Home Sweet Home

Well our vacation was wonderful. I must say I think the Caribbean is just a beautiful place to be!!! However it does feel good to be home. Of course the transition from vacation to home always takes some work. Yesterday I did three loads of laundry and went to the grocery store for a few basic items (milk, OJ, bread, etc.). I did most of the unpacking. I still have a few Christmas gifts to put away. Thankfully it's unseasonably warm here which has helped our transition. It was in the low 80's during the daytime and in the low 70's at night in the Virgin Islands. I put on my winter coat at the airport in DC only to find myself taking it off on Tuesday night when my parents picked us up as it was too warm for a winter coat! It would have been tough to go from the beach in the 80's straight to snow so I'm glad it's warmer than usual here at home (although it's cooler here than in MD). Paul just left for school, and I'll be leaving shortly. I have a meeting today at 10 and another tomorrow morning as well (tech stuff). My classes start on Monday, and Paul's start on Wednesday so it will very soon be completely back to reality!

I weighed myself this morning and was a little chagrined that I had gained 4 pounds over the last 17 days (I last weighed myself on Dec 24). But I guess I am on target as they say gaining about 5 pounds in the first trimester is good, and I'll hit the 2nd trimester in a few days. I have gained 4 pounds from when I first found out I was pregnant. Actually I had gone down and up again in between so in some ways I've gained more than 4 pounds, but if I go from when I first found out I was pregnant until now, I've gained 4 pounds. Of course I wasn't eating as healthy as usual on vacation. I don't ever eat french fries for example, but I ate lots of them on vacation. I did eat some salads and bought fruit to have each day, but I also ate cheeseburgers and such which I normally don't. Well I will keep watching my weight to make sure it's not going up too fast. I'd like not to gain more than 20 more pounds total the whole rest of the pregnancy if possible since I was already a little overweight before I got pregnant. My appetite definitely shrank over the vacation. Towards the end of the vacation I couldn't eat very much in one sitting. I would feel famished and then eat a few bites and feel full. I felt badly since we were eating out and I couldn't take a doggie bag so I was leaving quite a bit of food on my plate which felt like such a waste. But normally we don't eat out much, and now if we do I can take home the leftovers. So I won't be wasting food like I was the last few days. I'll be curious to hear what the doctor and nurse tell me on Tuesday about how much weight they think I should gain during the whole pgcy. Of course the funny thing is I can't wait to be really showing and for people to look at me and be able to tell I am pg, but I don't want to see the #'s on the scale go up, LOL!

Two other updates would be #1 I thank those of you who were praying for my nephew, Joshua, who had craniofacial surgery at Hopkins on Monday (he's 9 months old). The surgery was a success! He actually might be discharged from the hospital as soon as today. We would appreciate continued prayers for his recovery as during the next 5 weeks it is critical that he not hit his head, and of course little tykes that age are often bumping into things and taking little tumbles. So he will need to be watched VERY closely. #2 I wrote Lifetime right before our trip as we were still on their email and snail mail lists. I figured I should tell them we'd be away and give them contact info in case they are still working with us even though our contract expired Dec 7. Well our coordinator said that they were still giving out our profiles until the supply we sent them ran out. I figure at the normal pace they'll run out by the end of this month as I only sent them 15 the last time as I thought they would stop sending them out on Dec 7. So who knows. I'd still love to be matched with a baby through Lifetime or Adoption Consultants, but it would have to be ASAP. But maybe the little baby within me will be our first child, and that will be awesome of course!!! Our 3rd home study expires in early February so our adoption efforts will stop at that point for the time being anyhow. I'm not going to tell Lifetime I am pg as I am pretty sure our profiles will run out before then, but I do plan to tell Cathy so she can put our contract with Adoption Consultants on hold. Well I'd better scoot off to work! Have a great day!