Oops... [34 weeks]

Things these past few weekends have been quite hectic, as I may have mentioned in the last post.  Nic is currently at Lackland AFB in San Antonio for the Nurse Transition Program, and I've been going to see him pretty much every chance I've gotten.  San Antonio is only about 6 hours away, and the drive is actually quite scenic (at least during the half closest to San Antonio).  The first time I drove all the way by myself was particularly eventful.  I was embarrassed and shameful to talk about it at the time, but it could really happen to anyone, so I'm ready to write about it now.

It was toward the beginning of this month, I was leaving on a Thursday afternoon since we had Good Friday off from school.  I was hoping to hit the road around 4:45, but I had a doctor's appt at 4:15 and they happened to be running behind (not usually the case), so it was shortly after 5 by the time I hit the highway.

Things were going really well there for quite a while.  I was stopping to use the restroom when I felt like I needed; I was jamming to my jams, talking [using hands free] to my peeps...  I was really focused on the directions Nic had given me.  I knew that coming up very shortly would be a highway change.  It wasn't just a highway change; it was the change that basically meant I was getting really close and it wouldn't be too much longer until I got to him.  By this time, I'd been driving for over 4 hours and I felt good!  I was almost to my man, and we'd be spending the WHOLE WEEKEND together!  Shortly after I made the highway switch, a little light came on... ya... the GAS LIGHT.  But no biggie... Nic and I had been (unfortunately) in the habit of letting that happen in the past (in the city though, not on road trips), so I knew that I could drive a while and get to a gas station.  As the light caught my eye, I took notice that I was passing a gas station, but I wasn't too concerned; I knew I had quite a while before I ran out.  Right?  Wrong.  I'm sure as smart as you are, you've already figured out that I ran out of gas.  Seriously, I went over 40 miles with NO GAS STATIONS.  WHAT KIND OF HIGHWAY PLANNER DOES THAT?  Anyway, the speed limit was a whopping 80 mph, so my 1st concern was just getting off the highway before someone plowed me from behind.  So I got off the highway very quickly, and then realized I should have gotten even further off the highway.  I'm feelin' pretty nervous about how close I am to the white line (I had about 3 or so feet between me and the line), but of course I can't move since I have no gas.

I call Nic to come rescue me (which he was very sweet about, considering I was more than an hour from him) and he advises me to stay in the car.  The last thing he wanted was his little pregnant wife to be standing on the side of the highway in the dark.  So I stay in my car, all the while it's rocking as semi's are passing and I'm thinking,  man... I'm pretty freakin' close to the road; PLEASE GOD KEEP ME SAFE!!!  I called my parents to update them (since I would not be arriving at my ETA).  (Anyone else STILL have to call their parents on long road trips? Yes, I think it's a little silly, too, but to them I'm still small I guess.  Even though I'm 27.)  Being on the phone with my parents was just bad timing, because I think the following event would have been less dramatic if I were just able to tell them about it.  But we happened to be on the phone when this happened:  a semi came so close to me it knocked of my driver side mirror.  I mean GONE; pieces in the road.  Of course it scared the bejeezus out of me so I screamed, and my parents probably thought I'd been hit in a much more major way.  Of course it wasn't that bad... but it's scary to think how darn close I kind of came to it!  Just a few more feet over and that would have been it for me and little Audra.  But God obviously has other plans.

So my parents insisted that I call 911 and get a policeman out there so the flashing lights could help with visibility.  I'm not sure why I didn't think of that before.  So I called, and they came, and Nic finally came and gave me some gas and we were on our way to finally arrive in San Antonio for bed around 1:30.

The rest of the weekend I was quite shaken by the whole ordeal.  Just, you know, frazzled from a semi being feet away from taking my life.  And with the whole broken mirror thing came the fact that I got to drive all over San Antonio (a quite large and unfamiliar city to me) to get my mirror replaced (you know, since I don't want to drive 6 hours back home without a mirror).  But in the end, the mirror was fixed, I was with Nic, I was fine, Audra was fine and we were able to just count our blessings that it wasn't worse.

I really feel like the worst part of it all is how incapable it made me seem.  I have never NEVER run out of gas in my entire life!  Between Nic and I, I'm always the one to say that we need to get gas.  I like to think of myself as pretty responsible, confident and capable of doing what I want and need to do.   Which is why running out of gas on the side of the highway and then stopping close to the white line seems like such an idiot thing to do.  Of course, the rest of the weekend my parents and Nic's parents are calling to check on me (particularly on the drive home) and are asking about my gas levels and how everything was working, etc.  I felt the need to iterate to all who were concerned that it was just a really REALLY dumb thing that happened.  Because dumb things of that magnitude aren't so typical of me.  Now dumb things of a smaller magnitude (like losing my keys in my own classroom or forgetting whether I printed something so I print it 4 times) I am more than fine with owning up to.  But that time... that was just embarrassing.  SO, moral of the story:  pay attention to your gas, and even smart people run out of gas.  And it doesn't make you less smart or less capable if you DO run out of gas; it just makes you feel dumb. 

So it was a big, sincere "ooops" moment.   Glad things are finally getting back to normal.  :-)


A QUICK UPDATE:
How far along: 34 weeks

How big is baby: weighs about 4.75 lbs. now (about as much as a cantaloupe)!

Sleep:  I wake up 1-2 times a night to use the bathroom, but many more from discomfort.  My hips are the main problem; they fall asleep and seem to stay asleep, even after I've taken the pressure off.  Grrrr!

Movement:  She's quite the little mover!  The kids can even see my belly move when I'm teaching in front of the class, which is kind of funny.  I had read about baby hiccups, but hadn't experienced them  until these last few weeks.  Now I feel like she gets them almost daily.  I can tell they're hiccups because she doesn't really move all that much if I try to feel her except when I feel her hiccup.  It feels just like a little bump, very rhythmic and constant.  I was surprised at how quick they are.  I'd say she hiccups once every 5-10 seconds.  I feel like as a grown human, I hiccup once every 20-30 seconds.  It's fun to feel her move.  I'm loving this part!

Belly-button:  Still an innie that's squishy feeling- what I would think an outtie would feel like.  Someday I'll take a picture and post it, but not today.

Exercise: Only 2 times last week, but 3 times the week before and this week will be 3 or 4 as well.  I'm still doing crossfitmom (from crossfitmom.com) and am now doing the "Beginner" workouts so I'm sure to give little Audra enough of what she needs to keep growing and moving.

What I'm loving:  The countdown!  The movements!  That most people are SO nice to pregnant ladies!  I feel like I'm getting waited on hand and food quite often; but I'm not so used to that.  It still feels kind of awkward to me to just have people doing all these things for me.  But I'll take it!

What I'm NOT loving:  That things are seriously getting a bit hard around here.  Even just sitting.  My stomach kind of rests on my legs, which is not comfortable for breathing.  But I don't want to be nasty and spread my legs to let my stomach hang through... (sigh) Standing, particularly standing still, and also walking-- especially in heat-- are all pretty difficult.
     I'm also not loving all the sweets I'm craving.  I've never been a sweets fanatic till Audra and now I just can't get enough.  Anyone who knows me well knows I have a thing about teeth, and I always want my teeth to feel clean... and all of these sweets just make my mouth feel pretty gross.  I hope this trend goes away after birth. 

What I miss:  Life as I knew it:  1) working out like I mean it, 2) eating hot dogs whenever I want, 3) bending over comfortably, 4) sitting comfortably, 5) filling my lungs all the way up when I breath, 6) recognizing the body in the mirror, 7) laying out without concern of overheating the baby and concern for strange tan/burns due to pregnancy-related skin sensitivity, 8) iced tea without worries... 
I think that may be it for now.  ;-)




As always, thanks for reading!  Please let me know if you did so I know to keep up with these things!  Love you all, and hope you're well!