I am sitting here in an attempt to get my creative juices flowing yet again, so I apologize if this post is random in nature.
What is new since Soldier Boy returned from his deployment in mid-April?
I am pregnant again! The timing shocked us both – we aren’t the kind of people that look at each other and automatically are expecting. Far from it – we were actually down to single digits on one hand for the number of months we had remaining, if he had not deployed, before we sought out “further testing”. But, sure enough, two months after his return, we are two months “gone” as the saying used to go.
Oddly enough, the way the current science determines a due date, I am considered 13 weeks pregnant, and Soldier Boy has been home 12 weeks. When we saw Baby2, we were assured that baby is measuring right on time, had a healthy heart rate of 167, and there is no change to the due date. For once, the Army has gifted us what my niece aptly exclaimed, “you’re having a deployment baby!” Military families are all too familiar with the term “deployment baby” – they are babies that are conceived upon short arrival home from the soldier’s deployment. For us, it was quite literally shortly upon Soldier Boy’s arrival home!
Pregnancy symptoms kick in for me almost automatically, as evidenced by the now-two pregnancies I can officially count on medical charts.
So, I am sitting here, having a staring contest with the water I am supposed to drink in order to stay hydrated during this pregnancy. I keep giving the water the stink-eye, but I know the water will eventually win, and I will force it down my gullet. It’s not typically an issue for me – I was used to downing the “recommended 64 oz. of water” a day. However, with this pregnancy have come a host of things that I did not experience with Man Cub. Baby2 has decided it dislikes water and all hydrating fluids to the point of threatening return of them almost constantly. However, since I have yet to fully have water returned to me more than once (unlike lettuce and strawberry greek yogurt), I still force myself to stay hydrated. As I told my nutritionist and baby-doctor a few weeks back, I have a food and liquid aversion – if it is food or liquid, I don’t want it. I don’t want non-food substances, either, so thankfully I don’t display with any indication of being nutritionally deficient in any way.
Man Cub has watched more television in the past 6 weeks than I think he did his dad’s entire deployment. It is quite literally because it is so much easier to allow him to watch television while I lie on my side, resting. Resting, sleeping, just being horizontal are all glorious states of existence these days. If I am vertical, and you are talking with me, chances are I am keeping some dry-heaving at bay – at least until I get in the car, or turn a corner, or go to the bathroom for a quick breather.
I keep reminding myself this too shall pass, and Man Cub will be none the worse at the end. And, honestly, I am not complaining! I know I am abundantly blessed to be pregnant again, and I am looking forward to the end of the pregnancy not for symptom abatement, but for the reward – another little creature, fully of its own personality, likes/dislikes, temperament, and vivacity.
That is our newest update on life in our household. Mom is pregnant and trying to hang on to her proverbial cookies, Dad is working, and Man Cub and the dogs are taking full advantage of attempting to run the household while the parents are occupied with the aforementioned tasks.
And, I am trying desperately to rid myself of my writer’s block that hit about mid-April. So, hang in there with me as I try to orient myself back to making blogging a priority!
Thank you to all my loyal readers…