Pregnancy Update

So I am now 9 weeks and it has been a very LONG 9 weeks. I am now on 3 different types of medication. Two for dizziness and nausea and one strong med for the headaches. I did learn that if you take 1/2 of Unisom D and 25mg of vitamin B6 that will help stop the nausea. I opted for the stronger prescription just in case. My mid-wife is wonderful, she was able to get my $400 (for 15 pills) prescription reduced to $50 at my pharmacy. I was ever so grateful. The dizziness began Wednesday and didn't end until Thursday night. I have felt bad this entire time but Thursday gave a whole new meaning to "feeling bad". I am very thankful to my brother-in-law who has provided humor through this ordeal and who helped take care of Peaches while I was ill. I am thankful to John for doing EVERYTHING and for listening to me whine, moan and complain. I am grateful to Brother Temple and Brother Bass who helped calm my nerves on a late Monday evening (when John was out of town and I thought I was going to die).
Good news...........it has been confirmed that there is a butter bean growing in there somewhere with a strong heart rate of 154 bpm.

Mud run (walk if you're El Rakeman)

Yeah, that's right, I said WALK! I participated in the USMC Mud Run this morning...4.2 miles of uneven trail running, wall climbing, jumping down from those walls, rope swinging, rope walking, pit diving, mud trench crawling fun....if you're into that sort of thing. Which until today, I was unsure about. Now I'm sure. I hate running. I was the caboose in our 4 person train...and by caboose, I mean in another zip code while my partners waited on me to catch up. Man, I was sucking wind by the 2nd set of obstacles!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures, cuz describing how nasty muddy I was afterward will not do justice to the tale. I'm still picking red clay out of crevices, and my shoes that I wore are destroyed. I'm going to have to donate $10 to the "Clean Out the Partners' Truck" fund, because of all the red sand/clay I donated.

My team (with the exception of yours truly) was awesome. Had I not slowed them down they could easily have finished at least 5 minutes earlier....that's how in shape they are, and how bad I sucked it up! My feet, Achilles tendons and quads are burning like napalm right now. I can't wait for tomorrow morning! 9am church is gonna rule!

If you have the chance to do this event, I highly recommend it. If I get the chance to do it next year, you can be sure that I will be in much better condition, cuz not keeping up with your teammates (who have slowed down to keep you in visual contact!) SUCKS!

Much props to 3 Darts and a Dash...thanks to El Presidente (MB's Dad) who ran along and encouraged me...thanks to MB and Special K for letting me run. No thanks to A Busta...he wasn't even breathing hard after....of course, he was the one on the stretcher for the final 100 yards or so! Just kidding...he was awesome. Not. Dang teenagers.

"Go, Dog! Go."

Last night we took Peaches to see the Columbia Children Theater production of "Go, Do. Go!" (based on the children's book written by P.D. Eastman) The director of the CCT is one of my insured's so we support his non-profit organization as much as we can. We had a great time. It amazes me at how dedicated the actors/actresses are and how much time they spend rehearsing (for no $$$)............just to please our children. If you have never been to one of their productions I highly recommend it. The show lasted about an hour and you can buy snacks and soda there. Take a blanket because it was freezing!

Back from the Big O....

Yeah, not Oprah...Orlando. I had a Low Explosives Analysis class this week in sunny, humid Orlando. Not that I really noticed the humidity, as our hotel was set to the mid 60s in temperature. It was a great class, and I think I learned a good bit. At least, I learned that I'm going to have to do a bunch of work when I go back on Monday...I'll be danged if I go back to work on a Friday!

So of course I've got a honey do list...wash a rug, put some clothes away..stuff like that. So guess what I've done? Watched "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and surf the internet. Well, the rug's in the washer, and I did get dressed...that's progress!

I know I said I'd take pictures of my room...yeah. Twenty minutes after I got there I had spread all my stuff all over the room, and no one wants to see that. I managed to keep all my clothes together...dirty with dirty, clean in the closet and the three meager drawers that were integrated in the desk/dresser/dining table.

I even managed to work out while I was there! The 16th annual Mud Run is tomorrow, and I would prefer not to fall out in exhaustion three minutes into the event. MB would never let me hear the end, and I'm sure that my three partners would not want to carry me through the course. My goals are to not faint, and to not puke, and to finish. Not necessarily in that order, though.

The drive back was uneventful...rain on and off through Georgia. No highway patrol adventures this time. Travel time was about 6:30...two stops, averaged about 70 mph moving, 65 or so overall. No traffic issues until I-26...I can't understand why someone who's going 70 needs to ride the #1 lane. Arrrggggh!

Driving to Orlando

Well, I made it to Orlando in almost record time. Total time (including two stops...more on that in a bit) was 6:21, with a distance of 439 miles. My overall average was 69 mph, with a moving average of 73 mph. Total time stopped was 20 minutes.

Now about those stops. First of all, the Blue Streak got surprisingly good gas mileage, for a V8, and given the fact that I don't drive 65 mph. That's the reason for my first stop. I came around a sweeping turn about 20-30 miles into Florida and spotted a Trooper in the median near the #1 lane (lanes are numbered from left to right, so the fast lane is #1, middle is #2 and so on). She (guess how I found out it was a woman!) had her brake lights lit up, so I assumed she was trying to pull into traffic. Since I was blasting along, I moved to the right to let her in. Sure enough, she got in....and turned on her lights as she tried to catch up to me. Luckily, there was a rest stop near, so I pulled in and she pulled in behind me. She came to the passenger window, spotted the two radios, the badge, firearm and assorted police stuff in the car, and kind of gave this sigh...like she was disappointed. We discussed where I was going, and what I did for my work and she let me go. No, "Do you know why I stopped you?", or "Do you know how fast you were going?" (which I did). Just, "Hmmm".

So no ticket. For two states, I didn't see any cops...and I get into Florida, where speed limits are suggestions, and I get pulled over.

I've got a picture of the front of the hotel, which is attached to a massive mall (yay me...why can't it be attached to a Bass Pro Shops, or a Cabela's?) I'll take some of the interior of my awesome room, and try to post them tomorrow. Tomorrow's schedule: from 0800-1800 I've got "class". It's actually a series of speakers talking about everything that this conference is about....fire and explosives! Yeah, baby! Now if only we could blow something up, watch it catch a structure on fire, have it put out, then collect and analyze it...that would be a cool class!

Finally a Breeze

Today Window World installed 4 new windows in the front of our house. They replaced the old ones that didn't open with one that open and we can clean the outside from the inside. Now we can get a breeze going through the living room/dining room. Thanks to the new Presidency we can get a $500 credit on our taxes for having energy efficient windows installed.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

Brad Temple was nice enough to pick up a BB Gun at a yard sale so Peaches could learn how to use it. We got the BB Gun home about 8:00 PM last night and both Peaches and John were outside in the dark shooting at a blue target John quickly made. First thing this morning (8:00 AM) Peaches wanted to go shoot. What have we turned our child into?

Soccer Star

Peaches started soccer lessons and loves it. Her coach is really cool and makes it fun for the kids. Today there were only 3 kids so they had more turns, which Peaches liked. The coach makes them run about 35 minutes out of their 45 minute lesson. They get to play a real soccer game the last 5 minutes. I had a mom ask me if Peaches had played before because she was really good. I was happy to hear that.

Upcoming Events

Saturday 9/12 -Peaches Soccer Practice (lesson 2) then watch a friends dogs
Saturday 9/12-Window World installs new windows
Sunday 9/13- John leaves for Orlando for work
Tuesday 9/15- Doctors appt to see how far along I am in this pregnancy
Wednesday 9/16- WKE gets out at 11:40
Thursday 9/17-Firm Meeting at 0800 for work
Friday 9/18-Flex day and John returns from Florida
Saturday 9/19- Peaches Soccer Practice (lesson 3)
Saturday 9/19- Mud Run

Ok-that's enough for now.
I will post about my doctors appt next week.

When does the boat dock?

Today is the first day in 2 1/2 weeks that I haven't felt like vomiting every 10 minutes. Sorry to be sooo graphic but seriously, it's been awful. I feel like I am on a never ending boat ride and just when I think I am pulling into the dock the boat goes back out to sea.

A wonderful friend lent me her nausea bracelets and they help some. The key is to put them on before you get sick!

Tums taste like chalk but they do help. Peaches asked me if she could write with them on the sidewalk. :)

Someone else suggested to eat before you get nauseous. I do eat and find myself eating about 10-12 times a day. Of course my co-workers think this is hilarious because I will pretty much eating anything. I drank a whole can of ravioli in 30 seconds. I ate a 6 inch tuna sub in about 2 minutes and scarfed down a chicken burrito in a minute (I ate so fast I burned the roof of my mouth and kept eating through the pain). I do feel better after I eat but once the nausea comes back again, I eat again. I can't wait to see how much weight I gain with this one! I gained 40 with Peaches. My co-workers are already taking bets.

Last night the same wonderful friend who lent me the bracelets, brought us some pound cake, soup and bread for dinner. That will feed all of us for the next 3 days. It was delicious and truly appreciated.

I feel like a terrible mother and wife. I haven't done anything in 2 1/2 weeks. All I want to do is sleep and pout. I move from the couch to the bed upstairs, to the bed downstairs, to one recliner then to the next. I get bursts of energy every couple of hours but when I feel like cleaning something or picking up a mess here and there, I get exhausted and have to lay down for another couple hours.

I just hope this passes soon so I can feel like myself again. If you know me at all, I am not one to SIT for any length of time. I have to be doing something all the time. My brain doesn't rest. These two weeks have certainly taught me to slow down and to rest and let others be in charge.

I almost didn't go to Church today because I didn't think I was going to make it. I was in Nursery for about 45 minutes when this lovely person walked in and told me to leave; she said she was sent in to help and had it under control. I was hesitant to leave my kids because I am the only one that can take care of them :) Anyway, I left (feeling guilty) and sat in the hallway where I was able to rest, drank some OJ, eat some tums and feel better.

Thanks to everyone for your support, advise, kind words and hugs!