Coming to the end of a GREAT year!

I wish I could reflect on this year in its entirety, but Audra is a demanding attention stealer! (lol) SO I will just pick up sort of where I left off with the last blog...

Audra is now 7 months, so close to crawling I'm beginning to think she's just not crawling because she's satisfied with rolling and scooting everywhere! She repeating sounds now and is very playful. Joe and Audra have their own set of different little games they play, it's adorable. Still not eating solids regularly, but she's is doing great and a super healthy girl. Audra was 20 lbs and 26 inches at her last doctor's appointment. She is still in cloth diapers and still exclusively breastfeeding. I'm raising a "crunchy" organic baby (lol).

Joe has had his last check up after his eye surgery, and the doctor says he doesn't need contacts anymore! His eyesight is now 20/15 and he's wearing the sunglasses less and less. Flashes from cameras, sunlight, and bright lights still bother him a bit but he's doing very well after his surgery. As far as work goes, he's been swamped but hopefully that will change here very soon. January 11th is Joe's ankle surgery where they will fix the injury he has there. The orthopedist said that he's going to shorten the ligaments so that they will be tighter, the problem is that the ligaments stretched out when he injured the ankle. Joe will be in a cast for 4 weeks and then probably have physical therapy thereafter. The good news is that he will be totally healed by the time we have to move (lol)! Joe will begin out-processing in March or April, by May 5th we're planning on being packed up and headed out of South Carolina.

Because we will be moving, we're kind of up in the air about Audra's first birthday. We have decided we will be having a party, just probably not at the house because we'll be a boxed up mess here!

As far as things with me go, I am adoring being a mom to Audra. Every day brings it's challenges but twice the rewards and the joy! I'm trying to find more ways to bring our family into a "greener" place. I finished up my first semester at University of Alaska Fairbanks on December 13th, and I love it! I'm looking forward to graduating soon. Unfortunately it will probably be while Joe is deployed but no big deal. Fortunately he's big around for all the big stuff and we're grateful for that!

That's all for now :) From the Orders' Family have a safe and Happy New Year!

November/December

So our darling daughter is officially 6 months now! Her milestones accomplished include sitting up, saying her first word ("mama" and "hello"), and she is beginning to crawl. We attempted some rice cereal and applesauce with her within the past week or so and she has decided she likes breastmilk much better anyhow! So for right now we will continue to exclusively breastfeed except for a few tidbits of this and that randomly. I will be making her baby food, however small the amount, at home for now as well. Turns out purreeing veggies and fruits is way easier and way more cost effective than going to the grocery store and buying whole amounts of food she may never eat! lol

Well the munchkin is hollering for me right now so I'd better run. Love and hugs!

RAGABABE MADNESS!!

RAGABABE is having a quick giveaway! I just have to share we love Audra's AIO and use it daily. The print is adorable and it fits her like a glove. I never worry about leaking with her or about the velcro wearing down. It's a great wash and go diaper, I cannot say enough great things about ragababe!

www.ragababe.com

Audra's First Halloween

Audra had a fantastic time being a pumpkin this Halloween! We carved pumpkins for each of us, Audra's just had her named carved into it. I can't wait until she can really enjoy the holiday when she's older!

Ragababe Giveaway At The Rabbitt Hutch and At Life Plus Baby!!

I have to say, my above all favorite cloth diapers are as follows: Cow Patties Cloth Diapers and RAGABABE! Ragababe diapers are not only cute and absolutely adorable in every way, but they work fabulously for those who have been looking for a cloth diaper and have a heavy wetting baby at night. They have become a very reputable cloth diapering company and I love them to pieces.

This morning I woke up and to my giddy delight, Ragababe is having a giveaway through The Rabbitt Hutch and Life Plus Baby. Both gave terrific reviews on Ragababe's cloth diapers (AIO: all in one) and posted pics of them on their own children.

Being a mom myself, I know that I wouldn't boast and brag about a product unless my daughter was happy comfortable in it, so that gives me great confidence to see these other moms posting about how great Ragababe is!

If you're interested in cloth diapering, check out these mamas blogs and Ragababe to get you started!!

Ragababe: www.ragababe.com

The Rabbitt Hutch: http://www.therabbitthutch.blogspot.com/

Life Plus Baby: http://leiaplusnicholas.blogspot.com/

Happy Cloth Diapering!

4 months old!!

Just thought I'd say hey and give a quick update on little Audra :) She's now a little over 16 lbs and pushing past 24 inches! We're still doing cloth diapers (except for big trips, like when we went down to Savannah for Joe's surgery) and we haven't seen diaper rash since we started them. We bought her a gently used jumperoo from Once Upon A Child and she is adoring being able to be a little independent and being able to stand (her favorite thing is to stand, if she had it her way she'd skip crawling altogether)! She has begun teething and is doing ok so far, it's pretty mild. She just fusses for about an hour at night before bed and if it gets really bad we give her some tylenol, but that's rare. Audra is doing just about everything now; reaching, rolling over, chattering (she's named me "wa wa" instead of mama... obviously that'll come later lol), grabbing, pulling, creeping and recently within the past two days she's started doing this baby push-up thing that I can only guess will be leading to crawling very soon! Sitting up is coming up here too, she doesn't have it down but she's close! lol. This girl is giving me a run for my money and I wouldn't have it any other way <3 We love and miss you all!!

September is Grand!

I was accepted into the University of Alaska, college of Psychology this semester! It's a great feeling to feel like everything is falling into place! Audra has rolled over and Joe is off for a four day weekend this weekend... perfect way to start September!

Orders Family Update!

Alas it has been too long since I've written! But I have an update now, which I will speedily try to type out before my sweet baby girl awakens from her nap.

Audra is three months old now! She is an absolutely wonderful baby. Audra smiles and giggles all day long, and she gets stronger and smarter with every minute that passes. I wish I could enjoy every second as much as I want to with her, she is growing so quickly. It feels like we brought her home yesterday! She has made my life more beautiful and full of meaning. I wish we were going to have five of her. She is so wonderful! She is learning to roll over by herself. She did it today unassisted but it took her a bit of effort and she wore herself out rolling over and then trying to crawl. She's got the "creeping" part down, or better known as belly scooting lol. Tummy time is her favorite and she squeals every time she is put on her tummy. When the dogs play fight she laughs will a big full belly laugh... God has blessed us with such a joyful baby!

Joe is currently in his new position at 171st. It's a lot of work, or as he calls it, a "mess". He'll be glad when we're leaving for Alaska. He sees Alaska as a new exciting adventure and I can't blame him. It's going to be a neat duty station to be at... downside is that he'll deploy from there. He's fully enjoying and taking time to be as family involved as he possibly can, so we're focusing on that now!

As for me, I've been accepted in the University of Alaska's College of Psychology, and I'm so excited. I start September 2nd on Distance learning Courses, because I've only got Psych courses left to take; however, UAF requires transfer students have 30 hours to graduate and I only need like 20 so I figured I'll start online and be a stay at home mama with Audra. Give her a good first year before day care :) Breastfeeding her is going great, I couldn't be more happy with the bond that it has given us and Audra is growing like a weed. We're starting cloth diapering this week as well and that is going terrific. Great for the environment and great for Audra's little sensitive skin.

That's all for now!

In my daughter's eyes...

I am so in love with my little girl. She's my whole world and I cannot imagine life without her. It's like I was searching for a purpose my whole life and the moment I heard her cry, everything became clear: she is my reason for living.

Audra Marie

The day my daughter was born was the most hectic, traumatic, ecstatic day of my life. Saturday, May 22nd my husband and I decide to head to the commissary to do a little bit of grocery shopping before my mom arrived that afternoon (she was picking my brother up from military school about 40 minutes away).

While walking around the commissary I could feel my braxton hicks contractions getting more intense, I was fine until dinner when I felt my first very real contraction. I realized somewhere inside of me that this baby was coming and soon. It was soon thereafter that I started pretty active contractions. They ranged from 5 to 10 minutes apart at 1 minute lengths. However, I was determined not to go into the hospital until they were either 3 minutes apart or my water broke- whichever came first!

My mom and husband watched me pace and do exercises on my birth ball, so I decided to take a hot bath and try to get some sleep (like our birthing class instructor had instructed us to do since labor can be long and exhausting process). I relaxed a little and tried to use the breathing techniques we'd learned... Joe and my mom were so supportive and helpful throughout the entire thing.

I woke up seriously uncomfortable around 6am on Sunday morning. I tried to take another bath and changed into some comfy clothes. I woke Joe up and told him we were going to have to leave soon because I was feeling more and more anxious, I knew I was getting into active labor.

We got to the hospital around 9am and they checked me in, I don't think the nurses thought I was in active labor because of how calm and collected I was. I gave them my information and they put us into a room... and here's where I started to unravel mentally a little bit. I realized when they put us into our room that is was room 3403, and it was Sunday May 23rd. I HATE odd numbers. I despise them. For this reason, I had talked my husband into getting married a whole two days later than we had planned. For this reason, I don't turn the volume up to an odd number on the tv. And the whole time I was pregnant I begged God not to have her born on an odd day. But here we were, May 23, 9am, in room 3403. PERFECT.

Our nurse, a woman named Jackie who was apparently the spokesperson for epidurals (UGH), checked my cervix and said I was 4 cm. We were going to wait and see if I got to 5 cm before they admitted me and decided I was really going to have a baby that day. I knew I was, I just had to wait for them to hop on board.

Joe kept everyone updated on the phone and I can't remember when but my mom came in to see me at some point. Joe fed me ice chips and gave me chapstick when I needed it, as I went through all the breathing I had to to get through contractions. To be honest they weren't all that bad, I have no idea why women use pain medication for this. It's how I knew she was coming, it's how I knew things were ok. It's not a bad pain it's like your body is preparing for something, like growing pains. Not bad at all, just uncomfortable.

At 11am she checked me again and I was 5 cm, I was admitted and started on IV fluids. She called the Dr. on call, which happened to NOT be my Dr. so I started to freak again mentally. But Joe got me back on track, we were gonna do this. Pain med free, and naturally. I could feel Audra moving and her heart rate was a wonderfully healthy 140 bpm the entire time.

Things went on business as usual, except for the occasional nurse trying to push pain meds down my throat. It was so annoying, I about lost my cool but I was focused elswhere and in retrospect, I should've been a jerk about it because they never left me alone.

Sometime in the afternoon, after mowing his lawn (yes I'm being serious), Dr._____ came in to check on me. He checked my cervix and got this look on his face. He said I was only 5 1/2 cm and he was worried that I hadn't progressed in all that time. My mom was furious I could tell, as he started to explain that Audra hadn't dropped at all. She was no where near my pelvis and he was concerned that if he broke my water it could endanger me or the baby. It made way for a prolapsed cord or worse, distress my heart or Audra's.

Joe and I were in panic mode at that point and my labor slowed. For those who don't know, stress can actually stop your labor and that is where the term False Labor comes from. Women get to the hospital, get stressed, and go home.

Anyways, as the conversation got more and more in depth I looked to Joe for help. I could tell he was frightened by all this. We had planned so hard and looked forward to a natural birth, but we had always said that anything happened to endanger either me or Audra and we could negotiate.

The Dr. recommended an emergency c-section in order to prevent any complications. Joe and I agreed reluctantly because we just decided on a healthy baby instead of a "good birthing experience". It was really hard for me to let go of, and still is sensitive for me. But I have a healthy baby girl and that's all that matters.

After we agreed on the C section, millions of people it seemed like rolled into our room. A nurse anesthetist, an Anesthesiologist, more nurses, and the Dr. at different times. I got some meds and extra fluids. The meds were to stop my contractions and I had to sign some paperwork. The meds made me shake quite a bit and then on top of that I was nervous as all get out. I was crying a little bit and Joe tried to soothe me as much as he could, but I was scared. I've never had any surgery let alone major surgery and I was terrified.

They got me set up and then wheeled me down the hall. Joe had to change and get prepped before coming in so I was alone while they put me on the table and the spinal was administered to me. I was shaking like a leaf and my pulse was running away with me. When they finally brought Joe in they told him he needed to calm me down asap before I went into shock or something. I really was kind of losing it, I was crying and so frightened without anyone to help me focus. When Joe sat down next to my head and looked me in the eye, I calmed down immediately.

He talked to me while they began cutting... what an eerie thought right? Being awake while they cut into your abdomen to retrieve your baby. Every bit of that sentence sounds backwards and just plain wrong. It took about 5 minutes and then I heard the most beautiful sound in the entire world...

My baby crying.



Up until that point I was selfish and afraid and just losing my mind. But when I heard her cry I snapped out of it. I was a mama.

I heard them remarking on how big she was, and then I heard her apgar scores being said and written down- 8 at 1 minute, 9 at 5 minutes.

Joe had left my side at this point to take pictures and to walk over and see her. They brought her to me, to hear my heartbeat and so that I could kiss her. She was bleating like a little lamb, a sort of lazy cry. Kind of like she had cried so hard when she came out that now she was tired.

Joe went with them to weigh her and clean her up. It was a torturous 30 minutes before they wheeled me back into the room. I was able to feed her right off when I got to hold her, within the first hour of her birth. I just couldn't stop staring at her. She is, to this day, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Being that I don't want to ever re-live that hospital stay experience, I'll just say the first few nights were rough because I couldn't get any sleep and was confined to a bed for 24 hours (Joe is a saint and changed all of her diapers!). But Joe couldn't get any sleep because they have no bed for the dads and the pull out couch was horrid and bent in the middle. I ended up leaving the hospital a day early telling the nurse practitioner if she didn't clear me I would leave AMA because my marriage was suffering (lol).

Finally, I made it home by Tuesday afternoon and all was well with the world because my mom was here to help the first few days. Thank God for my mama and that amazing man I'm married to.

All in all, I have a beautiful healthy baby girl and a wonderful husband, our little family has finally begun and I couldn't feel more blessed!

May 23, 2010 Our lives changed forever!

Audra Marie was born 9lbs 5oz and 20.5in at 3:31pm on Sunday May 23rd. She's a beautiful and healthy little girl, we couldn't be more happy or feel more blessed!

39 Weeks and 2 Days

Hey Everyone!

Today marks 39 weeks and 2 days, and at 10am this morning we had our doctor's appointment. Dr. Austin ordered an ultrasound to see how big she is and how her fluid was and all that. Audra is said to be measuring about 8lbs and 8oz, a super healthy baby girl and apparently very comfortable where she is!

Yes of course, we couldn't resist, we made the ultrasound tech check and make sure she's still a girl lol. We also got to see her suck her fingers, she looked very hungry or something because she was trying to shove absolutely ALL of her fingers in her mouth!





As for her progress, I'm only about 2 cm dilated and still not quite ready so we're going for our 40 weeks appointment Wednesday the 25th. It's weird to think that 5 years ago on that specific date I was graduating high school. Scary.

Anyhow, at that point I'll be 40 weeks and 2 days so if she's still not making any real movement they're throwing around the idea of induction. I think he's concerned I'm going to end up with a shoulder baby like my mom did.... but either way God has a plan and this baby is coming out one way or another! lol

Lately I've pretty much had cabin fever, I am not able to get behind the wheel of a car anymore and even if I wanted I couldn't. Joe's car is in the shop, something about an oil pan and an obscene amount of money it's going to cost to fix it. The price for driving a sport luxury vehicle I suppose. Either way, he's taken possession of my matrix to drive to work which is fine... it just makes me feel a bit more stranded even though I know it doesn't matter either way. So tomorrow hopefully his car will be finished and my car can go back to sitting in the garage, useless and un-driven.

Friday is a cook out for Joe's brigade, which is a nice change of pace and excuse to get out and talk to people, however these things tend to be less stimulating for me than other people's company. For some reason I just haven't been able to connect with any of the other wives in this unit, except for Brandy and Margaret. Officially however, Brandy's husband is no longer activated and Margaret often works different hours and doesn't make it to these functions. We probably won't stay long however because it's going to be so hot and I'm already tired all of the time! I do like getting to talk to the people Joe works with though because they always have such nice things to say about him and it's cool to see him in a different light, the way other people see him. Because of course I think he's an amazing and excellent soldier, but to hear other people agree with me in an unbiased manner is always nice too.

Saturday is the day of family, when my parents and siblings are supposed to roll in. My mom is so concerned about overloading me, she's worried about stressing me out by staying too long. She's always worried about one of us though, and out of four people I suppose I've gotten more worry than the rest because of my pregnancy recently. It doesn't bother me that they'll be here though, I love having my family around for random bits of time. It's always nice to be around the familiar, to playingly bicker and holler at my siblings for random reasons. There's something different about the way family makes you laugh too though, because no one knows you better or knows how much of a screw up you are and still thinks you're awesome. Ok maybe my husband does, but technically he's part of my family now too!

That's all for now, hopefully Audra will come to the world soon and I'll have more exciting news to post soon!

Love and hugs

I forgot...

... to blog about Mother's Day. I absolutely feel compelled to share with everyone that when I woke up on Sunday, I had roses and an adorable card waiting for me from my husband (who also, for the first time in a decade let me sleep in... it usually offends his sensibilities lol). Then we finally ran the much needed and super expensive errands of picking up what we need for the hospital bags, I didn't realize how much I'm going to need after Audra is born. There's so much I have to do to take care of my own health as well as hers! After exchanging a few things from the baby shower (the last few things) and picking up the diaper warmer and something else I can't remember... that's terrible... anyways after that we were invited to dinner at the Eoute's and of course it was delicious! My brother Kevin had spent the weekend with their son Tyler, whose dad works with Joe. They had a blast, and hopefully they'll get to hang out again some time soon. We sent out the Mother's day cards to our mothers and grandmother a bit late because somebody kept forgetting to sign them on his way out the front door (lol). Hopefully they got there quickly enough though because we really love and appreciate our mothers and grandmother <3 You all truly are a blessing to us!

Love and Hugs

38 Week Doctor's Appointment...

At 38 weeks and 2 days, I'm only abou 1 cm dilated. The doctor says Audra is measuring a little big so next week we're going to do an ultrasound and see how she's measuring. He said if I make it to 2 cm dilated next week he'll strip my membranes to get things moving along in a natural manner, but that he's concerned and not entirely convinced she's coming out on her own. He discussed possibly inducing me at about 41 weeks and 3 days because of her size and because sometimes first babies are stubborn and like to stay cozy for a while. I'm not going to worry about it, because I am so afraid of pitocin and I've made a commitment to myself and Audra to do this without pain medication or an epidural, so I'm just going to look forward to seeing my beautiful little girl next Tuesday. That's all for now, so no one needs to be worried about getting a phone call in middle of the night, it doesn't look like she's making her appearance anytime soon! More news next Tuesday.


Love and Hugs!

Almost 38 Weeks Pregnant!

Today is about three days before I hit 38 weeks pregnant. I have finished all my exams, and now it's just time to relax and take my time getting things ready for Audra. Joe is helping me out a lot around the house, and pretty much jumping every time I wake up in the middle of the night with a contraction or even if I make the tiniest noise of discomfort when I stand up. He's really so great and so supportive, I'm incredibly blessed to be married to him and I'm so grateful for the abundance in patience that God has afforded him with during my pregnancy!

We went to see a movie today and Joe took me out to lunch (a part mother's day deal and part military spouse appreciation week thing). The movie was good, our server was awful but the food was pretty good. We're going to relax around the house for a few hours before heading to Target/Walmart to get some things for our hospital bags so we can be completely prepared for whenever we have to pick up and head to the hospital.

I'm going to get the house completely organized (don't worry, I've been working on it for a while in stages, so no incredible leaps and bounds of energy for me!). Laundry put away and baskets organized for future loads. Kitchen is pretty much clean and our bedroom really is my only challenge, our closet still has stuff that needs to be organized since we moved. The only thing about that is that whenever I finally get everything unpacked, it seems like we end up moving like 8 months later. But that's my Army Wife life!

Our next Doctor's appointment/check up is Tuesday, I'll write more then!

Hurry Up and Wait!

It's now time for our family's favorite past- time to hurry up and wait! The Army has given us many an opportunity to take part in rounds of this game so we're used to it. Basically I'm rushing to get all of my school work done and over with, we're both rushing around the house to get things into order for Audra's arrival. For instance, we're cleaning out closets and organizing the laundry to where it's not going to be too chaotic when we're in full swing of baby-care mode (running on minimal amounts of sleep and food).

We've only got a few things left to buy for Audra, among them are things like baby shampoo and bath essentials along with a baby thermometer and some health care stuff for her. We have been absolutely enveloped with love from our family and friends, they've given us so much stuff for Audra and spent so much time and money on her and us already!

The baby shower was last weekend, and it was hectic but I am so glad I have friends that were nice enough to throw me one! Margaret made the most amazing food and as always her home was beautiful! Brandy was in charge of invitations and decorations and of course she did an amazing job too! I had family driving in from like three different states and my close friends from Lipscomb made the drive to be there for just one day! It was incredible being surrounded by that much excitement and love. Audra got lots of clothes, a bath tub (pink of course!), and a munchkin diaper pale with extra bags for it. Margaret gave me a gift certificate for Sensaria which she was kind enough to let me use and let me tell you people it is amazing! You can look her up on www.sensaria.com/carolinaspa and she'll totally get you hooked up :)

Our registries are still open at Target and Babies R Us for anyone who was still wanting to get us something. Everyone keeps asking me what I need most from those lists and I'm telling you guys, every single thing is something I need so whatever you want to get from there is perfect!

As for an update from the doctor's office last Tuesday, here goes: I'm 60% thinned out and 1/2 cm dilated, so she's progressing nicely. Of course my hips feel like they're about to fall off, but other than that Audra is fabulous! Her heart rate was 140 bpm, which is her norm so we're always happy to hear that. As of right now, she may be making her appearance a bit sooner than later so stay tuned!

Love and Hugs xoxox

Manic Monday...

Hey Everyone!

I'm trying to be better about updating this site the closer that the baby is supposed to arrive!

Today was hectic for me but not so much for Joe (who deserves the time off for a bit!). I had two exams today, one in Intermediate French and one in Social Work Practice II. In French we're focusing on Le Futur Simple, which has become my favorite tense in French but also the hardest one to conjugate irregular verbs in... but that's neither here nor there. In Social Work we're working on group therapy, which I really like so far. Everyone pray that the exam went as well as I hope it did!

We woke up on Sunday and Joe was all sad faced and dreary because his XBOX 360 died the painful red ring of death. God must have heard my prayers for peace and less live gunfire in my living room. Praise Jesus.

The baby shower is this weekend also, and we have the convoy of relatives coming into town to prove it! We're really excited to see everyone though, some of which Joe hasn't gotten to meet the entire time we've been married :) It's going to be a busy next few weeks, hopefully we can make it as close to Audra's due date as possible with as little stress as possible!

Counting down...

So as we're approaching the end of Winter, we're also approaching the end of school and the beginning of Summer! Most importantly, Baby Audra will be here soon in May! We are so excited and just about everything is set up and waiting for her to arrive. The baby shower is coming up next weekend and we will have just about every relative Joe didn't meet at our wedding plus a few friends from out of town. I haven't seen my best friend Lizzy since our vow celebration and I haven't seen my friend Andrea since I left Lipscomb University in 2007! It's going to be a lot of fun and we're going to have a FULL house. Our friend Josh is staying here, and both my friends Lizzy and Andrea, my friend Jordan, and then my mom, sister and aunts will be here Friday night as well! I know it's going to be chaotic but I'm so thrilled that I'm going to be surrounded with some of my most favorite people in the world.

As of right now, I'm feeling like I'm ready to have this baby NOW. I'm just fatigued and combined with the travel to school and walking all over campus, and the stress from the school work, I'm ready to be done with school and pregnancy altogether. Not that I don't love having my daughter safe and sound in my belly, I'm just ready to meet her, and to sleep on my stomach! lol

Joe is on two weeks of leave right now to help me get ready for our little one. Lots of spring cleaning and baby book reading! He's also getting ready for his NCO of the quarter board and the Audie Murphy board. When he gets back to work from leave he'll become NCOIC of S2 for his brigade. Joe jokes that there's no one in S2 so he's In Charge of himself lol. Either way it'll prepare him for the future and will definitely look good on paper! haha

Well that's all for now from SC!

Baby Update!

So as of right now I am officially 31 weeks, even though every ultrasound puts me further and further ahead. The last prediction made was May 11th... oy. I am soon to stop working so I can get off my feet some more. Joe is being the amazing man he and rubbing my feet and back without prompting, changing laundry loads over and doing dishes while I'm napping. The doctor is going to end up giving me a doctor's note to take my exams earlier than originally planned.

As for baby Audra, she is growing steadily and super healthy! She's big enough now that she's not really kicking anymore, more like rolling because she has no room to groove in. Her heart rate the last time we went in was 140 bpm and there's been lots of movement. Which explains my lack of sleep. I feel a whole lot like I did in my first trimester. So yeah, YUCK. I do have to go in in the morning to get checked out because of a re-occuring pain in my right rib area, I guess they're concerned because the pain is in one area of my upper abdomen so better safe than sorry.

No more blogging now... more news later! Cheerio!

"I just want back in your head..."

So I officially want to become a psychologist, who knows how I'll get there, but I know now in this moment that it's what I want to do. I realized this when I was sitting in my social work practice course this afternoon during a mach session between a husband and wife. We were supposed to take turns but I've been trying to lay low in that class because I can tell the teacher doesn't like it when I interject so often.

It was the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced in school... oh alright that's a lie because I am often frustrated in school when I know the answer but no one says it (but the teacher won't call on me because she wants everyone's input... it's like- they're idiots, give it a rest already. Getting into college does not a genius make!).

So every time I wanted to say something, then our professor would interrupt and make suggestions that I was literally detailing out in my own mind. I felt so confident that I could have grabbed that session by the horns and really gotten something productive out of it.

Hopefully I'll feel this confident when I get to grad school.

On a good note, we got to see Audra on the ultrasound machine yesterday and she is progressing and growing perfectly. So perfectly in fact, that she's 3 lbs 2 oz which is about 2 weeks ahead of where she should be.... makes me nervous that she might come a bit early... the newly projected due date puts her arrival sometime about 4 days after my final exam... Yeah I'm a bit nervous.

Please Jesus have her come after I'm done with school, Amen.

The Con

I'm just sitting up late because I can't sleep. My husband has gone to spend time with his buddy a.k.a "Brother from another mother" who's stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I was supposed to have gone but I had work and all that mess. But that's another tangent entirely.

In school, I often end up "the old married" woman in the room. All the women I go to school with, and yes I'm using the word "woman" very losely there, aren't or haven't yet been in a serious enough relationship that would qualify them with enough experience to discuss the issues we discuss in school. Which is really a pain in the butt for me because it's obnoxious when they say things like "if my husband asks me to make him a sandwich I'm gonna tell him to get his own d**** sandwich". To which I just retort "then you're missing the point of marriage". Here's why:

Marriage is about sacrifice and compromise to create a balanced and harmonious happiness. Rome was not built in a day and neither is marital bliss. Marriage is very very hard most of the time, but it's the rest of the time that makes you work so darn hard to keep up with it.

My husband and I have only been married for about 2 1/2 years, however we have learned a few things and I have learned that you never stop learning. You're human beings and you're constantly evolving. Leave room for each other to grow and respect that space, respect each other no matter what. Communicate with each other even when it makes no darn sense and it hurts because you don't even want to be in the same room you're so angry. No one is a mind reader. When people stop respecting, stop communicating and start taking people for granted that's when things unravel. Believe me, people unravel very quickly when it comes to being detached and separated emotionally from a spouse.

So, the point of that rant is that I'm having to write a paper on wellness in the family or family practice basically. How marriages work, whether a parent can be a good parent if they're not meeting their own needs, and so on. And after doing my research and interviews and so on, it amazes me how much people miss. How people just stop looking for ways to love each other, stop looking for ways to care and meet up with their significant other. People have become so selfish. Or maybe they have always been that way.... what do you think?

24 Week Doctor's Appointment and All That Jazz...

So today was my 24 week checkup, as well as time for me to do my glucose screening test. This screening is basically to see if you have gestational diabetes, and they test all pregnant women at one time or another; usually between 23 and 26 weeks. So today was my lucky day! They gave me my fruit punch flavored glucose concoction at my last appointment and told me to keep it chilled until I had to drink it, which was 30 minutes prior to my appointment at 1:30pm. I was not allowed to eat or drink anything but water prior to that, so I wish that I had scheduled my appointment for like 10am or something like that so that I didn't have to feel that hunger pains or Audra ribbing me for food. Joe went with me and we were able to listen to Audra's heartbeat, strong and super active as usual. The doctor made a comment about her movement because she hates ultrasounds and dopplers (they actually emit a high pitched sound in order to work so babies shy away from them).

The doctor also was concerned about my activity and stress level, because of my short hospital visit about 2 weeks ago due to pains in my abdomen. He's limiting my work hours to less than 6 hours per shift and restricted what I'm able to lift or do. He also made sure to tell me that if the contractions intensify and the stress isn't at least a little less intense, then it's up for discussion that I won't be working anymore. Honestly, that place stresses me out so badly, I don't know how much longer I can keep going back there.

On the bright side, Joe got an award: Army Commendation to be exact. They really appreciate him at this post and all his hard work, I hope he gets promoted in March because that would just be such a blessing. Keep you fingers crossed and the prayers coming!

Round and round the merry go round, the monkey chased the weasel...

So another year has begun and the Orders family is embracing the biggest year so far! In May we will welcome our first child into the world and our lives will forever be changed. Also this year, Joe is up for his first look by the Army to possibly get promoted to Sergeant First Class. In the Army, after you've made Staff Sergeant, you no longer are brought before a promotion board where you spout facts and knowledge that you need to get promoted. When you go before this promotion board, you go before them in the spirit of a file that includes basically who you are or who you have been so far in the military; your picture (full body), any evaluations, any issues like article 15s or letter of reprimand as well. It's nerve wrecking for so many soldiers, however I think Joe has written it off as he won't get promoted because it's his first look and very few people get picked up on their first look. I'm trying not to mention it because I think he thinks about it enough. Joe also gets to participate in the Audie Murphy board which is an awesome opportunity. If you don't know who Audie Murphy is, read a book or google him! He's only one of the most famous soldiers of all time! In the infantry it's pretty much an honor to be invited to the Audie Murphy board. There's supposedly a PT test and all sorts of stuff involved, Joe has to go and do that in February.
I go back to school on the 20th of January, and I'm only concerned about school in the sense that I will be delivering a baby right after finals. Other than that I really love my new school and all the people there. Everyone is very helpful and the work load is hard but manageable.
To prepare for that exciting event in May, Joe and I are doing some prenatal classes. One is a full day of birthing prep in March and the other is a breastfeeding class in April. Hopefully they'll be able to answer my questions about natural childbirth, Joe and I really don't want to use any drugs at all if possible. I'm still nervous about all the stuff on my birth plan that I don't understand.
Soon after Audra is born (July or August), we'll be trekking to Florida so that my grandmother (who cannot travel) will be able to see her first great grandchild.
Which brings us into the Fall part of this year, Joe may be getting orders for another duty station and we would end up moving in the following Spring. I can just tell you right now, moving with an infant doesn't sound too interesting to me and Audra is not even here yet lol.
Well that's our scope for the year, who knows what will happen as the events unfold? So far God has blessed us immensely and we will continue to follow Him where we need to go! God Bless

Audra Marie

So on January 5th we went to the doctor for our level II ultrasound to make sure all of our baby's organs and everything are developing properly and at the correct rate. We were also able to find out the baby's gender. My mother and sister came along with Joe and me, and we found out we're having a healthy baby girl! We're naming her Audra Marie and she is currently growing extremely healthy in the 91% growth rate! Her heart rate was 155 bpm and she is about 9 inches long and weighs almost a pound! We are so excited and just blissful about how well she's developing. We'll post pictures of her room here soon. God Bless <3