Jocelyn Aleksandra's Birth Story

Well, my next post was going to be about our camping trip and the excitement of my car blowing up on me, but it turns out that we have more exciting news to relate. As most everyone knows, Jocelyn Aleksandra blessed us by entering the world just a little bit early on August 1st. Her original due date was the 18th and, since Caitlyn was such a late baby, we weren't expecting her to arrive any time before then, so we weren't exactly prepared when I went in for my normal ob appointment only to find that they wanted to induce immediately. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...

To start with, when I came back from leave, I fully expected that I had gained a ton of weight since I was eating like a pig and not exercising at all; however, at my next ob appt, they told me I had only gained 2lb over the last month. The baby was also measuring a little small, but we weren't worried at that point. I figured maybe my due date was off by a week or two and Jocelyn would arrive late just like Caitlyn. Over the next couple of weeks, however, I not only lost the weight I had gained, but the baby began to measure even smaller. At Monday's appointment when I was approximately 38 weeks, Jocelyn was only measuring at 32 weeks. At that point, Dr Mills, my wonderful ob, decided to hook me up to the ultrasound machine and make sure everything was okay in there. She thought maybe it was just measuring small because the baby had lightened and was further down in the pelvic region. After doing the ultrasound, the baby was still measuring at only 32-34 weeks, approximately 3 1/2 - 4lb. Obviously this concerned her, so she decided to send me down to labor and delivery to get monitored for a while to see how the baby was doing in-utero.

At this point I was getting worried. Dr Mills told us that if the baby wasn't doing absolutely perfect, she would want to induce labor because she was concerned that it was thriving in the womb. Sha said, by keeping it inside we would actually be risking fetal death since it was't getting the oxygen it needed to keep growing. It was better to risk delivering the baby early (the biggest risk being that her lungs weren't fully developed and she would have to be hooked up to a ventilator) than leave it in. Although Jocelyn's heartrate wasn't bad, the technicians didn't see the activity they would have liked in order to continue the pregnancy. So, I was told that they were going to induce right then and there. To be honest, this pregnancy had been so healthy and uneventful that I never really believed that anything was going to come of all the tests they were doing. I honestly thought I'd just be headed home and monitored a little more frequently for the remainder of the pregnancy. So, needless to say, it was a real shock when they told me they were just going to keep me there and induce labor. I wasn't ready! We had barely gotten a car seat just the day before, and I didn't even have a hospital bag ready. Not to mention both my babysitter (our friends Joe and Gwen) and my back-up (my friend Donna) were both out of town for various reasons, so we had no idea what to do with Caitlyn (who, having no idea about the risk, was just thrilled that the baby was finally coming). Luckily, we were able to get a hold of her old babysitter who agreed to take her for the night.

At this time, it was about noon and they started preparing to induce me. After 6 separate and very painful attempts to give me an iv (and I have great veins!), the technician (who was very sweet but not exactly reassuringly competent) called in the anesthesiologist who slid it right in on the first try with virtually no pain (so now I have these attractive black and blue marks all over my hands and arms which make me look like a junkie ;) Once they got the iv hooked up, they started my Pitocin drip (so, no, I don't think I will ever get to experience a natural labor -- Caitlyn was also induced, but that was because she wouldn't come out on her own!) and I settled back for what we all figured would be a long and painful labor (based on the fact that I was only 1cm and my body was showing no natural signs of labor at all, plus Caitlyn was a long, difficult labor). Tim set off to take Caitlyn to the sitter, get the house in order, and pick up some things for me. I tried to call my mom, but the time difference meant it was the middle of the night in the States, so I wasn't able to get her on the phone. With Tim taking care of all our errands, I was all alone hooked up to the machines. Although the nurses and technicians couldn't have been nicer (I can't say enough wonderful things about them, it was a totally opposite experience from when I had Caitlyn), I felt very alone and very scared. At that point, all we knew is that Joceyn was very small and there was a high risk that her lungs weren't developed enough to breathe on her own, so I was very scared for her. I was also hooked up to an oxygen machine so that the flow to her would improve. I have really enjoyed my time in Japan, but if this experience teaches me nothing else, it is that I want to be home in the US so I can be near my family. I have never felt more alone and afraid then I did during that time when Tim was gone taking care of Caitlyn.

After what seemed like forever (but was probably only an hour or so), Tim came back just in time for the contractions to start coming harder. They were still about 3-4 min apart, but the Pitocin makes even early labor no picnic. Dr Mills came and checked on me and wasn't happy that my cevix wasn't progressing along with my contractions, so she inserted this extremely uncomfortable balloon thingie which is supposed to help um...open you up a little bit. As you progress, the balloon gradually gets pushed out so you know when you reach about 3-4 cm dialated. A few hours later, my contractions were getting really unbearable, but the stupid balloon thing hadn't budged. I was getting really discouraged and worried because I felt like such a wuss for not being able to handle the pain without there being any real progress, plus there was the risk of having to get a c-section if the labor went on too long with no progress (I have always been deathly afraid to get a c-section). Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore and asked the nurse to call in the anesthesiologist to get my epidural. Dr Mills came in to check me one more time before they put the epidural in and, low and behold, I was already at 5-6cm, the balloon simply hadn't fallen out. I was so happy when I heard that because it made me feel a lot better about the whole dealing with the pain thing (my contractions were reducing me to tears at this point, they were coming every 2-3min and lasting at least 1min each, so I wasn't getting much relief). Just like when I had Caitlyn, ignorance is your best friend when it comes to things like epidurals. I didn't look at any of the equipment and just concentrated on facing Tim and pretending none of this was happening to me (which is difficult to do when your contractions won't stop). Luckily, the process seemed much easier this time around, partially, I think, due to technilogical advances and partially due to a much better staff, and soon I wasn't feeling much more than the pressure and almost no pain at all. Yay epidurals! :)

After that, there wasn't much more to do other than wait. I wish I could say I rested easier, but right about the time I got the epidural, Jocelyn's heartrate started to drop significantly with the crescendo of each contraction. Luckily, I was the only one in labor and delivery at the time, so the nurses were extremely attentive and monitored me very closely to keep and eye on her progress. Again I was worried about getting a c-section because if her heartrate continued to drop too low, they would have to do and emergency c-section to get her out. So, I spent the entire time listening to the beeping of her heartrate on the machine and freaking out every time it dropped. At about 9pm, Dr Mills checked on me again and pronounced me at 7cm (10cm is fully dialated meaning that birth is imminent, so 7cm meant I probably had only a few hours to go). That made me really happy because Caitlyn's labor was so long that the epidural wore off long before she actually came out, so I had no pain relief at all for the last 6 hours of labor and pushing, which really sucked. I tried calling my mom again and finally got a hold of her to tell her the news. After I hung up with her, I started to get these weird sensations, like a strong pressure in my pelvis. As I said before, with Caitlyn, I had no medication when it came time to push, and there is no feeling in the world like the urge to push when that baby is ready to come out. With the epidural, you literally feel almost nothing, so I had no idea that my body was psuhing, I just knew that I felt really weird. So I told the nurse that I thought something was wrong. It was only about 9:15-9:20, so Dr Mills had literally just checked me, but she decided to check just in case. As soon as she reached down, she started to freak out a little bit. Turns out I was already to 10cm and she could feel the baby's head. She immediately dashed out the room to find Dr Mills and I could hear all the commotion out in the hallway and over the loudspeaker as they tried to page her. Tim and I really start to freak out at this point since I have absolutely no control over what my body is doing (so I can't stop pushing) and no one knows where the doctor is. The nurse comes running back in and just at that moment I feel a really weird sensation, so I tell her that something is really wrong. She pulls back the sheet to check me again and there is Jocelyn lying on the bed. (Poor Tim...I'm so glad the sheet was over me because I can only imagine what he would have done if he had seen Jocelyn come out like that with no one there but the two of us!) I didn't know this at the time because I was lying on my back and couldn't see anything, but Jocelyn came out with the cord wrapped around her neck and she wasn't making any noise or moving, so Tim got really scared. The nurse yelled for him to go find someone (anyone, since she was the only one in the room besides us at that point), so he goes running for the door. Just as he pulls it open to yell for help, the doctor and all the rest of the staff coming running into the room. Dr Mills scoops Jocelyn up and cuts the cord. Immediately she starts crying and wriggling around. They put her over on the little warming table and quickly announce her Apgar at about an 8-9, which means she was exhibiting all the signs of a perfectly healthy baby. After all the drama and the fear, Jocelyn turned out to be in perfect health with no outward signs of any problems other than being a bit small. She even turned out to be a lot bigger than the ultrasound had guessed. Born at 9:28pm, she weighed in at a healthy 4lb 15oz and 18 inches long.

After establishing that Jocelyn was okay and wouldn't need to be hooked up to a ventilator after all, the doctor turned her attention back to me. Turns out I hadn't ripped or teared at all. In fact, physically, Jocelyn's birth was rather easy on my body (not to say that it wasn't painful and I'm definately still recovering. I just think that after having such a traumatic experience with Caitlyn, who was literally twice Jocelyn's size, my body had no problem pushing Jocelyn right out with ease). Dr Mills didn't have to do much other than deliver the placenta and double check that everything was alright down there before going back to the baby.

After about 1-2 hours of cleaning, weighing, and checking her out, Jocelyn was pronounced to be in perfect health. She was handed over to me for her first feeding, and she latched on like a champ. This kid has no problems in the feeding department. If anything, she eats more than Caitlyn did! I can't describe just how tiny and delicate she is. After having such a strong and robust baby like Caitlyn, I was unprepared for such a tiny bundle. I actually have to go out and buy some preemie clothes (even though, technically, she was born full-term) because she is way to small for newborn sizes. She has almost no fat on her little body (although she's working hard to fix that by eating like crazy), but she has a perfect, round little head and looks like a little angel (not that I'm biased!). We are so happy that she is finally here and that everything turned out okay. I feel so incredibly lucky an blessed that everything turned out the way it did because it could have easily been a much different story.

So, that is our story. We stayed 2 days in the hospital so they could keep an eye on her, but everything seems to be just fine. Jocelyn does still have some jaundice, but her pediatrician assures me this is normal in smaller babies and the levels are not high enough to really worry about that this point. We are having to keep her on a light strip which gives her body some kind of uv rays that helps her red blood cells work properly and bring her into the hospital daily to get checked. Hopefully Monday will be that last day for that. Other than that, she is thriving just beautifully, and we are adjusting to her small size (it is very hard because we always worry that we are going to hurt her since she is sooo small). I am in the process of downloading our next set of pictures, so I'll post them when they are ready. Love to all!

Chicago

We ended up having a four hour layover in Chicago on our way back to Japan, so John and Stef were nice enough to open their home to us and serve us breakfast while we waited for our flight. They just bought their home a few months ago (just in time for Yelena's arrival) and are in the process of renovating it. I wish I had taken more pictures of the house itself but these ones of cutie-pie Yelena will have to do ;) At the family reunion, Yelena wanted nothing to do with me. Dad kept joking it was because she sensed the competition in my belly, but I think it was just that a very pregnant stomach is pretty uncomfortable. At any rate, she finally seemed to warm up to me in Chicago, so I got some pretty cute pictures for ya'll to enjoy.

Family Reunion

As you can see from the photos, not only did we manage to survive my family reunion, I think we actually enjoyed it. Soon after Tim discovered my family did not, in fact, hate him or wish him any immediate harm, he discovered a true ally in my sister's husband, John. I think the two of them spent more time hanging out and bitching about how slobby we Podolny girls are than anything else. I think it was a great comfort to Tim to know that I am not the only one who turned out to be such a pig (I think this is because my parents are the most anally clean people you will ever meet, so we all rebelled by becoming slobs :) Caitlyn also had a blast. Most of my cousins are around her age, on account of my mom's sisters being 15 years younger than her, so she had lots of playmates. Caitlyn also learned to fish (and caught her 1st one!), which was a big thrill for her. The only big drawback was the accomodations. Now I've been camping plenty of times before, and I don't mind a few bugs, but this was really ridiculous. First of all, we were staying in a cabin, so I expected less bugs than you would find out in the open. Not so! Our first night there we walked in to find my sister's room full of tiny black flies just everywhere. They were on the walls, the light, the bed, and crawling all over her 4-month old baby. Not only was it disgusting, but you have to be worried with all those reports about the different diseases mosquitos carry. After a not-so-helpful brush off from the campsite manager, Stef and John chose to take Yelena to the only hotel in town (we were in nowhere Minnesota) to spend the night. We, meanwhile, tried to brave the night by turning off all the lights and pretending we couldn't feel the bugs crawling on us in the dark. Between that and Caitlyn's waking up three times because of the heat and mosquitos, we didn't get much rest that night. So, after one whole night in a Minnesota cabin, we city-folk decided we couldn't take it anymore and moved over to the hotel with my sister and John. My brave, brave parents stayed (as did my sister Lexi and the rest of the extended family) and claimed the bugs got much better after we left (maybe they were attracted to Tim's stinky feet?). We were just greatful for the air conditioning and relief from mosquitos, which came out in force as the sun fell. In the meantime, we enjoyed the company of my relatives (many of whom I hadn't seen in 10+ years and some of my cousins I hadn't even met before) and the fabulous food prepared by my wonderful father, my cousin Renee Michelle, and their young protege, my cousin Jenny (3 generations of cooks). Sadly, it was over far too quickly and before we knew it, we were headed back on the long, long trip home.

Tim's Pride and Joy

I had to post this picture before we sell the car so that Tim will have a record of it forever. In the States this car would be worth a lot of money, but since we can't afford to ship it over (costs around $10,000 with all the fees involved)... He wants to race it one more time before we put it up for sale. I think he secretly hates me for making him get rid of it just because you can't fit a baby carseat in the back. What a bitch I am! ;)

Family Reunion Pics

Minnesota - Days 1 & 2

So after two sun-soaked weeks in San Antonio, we packed our things and headed off to good ole Minnesota. Now I haven't been there since I was very young, but my most prominent memories of the farm are of mosquitos and debilitating heat. (Tim laughed at me when I told him that because San Antonio temperatures often exceeded 100 degrees and he didn't see how Minnesota could be that hot when it only gets to the mid 80's there.) Unfortunately, my memory hadn't failed me. Minnesota is as muggy and bug-filled as I remembered. I will always have fond memories of the farm, but I was absolutely miserable this time around. Maybe it was the fact that I am 25lb heavier than normal, but I was so gross and sweaty the whole time, not to mention the killer mosquitos that you couldn't get rid of no matter how much bug spray you applied. Poor Caitlyn got it the worst. She was covered from head to toe in mosquito bites and itched incessently for our entire week there.

Actually, our first couple of days weren't too bacd. We met up with Tim's mom at the airport in Minneapolis and spent a couple of days getting to know her. I was so glad we were able to do that because originally we had planned to add a side trip into Buffalo (where she lives) into our travel plans, but then we thought the additional travel would be too much of a burden both financially and because of the pregnancy. Caitlyn absolutely fell in love with her new Grandma, who spoiled her rotten! I had to assure Tim that my parents aren't nearly so accomodating (having spent 6 weeks caring for Caitlyn full-time while I was TDY last year, my parents are well aquainted with the Caitlyn-ways and aren't as indulgent since they know the consequences! :) Our hotel had an indoor pool we took advantage of, and we also spent a day at the Mall of America, which actually made me happy that I was pregnant. If I hadn't been one can only imagine the kind of money I could have blown there. After only two short days, we had to say goodbye to Tim's mom and headed off for my family reunion.

Vanessa aka tiTo the zOO

4th of July

San Antonio

As you can see from the pics below, we had quite a time in San Antonio. I won't pretend it was easy having all three kids together, but they really got along great. Caitlyn was so good with Vanessa. It really put my mind at ease about how she'll react when the baby comes. She took so much joy in being a big sister. She and Tommy also got along really well. I think it was nice for them to have another kid there that was close to their age. Of course, they fought just like brother and sister, too, but mostly they just played together. I think it was harder on me and Tim than it was on the kids to adjust to having a combined family.

San Antonio itself is absolutely gorgeous. I never really appreciated it the few times I was there before (mostly since I was at Lackland). Tim and I both really liked the weather, the community, and the housing out there is phenomenal! Tim's kids are close by and my parents live in Albuquerque so we could go visit on holidays and long weekends. The only problem, of course, is the job market. Still, it's beginning to rival Maryland as the place we'd like to eventually settle down.

We took the kids to the zoo, to the beach, to Seaworld (which, by the way, is absolutely free for military members), to the circus, to an NBA game, just all the F over the place. And, now we're totally broke ;) Of course, some of that may also have to do with the fact that we spent well over $1,000 at Wal-Mart alone :) Most of that was on the kids, but we did purchase some tv on dvd for ourselves. Since AFN blows we spend most of our tv time watching old episodes of the Dave Chappelle Show and Family Guy (not to mention the Sopranos and Oz, we do love our HBO!). One of the nicest things about being back in the States was having regular cable again. How sad is that! :)

Circus Time

North Padre Island

Seaworld

In Front of the Alamo

Kids at the Zoo

First Post-Vacation Post - NBA Playoffs

Okay, so there's so much to tell from our fabulous vacation that I'm going to have to split this up into various topics. Since I know most of you use readin this as a break from work, I'm sure no one will object to the lengthiness ;) To the left is my favorite photo of Caitlyn from our very first night in San Antonio where we went to..you guessed it..Game 7! I know it's a little old by now, but having my very first NBA game be Game 7 in the Spurs-Pistons playoffs, and then having San Antonio win, was pretty wild. Caitlyn got really into it, too (though she didn't understand the first thing about the game, she was an excellent cheerleader)! Getting back to the hotel was a nightmare, though. First of all, we landed in San Antonio on the day of the game, which meant that we had been traveling for nearly 24-hours by the time we even arrived. We got to the hotel and discovered that there would indeed be a game 7 (Detroit having won the night before while we were still in the air). It's been over 20 yars since the NBA playoffs went to a game 7, and we figured when the hell will we ever have a chance like this again, so off Tim went to find a scalper. Luckily, the girl who checked us into the hotel had a brother who was looking to unload some tickets, so it wasn't aa difficult a task as one might think. After an all too short nap, we were off to the game. Caitlyn got her face painted and collected as much free Spurs gear from the various businesses advertising their services as possible before we discovered our seats at the very tip-top of the stadium. As you all know, I am not thrilled about heights (not to mention the lack of balance that comes with advanced pregnancy), so I was extremely unhappy about the long, steep stairs, but once the game started, we didn't even notice the distance. After the game, which was actually pretty close until the last quarter, we fought our way out as quickly as possible and rushed to the car to try to beat the traffic. Hah! Not likely! The entire city of San Antonio had rushed out to celebrate post game. People were running down the streets screaming, honking, and waving "Go Spurs Go" signs like maniacs. The 2 1/2 hours it took us to reach out hotel (a 5-10 minute drive from the Stadium but also directly downtown) was marked by a girl mooning the very slow car procession, entire families sitting out on the lawn screaming out their support for the Spurs, peolpe running down the street between cars to slap the hands of the drivers, a cowboy with a bullhorn, and either a hooker or just a really drunk college girl screaming for someone to suck her (I'll let you fill in the blank). All in all a pretty eventful night, which I probably would have enjoyed more if we hadn't just flown in from the other side of the world :)

Military Movie Theaters

I know it sounds like a weird subject to write about, but I just went to my first movie in a military theater last night. We took Caitlyn to see Madagascar. Not sure if it's been out in the States for long, but this is the first time its played out here (there is only 1 screen in the Bong Theater and only one movie plays every night). Therefore, everyone and their mother decided to go see this movie. More acurately, I should say, everyone sans their mother decided to go see this movie. While there were plenty of families with small screaming children, the vast majority of the audience was made up of obnoxious pre-teen kids with no parents to be found. We were surrounded on all sides! I know I must have once been that age myself, and I am sure I was just as annoying, but it is hard to fathom! I absolutely dread the idea of Caitlyn going through those awkward times. In addition to this environment, we were forced to sit in the third to last row (despite arriving 40 min early, we barely made it in) which meant that the door to the lobby was directly behind us. Normally I would say this was a good thing since I am quite pregnant and my bladder was tiny to begin with; however, pre-teens evidently don't actually watch movies, they just go to walk in and out of the lobby every 2 minutes so that the large spotlight comes flooding in on the people forced to sit in the back. Even worse than the obnoxious children and their rude behavior were the obnoxious and rude parents who stood up to yell at their kids and/or bring them popcorn and soda every five minutes. I kid you not, this went on through the entire 100 minutes of the movie. I don't think we went more than a minute without some kind of interruption. I have never had an experience like that at any theater, including some very nasty dollar theaters I used to go to in order to save money. Caitlyn, on the other hand, had a great time. Go figure.

Well, our vacation is upon us, so I may not write for a little while. We're headed to Texas and Minnesota to visit a variety of family and really soak up the sun (although I will most likely pass out from heat exhaustion at some point since today was the first day it hasn't rained and the temperature surpassed 50 degrees...it's really summer now! :) Sadly, the thing I'm most excited about returning to the States for is the food! We live in the boonies here in Japan and there are not exactly any gourmet restaurants out here (it is mostly greasy, bad Chinese or Japanese food) or anywhere nearby. Tokyo is another story, but it's way to far and way to expensive to be any kind of option. I just miss having a variety of choice. There are a few Italian places out here, but they don't really serve anything I would consider remotely Italian (except that there's pasta in it). Other then that, Chinese and Japanese are pretty much your only choices (surprising, there is nowhere that serves Western-style food) and that gets old fast. Not to mention the fact that I can't really eat sushi riht now because of the pregnancy and the idea of greasy Yakisoba (which I used to love!) absolutely makes me want to hurl. So, I'm pretty much stuck with Popeye's (which we have on base) and home cooking (while fabulous, it doesn't cut it when I get home late and just want to eat!). So I am looking forward to impressing my doctor by gaining over 20 pounds while I eat like a hog in the States, yay! Well, wish me luck on my multi-day journey back to the States. It should be even more fun now that I'm 8 months pregnant! ;) See you all when I get home!

Sorry For the Long Wait!

And here I thought having a blog would make it easy to keep in touch with everyone! Sorry for the long, long wait between posts. We have been busy (and very tired) here in Japan. A few updates, I am now nearly done with being preggo (or so I keep telling myself!), just 10 more weeks to go! It's true...I am engaged. That ring you see on my finger is indeed a beautiful diamond, and I am very, very happy. I wanted to wait until the family reunion to surprise everyone, but I have absolutely no patience! In other family news, we now have two dogs: a 2-year-old Shiba/collie mix named Brittney and a 3-month-old pure bred Shiba named Yuki (which means snow). Brittney is the perfect dog for us (well, me anyway), I have never met a lazier dog in my life. All she does is eat and sleep and want to be petted (just like me! :) She also doesn't jump, sniff or hump anything, bark (except in extraordinary circumstances), drool, or have any other disgusting doggy habits. She is very well trained and makes an excellent companion for Caitlyn (she is, in fact, Caitlyn's dog. Caitlyn gives her food and water everyday and also brushes her, although she doesn't shed much). Yuki, on the other hand, is a puppy we are trying to house train. Other than the peeing and pooping on the carpet, she is also a great dog with a great temperment (no drooling, jumping, sniffing, or humping here either).

Caitlyn is getting ready to wrap up Kindergarten next week. She has had a bumpy year what with the move and my long TDY, but I feel she is in a very good place right now. She has a good group of friends (they are all "fashion girls"), and she loves to read (which she can now do on her own!). Caitlyn is also going through a rough time of missing her dad and not understanding the circumstances. I'm at a loss as to how to explain things, too. My general comment whenever she tells me she misses her dad is that I miss my mommy and daddy, too, but we don't always get what we want in life. Obviously, this is not a very satisfactory answer to a 6-year-old, and Caitlyn is pushing me for more of the "why." She definately doesn't understand why we are going on vacation to visit Tim's family and my family, but she isn't getting to see her dad. How do you explain to your child that their father is a miserable bum who had over a year's notice to save money to see you, yet, somehow couldn't be bothered to save enough money to take you for even a small portion of the 6-weeks he's supposed to get? It's not like he pays child support or anything, so I don't know where his money goes. She seems to think this is somehow me wanting to keep her away from her daddy (daddy being the mythic figure who can rescue her when she's getting in trouble). I'm also a little nervous about her meeting Tim's kids and how she will feel about having to share him with them. I think everything will probably be fine, since Caitlyn will be thrilled to have some playmates instead of just her boring old parents all the time, plus we're planning a shitload of kid-friendly activities since we'll have the three kids with us.

We still haven't come up with a concrete name as of yet. We both like Alexandra as a middle name, so I think that will stick, but the first name is a little harder. Stephanie and Aubrey are currently the top contenders. I had my baby shower a couple of weeks ago. It was very nice, but I couldn't help thinking about all of you. I have only one really good friend here in Japan and a few good aquaintences, but nothing like the friendships I made in college or my prior military service. It's just really hard here beause there's so few female officers to hang out with. I got lucky with Donna, but she's leaving here in the winter :( At any rate, we are stacked with baby clothes and we have most of the furniture we need, but I'm beginning to realize that I've forgotten a bunch of other essentials. For example, no diaper genie, stroller, car seat, diapers, bottles, etc...just a few things, really ;) I remember, with Caitlyn, I was all over getting all the essentials before I had even hit the halfway point. Now it seems like I got the crib and was, like, we'll wing it from here :) Oh, and a big thanks to Laura for the Lamaze book she sent me. They don't offer any childbirth classes out here, which really annoys me because it isn't like I exactly have any off-base options, and I didn't do lamaze with Caitlyn and always regretted it. So, this book is the next best thing. Plus, I'll have Tim and my mom here during the birth, so I'll have some experienced back-up this time. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures I sent. I'll post some new ones when I take them :)

Past the Halfway Point

Well, I am clearly past the preggo halfway point now. My belly pooches out in an almost obviously pregnant way; however, since we live in Japan, I am convinced all the Japanese people think I am just another fat dependent with skinny legs. Therefore, I do my best to prove them wrong by eating every cream puff I can get my greedy little hands on (so far it's the only really strong craving I've had). Other than that, this pregnancy is going remarkably well. I have the usual back aches and crampiness and, of course, tons of heart burn. The fatigue is probably the hardest thing to deal with, but I have a feeling that is mostly caused by my very odd work/sleep schedule more than the pregnancy itself.

In response to my sister Lexi's q's about Yoga DVDs, I thought I'd share a few of my favs with ya'll. For beginngers I love Ali McGraw's Yoga Mind and Body and MTV's Yoga. I know, I know, anything with MTV in the title sounds like it has to suck, but I really, really love this practice and the instructor is calm and clear without being annoying. Another good one for beginners is Crunch's Candlelight Yoga. For more advanced practitioners I like, Eoin Finn's Power Yoga for Happiness, MTV's Power Yoga, and Mantra Girl's Advanced Kundalini Yoga (although this one may be a little too weird for people who aren't into the mind-body connection part of yoga).

Okay, enough with the yoga talk. Thanks for everyone's feedback on the names (mom! ;) Since Tim absolutely detests Edith and Caitlyn already acts like Edith from the Mr. Bear books, I sadly must let go of that one. I also shot down Nicole since that is my middle name and I go by Nikki (not to mention the baby is already stealing my birthday! ;) I also like the names Iliana and Ilora (but Tim hates anything that sounds like Laura -- sorry Laur! -- so that one's probably out of the questions). In fact, at this point, Stephanie is just about the only name we both don't hate. So, what do you think, Stef? Would having a niece with your name be a little too weird? If anyone has some suggestions, we'd be glad to hear them. At this point, the little kicker may have to go by "Thing 1" for the rest of her life (this has got to be the most active baby in the history of the world. I don't think she ever stops kicking!)

Websites

I love looking at interesting websites that my DoD computer doesn't block on long mids. Here's a couple I've been perusing lately:
http://web.morons.org/ Stories about morons, what could be more interesting at 3am?
http://www.videofitness.com Feeds my addiction for fitness videos/DVDs even though I'm currently banished to preggo vids
http://www.cathe.com/ I know many of you think I am completely nuts when it comes to fitness, so check out my idol Cathe and see how far I have to go! :)
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=home For all the foodies out there
http://behindthename.com/ For anyone thining of having a baby...or just bored
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calbs.htm Depress yourself by seeing how small your waist is supposed to be compared to how big it actually is!
http://www.discountmagazines.com/ Oooooh, Saveur for only $6 a year!

and, of course, my addiction to www.ebay.com continues completely unabated. Currently I'm obsessed with baby clothes and nursery items

What's In a Name

*sigh* Just finished reading some of my dear friends' blogs and realized what a horribly boring life I lead. It's all work and no play and since I can't share info about my work, I'm left with very little to say :( Luckily, I do have one interesting piece of info that even a trip to Berlin can't top...

We're Having a Girl!!

Yes, it's true, the Podolny curse is still in effect. I am beginning to believe there will never be another Podolny male child. My father is convinced this is God's merciful of letting our tongue-twister name die out, and I'm inclined to agree. Not that we're at all disappointed! In fact, the great name debates have begun anew now that we have a gender assigned. Tim and I are engaged in a battle of epic proportions over what should be the simplest of things. The biggest problem is that he hates all of the names that I like, and I think all of the names he likes sound like 80-year old Italian grandmas. Let's take a poll, shall we? Here are some of the names I like:

Edith (Edie) - I know it's a little old fashioned but it happens to be the name of my favorite author (Edith Wharton), plus it reminds me of the Edith and Mr. Bear books :)

Stephanie - It might be my sister's name, but at least we all know it goes well with Podolny! (Besides, she's a Shaterian now, anyway)

Audrey - Who doesn't think that Audrey Hepburn was one of the most elegant women of all time?!

Anya - a good Slavic name

Celeste - Yes, it's French, but it's also the name of Babar's wife :)

Now, here are some of the names Tim likes:

Marie - ummm, ick?

Linda - It's just so fifties!

Alyssa - This actually wouldn't be too bad, but one of his ex-girlfriends was named Melissa and, to me, Alyssa is just too darn close to that

Emmy Lou - From the George Strait song we both love, except we are both Yankees and Emmy Lou Podolny sounds retarded

Madison/Cheyenne/Mercedes, etc. - Ugh! I detest trendy names!

So, beloved friends and readers, we welcome your comments and baby name suggestions. We've got a while to ruminate on it, so there's no hurry (no need to rule ou Edith right away, you'll see that it grows on you ;)