drawing for a wife to receive the first kiss and for kids to receive the first hug. So those sailors are the first two off the sub so they can greet their  family.

Carlton finally gets to check out the baby bump!

I helped cup the fence this time!

Now that Carlton is finally home, we got to celebrate Christmas!! So we were able to sit down last night and open our presents to each other.  Carlton received several books from me...cookbooks, a book about the SR-71, and a book about the origin of the marathon.

Scuba diver tea infuser

New onesie for Baby Brinda

The flask he's always wanted

The onesie has a picture of a submarine and says "Sometimes I blow kisses to the bottom of the ocean." 

New clothes!

The Christmas Train

As far as Brinda baby is concerned, we are now at 32 weeks and things are still going well. We just had a doctor's appointment and everything looks good except that he is still enjoying the breech position. It's not really a concern until we get to about 36 weeks, so we are hoping that he will start to turn around. I plan to look up different methods that can be used to get him to move into the correct position.

He is now the size of a naked tailed armadillo and weighs about four pounds. 

He's kinda cute

Belly is definitely sticking out now!

We were very lucky in our shopping trip to the NEX over the weekend! I wanted to show Carlton the changing table/dresser they had in the baby section. Of course there was only one on display but we wandered through the other aisles and found a clearance section that had one other option. Not only did we get a changing table/dresser that we liked better than the one on display but it was marked for 50% off!! SCORE! Now we just have to rearrange our bedroom furniture to make room and then put it together.

In other baby related news, my friend Jessica is hosting my baby shower in a couple weeks, so we are definitely looking forward to that!! My baby registry is up and I have had a few friends look it over to make sure I didn't forget to include anything. Now we just need our baby boy to get out of the breech position!

Only About 9 Weeks to go...

At 31 weeks, Brinda Baby is now close to his birth height but still needs to pack on about 3-5 lbs of baby fat. Braxton-Hicks contractions are a possibility from here on out but I have not experienced them yet. His brain is still developing along with his immune system. He is now definitely crowding my lungs more! I am still doing my weightlifting workouts but I definitely need more rest time during them to catch my breath. The hormones have been affecting my ankles too...I have noticed on my walks that my ankles (more the left than the right) get very tired so that they don't want to work to pick up my feet! I have to make sure I stretch them really well to get through my walks or I have also had to stop during my walks and stretch them out. One of the women attached to our boat is a massage therapist and she came to my house this past week. It was a glorious massage - especially for my back and feet!!

I am still napping when I feel the need but I have found I need to be careful with how long I nap! There have been days when my nap lasted 2 hours and then I have trouble going to sleep at night. Cute animal of the week is the small clawed otter.  The baby is about the same size as the otter not including the tail.

As you can see here, the belly continues to get bigger!! I know I have 9 weeks left but my stomach feels like it's already stretched out as much as it will go!

I finally received my breast pump as well! Tricare completely covers a breast pump and a bunch of accessories that come with it, so along with the pump itself, I received a package of storage bags, a bottle set and nursing pads. About six weeks after the baby is born, Tricare will also allow you to order more supplies (like storage bags and nursing pads) to replenish your supply. I am very grateful for that!

The other good news for this past week is that I finally heard from Carlton!!! We hadn't had any contact since the day before Thanksgiving when the boat left. They were able to do a stop in Japan, so we were able to videochat which was great! So nice to be able to talk to my hubby after so long! They should be home relatively soon which is great! I am definitely looking forward to having him home for awhile!

XOXO
Jen

We Have Hit 30 Weeks Now!

At this point most everything has developed but still needs to complete development. For example, Brinda Baby's eyes are in the correct spot now and he is opening them but his vision is still poor. It will continue to improve over the next ten weeks although I doubt there is much for him to see until he is born anyway! Also, it will be interesting to see how long he enjoys having good vision since Carlton and I both have poor vision! This poor kid might be in glasses at a fairly early age...we will see.

He is currently about 17 inches long and weighs about 3.5 pounds. Soon he will stop growing in length and just pack on the baby fat that he needs to keep warm once he is born. He could be moving into the head down position soon but at my Ob/Gyn appointment this past week, he was still enjoying the breech position. Apparently he likes being able to kick my bladder or just wedge his butt down there to add more pressure. Ha!

According to my app, he is supposed to be about the size of a platypus without the tail. So here's your cute animal pic of the week!

The belly continues to grow as it should (see pic below). I had some blood work done recently that showed I was mildly anemic (I was mildly anemic before pregnancy) and also I have borderline hypothyroidism. So my doctor has me taking Synthroid now to try to boost my thyroid for the remainder of the pregnancy. I haven't noticed any symptoms so we will see if the medication makes a difference. I do take a nap almost every day but usually after I have done my workout (other than walking the dogs). I have been able to do longer walks with the dogs on the weekends - this past weekend we walked 3.25 miles! That is the longest walk I have done in about six months!

This weekend was pretty low key although I did have a great potluck dinner with friends which is always nice! I also went to see Rogue One with a friend and that was enjoyable as well!

I hope you are all enjoying January! Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

XOXO
Jen

29 Weeks!

It just keeps getting bigger....the belly that is. Brinda Baby is now about 16 inches long and weighs almost three pounds. He is about the size of a New England Cottontail Rabbit and is definitely still kicking! His lungs and muscles are still maturing but he basically just needs to pack on fat now.

It seems bigger than it looks.

I am still doing good although moving a bit slower on my walks now. Every now and then the baby decides to re-position himself while I'm walking which is super uncomfortable! I did pass my glucose test which was great news!! I also received my Rhogam shot and TDAP vaccine. Fun, fun, fun! I have an OB appointment this week and am hoping I can get another ultrasound picture to share. We will see.

Our FRG had elections this past week and along with new board members, each of the three committees also got new committee chairs. So I am no longer in charge of the fundraising committee, which is good. Not sure that is something I would have been able to keep doing once the baby arrived. On top of that, we have been working on making a lei for the boat. We started the project on Friday night and just finished today! So this lei will go around the sail of the submarine once they come into port. The green and yellow are Topeka colors!

Friday night, folding plastic bags for the lei.

Friday night, zip tying bags to the rope.

Sunday, fluffing the bags to make it pretty!

We are very happy that we finished this project early so we don't have to rush! Now we just have to prepare the other surprise we have for the guys when they get home.


By the way - I have purchased a couple big items in preparation for the baby! I figured it would probably be a good idea to have these two items on hand early so we can get familiar with them. We now have a bassinet and a car seat!

Halo Bassinet

Chicco Car Seat

I hope you are all having a wonderful start to 2017!!

XOXO
Jen

Happy New Year!!

On this last day of 2016, I have reached 28 weeks which means I am officially in the third trimester now! Yay! Brinda baby is now about 14 inches long and weighs about 2.5 pounds. He is the size of an Echidna (pictured below). He now has eyelashes and is able to open his eyes although I doubt there is a whole lot to see. He is also gaining more fat which is allowing him to get better at regulating his own body temperature.

I am still doing well although my back has been bugging me more lately. That just means I need to get prenatal massages! :-) In fact, I have one scheduled for this coming week! I did my glucose test this past week but do not know the results yet. That orange drink was gross!! Tastes like the orange punch from McDonald's with more sugar added. YUCK! I definitely get short of breath more easily when walking the dogs, especially going uphill. The baby continues to batter my organs around anytime I am sitting still or laying down. I have been asked by several people what we plan to name our baby. We have not chosen a name yet, both Carlton and I are working on our separate list of names until he returns. We do not plan to share what name we pick until the baby is actually born. But we are not opposed to name suggestions!! So if you have any boy names that you like, feel free to share them with us!

Cute but watch out for those claws!

Definitely bigger!

This past week I took advantage of some of the holiday stuff still going on in the area. Agana Shopping Center has a Holiday display that used to be an annual event but the lady in charge passed away a couple years ago. This is the first year that people got together to bring it back and the display was definitely impressive! See pics below:

Angels galore

Extravagant village!

More village

Chamorro history

Modern village

More village

Mini fair

Larger fair

Ski resort

More fairgrounds

Candyland

Stockings by the fireplace

Carolers

Another ski resort

Waterfall

Carolers

Snowman light post!

I also went to the Governor's Mansion where they had a lighting display that circled the mansion. Not all the lights show up in the pictures very well but here you go!

Chamorrans rowing

Latte stones in the background

Front of the mansion

Tree of Santas

Waterfall

Santa's shell sleigh with dolphins

Various sea creatures

Lighted tunnel

Faces of Santa

Lit pathway

Train & more Santa's

Manger

And I leave you with LOVE!

I hope you all have a fabulous New Year's Eve and a great beginning to 2017!!

XOXO

Jen