so far so good!

Well, it's been 1 full week since Michael arrived in Ft. McClellan, Alabama. Unfortunately I don't have any updates from him just yet. What I do have, however, are some pictures that he sent on his cell phone before his number got transferred to his new phone. I'll see if I can post them in here.

For those that don't know, it was less than a week last time Michael reported to OCS that he was home because of his knee giving out. He's made it through this week and that is good! All of those prayers and good thoughts for him must be working. Please keep them coming!

thank you to those who have sent him letters. I realized this week that we don't really have the right address for him - but I hope that the letters get to him anyway. Hopefully he will get a chance to write a few letters back and we'll have the right address for him. So whoever gets the letter first, let me know and I'll let others know!

Worst case scenario - if his knee is giving him problems yet he makes it through the first 2 weeks of OCS... it's okay because he can go back in the summer. Based on his determination and sheer will before he left, I doubt that he'll be coming home until he's finished. And that's just fine with me!

The countdown is at 48 days as of today, and that's a little less than 7 weeks. From one side, that's GREAT! 7 weeks and then he is home. I am trying to focus on that aspect of the countdown. On another side... it's quite overwhelming because that means when he comes home, i'll be 37 weeks pregnant!!!! We hit the 30 week mark today and I keep wandering around looking for the "Easy" button like the Staples commercials, except mine would be the "Pause" button.

Don't get me wrong. I am excited as can be about the growing little boy in my belly. Now that he's big enough for us to hear his heartbeat through a half-broken stethescope, I don't worry as much about if he's okay in there when he's not moving as much. He doesn't move as much because I'm always moving around at work and by the time I get home, I have about an hour or two before it's time for bed and I think by then he gives a few little "mommy i'm here" moves and I'm off to sleep. He isn't big enough (that I know of) to wake me from my sleep from his kicks, however, I am making at least one trip per night to the potty and am convinced that I have mastered the art of half-sleep walking.

If I can have a labor and delivery process that is in anyway akin to my pregnancy process, I wouldn't worry about having a "Pause" button at my disposal so much. It's just the horror stories that I hear from people who really mean well - but they "just want me to know" about their friend, sister, mother, cousin, neighbor, who spent 59 hours in labor without an epidural.

Not exactly what i'm looking forward to. So I am stepping out on a limb, being the control freak in need of assistance that I am, and enrolling in a hypnobirthing class. Yes, hypnobirthing. It's supposed to teach you relaxation techniques and pregnancy mantras (for lack of a better term) that get your mind and body in tune for the "natural" process of birth. I'm gathering that we as humans tend to get in the way of being able to have birth naturally because of the PAIN involved... so if you can train your body to think of it as a "discomfort" or "burning sensation" then you're all the better for it.

Add into the story that I will have access to a jetted tub at the hospital where I am delivering, and I'm basically a happy camper! Relaxation, warm water and baby birthing.... it's just like a bubble bath without the bubbles! or the baby... but still - it's helping me to look forward to the experience, which is something I should go ahead and get used to, since I already have plans for preggy life in about a year after little man is here!