Ups and Downs

I'm going to take this time to talk about pregnancy and ALL the wonderful things that you were never told could happen. When we are younger and we dream about what it will be like to be pregnant and have children of our own, we imagine this time to be perfect, no complications. We think about how it is portrayed in movies. The morning sickness in the beginning, then the perfect mood once that goes away, the BEAUTIFUL glow you have, the perfectly round belly, shopping for all the wonderful baby things, feeling our baby move and last but not least, this perfect delivery where we instantly pop out the baby and are all happy and shiny and everything goes smoothly.

Now, lets snap back to reality. The horrible morning sickness that plagues some women their entire pregnancy, the bleeding, the placental tears, the low amniotic fluid, the HORRIBLE birth abnormalities that can occur and last but not least, your cervix..... I bring this up last because well, that is what I am going to focus on today.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE being pregnant. I love knowing that I alone am growing and protecting this precious little life within myself. I was blessed with not having morning sickness, minus the 3 weeks we spent in HORRIBLE military lodging waiting for our house when I was pregnant with K in which the mold and mildew made me so sick, but, I can't count that as morning sickness. I had many opportunity to get to see my babies on u/s, which while although that was because of problems I was having, none the less, we will not take away from seeing this little miracle.

With all of that aside, none of my pregnancies were easy, this one to be included. With A, I bled from about 5-20 weeks from a subchorionic hemorrhage, had 4 perfect weeks of no complications and then BAM at 25 weeks ended up with a horrible bacterial infection in which started a LONG cycle of pre-term labor and horrible contractions. Finally, at 33 weeks, my body decided it was time and my water broke and my precious little girl was born weighing 4 lbs 4 oz and 17 inch long. Thankfully, only needing a week in the NICU before coming home but still plagued by the normal prematurity issues.

Moving on to K, we tried so hard to get him and when it happened, all I could think about was how scared I was. Scared because of all the problems I had before. Other then being really sick from all the mold and mildew I was subjected to thanks to the Army, my pregnancy was pretty uneventful up until 14 weeks. I started experiencing HORRIBLE, EXCRUCIATING pelvic and pubic bone discomfort. It was so bad that I could barely walk and NOTHING helped at all. Other than the pain, up until 23 weeks, everything was perfect. At 23 weeks, I started with the horrendous back pain, menstrual like cramping and tell tale signs that I would have a long road ahead of me until delivery. It seemed like every few weeks I was strapped to the monitors in labor and delivery and being injected with drugs to stop my labor and keep my little man in as long as possible. 30 weeks I started leaking water which was just played off as me peeing myself. Then at about 34 weeks and 5 days I ended up in L&D in labor. After being given drugs to stop my labor, which in turn made the contractions so much worse and sent me in to a full blown asthma attack, it was determined that they could over hydrate me to lessen the contractions although they wouldn't stop. So why let me suffer? Because the Dr wanted to go home. It was the day after Thanksgiving and he had missed dinner with his family to deliver a baby. Nice right?? Leave me suffer so you can go home. So the next day, I tried to relax and when that didn't happen, I just went about my business only to have my water break that night and have to be delivered anyways at 35 weeks.

Moving forward to this pregnancy. SURPRISE!! Yeah, thats definitely what this one was. Sure we had been trying but gave up the quest due to some other life matters that came up and made having another baby just a huge obstacle. Well things seemed ok up until 9 weeks when I was throwing up yellow bile for no apparent reason. Turns out my stomach was almost turned upside down and squished but not to worry I would be ok. Found out I had two fibroids at the bottom of my uterus. Ok, well that is common from what I have found in pregnant women. Then, the horrid hip and pubic pain started at just 10 weeks. So bad infact that doing anything is painful. I never have days that are pain free. A good day involves me being able to do 2 loads of laundry and the dishes before I am wiped out. No biggie, I got it. Then, I go for the illustrious cervical u/s to measure the length of it. Turns out its short, at only 2 cm. Normal is 3-5 cm. At 1.5-2 cm, one should be on strict bed rest and monitored every week for cervical change and possibly a cerclaug. I opted to wait on the cerclaug because of the risk of infection and what not. But this a-hole dr has me walking around like nothing is wrong wtih me and monitoring me every 2 weeks!! Umm, anyone else see a problem here?

Needless to say I am requesting a referral off post to see a MFS. I don't care if I have to drive 2 hours to get to the Dr, I just feel safer this way with my life and the life of my unborn child!!

wonder..

I would love to say that things have gotten better but they haven't. I have taken a step forward in declaring my independence and regaining some of my past self, I started working. Its not a full time job, just 2 nights a week. I'm a waitress at a bar and I have to say I really like it. Being around other people is good for me. It reminds me of who I used to be, that bright shiny girl.

After a few heart to hearts, it seemed as though things were on the up and up. I guess you have to go backwards to go forward right? It just seems that we take 1 step forward and 3 steps backward. I feel as it is all me. I never say the right thing, never do the right thing, nothing is ever good enough. Its not enough that I run all the errands, clean up the house, do the laundry, the dishes, the cooking and take care of the kids as well as work on my degree and now work. Granted I don't have a job that will supply us with enough money to pay all the bills but I do make enough that we have an extra $400 plus room a month in money. All the sweet little things I do in between, the cards, letters, little goofy things, none of this seems enough. He keeps telling me that I don't love him enough, I'm not that same girl. That girl that was all about him, that girl who would cling to him and do everything I could to keep him from leaving the house. He's right, I'm not that same girl. I've grown up, I've matured and so has our relationship. We have 2 kids, one who is at an age where she understands everything we say and everything we do. We have a 1 year old who by far, is definitely a handful and very exhausting. I wouldn't trade it for anything though.

I never say anything in our arguments. This I know and I recognize this. I can't correct this or change this when I feel that everything I say is ridiculous and uncalled for because every time I open my mouth, those are the words that you interrupt me with. I'm lost, I am always at fault and always wrong. I never follow through and in your eyes, I am worthless. You tell me that you love me but, why, if I am your wife, do you treat me this way? Shouldn't I be dealt with with love and compassion? Shouldn't I be treated as an equal and don't I have the right to say something without feeling as though its always the wrong thing?

You have your faults as well but far be it from me to point them out. Even if I did, I'm not sure that you would listen. You are hard headed and stubborn, set in your ways but even when your stubbornness and hard headedness, I love you. These are what I love about you. In fact, this is what I love most. To me it signals determination. I don't know where to go from here. Sometimes I feel that parting ways would be best but then I think about all the things we have been through together. All the heartache, sorrow, disappointment. All the good times, the joyous times, bringing life into this world and I realize that walking away would mean failure. If we had walked away during all the other bad times in our relationship, we wouldn't have what we have today. I don't want to walk away from the person that I love most in this world. I can't, I won't.

onward and upward right?

Its been so long since I have been here. I have been working on verbally expressing how I feel with no remorse about how it comes out, so far so good I think. I've also decided to keep some family aspects private for awhile. Just know that all is well and we are all healthy and doing well.

With no one around to talk to and get my feelings out, I have decided to return to you my old friend. No rest for the wicked right? I'm all out of sorts lately. It seems as of late, everything that I want doesn't matter. He has the deciding factor in it all. Only his opinion and what he wants stands and it drives me crazy. I want another baby, fine, he was on board, we were trying all was good. I went home and I SWEAR to gosh he had this conversation with himself but thinks he had it with me. When I got home we were sitting on the couch and I mentioned we only have a short time to keep trying.. after that, all HELL broke loose. He was yelling that we had this conversation and that we were NOT going to try anymore. Umm last thing baby related I heard from you was when I was home and that was "Don't drink until you get your period but I'm hoping that you dont!" Yea thats really having a conversation with me,
I got over it, whatever, I understand the reasons for holding off, I'm totally ok with it. BUT I still have this HORRIBLY STRONG maternal need to have a baby. Its not just a needing or wanting. It's hard to explain and most wouldn't understand except for those who live the life I live everyday. I LOVE knowing that I have a peice of him. I love knowing that even when he's not here and is far away, I still have him here with me. Heaven forbid that one day when he is again deployed something happen to him, I want AS MUCH OF HIM WITH ME AS I POSSIBLY CAN!! I NEED to HAVE that. It eats me up inside to know that he doesn't care when I say this. He thinks that I'm just making stuff up and that I will say anything to get my way. I feel like my thoughts and opinions mean nothing to him and they are stupid.
Where do I go from this point?
Everything is an argument. He is in a different place then he used to be. He's not the same man. He's some place that I can not reach him or help him. He knows this, infact, he is fully aware of it and has finally admitted this after almost a year and a half of me saying it. I don't know at which point he hit his rock bottom to realize this but it happened. I don't know what to say to him or how to help him but this doesn't stop me from trying and reaching out to him. I love this man to much to let this come between us. I give EVERYTHING I can to him but some how it never seems enough and he doesn't see that I do. Most would walk away and let him be in his own and let him figure it out himself, but I am not most. I love this man soooo much that I am willing to go to where he is when needed to help but being fully aware of when I need to leave and put my head back above the water.
While I will do everything that I can for him, I realize that he has a disease, a disease that I know all too well about. I know that he has to figure it out for himself and can only get better by asking for help. I also know that he is two strong willed to ask for help... or is that to stubborn? At what point do I have to walk away though? I have yet to figure this out.
I feel like I am a second rate citizen to him these days. I am some immagrant who needs to conform, who has no rights and no voice. I feel as though I am no longer his equal, no longer do I feel he thinks of me as his wife. I feel as though I am the maid, the woman who cleans his clothes, picks up the house, makes him food and cares for his children. I feel he only looks at me as his wife, his equal when he wants something from me. I feel used, worn and unappreciated.
I know he loves me, this I don't doubt. I know that he would bend over backwards for me, walk to the edge of the earth and back for me......occassionally.... Sometimes I catch a glimps of the man I fell in love with, the man that stole my heart and the man that I can't live without. Sometimes I think I see him but then I wonder if its really that man or some imposter who is only decieving me. Someone thats not really there but pretends to be to trick me into believing he's still there.
The ones that I HATE for making him this way, the career that he picked before we even knew one another existed, I blame for taking this man away from me and making it impossible for his to ask for help. They did this to him, offer him these resources for help but slap conequences on him for doing so. This thing that I HATE so much, I also know is something that no matter how much we want to get away from, the thing we talk about leaving and moving on from, is the thing that will be in our lives forever. We will never be able to get away from it, no matter how much we say we are and threaten to.
I no longer recognize myself. I am a shell of the person I used to be. No longer fun and energentic. No long the person who was so full of life and so confident. I have been broken down with no way to rebuild. Never again will I be that person no matter how much I want to, its just not in me. There is no energy to. I have accepted this, come to terms with it and said my goodbyes. I sent my condolences a long time ago and my well wishes.
Where do I go from here?

School is killing me...

Ugh school is kickin my hinney! Not to mention when you add all three of us have the flu, no thanks to some kid in A's class. She got over it fast, me, not so much. Im now on day 6 and no sign of getting better. K is starting to come into the worst of it. He's had a fever all day and been sleepy.
He has learned to crawl up on the furniture. Twice today he climbed on the couch to get into my lap to take a nap. Just crawled his little pampered butt up here and snuggled! I LOVE when he snuggles and him being at the age where he only does it when he's sick so I need to soak it up while I can.
I can not wait for the 20th or 21st to get here so I know whether or not my hubby is graduating on the 25th. I have full confidence that he is since he got moved to a different platoon away from the D-Bag RI. I am so over him being gone. I miss him like crazy!!!! Being sick makes me miss him more lol.
School is killing me. I should have known better than to take another class with this stupid history class. The first History class was hard enough to stay focused on because there was a crap ton of reading (BORING STUFF TOO) so why I chose to take another class with the 2nd half of my history credit, I will never know. I do know however that I am NOT taking any other classes with my math class. Im taking that next term and I'm taking it on campus. I have to otherwise Im not gonna pass it. I suck at math. It will prolly be the last class I take until we get moved if L gets into the battalion at Benning. I wont have time to take another class before then.
I just need to get all my major courses out of the way then I can focus on my electives which should be pretty easy to do. We'll see though.

Derrrr

So I've realized that after reading my past posts, that I have posted the same information about 3 time lol. I don't know where my head has been lately.
So anyone remotely involved in the military knows that there is bound to be drama! Well, the unit here has been pretty drama free, or at least this company, since we have been here. Well, all that changed with the start of the FRG discussion in my cafe mom group. So I had asked what unit everyone was associated with and it turned into a lot of girls no knowing who the FRG leader for HHC was (my hubby's company). Well guess what, I'm friends with the Co-Leader. We don't have an active FRG (yet we have the most fundraisers and money out of the whole unit cause we have a kick ass 1 sgt!!) so I tell them that we have had issues getting the email list and to email me their information. Well evidently someone doesn't know how to read. So somebody body drama llama privates wife goes and complains to the 1sgt that no one knows the and she is mad. Well all the guys get in trouble for something that wasn't their fault. Not to mention, some stuck up biotch co-leader in B co, who for this purpose we will call SB and who ironically would have it was my co-leader in Alaska, starts bad mouthing our company at the Coffee for the leaders and co-leaders!! The company commander had sent his fiance to this meeting cause after all, she will be the FRG leader once they get married and needs to learn the ropes. She speaks up to defend the company and explain the situation and why we are having issues and wouldn't you know big mouth SB turns around and says all stuck up, "Excuse me, we haven't met (knowing full well who she is) whats your last name? Oh that's right, you aren't a spouse and have no business at this meeting"!!!!! Can you believe that? She wouldn't have that position as co-leader if it weren't for her husband!! Also, we are in the same unit, we are supposed to be a family, why the hell are you bad mouthing another company? Especially a company who clearly is not lacking in the funds department. I'm sorry, whats the last thing you have done for your soldiers other then a BATTALION ball? Oh that's right, NOTHING!! we have had all sorts of fun days, we had our own ball before the Battalion ball as well as have SEVERAL things planned for the upcoming months for the families of our company AS WELL as a Haunted House put on BY HHC for the ENTIRE POST!!! Yea, lets talk shit about us shall we!!
Well, with all the fuss, we now are getting rolling. Neysa is looking for places for the FRG meetings that allow kids and I am brainstorming places for her as well as ideas for things we can do. So far so good. We are going to start a website for the company that people can join to get information as well as make a fundraising quilt to post ideas on, thinking about making newcomers packets to give to in-processing soldiers for their spouses, and maybe a little gift for it as well as some other things.
Im going to be taking some classes to get certified for secretary for the FRG and some other things. Part of it I can do online but I have to register on post once I do. YIPPEEE go me!!! hahaha I'm getting all involved and such!!
Kids are good, Miss A started kindergarten last week!! How time flies. She is loving it and having fun being with kids her own age. She goes all day long and even is taking a nap during nap time!!!! They start so early she is exhausted by the time lunch comes around. Mr. K is getting sooooo big!! He is walking all around everything, has even started walking along the walls! Still not to sure about the whole standing on his own though. He lets go and will stand but he's to easily distracted and falls haha. My little ADD baby! He goes next week for his follow up blood work since his blood count is going in the opposite direction they want it to go. I've started giving him alot of juice with Vit C hoping it will help him absorb his iron supplement. I just don't know what to do anymore. He's growing at an amazing rate and doesn't show any effect, just gotta figure out whats going on. All my lab work came back NORMAL!!! No more worries that I'm dying hahahaha. L graduates next week and I'm super excited. Oh how I have missed my hubby!

Was it the right decision?

So it's been awhile. K had his 6 month check-up last month. Went ok for the most part, until.... he had to get his blood drawn for a hemeglben check to check on his anemia. Lets just say not where the Dr wanted them to be, they dropped so he put him back on the iron which I, for the life of me can not get him to take. He chipmonks it and then spits it out. I have to take him back in September for another level check. We'll see how that goes.
I often wonder if we made the right decision so many months ago in opting out of having a transfusion. Would we still be having these issues of him being anemic like he is? There is always the threat of him needing a transfusion as long as his numbers are as low as they are, but what if we would have done it then? I feel so bad having to take him month after month getting pricked and having his blood taken from his little body. They still don't know why he is like this, Im feeling as though they never will. I know I shouldn't think like this because other than that, he is healthy, his heart murmor is gone and he is growing like crazy. He has no developemental issues from his bili being as high as it was for so long, infact, he's doing things ahead of when he should.
Moving on, it's too depressing. A's hernia surgery went good. Shes now got a flat belly button as opposed to it sticking out. They put 2 permanent sutures in. The hole was a little bigger than he thought. She was sore for the first day and a half and then.... I couldn't keep her still. I had to take her to the ER though to have the gauze taken off. There was so much glue that it glues the gauze to her incision. I tried forever to get it off, soaking it, putting a wet cloth on it, and finally took her there and the lady had it off in like 5 min!!!
My knee surgery went well, Still stuck in that stupid brace until the middle of August but other than that, doing ok. I had 4 weeks no weight/walking with sucked cause L left for Ranger school a week after I had it done. Taking care of a 6-7 month old is not so easy when you can't walk. A has been such a BIG help.
She starts school on the 20th and i am soooo SAD!! My baby is 5!! Where did the time go that she's already in kindergarden? K is all over the place and is standing!!! He pulls himself up on everything. He is even getting brave enough to let go and he throws his head back and laughs! My 8 month old is a riot. He yells at the top of his lungs too. I just wish he would sleep through the night!

My three loves

This picture of Wes and Ashe playing princesses I love. This was from Christmas. This picture and the one below I blew up to 8x10's and put them in matter frames and gave them to him for Fathers Day as well as put them in a 3 picture frame for 4x6 pictures with one of all three of them together in the center.

This is my favorite picture of them two of them. Any other picture I have of them looking at one another he some how hs ruined it.