My First OB/GYN Appointment

This was my first time having an appointment in the Bitburg Germany Hospital! And yes, it is an off base hospital. The doctor is so awesome! We thought I was 16 weeks along, because according to the people on base thats what they thought I was. But turns out I was more like 14 weeks. So my new week starts every Friday.
We got to see the baby! The baby's arm and legs were kicking and moving about! And we got a print out of the baby. You can see the baby's brain, eyes, nose, and mouth in the face. And you can see the baby's ribs! And by the baby's neck you could see the baby's hand pointing at you. Its pretty cool!
As I was getting on the table/bed at the doctor's office, the doctor noticed my pink/purple toe. So I told him as much a I knew about it and he set up an appointment for me on the surgery floor on September 7th. He said a doctor will check it out for me and see what the problem is with it. I am going to walk to the appointment at the hospital so he can see how bad it gets when I am on it too long or how it looks after walking a while.
But the pregnancy has been going pretty well! Morning sickness has given me a break, although I will see it when I don't eat when I am supposed to or experience an aweful smell. And I haven't been nearly as tired as what I was in the beginning! I sleep like 10- 12 hrs a night though, then usually I won't have to take a nap during the day. And I am trying to get up earlier on the weekends so I can start going to church more often.
As far as my weight during the pregnancy, I am still down about 8.4 pounds. But the Nutrionist said that is ok. And she said I will probably start gaining soon. They don't want me gaining anymore than 15-20 pounds. As far of exercise, I like to walk. Some days I do alot of walking and somedays I may only get to take the dog around the block. I am going to try and find some workout videos on YouTube for pregnant women to help my back out some. I have horrible lower back pains! And it runs all the way down my legs to my knees! It mainly hurts when I am laying down or getting up from a sitting position. But it does bother me sometimes while walking. But I am going to try and find my own solutions to my problems and see what I can do for myself.
My next appointment is on September 28th. And the doc is hoping then to be able to tell whether or not I will be having a boy or a girl.

Looking Back At My Trip To London

It sure has been a while! I need to write on a regular basis in here! But tonight I will just write about my trip to London that I went on about two weeks ago with my friend Robyn and her son Max. We flew there through RyanAir. Our tickets were about 20 Euro each which is AWESOME!
My friend Robyn and I went on a three day trip together to London, England! (August 20, 21, & 22) It was fun. We did ALOT of walking while there! But we got to see and do alot of really cool stuff! I can't remember alot from the trip but I will try my best to explain some of what we did.
We went to the Buckingham Palace for the Changing of The Gaurds and we got there like 2 hours early and it was already packed so we just took some pictures and didn't stay for the show. Instead we took off and got a start on our day of sight seeing.
We then went to the British Museum where we saw alot of really amazing stuff! They have things on display from all around the world there! It kind of reminded me of the movie, "Night At The Museum". Stuff you learn about in history books was there, like the Rosetta Stone. If I can, I will post as many pictures from the museum on here. It was pretty amazing stuff.
Next we went to the Tower Of London. It was huge! It was more of what I think of when I was a kid when I thought of a castle. They also had a room there where they kept the crown jewels. They were beautiful! I didn't know that you were not aloud to take pictures of them, oops! But it was a beautiful place to visit.
Later that evening we went to The Globe Theatre! It was amazing! We saw the play Helen there. It was a BIG circular building with an open roof for lighting. It had three stories for seating, lots of people could fit. And they even had a big open area in front of the stage for people to stand and watch the play. I am so glad that we didn't have to stand and watch it! We had been on our feet all day and it was nice to take a break!
That night on our walk to the train station to go back to our hotel, we saw "Bobbies" and got our picture taken with them. They are what the English call thier police.
We went to the WestMinister Abbey the following day. It cost 18 pounds to take a tour of the church. But we noticed a sign outside the gate of the church that said they had a survice that evening at 5. So we went back to that and got to go in for free. It was beautiful in there! That is one of my favorite things to do, is to go inside all of these churches.
Here are some of the other smaller things we did. We saw the Eye Of London, a huge Ferris Wheel. But did not go on it mainly because I heard that it cost ALOT of money. And we saw Big Ben, a huge clock. And we went in a church to a Crypt Museum that they had on the lower level. And I was able to stop at a telephone booth and get my picture taken in it. We stopped by the train station in London where the movie Harry Potter was filmed. I am not a fan of Harry Potter but Robyn is so we stopped and checked it out. I had seen the movie with her before though so it was cool to see where they filmed part of it at. We got our picture taken by the wall that was in the movie, where they ran through it with thier carts. And one of the last things that we did was go to Portobello Rd where the antique market is. Everything was SO EXPENSIVE! But they had some cheap clothing stores just outside of Portobello Rd.
The trip was fun but boy was I glad to get home! It wasn't really what I thought it would be, London had alot of litter. And ALOT of smokers who would just blow smoke on you as you were walking by. It was like walking through an ash tray. But the train and bus system was awesome! I wish they had more in America!

Life's Journeys

Okay well, I have not done this in a while. So I guess I need to get with the program. I really need to keep a journal! I just can't make myself write in one for some reason! But right now I am going through something in life right now though that I should be keeping track of... so I can remember it later in life. So I may print this off or something and then stick it in a journal, I don't know.
Well, I am now 13 weeks pregnant! As exciting as it sounds, it still has not hit me. I had morning sickness for like 3-4 weeks before I took the test. I knew that I was pregnant, but I just wanted to take the test to show it to my husband... he didn't really believe me. lol. So I found out from the test on a Sunday morning before church, it was 9 am here. And both of our parents live on the east coast of the USA so they are 6 hours behind us in time, so it was 3 am there. I thought it would be awesome to call them right when we found out! Its totally something that I would do! LOL! My mom answered the phone and said, "You better have a pretty good reason for calling this early!" And I told her and she totally had a change of attitude. It was so funny! And I let Drew call his parents and tell them. It was GREAT!
Well, I went to the little doctor's office on the base that we live on to go and take a pee test so the doc's could have proof that I was pregnant. And it came up positive. So, they signed me up to go to this class, pretty much telling you how to take care of yourself while being pregnant, it was pretty dumb if you ask me. Anyways, before I get to rambling a ton... I had to take another test, pee & blood test and the results take 3 weeks to get back. I should get it this week. And then I can make my first oppointment. I will be going to see a German doctor who is off base, the hospital is like 1/2 a mile or so away. I hear the doctor is really good! Lots of ladies from church have used him. Speaking of church, its just me and another lady who are pregnant right now, and so far I am the first one having a baby in 2010 from church. Its so funny! This Spring/Summer there were like 15 women from church who had thier babies! A ton!
So I am due in mid February according to the first doc that I went to. I don't totally understand how I can be that far, but I guess they know more of what they are talking about than I do. Whether we have a boy or girl, I do not care. I just want a healthy baby! If we do have a boy then he is going to be named after Drew, he'll be a third. And if we have a girl I get to pick the name. I still do not know what to pick though. I have always wanted to name my first girl Elizabeth and I like McKay for the second name but my Dad suggested naming her after his mom who past away a couple of years ago, Dorothy Amanda. But I will have to think and pray about it, if the baby is a girl.
Anyways, I guess I have run my mouth enough for now. I will have to write more later. So til next time, Buh bye! :D

It is Sunday night/Monday morning right now. About 1 AM. I must say that I have had a great weekend! I mean, nothing extra-ordinary happened but for some reason it was just great! It rained all weekend. And we couldn't use our car, because the people that were supposed to fix it this past week didn't even start on it. So we were at home all weekend. Maybe that was it. We got to spend the weekend together doing nothing. Well we watched like 4 movies together on Saturday and we watched a few on Sunday. We walked to the comissary together on Saturday and we walked to church together on Sunday. It was just nice to spend time together and just talk to each other!
Last Monday I started keeping track of my water intake and my daily exercise. I have been doing pretty good at drinking my water, and I have only missed one day with no exercise but thats because I had to babysit all day that day. I looked over my weight in diary this past week and I noticed that since January I have only lost 5 pounds. I have just been working hard at staying on track and it seems NOTHING is helping me out! And in December I lost 10 pounds and I wasn't really "watching" what I ate. So I don't understand it. I mean, because of me losing that weight in December it got me wanting to really work at losing more. And I just don't understand, its so frustrating! I mean I want to get pregnant sometime soon and I was hoping to be able to lose some weight before it happened and its just frustrating! I mean, my husband talked to me about how much I have lost and he said, "At least you lost 5 pounds and didn't gain 5 pounds." I guess that is true. I am just trying to change my habits and see if I can do anything that helps me out.
Anyways, I don't really have much else to say. I am trying to clean the house this week. (We'll see how long it stays that way!) ;P

Become A Better Me!

I am the seventh of nine children, four boys and five girls. I was raised in The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, and I am still an active member. As for childhood memories, even through now, I could not tell you much. I try to keep journals and make scrapbooks to help me remember things better.
My earliest childhood memories were from the hospital that I stayed in when I was six years old. I had been hit by a car and received traumatic brain damage and was in a coma. The doctors had told my parents that if I lived that I wouldn't be able to do everything that I used to. I had been in the coma for sixteen days before I had come out of it. They transferred me to another hospital where I could begin my occupational and physical therapy. The people in charge of me at this hospital told my parents it could be anywhere from six to eight months before I would be able to return to live at home. I had lost all of my memory and ALOT of my strength, especially in the left side of my body. Physical therapy was painful and hard to do but I stuck with it and gave it my all! Went through alot of tears and alot of getting back up and trying again! I remember being in a wheel chair and not being able to walk. (I remember once I got to go home and spend one night with my family and I sat on the couch while my four brothers would take turns doing tricks in the wheel chair!) Eventually I was able to walk with lots and lots of physical therapy. Once when I was having therapy in the indoor pool I remember a camera crew coming in and rehersing with me and my therapist what to say. We were put on Good Morning America! They got to choose one patient to put on tv and they chose me! The hospital crew that worked with me were amazed at how well I was doing! I ended up only having to stay at the hospital for three and a half months before I was able to return home to live with my family.
I was able to return to school the next year! But I still had to return to the hospital three times a week for therapy. I couldn't even get myself dressed for school in the morning, I was always had to have others help me. I was put into resource classes to help me out a bit. School was tuff! Kids were always making fun of me and leaving me out, so I had always thought that there was SOMETHING wrong with me. I have never felt like a normal kid, always being told by peers and teachers, "No you can't do this! No you can't do that!" So I started telling myself that. And I still do! I don't know how to let myself just try something! And its frustrating!
This year, 2009, I am taking a stand and trying to, "Become A Better Me!" I am working hard at losing weight and I will succeed at this! I am not going to let ANYONE hold me back!
There is another story to tell about my life but this has taken up ALOT of space! So I will tell my next story another time. All of these things that I have written are true and have happened to me! And it has taught me a lesson in life! NEVER GIVE UP! KEEP ON TRYING!

Tuesday May 5, 2009

Okay, so I have not posted a blog for a LONG TIME! With so much going on I figured it was time to do so, so here I go...
Alot has happened since I last posted a blog. Robyn Christensen and I are pretty much best friends now! Which is what we both needed, a best friend! We go just about everyday to try and find a new adventure here in Germany! We have so much fun!
This month will be Drew & my 3rd wedding anniversery. We talked about it tonight and I think that we are just going to stay around town for it. We have done alot of traveling while we have been here for the short 6 months so far! Already we have been to Amsterdam, Paris, Belium, Berlin, Luxemburg, Switzerland, & Germany (of corse). Thats all that I can think of right now. I LOVE living here!!! I even got to go and tour the very house that Anne Frank went away and hid in with her family and a few others before they were taken to concentration camps! I love reading about her! She was a very strong young lady! Well besides the fact of Europe not having ANY WalMarts ANYWHERE! But we manage to get by without them. I do miss seeing people that I grew up with though. And I really miss seeing family! I call family EVERYDAY! Good thing we have free calls to the USA! And we set it up to where people with a 706 number can call us for free too! Otherwise people will just get charged with a regular long distance call.
I have lost 13 pounds since I have last posted a blog on here! I have been working HARD at losing weight! And it is finally paying off! I go with Robyn during the weekdays to a workout class here on base, it totally kicks your butt! I have heard women that are taking the class now say they have already lost like 7 pounds just from taking this class! I am glad that I found this workout class because it seemed like nothing was helping me anymore with the weight, I have even started to gain some back! I did lose 17 pounds but had already gained like 4 back! And I don't want to gain anymore so I am going to step up the working out!
I have a dog! We drove to Ramstein to get him! Which is two hours from here. The people we got him from adopted him and his brother in Tennissee but the apartment they are living in will only allow them to have one pet so he gave me his other dog. He is a Puggle... Half Pug... Half Beagle Mix. He is a beautiful dog! He is about 21 months old now. We named him Spanky. We think that he has been abused! He is very skiddish and very afraid of people, especially men! But he has been getting better about it. I take him out as often as I can so he can be around different people. He loves going outside and playing with the kids that also live on base!
Well I need to go and get ready for bed! Hopefully I will be on here sooner than 5 months the next time! lol
Take Care!
Em

Our Daytrip to Trier