Week 24: Grapefruit (LBN2)

LBN2 is 10.5-to-11.8-inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces. Every week he gets closer and closer to being ready to survive (and thrive!) in the outside world. Since he's almost a foot long, he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. LBN's brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Bryan Update

Bryan's unit made it to their location. His address is now active.
SFC Bryan Neal
GA-ADT II
FOB Shank (East)
APO AE 09364
The USPS has boxes especially for APO's. https://store.usps.com/store/browse/uspsProductDetailMultiSkuDropDown.jsp?categoryNavIds=catGetMailingShippingSupplies%3asubcatMSS_FlatRate&categoryNav=false&navAction=push&navCount=0&productId=P_MILI_FRB&categoryId=subcatMSS_FlatRate
Tips: https://www.usps.com/send/apo.htm
Custom Forms: https://www.usps.com/send/customs-forms.htm?

Jackisms

Jack's going potty - hunched over.

Mama: Jack, what are you doing?  

Jack: Going fotty. (pause) My booty can't push the poopies out, so I'm pullin'em out! 

Neal's Stand Tall in Georgia Guardsman

So I still haven't talked about Bryan's deployment. That's me, putting things off. However, here's a good reason to start. The Georgia Guardsman published a nice article about the 265th's deployment; this morning, one of Bryan's friends told me we graced the back cover. So as I sat at my desk eating my Frosted Mini Wheats, I looked at the back cover - wow. There were were. Then I flipped to the front and started scanning all the articles one by one, reading about the Georgia National Guard. Finally, I came across the story about ADTII - paired with it a huge picture of my family.

I lost it.

There we stood, staring at the bus Bryan was about to board and Jack clutching his flag that he held onto all day. Moments after this photograph was taken, we let go, I held Jack as he screamed for his daddy and Bryan boarded the bus.

Jack was too upset, so I got him out of there before the buses left. However, during my drive out of Metter, I watched in my rearview as my child cried and the buses followed me through town and onto the interstate. It's something I can't get out of my head.

Open publication - Free publishing - More air force

To start the day, we had lunch at the Metter Armory. It was nice, but it just prolonged the heartache. The food, decorations - everything was donated to the unit by the City of Metter or other establishments.

From there, our soldiers boarded their buses and we met back up with them at the Metter High School where they stood in formation during their departure ceremony. My mind was in other places, obviously, so I didn't catch a lot of what they said. Following the ceremony, they gave families about 30 minutes to say their goodbyes. It was a somber setting - very quiet. Again, just dragging out the inevitable.

Here are a couple of photos from the ceremony.

Metter Amory; Nick in the front, Skyping with his brother in Afghanistan.

Metter Armory

Jack & Daddy, Metter Armory

Jack & Daddy, Metter Armory

Family Photo; Metter Armory

Departure Ceremony; Bryan, back right

Jack & Mommy during the ceremony at Metter High School. (unposed) 

My emotionally exhausted baby.

Slept all day.

Week 23: Pomegranate

Now that LBN2's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see him squirm underneath my clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that LBN2's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing his for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as a dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

Bryan Update

Tonight I will write about Bryan's departure. I've been putting it off because, well - I'm really good at avoiding things in hopes the situation will just, you know, go away. 

In the meantime, I invite you to read another blog, brenthitchcock.com. Hitchcock is one helluva smartass blogging about their adventures. A good writer + a sense of humor makes an interesting/entertaining read. Many of you ask about Bryan - but because of Bryan's busy schedule and the unforeseen communication abilities I believe provide a good foreshadow of what's to come - this outlet provides better answers than I can give you.

Week 21: Banana

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. You may soon feel like he's practicing martial arts as his initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his activity as you get to know him better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Bump Update: 20 Weeks

Week 20: Cantaloupe

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Camp Atterbury Mailing Address

The guys made it to Camp Atterbury. Just got their new multi-cam, too! 

We have a mailing address for Bryan while he is in Indiana. If you'd like to send him anything, I suggest sending it in the next week to make sure it gets there before he leaves.


SFC Neal, Bryan D
265TH RSG ADT II
PO BOX 5000
Edingburgh, IN 46124-5000