So I have not been doing a great job keeping up with this blog, but I shall blame the thesis write-up and defense coming up as the culprit! :-) BUT...I promise to do a better job from now on!
So things have been very hectic. I finally wrapped up some experiments and got out of the lab long enough to finish my thesis write-up. Honestly I think I dreaded so much putting everything together that I made things harder for myself - it really wasn't THAT bad. I'm not going to say I didn't suffer though -- there was certainly suffering involved, but it was the good kind as I slowly saw I was making progress and I was moving towards my goal of finishing.
I received great feedback from one of my committee members, Dr. Goltz, who really helped me see a few things I had failed to explain thoroughly. Dr. Schrand also gave me some pointers on what can make my presentation even better, and make the experiments and the results I obtained tell a better story. I'm excited to say I will be defending my thesis this coming up Monday, 28 Feb and after that it'll all be downhill. I'll mainly have some paperwork to complete and a few other boxes to check but other than that...I will be GRADUATING on 24 March! (Can't you tell I'm a bit excited?) Overall I have really enjoyed my master's experience - not to mention that the Air Force is paying me Captain's pay to be a full time student for almost two years -- how can this deal get much sweeter? Some people have asked me if I would go back for PhD and truthfully I'm not sure at this point. I think I would love to eventually but I've also always wanted to work in healthcare too so my desires are kind of split two ways. I think it's too early to say but I'm leaving that door open for now. Besides, I may even think about going to Med or Dental school later. I would say the biggest thing at the moment is enjoying my family and our soon-to-be addition. Also, I'm really starting to enjoying my career field more in the Air Force so I may just stick to it.
So Nick left for Squadron Officer School (SOS) this past Monday. Luckily he'll only be gone for 5 weeks -- this is nothing compared to when he deployed for 7 months last year. Sometimes military life is hard, and it's especially hard when both husband and wife are active duty! Thankfully it looks like I will be teaching/managing at our school house so I've opted to not be a consultant. Running all over the US and Europe sounds great if you're single, but I want to be with my family more!
As I update the blog I can't believe I'm 18 weeks today!
Just yesterday it seemed like I was only 6 weeks and worried about EVERYTHING! I still get worried at times, but generally I know things are going to be okay with the baby. Nick has always said I read way too much, but I just want to be informed! I will have another routine check-up with my midwife next Thursday, March 3rd, and the gender ultrasound on Friday, March 4th! We're so excited to find out what this cutie will be. A few friends and my mom have speculated both girl and boy, so who knows? All we care about is a healthy baby - besides, it's not like one can choose!
Another big news to report...I have started to feel the baby! I was laying on the recliner a few nights ago, probably starting on Feb 23rd, and I felt a "tap tap" on the belly. At first I thought it was my stomach but I quickly realized that positioning was two low to be my stomach, and the movement was repetitive and I'm pretty sure something's there! Since then almost every night when I'm laying down or at the computer I've started to feel movements and it's truly awesome - and maybe a bit freaky too!
Lastly, today was a great day! I walked with our wonderful friend Mrs. Goltz and joined her and her husband and a few other friends for a delicious brunch at their home. I got to meet some very interesting people I also got a great work-out in. In fact, I'm pretty tired as I sit here. Dr. Goltz is training for the LA marathon with a few buddies so they were doing an 18 miler from Yellow Springs back to Factory Rd! Yes - they're pretty serious! So I walked with Mrs. Goltz. I walked for about 37 minutes, then started to jog. I jogged from 37 minutes right up to an hour, and finished with some more walking and stretching. I covered 4.5 miles in that hour - not too bad in my book. I'm really glad to be able to "run" again. I say "run" since I'm no longer running to train, just to keep in shape to keep me and the baby healthy. In the first I had some scares with bleeding episodes so I stopped running. I hopped on the elliptical and did yoga instead - but I missed that part of my life. So I slowly eased back into it to see if I would have any more problems - luckily it seemed to have gone away (knock-on-wood). Besides, I really can't associate the bleeding with the running, it was just something I thought could have triggered it. Nick thinks I was just too stressed, which could definitely have been what it was.
I think that's about it for now...I still have to put some finishing touches on my thesis presentation. Plus, I want to go to bed early tonight since I haven't been sleeping as well with the growing belly. I don't think most people can even tell I'm pregnant still, but if I wear something tight things have definitely changed!
I will attempt to add a new post every 2 weeks...until then I leave you my 18 week belly pic!
~Veronica
