He’s back + Thankfulness
Gotta get it in while I can
A few weeks ago, after my “call for questions” for my monthly FAQ videos, I noticed that someone asked something along the lines of “how much of your personal life do you decide to share on your blog?“
It was asked at a nearly perfect time because I knew I was going to share on the blog something that has been going on for the past 5 months that I haven’t mentioned.
I’m particularly thankful on this holiday because my husband is home!
His car had never parked in our driveway until the day he moved home.
For the past 5 months, he has been living in Pennsylvania. He had a commitment to fulfill for the company that he works for. We knew he would have to do this, and knew it would be July-December of this year.
So that made my getting pregnant pretty interesting. Again, that was such a gift and so obviously God’s timing that it didn’t throw us off too much.
And the company Justin works for was kind enough to let him wrap up his time in Pennsylvania a little early to be home at Thanksgiving instead of mid-december. I did sort of want him present for the birth of our child, you know?
Anyway, I didn’t mention this on the blog or any social media channels for one main reason: safety. In all likelihood, the worst thing that would probably happen if someone found my address is that they would show up in my yard and demand a haircut.
But you never know if there are people reading your blog that would do worse things. There’s a fine line between living in fear and protecting yourself, but I think it’s pretty obvious not to broadcast when you are home alone for 5 months.
As a short answer to that question posed by a reader: I think of safety first, and decide from there. And I’d recommend you do the same if you are a blogger.
In general, his time away went pretty fast. We bought a house, so that prompted him to come home nearly every weekend in August and September. The longest “stint” of not seeing him was for 3 weeks in October.
One of the only times where I really had an emotional meltdown about him being gone was at 3:30a one morning.
I had gotten up, ripping with hunger, and went downstairs to eat a bowl of cereal. Then, I got back in bed, snuggling the Bump Nest and just about the time I was drifting off to sleep I heard a faint chirp come from another room in my house.
NO.
NO.
That is not the smoke alarm battery dying. That was a dream.
So I convinced myself it was, and kept on burrowing into the pillow.
And again, it chirped.
Awesome. Why, WHY does this only happen in the middle of the night?
So, I grab a 9v battery, a ladder, and began the challenge of figuring out which smoke alarm it was. I stood below each alarm and waited for the chirp. The cats were watching from a distance. On the third try, I located the chirper and climbed up to take the battery out. Simple, right?
So the dead battery slips out with ease, and I go to place the new battery in, but the door to the alarm won’t close with the new battery.
So it keeps chirping. A deafeningly loud chirp right in my ear like it’s antagonizing me.
And with each passing second, I can feel my body temperature increasing, and I’m muttering, “stupid husband isn’t here. this is stupid. stupid. . . .”
After a good 5 minutes, A REAL 5 MINUTES, the tears start and I’m literally yelling at the smoke alarm.
“SHUT. SHUT YOURSELF. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM. SHUT.”
I thought about calling Justin just to cry to him about it and then I realized, “what the heck will he be able to do? He can’t exactly walk me through it–he has never officially lived in this house to know how this thing works.”
By the grace of God alone, I managed to press that battery in hard enough to jam the door closed.
I contained my excitement as I waited for time to pass without a chirp.
I stood, 33 weeks pregnant, on a ladder, tears streaming down my face, listening for another chirp.
And it never came. I could have kissed the thing.
I returned to bed, dried my eyes, and fell asleep.
To say I overreacted a little bit would be an understatement. But hey, I’m pregnant and emotional. I’m allowed one breakdown, right?
And the company Justin works for was kind enough to let him wrap up his time in Pennsylvania a little early to be home at Thanksgiving instead of mid-december. I did sort of want him present for the birth of our child, you know?
Anyway, I didn’t mention this on the blog or any social media channels for one main reason: safety. In all likelihood, the worst thing that would probably happen if someone found my address is that they would show up in my yard and demand a haircut.
But you never know if there are people reading your blog that would do worse things. There’s a fine line between living in fear and protecting yourself, but I think it’s pretty obvious not to broadcast when you are home alone for 5 months.
As a short answer to that question posed by a reader: I think of safety first, and decide from there. And I’d recommend you do the same if you are a blogger.
In general, his time away went pretty fast. We bought a house, so that prompted him to come home nearly every weekend in August and September. The longest “stint” of not seeing him was for 3 weeks in October.
One of the only times where I really had an emotional meltdown about him being gone was at 3:30a one morning.
I had gotten up, ripping with hunger, and went downstairs to eat a bowl of cereal. Then, I got back in bed, snuggling the Bump Nest and just about the time I was drifting off to sleep I heard a faint chirp come from another room in my house.
NO.
NO.
That is not the smoke alarm battery dying. That was a dream.
So I convinced myself it was, and kept on burrowing into the pillow.
And again, it chirped.
Awesome. Why, WHY does this only happen in the middle of the night?
So, I grab a 9v battery, a ladder, and began the challenge of figuring out which smoke alarm it was. I stood below each alarm and waited for the chirp. The cats were watching from a distance. On the third try, I located the chirper and climbed up to take the battery out. Simple, right?
So the dead battery slips out with ease, and I go to place the new battery in, but the door to the alarm won’t close with the new battery.
So it keeps chirping. A deafeningly loud chirp right in my ear like it’s antagonizing me.
And with each passing second, I can feel my body temperature increasing, and I’m muttering, “stupid husband isn’t here. this is stupid. stupid. . . .”
After a good 5 minutes, A REAL 5 MINUTES, the tears start and I’m literally yelling at the smoke alarm.
“SHUT. SHUT YOURSELF. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM. SHUT.”
I thought about calling Justin just to cry to him about it and then I realized, “what the heck will he be able to do? He can’t exactly walk me through it–he has never officially lived in this house to know how this thing works.”
By the grace of God alone, I managed to press that battery in hard enough to jam the door closed.
I contained my excitement as I waited for time to pass without a chirp.
I stood, 33 weeks pregnant, on a ladder, tears streaming down my face, listening for another chirp.
And it never came. I could have kissed the thing.
I returned to bed, dried my eyes, and fell asleep.
To say I overreacted a little bit would be an understatement. But hey, I’m pregnant and emotional. I’m allowed one breakdown, right?
Anyway, once we were getting near the end, around the beginning of this month, I would just hope that I wouldn’t go into labor early. Thankfully I didn’t. And now that he’s here, that can pretty much happen when it wants to (although we are fairly certain about when he will arrive. . . more on that next week).
So I’m thankful. Thankful that he’s home and thankful that he won’t have to leave for 5-6 months again, probably ever.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
comments
Enjoy your holiday and your husband now that he is all yours again! I feel your pain with the smoke alarm…mine did the same thing at 2 am one morning and realized after listening for where the sound was coming from that it actually was my CO2 detector…makes the same chirping sound…UGH!!
Yup, they always go off at night, but at least it proves they work! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours (including the bump!) from Paula in Nottingham, England xxx
So happy for you two! Enjoy your Thanksgiving with family & friends!
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Enjoy having your hubby home, I don’t know how you did it, must if been SO hard. And hope you both enjoy your little one very soon 🙂 xxx
Awww I’m glad your hubby is home. 🙂 Being apart for work is just plain no fun. Have a great Thanksgiving!
I’m with ya on the security thing. I’m naturally a very private person so it’s easy for me to decide what not to put on the internet. Basically I hold my privacy and the privacy of my marriage sacred over social media.
Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your last days of pregnancy, sleep a lot and relax because in a few days you will only have time to sleep when your little fella decides so…! Have a happy day! From Núria in Spain!
OK first I had to laugh at the smoke detector thing because once when my husband was out of town I had that happen, except instead of chirping it fully went off. So there I was, naked as a jaybird, first with a broom stick then on a ladder trying to shut that stupid thing up in the middle of the night, cursing every step of the way. Second, I am so glad he is home! My husband got to come home yesterday after being gone for 3 weeks, and I am so thankful.
I am the same way- I never even say when my husband is out for a little while, ha ha. Maybe irrational but probably rational 🙂 I’m impressed that you managed this separation while pregnant with only one breakdown. I wouldn’t even call that an over reaction… it’s 3 am and your smoke alarm is going off. I’d be upset about that even if my husband was home, lol.
Happy Thanksgiving! So glad your husband is home for the holidays and the birth of your first child. Treasure every second 🙂
P.S. I overreact every time I’m home alone at every.single.noise 😛
So happy that he is back home, have a lovely Thanksgiving!!!
xo,
Sincerely Miss Ash
How did you do it? My husband was gone for only 10 days at one time and that was the longest 10 days ever and could not get myself to stay at my own house alone. I’m glad he’s home early. Happy Thanksgiving to you both! Every time I hear u talk about god it puts a smile on my face knowing how faithful you are. I love that. Your a good example.
I know you’re glad he’s home. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOUR HUBBY AND YOUR BABY.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all from London!
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Happy Thanksgiving! What a blessing to have him home 🙂 I hope y’all have a wonderful day and weeks to come!
Happy Thanksgiving! And I would totally be crying about that smoke alarm, too 😛
Happy thanksgiving! I had a minor run-in with a spider in the shower this morning… talk about freaking out! Glad you have your man back too.
Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Awww…I know exactly how you feel. There have been times when my husband had to be away for work for a few months and it NEVER failed….something happened when he was gone. Either the smoke detector, or the sump pump or something. And I would end up crying too!
I feel your pain with the smoke detector! Glad your husband is back home in time for Thanksgiving and the baby! Happy Thanksgiving!
That reminds me of the Friends episode with Phoebe’s fire alarm 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving! And don’t feel badly- I’m not pregnant and I would probably cry over a chirping smoke detector at 3am by myself too.
Is the baby still breech? I’m assuming they’ve scheduled a c-section for you…it happened for me as well and it isn’t so bad. A healthy little one is the most important thing. Prayers for you and baby! Best wishes.
My husband is a firefighter and works 24 hour shiftf. It’s always those nights something goes wrong at the house and want to call him hit always think, what the heck is he gonna do from there!! But stl, the first thought is always call the husband! 🙈
Happy thanksgiving! I’m so glad your husband is home. My husband had to be away a lot at the end of my pregnancy for our son and it was so difficult. I definitely had more than one meltdown! I was so worried he’d be away when I went into labour so I’m very glad for you that your man is back!
Lots of love from Abu Dhabi!
So happy for you!! When I was VERY pregnant (I don’t remember how far along), my husband and I went grocery shopping and I HAD to have one of those frozen turtle pies… YUMM!! Well somehow I managed to only eat half of it and went to get the leftovers out of the fridge the next day and it flipped out of my hands and landed FACE DOWN on the floor. I literally sat down and stared at it for a good 60 seconds and then started crying. My husband didn’t know what to do… that is my most embarrassing
emotional/pregnant story!!
I’m sorry, I don’t even know you…but this story made me laugh out loud…LOL! I’m sure your pain was real at the time and I acknowledge that but oh my soul, what a great story. 🙂 I’d probably do the same thing and I am not pregnant!
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This literally happened to me a few months ago! I was about 28 weeks along, my husband was away for the weekend, and the smoke detector actually WENT OFF late at night because of a dead battery. I’m not sure it ever did that warning chirp. I had been asleep about an hour when it went off, and I had to figure out how to put a new battery in, etc. I actually called my mother (I knew she’d be up – she’s a night owl) for a sympathetic ear and to have someone talk me out of the rising panic. Thank goodness you had a 9v on hand!! WHY is it ALWAYS nighttime when they go off? Every. time.
Oh dear!!! I have been having such a difficult time myself…we got pregnant in June in the middle of hubby working 3 1/2 hrs away from home. He was able to come home for weekends but it”s just not ENOUGH. I am so so so so tired of it. This month he has finally been home but expects to be at another job about the same distance away starting in January and our baby is due middle of February. I cannot explain the irrational fear I have of being completely alone when I go into labor and he being 3 1/2 hours away as he has already promised he can be home for that month but it terrifies me and I randomly sob sometimes at the mere thought of him leaving again. I’m so glad your husband is home in time!!
OMG!! On the positive side, better before the baby is here…but girl…that’s stressful! I’d hate that situation, and I’m glad it’s over for you both!
Hope you had a good holiday!
OMG that has so happened to me!!! Except we had zero 9V batteries. So I go to walMart at 1am. I get home and the same thing happened to me, could NOT get the door shut for at least 15 min. It was awful. WHY do smoke alarms only die in the wee hours of the night is the question.
Kate, Are we going to get to see the finished nursery pictures? So excited about your little one arriving within the next month!
Oh how do I know that same moment when you are home alone and the smoke alarm is chirping. Drives me nuts because it always happens when my husband travels. I get it. Happy your hubby is home and the chirping has stopped! 🙂
This same exact thing happened to me when my boyfriend was out of town. I lived in an apartment complex so I called the 24-hour maintenance line where a helpful gentleman advised me to rip the detector from the ceiling, severing the wires, etc. The detector came flying down from the ceiling, as did I from the top of a stool. Glad to hear your detector battle worked out better than mine!
Awww I’m so happy you have your hubby back! I live in PA, and i really like it here, but I wouldn’t live my husband being stuck up here for work if i was a few states a way!!! Glad you are back together in time for the holidays!
Why don’t they make a snooze button for those things?! I get the safety concern but can I get a one-time, 4-6 hour snooze since they ALWAYS go off in the middle of the night? I would cry too and I’m not even pregnant!
I hate those things. And kudos to you for going 6 months not living with your hubby. Mine drives me crazy but I couldn’t do it!
happy for you you’re hubby is back
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