T-55

I got a call from the husband today, which was awesome. It is always such a wonderful blessing to hear his voice.

The good news:

• His bronchitis is cleared up (they caught it early, thank God)
• His platoon won Final Drill
• He got his orders

The bad news:

• His orders are complete bull.

Let me elaborate:
We have been being told, for three months, that Danny would find out on t-55 what job school he would be going to and for how long. He enlisted with a contract for Communications, but not for a specific job within that MOS. So we were expecting to get his specific information yesterday.

No Dice!

He called me and told me that the only information he had recieved was what he already knew. Just where and when he was supposed to report after his 10 days of leave.
So I was pretty upset and started bawling. I am not usually a crier, but the pregnancy horomones make me a little irrational. I was just so broken because I hate being in the dark. No one tells me anything and I just want to know where we are going after this.

I really need to work on not being a control freak. Granted, a baby wasn't in the picture when he enlisted, but we did sign for this, literally. When the husband approached me about joining the Marines, he told me that "hurry up and wait" would be the lifestyle. I guess I just didn't fully grasp what that meant.

I am not in control....
I am not in control....
I am not in control....
I am not in control....

Anyways, I called and talked to the recruiter and he explained that in the Communications MOS, everyone goes to the same school for 6 weeks, but could be placed in advanced classed for different jobs, depending on test scores. The way that I understood it was that the husband will be given apptitude tests in the first couple of weeks, and depending on how well he does, will be placed in his specialized Communications Job. However, the school for communications school will be 8 weeks at the max because a lot of the field is on-the-job learning. So the school is short, and they learn their jobs mostly at their PDS. Confusing, I know!

So- Communications Job School= 6-8 weeks.

I guess that isn't so bad. Not as bad as it could be. And I do believe that students get phone privleges, so it wont be as bad as Bootcamp, in terms of separation.

As an aside, if you have  no idea what T-55 is, refer to this website for a detailed training matrix for San Diego. It will let you know what your recruit SHOULD be doing everyday. Training can get delayed a couple of days for various reasons, but they usually get back on track.

http://www.usmcgradsandiego.org/links/trainingMatrix.php

Don't forget OPSEC. DO NOT post specific dates on your facebook, twitter, etc. If you know for a fact that your recruit is moving to CP on a certain date, resist the temptation, and dont share online.

Birth Class Drama

Last night was my second birth class at my local hospital. I am not a huge fan of the teacher; she is all over the place and can't seem to stay on track. Drives me crazy!

Since Danny is gone to San Diego, and might very well miss the delivery, my mother has been coming with me to the classes. Its nice of her to go, but she isn't very helpful. Not on purpose, but she and I dont really get along. Her personality grates on mine and she despises everything that I do in my life. Were both pretty judgemental. But thats the oldest mother/daughters story in history.

Anyway, the class started and the teacher immedietly said "So husbands, did your wife do her exercises this last week."

It felt like a giant slap in the face. It hurt so bad that I teared up. But I bucked up and made myself smile hard. The teacher asked more questions for about ten minutes then we moved on to watching a couple of birth videos. *spoiler: its gross.*

Both videos were of happy young couples getting through the delivery together with the husband offering massages, water, etc. It made me pretty sad. These women get their husbands and I am going to be stuck with my mother who has no idea how to support me. In the delivery room, she is probably going to be lecturing me and saying that this was my fault for not being on birth control.

 (Yeah, thats her favorite thing to say since I got pregnant. Mom, why would you bother with birth control if the doctor told you that you were very unlikely to get pregnant? My mother has been very unsupportive. At this point, I think I want to be in the delivery room alone.)

Finally we got the end of the class, and I was on the edge, but still keeping it together. That was when the teacher started talking about the patterned breathing. For some reason, THAT set me off. I started crying and said "Mom, we have to go." Of all the things that could have made me cry and miss my husband, its the breathing. Explain that one to me...

So we get up and leave in silence. It was pretty awful. I was crying the whole way home.

That didn't stop my mom from lecturing me about how my negative feelings are going to impact the baby, which I know is true. Its not like I have a solution though. I can't force myself to stop being sad. She, like so many people, just don't get it. The longest she has ever been seperated from her husband is about three days. She expects me to just get over it.

I usually am pretty in control of my feelings. I miss my husband all of th time, but I am still functioning. I think I am entitled to some rough patches though. For Gods Sake, I am 30 weeks pregnant. Its a tough situation. Get off my back for crying once in a while.

Ugh, I wish I had another option besides my mom. But if I choose someone besides her to be my "birthing coach" she will never forgive me and spend the rest of her life guilt tripping me about it. I hope my son doesn't dislike me this much.