Military Moms: July-August 2011

[~Katie~]

It took me a while to start a new thread, but I was busy having a baby

Eliza Kate (8lbs. 5oz. and 21 inches) made her debut on July 1st at noon, we had another great waterbirth at home. DH and I caught her together, and the midwife and her assistants made it this time. The kids were also there for most of my labor and watched the birth. This birth was far more humbling than DD's but not traumatic like DS's, labor itself was easy and the whole thing only lasted about 7.5 hours. The pushing itself was the challenging part mentally for me, and she weighed a full pound more than my others so I had to actually do some work.

As far as military life, DH accepted an AGR slot in Phoenix and we'll be leaving for there on August 1st. We're driving and it'll take about 6 days, should be a fun time with a newborn, 2 year old, and 4 year old.

[MaerynPearl]

6 months and 40 pounds of weight loss later... he's finally home!

[Mommyofalmost6]

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am So glad he is home and way to go on the weight loss!!! I adore the photo too. Its so sweet and full of emotion!
 

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl 

6 months and 40 pounds of weight loss later... he's finally home!

[Lovemytwogirls]

I haven't posted here in quite awhile. There has been a lot going on. I am a Marine Corps wife currently stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC

Congratulations Katie!!

MaerynPearl, I saw somewhere that you had a homebirth as well. Was is unassisted or is there a homebirth midwife that services the area of Jacksonville, NC.

I am also thinking about starting a chapter of the Holistic Moms Network here in Jacksonville if there is enough interest. Let me know if any of you around this area might be interested.

[Soul-O]

Hi Everyone:

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile.  We have been super busy, but now that school is out and my two oldest are with their father in CA, I have a little more posting time.

First off, congrats Katie!  Eliza Kate is a lovely name.  Please post a pic when you can.  I'm so glad that your DH was home for this birth.

MP ~ I'm so glad that your DH made it home from deployment safely.  Great pic - you look awesome!

Welcome back, Lovemytwogirls!

AFU, my DH promoted to CPT at the beginning of the month, which brings a nice bump in income and opportunity.  It looks like we will be here in WA for another couple of years or so if all goes well; however, as is always the case with the Army, no one really knows for sure.  DH is also running on the Army ten-miler team for Ft Lewis, so he gets a nice perk in Oct - a free 3 day trip to Washington DC with his team to run the race.  Color me jealous - I love DC!  The kids are really doing well here, and we have made some great friends in the past few months after moving off post into Dupont.  So.. not much to report, but all is busy and well.

[~Katie~]

Love the picture, MP! Congrats and happy homecoming!

Miss Eliza having a late night baby party

You can see the shiner she got from birth on her right eye in the last one. I had no idea babies could get so banged up at birth, my pelvis and tailbone paid for it, too.

[MaerynPearl]

Are you sure that is a shiner? Mae had birth marks on both of her eyes right there, lasted several months. They were called "angel kisses"

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Katie~ 

You can see the shiner she got from birth on her right eye in the last one. I had no idea babies could get so banged up at birth, my pelvis and tailbone paid for it, too.

http://www.midwiferyservices.net/

can NOT recommend them enough, they are sooooo awesome! they were recommended as "olivia is like ina may's long lost sister" and i agree. plus meredith is totally awesome. i loved my visits with them. prenatals are less like prenatal checkup and more like chatting with an old friend who is interested in your health.

they seem to be as hands off as you want them to be, meredith did paperwork in my livingroom while i labored in my room with hubby, as i wanted... came in as she heard my moans signal transition.

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1266599/how-maeryn-jean-flew-into-the-world-my-first-homebirth 

This is my birth story with links to some pictures of the event... it was actually Olivias suggestion that I write my birth story asap after the birth so I have a record of it and do not forget.

BTW my hubby also says he highly recommends Olivia and Meredith... he never even considered doing a homebirth until I suggested it and once he met them he was sold on it.
 

Originally Posted by Lovemytwogirls 

MaerynPearl, I saw somewhere that you had a homebirth as well. Was is unassisted or is there a homebirth midwife that services the area of Jacksonville, NC.

[~Katie~]

Definitely a shiner, the black and blue peaked a day or two ago and is starting to go down. The bruising under her eye didn't last as long but it showed up shortly after birth and I had to ask about it. She has a subconjunctival hemorrhage in her left eyeball as well. Both are pretty common from the pressure in the birth canal.

[justKate]

Katie, CONGRATS! I can't believe she's here already.  Easy for me to say, right?  Eliza is a beautiful name.  Good luck with your move--managing three across that distance will definitely be an accomplishment.  Are you taking two cars or one?

MP, congrats to you too!  The photo is beautiful, and you look great. So glad you have him home.

AFM, not a lot to report. I'm easing in to being a SAHM, and really enjoying it so far.  My next task is to find some activities to get DD some toddler interaction.  We're also TTC (finally!) so I'm engrossed in all that entails--waiting to O, waiting to test, trying to get my body as healthy as possible. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

[~Katie~]

I'm glad SAHM life is going well, and good luck with TTC! We're definitely only taking one vehicle and shipping the other. It would require far too many stops for me to manage everybody by myself, I haven't quite figured out the logistics of taking care of everybody while we're out and about either. DH started his leave the day she was born completely by chance and he'll be off until he starts work in Phoenix, so that's made things much easier.

[Soul-O]

Katie - Eliza is just gorgeous.  What a beautiful little face!  Thanks for posting the pic.

JustKate - I'm glad your move is over and that you are settling in nicely as a SAHM.  Are there playgroups on base that your DD could try out?  The Army sometimes provides them through various means (i.e. community services, library, daycare centers etc.), but I'm not sure about the other branches.

[justKate]

I do love little baby faces.  I just want to eat them up.  Aubrey is 2.5 and tells me "doh away, mommy" when I get too cuddly.

Soul-o, this base is a training center, so they don't have a lot for families--its mostly people attending different schools.  I need to check out what's available on the army  and AF bases nearby.

[babies-n-bloom]

Hi all! Just wanted to introduce myself! I'm Kendra, newly married to the AF and almost through my first trimester.  

I'm really interested in a homebirth and have already met with a wonderful midwife.  How does it work with tricare? If anyone has any helpful advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Congrats to all the new moms and recently re-united families!

K.

[OkiMom]

I haven't posted on this thread for a really long time so a re-introduction. I'm Heather, Ive been married for 5 1/2 years to my husband who's an active duty Marine. We have three children DD1 who is 4 1/2, DD2  who is 2 1/2 and a baby boy who's 5 months. Right now I'm living in Florida while DH is deployed to Afghanistan. Hes actually stationed in North Carolina and we will be moving there when he returns sometime next year. We just moved from Okinawa, Japan in the end of April and he left for North Carolina in the middle of May. Its been a little bit of a roller coaster ride.

Can anyone give me some ideas for care packages? His unit before this was a training command so when they were gone it wasn't for long (longest was 3 months) and there wasn't an address to ship things to so this is the first time Ive had to think about it. Im getting together one right now in it I have: a journal, candy, individual size peanuts, drink mixes. Im going to add: a book, pens, pictures the girls drew him, a picture of all of us together and a card game. Im stumped though at what to send next time. He doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, if I ask him what he wants/needs he says me and the kids and I can't send him that.

Also, can anyone share tips on how to keep the children connected to their father and help him feel like hes not being left out? Right now we have been so blessed to be able to Skype with DH every morning since he got out there but I know the tempo will change (Ive been deployed myself, I know the beginning of a deployment can start slow and take off after a few days/week). Both girls adore their Daddy and I want to foster that while hes gone. I got notebooks to keep a journal of things about each child for him to read when he gets back so he can read what they have done while he was away. I'm making photo books for each of the girls of him so they can keep the photos with them while hes gone, maybe then I can do something on the computer without them asking to see his picture. Im trying to take a ton of pictures and post them up on Facebook but Im not the best at remembering the camera. The girls are always asking to be able to draw or paint a picture for Daddy, I swear at this rate hes going to end up wallpapering the tent with pictures. I was going to go through them and weed them down but the girls put a lot of love into those pictures so Im going to send all of them for him.

[~Katie~]

Oh, how I love the way the Army takes care of us. AGR positions don't offer pay advances, and not only that but we won't get our travel voucher until 3 days into the 6 day trip. We also won't get paid for the month of August until the 30th because his pay resets itself. Oh, and according to transpo they can't pick up our stuff until the day after DH's report date in Arizona. Not the stress I wanted two weeks before we're supposed to move.

Tricare and homebirth - For this last birth I paid the full price up front to my midwife and will get partially reimbursed sometime now that she is born. I paid $4000 and will get back around $1700.

Welcome to the new and returning ladies!

[babies-n-bloom]

@OKImom-that's awesome that you get to do Skype. I was so glad for it when my husband (then boyfriend) deployed. What if you started recording your babies, so that when you can't skype he'll be able to watch it? Also, my husband HIGHLY recommends the HBO series "The Wire".  Sorry I don't have more to throw at you, but I think you already have some great ideas!

[justKate]

OkiMom, how about one of those recordable books to send, so your DH could record himself reading to them, and then send it back?

It's been a long time since DH deployed, but he said once that his favorite things were baby wipes (not sure what sort of facilities your DH has for cleaning up), movies, and little things to give to the local kids (like pencils, mints, and whatnot).  Maybe you could have each of the girls save their "best" artwork (obviously you'd have to do it for the 2.5 yo) and make a "book" to send to Daddy once a month. Sorry I'm not more help; it's been a while!

[MaerynPearl]

Our girly was given my daddy doll and it helped her a ton, plus a soft photo album she could look at without me. She was 3 months when he left and is 9 months now (he just got home this week) and she is doing very good with him. She's still extremely clingy to me but hasn't really been afraid of daddy... just prefers me over him if I'm around. She's warming up to him very quickly though and we fully expect by next week she won't want him to leave in the mornings.

[Soul-O]

Oki Mom: My DH loved having things like beef jerky and trail mix sent to him. What he didn't consume himself was shared with others in his shop. Granola bars were also popular. Considering that sometimes the soldiers miss chow and/or don't want to eat MREs, having healthy snacks around is a good idea. Also, my DH ended up needing running shoes about 1/2 way through his tour. I was able to order them from Zappos.com and have them shipped to him for free.

AFU: We are waiting on "news" again (and I think you all know what I mean - OPSEC in nature). I'm really not thrilled, especially because DH returned from theatre less than one year ago. However, it could be much worse. We like our community, love our house, and have friends here, so I know that we'll be OK. Hopefully we'll have more definitive answers on what lies ahead very soon.  

[~Katie~]

Less than two weeks to go until our move. After battling it out with Transpo and not making any headway, we're going to put our stuff in storage next week and let the movers get it on the 15th. It means living in an empty house for a while in Arizona while we wait for it but it's the least headache-inducing option. We're also going to ship DH's car because I have no interest in driving with three unpredictable children on my own. All the money stuff got worked out, thankfully.