It's the end of the world as we know it...

The past few days here in Okinawa have been what I would call disaster centric. Yesterday at 5:30 am we were shaken awake by a 7.0 earthquake and today we were evacuated for a tsunami caused by another earthquake half way across the world. I suppose if either of these disasters were to have happened anywhere but here there probably would have been widespread panic and looting. But here in Okinawa it was business as usual. There has been no reported structural damage from the earthquake. I've never been in an earthquake so strong, yet nothing was disturbed in our house. The only thing to fall was Gabriella's toothpaste into the sink, and that could have happened without the earthquake. In fact while Greg and I were finding doorways to stand in, Gabriella was fast asleep in her bed. She never fully woke up. I stood in her doorway holding on to her bed and keeping an eye on her in case she needed to be rescued. When I woke her up for ballet later in the morning she told me that daddy had shaken her bed to try to wake her up. When I informed her that it was an earthquake she seemed suspicious but eventually let daddy off the hook for the early wake up shake.

The tsunami warning came this morning after Chile's earthquake. The warning was issued at 10 am for a possible tsunami at 3:10 pm. I thought the precise time given was a rather nice touch. The base wide announcement also told us to listen to AFN radio for updated information. Well no further information was given until 1:30 or so when the alert was sent out that people needed to evacuate from low lying areas of the base, specifically those living below the 30 foot level. So those living in the Old Lester housing area were mandated to evacuate. We were planning to barbeque brawts for lunch and of course we didn't have any rolls, so I ran out to the grocery store to get some. Before I left the base I was aware of the possibility of evacuation but in all honesty I didn't think it was a high possibility. Our house is located 37 feet above sea level so I assumed we'd be ok. I got back from my leisurely trip to the Kadena commissary and JA market and was welcomed in the gate without any indication that a massive base wide evacuation was underway. When I turned the corner into our housing area there were about 20 marines hurrying door to door announcing the evacuation. Everyone was advised to get to higher ground on either Camp Foster or Camp Butler. I informed Greg of the impending evacuation and we piled into the car and headed up the hill to the highest housing on Camp Lester. There we sat outside enjoying the beautiful view and watching for the tsunami. We did see a few waves in the harbor but none seemed to be any larger than normal. Finally 2 hours after the evacuation order was given we returned home, an hour later the all clear was given. We celebrated our tsunami survival by having an impromptu bbq at our house inviting our friends to come over. This weekend was seismically crazy but we survived. I hope next weekend isn't this exciting.

I have to go potty

Those are probably the most feared words in the english language for a parent. I heard those very words yesterday evening while Gabriella and I were walking home in a torrential rain storm. Here is how the evening went down. We went out to dinner at our favorite sushi go round followed by dessert at Yogurtland. The food and frozen yogurt really hit the spot. It was raining steadily as we left American Village for our quick walk home. We dropped Greg off at I's his favorite local watering hole and then walked towards home. We'd gotten inside the gate and were walking in front of the hospital heading towards our home when those dreaded words came out of Gabriella's mouth. I had just received a call from Rachel asking if we wanted her to pick us up. I said we were almost home and would be fine. My first thought was to turn around and head into the hospital but then I remembered that there are bathrooms inside the post office. I hurried up the sidewalk towards the post office. As we walked through the door Gabriella was already in dire straits, she clearly needed to go. We checked the door to the woman's bathroom and it was locked, Gabriella immediately suggested the men's bathroom but again the door was locked. When I delivered the bad news I thought that Gabriella was going to burst into tears. The only thing to do was to do our best to make it to our house. We started walking as quickly as possible through the pouring rain towards our house. As the house came into sight Gabriella was practically crying while I pulled her along towards home. Making it to the door I got the key in the lock and pried the door open. The moment the door swung open Gabriella bolted into the house and into the bathroom. She made it with probably just seconds to spare before she had an accident. We were soaking wet when we got home so we stripped out of our wet clothes, tossed them in the washer and headed upstairs for hot shower and warm jammys.

Pretty Pretty Princess

Okinawa is not only home to great snorkeling and water activities but also to musical theatre. On Thursday, Gabriella and I decided to take in a play. It was the children's musical version of Disney's Cinderella. We met our friends for an early dinner at Macaroni Grill before we headed over to our night of culture. Dinner was delicious, I splurged and had a Shirley Temple to drink. Although by the time I got to the actual performance I kind of wished I had been able to have something stronger. It was a cute show, all the performers were children and they did a very good job. The girl who played Cinderella had a lovely singing voice and the mice were quite cute even though they had me wondering if they had all sucked on some helium to get their voices so high or if it was natural. All and all the performance was cute and blessedly short, only one hour with a 10 minute intermission in the middle. On the way home I asked Gabriella what her favorite part of the evening was and her answer was having dinner with her friends. I must say that was my favorite part too.

Post Boot Camp Exercise and Diet

Learning to keep on top of my exercise without boot camp has been a challenge. I'm trying to balance getting as much rest as possible while still doing some sort of exercise each day. Lucky for me my base gym offers Zumba two times a week. Although it's no where near has tough as Cardio Funk it definitely gets my heart pumping and my body moving. The music makes me want to shake my money maker and the moves remind me of learning dance moves for flags. I try to stay away from all the jumping which isn't recommended for pregnancy. The good thing about Zumba is that you are able to make it as hard or as easy as you want. If you don't want to put your hands all the way up you don't have to. But the key to a good cardio workout, I've been told, is to work your arms. The harder you work on moving your arms the more your heart pumps and the more parts of your body are working. I always end Zumba hot, sweaty and completely happy with my workout. I hope the twins are enjoying all the dancing and music, I'm sure in time they will be able to tell me.

By the way it's 13 weeks today, the first trimester is over and the second is beginning. I wonder if the sickness will start to fade or will the cravings. Supposedly I'm suppose to be starting to get my baby bump, but I can't really see it. I probably have trouble seeing it because all my clothes are still big on me. I don't have a scale here at home so I have no idea if I've continued to loose weight. I know I've done my best to keep my diet as healthy as possible while adding in the 600 extra calories I need everyday. My favorite 600 calorie addition is an Avocado with salt, pepper, lime and tabasco sauce. The one thing I haven't been able to get enough of is fiber, but I'm working on it.

Cravings

There is nothing worse than seeing a commercial for a restaurant that we don't have on this island. It's like those poor people in San Diego who have to watch Sonic commercials yet there is no Sonic in SD. I have to watch Sonic commercials here and there isn't one for 3000 miles. Now that I'm pregnant I've been having the weirdest cravings. They are all salt based, I haven't really had a desire for anything sweet. That being said I have eaten a few brownies in the past few weeks. My main kick right now is tomatoes. I love freshly sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper or tomato juice. Today I made myself a delicious fresh yellow and red grape tomato salad with cucumber, feta cheese and homemade balsamic dressing. Tomatoes are good for me, they are full of Vitamin A which I'm sure will help the babies develop good eyesight. However, eating too many can also be harmful. I just learned that too much Vitamin A can make a person photo sensative. Which could explain the sunburn I'm currently sporting. Greg has asked me to cut back and I will try. I did eat 8 roma tomatoes yesterday and that was probably a bit much. Today I only had one pint of the grape tomatoes and one glass of tomato juice. I suppose I can always go back to eating lemons with salt, that's another craving I've been having. But eating that is bad for the enamel on my teeth. I guess I will just have to eat my cravings in moderation. I'm only 13 weeks along so I'm sure there will be a lot more of these intense desires for specific foods before these babies are born. Hopefully it won't involve wanting something from Sonic.

Olympic Fervor

As some of you know Greg absolutely loves the Olympics and he is dedicated to seeing as much of them as possible. When the Beijing Olympics happened a few years ago Greg filled up all 40 hours on our Tivo with various events. This time around we have no Tivo and Greg is forced to get up at 3 am to watch his beloved games. For some reason curling and hockey are what he's watching between 3 and 5 am, then there are some heartwarming stories which he catnaps during before watching some skiing before heading off to work. Thank goodness these Olympics are only 16 days long because I'm fairly sure Greg is going to collapse from exhaustion soon. I love the Olympics, but I lack the insane dedication that Greg has. I'm not getting up that early to watch anything, only to go work out. Hmm, I wonder who the insane one is now. Gabriella has proved that she is just as interested in international sports as Greg is. However, her interest is more in the trying of new sports than watching them on TV. Her favorite sport is speed skating, she's been begging us to take her ice skating so she can try it out. She also really enjoyed watching the luge and skeleton. In fact yesterday while she and Greg were out at a park she wound herself up like she was on the luge before flinging herself down the roller slide. The photo above is of her on the "luge track".

Take me out to the ball game

Saturday we headed out into Chatan to partake in a very popular activity here in Japan, a baseball game. The game was the Chunichi Dragons versus the Yaukult Swallows. The baseball stadium was just outside our gate so we walked to the game. It was great to feel the fresh air and get a little exercise at the same time. Gabriella took the oportunity to take a photo with the Dragon's mascot Doala the Koala. The Dragon's use a similar font to the Dodgers so it was almost like we were at a baseball game at home. Of course there were no peanuts or crackerjacks, but they did have hot dogs and beer. Greg had the beer and I had a corn dog. Before the game started the team captains were presented with huge bouquets of flowers from the city of Chatan. There were two mascots on the field, the koala and a tomato/apple girl. They entertained the crowd with flips, cute little waves and skits before the game began. The game started promptly at 1 pm and went until after 4. It ended in a tie, they don't go to extra innings because the teams are in spring training. Both teams are from mainland Japan and will return to the mainland once the season begins. I must say that the food served at this game was like nothing I've ever seen at a in the states they served soba noodles, takoyaki (octopus balls), and yakitori (skewered chicken). They did have a few sweet snacks like carmel corn and cotton candy, but we chose to wait for our sweet treat until after the game. On the way home we stopped at Blue Seal for ice cream. We picked a good day because it was buy one scoop get a second for free. Both Greg and Gabriella got two big scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone while I had some cream of spinach soup. It was a great day out and the rain held off so we could enjoy a little bit of sun.

It's over...

Well my turn at boot camp has officially come to an end. I will be packing up my little pink alarm clock for the time being. No more 4:07 beeping to disturb Greg's sleep or mine. I must say it's almost bittersweet. Of course I'm looking forward to more rest and hopefully more energy during the day. But, this rollercoaster of exercise has kept me and my diet on track. It's rather daunting to continue this pregnancy without my food journal constantly being checked or my body fat being measured at every 4 weeks. But I'm sure I'll be able to stay healthy. The good habits have been cultivated over the last 5 and a 1/2 months and I'm not too worried I'll forget them. Even when I make somewhat unhealthy choices I know what it means, I know the fat it will add to my body. But sometimes a brownie is worth it. In a previous post I told you all the vital statistics of the weight I've lost, in this one I want to show some visual proof of how different I look. Obviously the before picture is on the left, it was actually taken a few days before we moved to Okinawa. The picture on the right was taken on our trip to Taiwan in mid January. I think it shows a dramatic difference in body mass and although I'm certainly happy in both but I can tell you I definitely feel better about my body in the picture on the right. I'm sure in future blogs you will see more pictures, probably with a growing belly but hopefully not a fattening face.

Short Circuitry

Today was my last day of class at boot camp, I will run tomorrow but that could be cancelled due to rain. As a special treat on my last day we did a brutal circuit with stairs thrown in for fun. It truly was horrendous, I can't remember the last time I've sweated so much or felt so exhausted after a workout. But I finished it and I'm proud of that accomplishment. This amazing boot camp experience has come to a close, now that I'm pregnant with twins I need more rest and I can't seem to get that getting up everyday at 4 am. I will of course continue to work out the only difference is that I will do it later in the day while Gabriella is at school.

This 22 weeks of boot camp has been a life changing experience. I've lost 34 pounds and 14% body fat but those are just numbers. The real change has been far greater. Firstly I feel much better about myself and I've trained myself to eat better and to appreciate the feeling I get when I exercise. Secondly, when I started this boot camp I was depressed and not sleeping without the aid of sleeping pills. Now I take nothing and haven't for quite a while. Thirdly, I'm pregnant. We've been trying to have a baby for 2 years and until I lost some weight and started eating better we'd been failing at it. I'm able to keep up with Gabriella a lot better these days, I'm able to run with her although she still goes faster. Greg and I go out to explore the island and I'm able to go up stairs without feeling like I'm having a heart attack. Greg and Gabriella have been so supportive through this whole process. Eating the different foods that are on my diet or coming with me to classes or just praising my accomplishments and giving me encouragement. As I step away from boot camp I'm confident that I've learned enough skills to keep me healthy for the rest of my life.

Twin Power Activate

Today started my last week of boot camp. I dreaded telling John that I was cutting out a few weeks early but the truth is that I'm exhausted. I need to get more sleep and one way to do that is to stop getting up at 4:15am 5 days a week. I'm still planning to exercise 5 days a week, the only difference is I'll be motivating myself and doing it later in the day. I still plan to go to Zumba twice a week and then spend the rest of the week days going to the gym while Gabriella is at school. I'm hoping the extra rest will help me overcome the exhaustion that has plagued me since this pregnancy began. As I write this it's almost 7 at night and I'm still in my pajamas. I was too tired to leave the house today even too tired to get dressed. Gabriella was a real trooper today she didn't even complain about being cooped up the house all day, it probably helped that it was raining on and off all day. This morning at boot camp we did circuits again and those always wear me out. In between these circuits we took to the stairs, I will absolutely not miss climbing those stairs. I only have 2 days of running and one day of class left and I can say goodbye to boot camp. John has told me to activate my twin powers to help propel me through my workouts. I hope the twin power will continue to help me to keep motivated to keep moving. The key to keeping me healthy during this pregnancy is to keep exercising.

I did manage to pull myself up by my bootstraps and make a delicious Mardi Gras inspired dinner. We made a similar meal last year however this year we didn't have guests. The shrimp po boys were as delicious as ever and the red beans and rice were Gabriella's favorite. As I quickly finish this blog I'm listening to the soothing sounds of Pat "Mother" Blues playing on the ipod. Tomorrow is a run day and I'm hoping the twin powers will be in full effect.

A Gold Medal Valentine's Day

The weekend has been rather wet here in Okinawa so our big plans to leave the house have been thwarted by the weather. It has worked out though because the Olympics are on. Greg has been getting up at 3 am to watch the games live on TV. Saturday morning we all watched the opening ceremonies together, Greg of course was able to tell me a little about each of the 82 countries that marched into the Marshmallow arena. After the pageantry was over we settled into a quiet afternoon of reading and relaxing. Saturday night we headed across the street for Indian food and frozen yogurt. I'm glad we walked because I felt like I ate more than usual and I needed a bit of walking to help me digest. Gabriella really surprised us by devouring the chicken curry and cheesy nan. It's always nice to find something she likes to eat when we go out for dinner. Usually we get her a kids meal and she eats two bites then says she's full. For dessert we went to Yogurtland, a serve yourself place. Greg and Gabriella shared a bowl and had it filled to the brim with 3 flavors of yogurt and a whole lot of toppings. I got my own bowl since I like flavors no one wants to share, like pistachio and tiramisu.

On Sunday Greg was up early to watch the first few events of the winter olympics. Gabriella and I got up around 7:15 and got dressed for church. Greg was able to tear himself away from the women's mogul just in time to make it to church. There was no CCD this week so Gabriella and I were able to come home and make Valentine's day pancakes for Greg. After a day of Olympic watching we made our special Valentine's day dinner, porterhouse steaks and King Crab legs. Needless to say dinner was delicious, Gabriella especially enjoyed the crab legs eating at least 2 legs all on her own. She also ate a fair amount of steak. I made some delicious roasted parmesan cauliflower but I was the only one who ate it. Greg did have one piece and pronounced it not as yucky as he thought it would be, which is probably the best compliment I could expect from him. Gabriella had a few friends over last night so our friends could go to out for a Valentine's dinner. The kids were really well behaved and they all enjoyed a delicious brownie sundae for dessert. It was a great weekend, that isn't over yet. Both Greg and Gabriella have the day off on Monday so after the Olympics and depending on the weather we may actually leave the house.

The first of many

Today was the last day of school before Valentine's day. Gabriella headed to school with all her Valentine's for her classmates and her share bag. While she was celebrating with her class I was at the lab sucking down a disgusting orange drink and sitting in a waiting room for an hour for my first blood glucose test. I'm sure it will be my first of many. I've already been to the lab to get a host of blood drawn before my initial OB appointment. This trip was for a few more vials of my precious blood, only this time I fasted all night. My lab trip was successful and although I don't know what my test results are yet I'm just glad I'm done with the lab for now. I hope I pass my glucose test so I don't have to go back and do this again.

I picked Gabriella up at school and everyone in her class had a huge bag full of Valentine's. Once we got home we opened them and I read the names on the cards so she knew who gave her what. She also had a special package from Grandma Oggie and Papa John which she immediately opened with the same enthusiasm she uses on Christmas presents. She's already read all of the new books she received and is wearing one of the new Valentine's day dresses as I type. We are both looking forward to the weekend, Greg and Gabriella both have Monday off so we will have 3 days to play.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

This blog started last year as a way to document our adventures around Okinawa, a way to show friends back home what we are doing. Then about 21 weeks ago it became a work out centric blog telling the world at large about my struggles and triumphs at boot camp. Now I'm sure it's going to become a pregnancy blog. But for right now it's going to be a little of all three. I'm still exploring the island with my family when Greg has a day off. I'm still going to boot camp Monday-Friday, for now. And I'm still pregnant and will be for the next 7 months. Greg has the weekend off so I'm sure I'll have something fun to post about an Okinawa adventure later.

This week I've managed to make it to most of the days of boot camp. I missed Monday because Greg was on call but I've managed to go Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tomorrow is a run day and I will be going to that one too. Tuesday we did squats with weights which worked our legs and arms. I was so sore on Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday that when I actually got up this morning I contemplated not going to class. But I promised I would drive so I had to make it. Today we did some crunches, mine were modified, and walked the stairs. The combination of getting up off the floor and the cardio work of the stairs was a little much at times. I think when I stand up the blood in my body doesn't know whether to go to my head or my tummy. Towards the end I got a little light headed and was able to get some water and take a brief rest. Luckily that was at the end of the class so I was able to make it through the whole thing. I'm not sure how many more of these classes I'll be able to make it through. The good thing is I have a 3 day weekend so I can try to regain some of my strength and endurance this weekend.

Gabriella has a party for Valentine's day tomorrow and she's also the share bag girl so we've been working hard on making her class Valentine's treats. She even insisted on making some for the babies. We all felt very blessed to receive all the congratulations about our little twins both from facebook and via skype from the Superbowl Party. The twins are doing fine, I've been trying to make an appointment with the nutrition department so I can get an idea of what kinds of food I should be eating and how much.

Double Happiness

Check out our two newest family members. The one on the left is twin A and the one on the right is twin B. They are about 10 weeks old and until Friday I didn't know they existed. I've known for a few months that I was pregnant but twins were a bit of a surprise. Really more of a shock. I suppose it makes sense that I've been so tired and I've gone back to taking naps at odd times during the day. Friday was ultrasound day and Greg was able to meet me for the appointment. It started out pretty typical, the doctor was running behind and I got to spend a while in the waiting room watching all the other pregnant women waiting for their appointments. Some where close to popping while others seemed to be just starting out. Once we were finally called back I ended up seeing a different provider. The standard patient history was taken and the initial exam was started. Greg was working as the inpatient doctor so he was constantly being paged so he was in and out of the room throughout the exam. He was able to see the ultrasound. My first question when the internal ultrasound began was "there's just one right?" and the answer was "nope there are two". This was a shock because I have no history of twins in my family and I wasn't taking any fertility medication. These two little miracles are all natural. The exam finished up and we were sent home with a few pictures of the twins in utero. As I waited at the pharmacy for my extra vitamins I thought of how unexpected these little twins were. In the process of the next few days I think I've told almost everyone I know and the more people I tell the more real it becomes. As Greg and I lay in bed at night we toss back and forth ideas of things we'd need two of, an example double stroller, two cribs, etc. I think over the coming months many more needs will come to light and I hope we will be able to handle them all.

Lacking Motivation

I must say I've really let this blog slip. Recently I've just been too unmotivated to summon my creative powers and write. I feel like this week has been excruciatingly hard, yet in reality it hasn't been as hard as weeks in the past. I think I'm loosing my energy. Monday and Tuesday at boot camp were as hard as ever. We used the bands of death on Monday and the red balls of fire on Tuesday. Then Wednesday we ran but John left early so we were on our own doing the short track because of persistent sprinkles. Since I didn't run my best on Wednesday I headed to Zumba after I dropped Gabi off at school. I made it through the whole class with no issues to speak of, but then on the cool down dance I popped something in my knee. I heard the pop, I felt the pop and I almost fell down because of the pop. I managed to walk it off but my knee has been bothering me ever since. I hope it's nothing and honestly it hasn't hurt all that much today unless I stay in the same position for an extended period of time. It hurt a lot when I got up for boot camp this morning and I serious considered calling in injured. But I promised Esau I'd pick him up so I dragged myself downstairs and out the door. The whole drive to boot camp I rehearsed what I was going to say to John about my knee. Slipping between telling him I couldn't possibly do anything because it hurt and asking what sort of stretch/exercise I should be doing to help it. God must have heard my plea for mercy because when we got to the gym it was dark. Esau crossed the road to check out the sign attached to the door and came back to report that classes were canceled today and that we'd be running at the stadium on Friday. I hope John feels better by Monday and I hope my knee is better by Monday.

As for the rest of the family everyone has been busy. Gabriella has been learning a lot at gymnastics and ballet. She is speaking a lot of Hawaiian, thanks to her hula class. The other day she said "Mahalo tu tu" to me when I helped her at the drinking fountain. Today her class had a field trip to the post office which she said was lots of fun. I was hoping she'd discover the reason our mail takes so long to get to our boxes and why sometimes my magazines have coffee stains on them. Greg has been really busy at work, he was on call the other night and got no less than 10 pages throughout the night. He's also on call this weekend which is a blessing because he gets Superbowl Monday off. We will be enjoying the game with the Montoya's via skype. Although we won't get to see the awesome commercials we will get to see the rugby previews on Australia ESPN. Hopefully we will see some of you there.