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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Explaination of Space Available/almost free flying across ocean

*I wrote this when I got back from my trip to DC. I just didn't post it because I had to finish it.

My little (23 year old) brother graduated from George Washington University WITH HIS MASTERS. I got to visit him from Tuesday till Sunday. Friday was the day he walked across the stage for both his masters and undergrad degrees. Sunday the commencement was held on the National Mall between the Capital and the George Washington Monument. Along with my parents and brother Hunter my moms parents and brother (Uncle Wayne) came too.

I was able to visit Josh because of one of my many military benefits; Space Available flights. These are flights filled with men and women who are deploying or returning from a deployment. The left over seats are sold to military and their dependents to fill the flight. I get written proof from his battery saying I am in fact a dependent and I am sponsored to be here and allowed to leave - meaning I am a good dependent and dont cause trouble.

So after I turn in this paper. I am able to hop on a flight and pay $23.50 and 8 hours later arrive in BWI a real aiport on a real plane. Only its not as easy as it sounds. So how it works is this letter can be taken into the airport to "sign up" for the Space A list, it is only valid for 60 days meaning you have to leave and be back in that time. They have a "roll call" for the flights about 2 hours before the flight is supposed to take off. So you are supposed to show up a 30 minutes before hand to mark yourself present for the list and make sure your name is on the list before they start to call names.

So I didn't turn my letter in before the day I planned to travel. SO with roll call being at 6:30 am I showed up at 4:30 am and I had only gone to bed at 3:00 am. If anyone new in the same category as me showed up after me I would be ahead of them on the list. (I forgot to say there are categories.. I am Cat 5 it starts with 1 being the people on emergency leave then goes up to people whos sponsor is deployed for more then 365 days all the way down to retirees who are Cat 6 I think so I am right before them at 5.. Tony would bump me up to 4 if he traveled with me because he would be on leave) SO I didn't get on that flight but there were 2 more flights that were going into a military base. The first one was a medivac flight and roll call was only a few hours away. So I choose to stick around and wait.

As I was sleeping around the airport I heard them announce the arrival of a flight from BWI. I thought that was odd since there wasnt supposed to be another flight going there today. It wasnt till the next day. So I just shrugged it off. THEN about 20 minutes before they were supposed to call for this other flight I was most likely not going to get on they called for an UNANNOUNCED UNWRITTEN UNSCHEDULED flight to BWI that had Space available!!!! OH YIPPIE! They usually have guns and amo on board so normal people can't ride but they didn't! I was so excited. I went down to listen to them call all the categories before mine then call me! SO I was going to BWI! I had to email my brother to tell him. SO the flight wasnt for 3 hours.. SO I checked in and asked if it was ok if I went home for a while but came back an HOUR before we were supposed to board and they said I was good. SO I went home to try to actually take a real nap on my bed since I had only an hour or so of sleep.

I decided to call at 1 when the flight was to board at 2 20pm. They said "ya you are good" just be here in 45 minutes. Still allowing me more then 30 minutes before they were even supposed to START boarding. I got there and went straight to the front to ask again about the flight and they said "oh ya your good, just go ahead and wait upstairs for the flight to board". So I get in line to subway since I hadn't eatten since this morning. I am looking around and I dont feel like there are that many people there... I ask the people in line for security check where they are going and its Kuwait so they looked at me like I was crazy since I cant go there with them why was I asking. THEN my name is called over the loud speaker!!! APPARENTLY they boarded the plane soon after I talked to the nice man around 1 who put me on hold to ask about my flight and told me I was good. They also forgot to tell the front desk information people too! Lucky for me another woman was sitting there too who missed boarding so I wasnt the last person on the plane. I got to sit in the very front of the section behind what would have been first class. I had lots of leg room and I was on the end. I drank as much water as I wanted and got to pee without disturbing the people around me. When I woke from my nap right before I called the airport to check on my boarding flight I called Josh who was sleeping to tell him i was leaving Germany soon and would be there in 8 hours after we left. I was drowsy he was drowsy so we didn't really get across the needed information. So when I got there I called him from a nice lady named Crystal who was stuck at the airport till she could get her military credit card to give her money to pay for a taxi. Even though I told him I would take public transportation he said he could come get me. Its 5pm DC time. I first tried to call him on a pay phone.. guess how much they wanted me to pay for 4 minutes! $9! That's why I resorted to asking strangers to use their cell phone plan.

I am able to view the flights out of Ramstein for the month but I can only guess about the flights coming back until I get there to view the list. So first thing after I knew I had a ride was to sign up for my flight back and get the flight days next week. I found out they had one on Sunday at 6 pm Wed at 8 30pm and THURSDAY at 2 am!!!! OK so the thing was Tony and I have tickets to spain and I HAD to get home. So I slightly freaked out at learning these few options. I decided that I had to try to leave on Sunday since his ceremony was in the morning I wouldn't miss anything. However it did rush things on Sunday with the family and I cried a little bit from the stress but more about that later.

SO after I got to the airport via my dad and Josh driving me and Gma Gpa and Mom and Wayne rode the train for the experience. I was worried about the time that we were leaving and missing the train that's why we drove and they rode. We dropped them off at the station and we only beat them by a few minutes. I was so happy that I was one of the last few names called and I was going back and didn't have to make the trek out to BWI again that week. This flight was only $14.75 or something like that. No close calls with this flight I did get sick into the air sick bag on the plane.. I was chatting with the girl (she was older then me but I feel like woman means someone is over 40 or 50) - There needs to be a more generic name for a young female. Coed and gal are stupid.

So that's my experience with Space Available Flying. :)



The gma and gpa and Wayne arrived first on Friday morning.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Japanese Garden


So I had a few more.. and they didnt work. I am too tired to do it again. This will do for now. This tree is in the Japanese Garden here in Kaiserslautern. Its right in the middle of downtown but it was pretty nice. (not a day trip thing.. more like an hour or 2 tops)

Friday, May 8, 2009

My Baby Tummy

This is me 14 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Taken May 4th 2009. So this is pregnant me.. but if you notice its more of a front side angle.. so I actually look bigger/wider. However you can see the slope I was talking about now.. I will have to have Tony take my pictures like I should have been from the start. I just felt silly doing it but I think I should start before I have a huge bump and there are no progression pics.



Bag I made and put the socks in to tell ToNy he was going to be a daddy
(I dont know how to rotate)
First item we bought together - yes its a $10 white baby bib from TCU
These are the thickness of the socks
Baby Socks for Baby Corona - first item I bought him/her

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Dont make that face at me!

Ok so yesterday I went to work out with my friend. (turns out it was during my apt that I thought was today. The lady told me Tuesday then scheduled me for Monday. I was very upset this morning. Then the thrift store was closed and to make it worse Tony had already left work to come to the apt. So I cried. Tony doesn't deal well with me crying. Back to the story about yesterday.

We were on the elliptical and I saw a girl who I took a spin class with a few months ago. Before I found out I was pregnant I started going to a later class then I found out and was sick all in the same week. I didnt go that week then I just didn't make time for it before Texas and was gone for 3 weeks and I have not been back yet. I have to have my BMP at lower then 150 and I wasn't sure I could guess right and I was worried about the baby in the beginning stages.

SOOOOO after I told her I was pregnant and I was on vacation for a while. She said "Oh good I am glad you said that" Then she made this face. Well I should have said.. that's not nice. I think I just made a face and said "really?" Like did you really just say that to me - but the face was a hurt face not a pissed off I am going to kick your ass face?!? After she walked off my friend told me she wanted to hit her for saying that. Did this happen to anyone else? The denial that you are starting to show? Its an odd stage since they tell you there is a certain time when you show meaning bump. BUT how does it go from flat no baby to the BUMB with baby! There is the stage in between that I don't like. Since I just look like my stomach is sticking out farther but there is no bump its misleading. I guess from looking at enough of my friends posted pregnancy pictures I am starting to "show", but it doesn't look like a baby. I took a pic of myself and could see the slight slope in my stomach where it used to be flatter when I stood up straight. I can feel a bubble too when I move a certain way or stand up I feel it. Its creepy that its just going to get bigger. The baby is supposed to be the size of a lemon a 3.5 inch lemon and a few ounces

Sunday, May 3, 2009

We have a bun in the oven

Since like 2 people read this one of you might know I am pregnant. I am 14 weeks and 1 day. Since that's so long you might wonder why I haven't yet put it up on the world wide web. You say there is nothing on facebook either, why have you waited? I am freaked out about putting it on here. I am scared for some reason that putting it up here makes it too real. We haven't kept it from anyone we have seen recently. Maybe if I saw you and I didn't bring it up it was because there wasn't a good time to say and I was told I am not good at the big reveal. I will fill you in on what happened since I found out.. or right before I found out.

Ok so first of all we were trying, this isnt something I am suprised about nor do I feel my life is over. I feel like we will still be able to travel some... maybe not for the first few months until the baby gets its cute little passport, but we can still drive around Germany. If you are a parents you might be laughing at my boldness. However I am saying that I dont think that having a child is going to ruin my life. It will change it forever though. We are looking forward to the challenge of parenthood.

I am very excited that I have a little baby growing inside me. Its also VERY creepy. Its scarey that so many things have changed in my body in the past 14 weeks.
Here is a helpful website that shows the baby changes.
Tony was gone in the field and I found out 2 days after he left! He was going to be gone for 2 weeks. So I was not about to tell him on the phone. I then had to think of a cute creative way to tell him. He had given me a sewing machine for Christmas that I had yet to use. It has been a while and I was intimidated by it. So I figured I could tell him I had been working on "making" him something. See it works for the bag and the baby! I am so clever. So I made him a bag he could carry things in at the store (so he doesnt waist plastic bags). When he opened it he looked inside the bag right away. Later to tell me that this bag looked store bought. Inside the bag I had some Tiny 0 - 3 month unisex socks. They were so tiny! He knew right when he saw them because he looked up at me and said with a smile "are you serious?" I said "uhhumm" with a nod and then he said "this isn't a present for me its for both of us!" It was so cute. So he had to wait that whole time while sleeping in a tent in rain, sleet, and snow! I felt so bad not telling him, but I am glad I got to see him and record his response to the big news and I think he forgave me.

So when Tony was in the field is when I first found out he left on Feb 26. I expected that I was and I my friend Mindy who was already 3 weeks pregnant brought over a left over pregnancy test that I took on Saturday the 28th. Then I called the Dr on Monday and had to go in to take a serum test AKA BLOOD TEST. I guess its my first of many as a pregnant woman. However I argued with the nurse on the phone that my friend who was pregant just had a urine test done to confirm her pregnancy. She said that "A serum is more accurate" I am thinking if the stick from the store said I was pregnant with my pee why would your test not?! Ok fine I will get my blood TAKEN if you insist. It was fast and less painful then I remember. So I was approved as a pregnant person and allowed to schedule my first apt. That apt consists of a bunch of paperwork and then reviewing said paperwork. Nothing else. Lucky for Tony he got to attend the first appointment where we saw and heard the little heart beat!!! This was on March 27th right before we headed off to the states to see our family and friends!! It was crazy. They had to do the ultra sound vaginally. Which is what it sounds like. They stick this little wand up you and you get to see the inside of your uterus and I also saw my fallopian tubes too. I guess they were doing fine. The heart beat was very fast about 180 bpm I think. Its on the ultra sound photo.. I should go look. later. So that is the only apts that I have had so far! I have another one this Tuesday. Tony should be able to go to it too.

I was had crazy nausea like I had never in my life. It was horrible, I couldn't move or do any normal activities like sitting up or walking. I don't know how people live a normal life especially since that is the time you are supposed to be not telling people! Plus I got sick. So Tony is trying to tell me that I should go work out and that will make it better and I am thinking he wouldn't say that if he knew. I did not take his advice and I tried to act like the sound of all the noise in the background wasnt making my head hurt. Luckily or unluckily for me I never got sick those first few weeks. The only time I actually lost my stomach contents was on the air plane ride to texas when I was technically 9 weeks pregnant. I don't blame it all on the baby. The plane was about to fall apart from the horrible turbulence and I hadn't eatten anything in about 4 hours. I even tried to eat a pretzel that I had brought with me right before I had to grab the white airsick bag. blah. It was gross. ok enough said. Ok then I got sick when I got back home from being in Dallas for 3 weeks. So that puts me at 12.5 weeks! Almost 13 weeks is when you are no longer supposed to be getting sick, and I start. That night also I am not sure the babys fault because there was no warning or nausea. I just had to get rid of my meal right then. I was fine, never even felt sick. I did get these TINY little red pin sized dots all around my eyes from straining. I also looked sick because of it. It took a few days to go away and it was creepy. Then just this past Thursday and Today I dry heaved in the morning. That was the baby. Tony happend to be here for both times and he was very concerned about me and wondered if I needed to go to the Dr. Thursday my friend Mindy was moving away from Germany. I was meeting her at the Ramstein Air Terminal to say bye. Then same thing this morning before I had a chance to eat anything I didnt feel very well and then I got sick. After I was sick it was all better. I have had normal days with no nausea at all. The nausea was returning also in week 12 and that started my worry. I am sorry if you are bored with all this talk of me vomiting. I will talk about something else now.

My boobs were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sore. I have never had "breast tenderness" during my time of the month so I had never felt anything like this. Maybe when they first started to grow but I dont remember. I swear my boobs just poped up one day. I remember being so flat in 6th grade, then all of a sudden I have boobs. Where did these come from? NOW they are getting bigger.. and I hate it. All I hope for is that after the baby and breast feeding (God willing) they go down a cup size or so. It happens. That is gone now, but I do fear the last month or so when they swell up even larger in preperation for the baby. I dont understand why the milk glands cant find space in the size they are now. Why do they have to get larger?

I already can't sleep on my stomach even though you cant tell I am pregnant and I have no bumb. The baby is already 3 inches in size so i guess thats a large enough area inside me where when I lay flat on my stomach it feels like I am on top of a little nerf ball that is pushing my gut in. So I have to sleep with one leg up. Which Tony likes to call me sticking my knee up his butt. However from my point of view he sleeps too close to me and in our queen size bed I should be able to sleep like that and not touch him if he stays on his side of the bed. He will tell you that I am in the middle but this is not true. There might be times I am in the middle, but I swear when my leg is up I try not to knee him in the butt and he will back into my leg often. I have to ask the Dr. at what point is sleeping on your back not ok? I hear that doing so cuts off oxygen to the baby!!!! WHat the heck!? So I have never slept on my back before so I didn't think I had to worry about that.. but now I find myself waking up on my back and I am thinking what the heck am I doing here? I think the uterus is too small to cut off oxygen.. but I dont know! I will find out soon.

What else.. oh telling people I am pregnant but having to say that I am not showing its just fat. I hate this part when you are not showing and I am not super skinny. My normal stomach might have been changing slightly but I have not been taking pictures of it to show progress. I wish I was so then I wouldn't feel like I am getting fat.. its just the baby. I think it will be a few more weeks until I have a real baby bumb. Can't wait.

I have to pee all the time. Thats another thing that I didn't realize happened so soon. Your body is getting ride of tons of toxins for you and the baby in the very begining since so much is happening. So you have to pee ALOT. Plus I started to become aware of the amount of water I was drinking and was trying to drink more. I have had a few nights of sleeping the entire night, but in the begining it was peeing everynight 4 hours into the night. Now its about 3 or 4 times a week. I just learned recently I can look forward to times when I am not able to empty my bladder when the baby is sitting on it.

Smells.. Oh gosh. This was a crazy one. It goes along with the neasea too. Some smells at first made me feel so sick. I am not used to not wanting food. So the idea of not wanting certain foods that I normally like is slightly frusterating. I was not about to test myself and eat them though. Another thing is having super nose. I could smell so much. Its crazy.

There are some more things but maybe I will post more tomorrow.