33 Weeks Down, Seven To Go

Well, the new school year is upon us. We start day after tomorrow. Open house is tonight. I'm excited to see the kids again. I decided this year to forego using butcher paper on my boards and went for the cloth option (which I'm noticing is a lot more popular this year). This involved going to my local fabric store and buying 11 different fabrics. No, I'm not going crazy with this idea. I use a cool curriculum called Recorder Karate, which borrows the belt system from the martial arts. There are nine belts. I bought fabric for each of the nine belts for my RK board, plus an additional solid color to use as a band across the top where my lettering is (that part is just paper cut on the Ellison machine. I cut out the fabric this weekend and tried sewing it together on my sewing maching, which isn't working properly and is really annoying me right now. Sunday night I just wanted to take it and throw it onto the highway from the overpass by my house. I spent a couple of hours last night at my in-laws sewing the things together. It looks fabulous! The board is about 4' tall and 11' long - which just so happens to be a length that is evenly divisible by 9 (for the belts)! That certainly made the math easy on how wide to make each strip. The kids will put their cards on the appropriate color when they earn the belts by playing a specific song. They move their cards along the board as they progress. They really enjoy it and it's highly motivational. Too bad I wasn't the genius who came up with it (though I am on an e-mail list with that genius!)

I'm doing my best to keep things organized and uncluttered this year. For those of you who know me well, you know that this will take major effort. I'm making this my goal ostly so that things are nice in here once I go on maternity leave in about 6 weeks. (Yikes! Is it really that close!?) I'm due in 7 and off the week before, provided the baby doesn't decide to come early. As long as I'm still pregnant on October 12, that will be my last day until January 3.

I was hoping to escape without any stretch marks on my belly. No such luck. I only have a few for now and they are relatively small. They probably appeared when I 'sploded last month. Hopefully I'll be able to keep them to a minimum.

We were awakened (or at least I was) at 5:00 this morning by about half a dozen fire trucks (just the engines and lights, no sirens thankfully). The house two doors down caught fire. It was under control pretty quickly and I don't think anyone was hurt. I never ended up going back to sleep. My alarm was set for 6:00 so I could be at work by 8:00. I was out the door shortly after 7:00. By that time, luckily, the Battallion commander's SUVs were moved from in front of our house so I could actually get out, as were all but two fire truck. At least the SUVs would have been easy to move had I needed to get out earlier than I did.

My plan tomorrow is to get class lists somewhat in order so I can be totally prepared for Thursday morning. I want to have my room ready to go the second I walk in on Thursday. Things where I need them, books and CDs in the appropriate places, stereo set up, etc.

Kids will be here in 2 hours! Yay!

31 Down, 9 to Go

Well, as you can see from my latest belly shot and it's caption, we had a major growth spurt these last five weeks or so. I looked at that picture after Jeffy took it, compared it to my 6 month belly shot and sorta freaked. No wonder I feel like I'm rolling out of bed like a beached whale.

As of yesterday, I am 31 weeks pregnant, that equates to 7 months on the nose. I can go anywhere from 6-10 or 11 more weeks. I'm down to counting on my fingers how many more weeks I have to go.

Childbirth classes continue to go well. The first week, we learned a little about relaxation. This week, we actually started learning some breathing as well as 'non-verbal touch' communication. The non-verbal part comes from Jeffy, not me. To simulate contrations, our teacher had us hold a handfull of ice for 60 seconds while we did breathing and swaying and while our partners did the massage thing. We also got to watch a couple of birthing videos. One was on the three stages of labor and birth (early labor, birth of the baby, birth of the placenta). When we got to the placenta part of this one, I had a really hard time dealing with it - flashback to last October, Jacob was still in his sac and attached to his placenta when I was holding him. My therapist told me that it would hit me when I least expected it. This was one of those times. It's been a rough week in that arena. I've been thinking about Jacob a lot.

The other video was following a woman through labor and to the birth of her child. The coolest part about that one was that during her early labor, she and her husband were walking around Wash(ington) Park in Denver. (For those of you who don't know, that's where I grew up.)

Seven Months...I 'sploded!

A Doozie of a Day

It is 7:15 p.m. In the last 24 hours we have been to the hospital twice. Once last night for the childbirth class, which was great. I'll elaborate more on that in another post. The second was this morning to visit my father in law who had a minor heart attack last night. He's ok. Will be released tomorrow in the morning. Can go back to work on Monday. Then while we were there, we found out that Jeffy's sister in NY is also in the hospital. No diagnosis yet. I promised my mother in law that I'm not going into labor anytime soon so not to worry about me. She smiled and laughed. At least we got the chance to time one route to the hospital on our way there this morning to visit my father in law. (8 minutes if anyone is interested.)

Painting and Panting

Jeffy is working on getting several rooms in our home painted. This weekend is the hallway. Once that is done, he'll do a couple of small touch-ups in the bathroom, then we get to start on the nursery! (Ok, he'll get to start on the nursery.) The two spaces he's painted so far (bathroom and hallway) look really nice. They've been off-white since we bought the place three and a half years ago. Color is a nice change. Makes it feel more like home and less like just a house.

As for the panting, I've been doing a bunch of that lately with the heat. We also are starting our prepared childbirth classes at the hospital this week. We have class each of the remaining Tuesdays of this month plus the first Tuesday of next month. I'm very excited. I can't believe it's time for these classes! I also can't believe that I'm really getting into the home stretch of 30-40 weeks. It's getting more and more real as each day goes on. I'm both excited and scared about everthing that will be happening in the next 8-12 weeks...mostly nervous about exactly what will happend during labor and birth. I hope that our classes will help prepare us for that, but I also am expecting that there will be surprizes involved in the whole process.

To Miss or Not To Miss

The stroller is put together, and the counted cross stitch for the wall is as done as it's going to get until October. I just realized today that we have 11 weeks until I'm due and there is still a huge amount that needs to be done. The nursery isn't even close to started, let alone finished. Ahhhh!!!!!!

Here are three short lists: Things I'll miss when the baby is born, things I won't miss when the baby is born, and things I'm really looking forward to once the baby is here

To Miss - feeling Bob moving inside of me, having Jeffy cater to my cravings, generally being pregnant, being able to get a fairly solid night's sleep

Not to Miss - feeling Bob moving inside of me when I'm trying to sleep, the various stomach ickieness (heartburn, indigestion, reflux, etc.) caused by said movements, only being able to sleep in one position, peeing all the time (or at least it feels like it...)

I Can't Wait - to see what this person is, to watch this little person grow, to be a mommy, to watch Jeffy being a daddy (he's going to be awesome!), to hold my baby for the first time, to begin life as a family of three instead of just the two of us, to see which traits come from my side and which come from Jeffy's side.

A Decision

I decided yesterday while soaking in the pool out in the back yard (an inflatable jobbie we got at Target earlier this summer) that I am going to do everything in my power to have a May baby next time. None of this pregnant during the hotness of late July and August thing. This is rediculous! Hopefully things will go as well in a few years as they have been this time so that we can easily plan and produce a May baby. At least our temperatures have stayed in the 70s and 80 most of the time so it hasn't been as miserable as in other parts of the country. Don't know how I would handle that 100 degree heat some places have been having...oh, yeah...they have AC there. We don't have a need for it here. Not enough hot days each summer to make it worth it.

Just a quick note

Went to the OB on Monday. Everything continues to be normal! Next appt in 4 weeks, then we go to every two weeks.

I have a very strong suspicion that this baby is a girl. When I was pregnant with Jacob, holding onto a little girl's hand (or holding a little girl on my lap) felt totally alien, whereas doing the same thing with a little boy was totally natural. This time it's reversed. I've noticed it on more than one occasion with various little girls (my niece, a friend's triplet cousins, kids at school at the end of the day, etc.) Time will tell, of course, but that is my suspicion. We'll find out some time in October.

We spent the day in Seattle today, as it's our third wedding anniversary. Went to a soup restaurant called Soup Daddy Soups, though we call it "No Soup For You!" There is even a signed picture of the Soup Nazi behind the counter. Yummy soup, yummy sandwiches, great atmosphere. It's in Pioneer Square if you are ever in Seattle.

Time for bed...

Success!

Not exactly how I wanted to do it, but it worked! The old program still works! Yay! Below you will see three ultrasound pictures and my most recent belly shot. :-)

"The Thinker" - do you see the right arm coming up with the hand resting on the chin? Still a front view of the face and chest.

I call this one Shrek. Do you see it? This is a front view of the face and chest (you can sort of see the ribs).

Profile with a hand

Next Belly Shot - Beginning of Third Trimester!

No luck on Photos

Sorry folks, you're going to have to wait another month to see last month's ultrasound pictures as well as my latest belly shot. I guess I'll have to do try that from school where there is a better (faster) connection as well as a different photo program. I'm bummed and frustrated about it.

I have not had much energy the last couple of days. I am fighting a cold, which is really knocking me out. I'll take Sudafed when I need it, but am getting lots of rest (yay summer break!) and am trying to get lots of fluids into me. Jeffy's working up in Seattle so he can't be here to take care of me (aren't I pathetic!?) Last night I was getting elbowed in the side repeatedly. Makes it really easy to get to sleep, huh?

In the Home Stretch

Today marks the 6 month mark! I'm just starting my third trimester! I am so exctied about this! I have three months left, and i know that they are going to absolutely fly by. Sleeping is getting interesting. We seem to have a conflict of interest going between me and the baby. I like to sleep on my left side, but that puts the baby face-down, which the baby doesn't like. I know this because every time I lay down on my left side, the baby squirms like crazy. Last night it felt like I had a gymnast in my belly. I finally conceded and turned over to my right side so we could both get some sleep. That is until I had to get up every three hours or so to use the restroom. And it's only just beginning!

I'm trying to upload pictures, both my belly shot from last night and a few ultrasound pictures from last month. Not much luck yet. Either that or it's just taking a year and a day. I don't have the patience for this right now. I'll try later today. Maybe I just need to do it at the beginning of a post. (Michele? Any hints?)

I think I'm going to head into school today for a little bit to do a couple of things. Hopefully I can get into my room. More later, including pictures!

Normalcy

I have been celebrating for the last week and a half...at my ultrasound, we saw that my cervix was a full centimeter longer/thicker than it was at my previous u/s. What a relief! For the first time in my life, I have a normal pregnancy! I was so afraid that it was going to be shorter and I was not going to be able to go to Chicago/Iowa this last week for a wedding. As it is, I can now do light exercise (yay!) and don't have to worry as much. I have decided, however, not to attend my high school reunion in late August because I'm afraid that something will happen either between now and then that will make it so I can't go, or something will happen there and I'll wish I was home.

At the u/s we saw lots of movement, and a bigger baby. According the the tech, the baby was 1 lb, 11 oz. and about 10" long. I'm sure we're pushing a foot and 2 lbs. at this point. Movement is getting more defined, more frequent, and stronger. I can sometimes tell when the baby is turning around, depending on my position and what I am doing. I've also been having Braxton-Hicks contractions. Just a tightening of my abdomen. Slightly uncomfortable, but nothing to worry about (i.e. normal for this stage in pregnancy).

That's all for now. I promise I'll post u/s pictures next time!

This is continuing to be wild. Within the last couple of days, I've watched my belly moving. Just jumps and jolts right now, but I know that soon I will be able to watch much more happening. It's pretty cool. It makes me laugh.

Not much else right now. Ultrasound on Monday so be looking for more pictures!

Belly Shot #2 - Taken on Father's Day - Nearly 23 Weeks (5 1/2 Months)

school news

in just over 30 minutes, this school year will officially be over. i thought i was done teaching on tuesesday, but got an e-mail wednesday morning saying that we would be teaching at my second school yesterday, which we should have had to close down our programs (contractual from the district). needless to say i was more than slightly miffed. i went in yesterday morning and, though it wasn't my intent, expressed my frustrations to the a.p. she in turn talked with the principal and a very nice, professional e-mail went out to the staff explaining the differences between classroom teachers and specialists in job duties and requirements and also complimenting the specialists for our professional manner of handling the whole situation.

i found out this week that for the first time in my career (this was my fifth year of teaching), i will NOT have any new schools next year. i will be returning to bryant, my main school with an extra day a week - bringing my time here up to four days/week - and for the fifth day, i'll be returning to the school where i was two years ago. that school is a mere 6 blocks from home. it will be nice. the staff is fabulous, the kids are wonderful, and the main music teacher and i get along very well. cohorts in crime of sorts. it will be a good situation all around. i'm looking forward to it, that's for sure.

my plan for the summer is to not set foot in my classroom until august when i come in to set up. i should be able to walk out of here this afternoon and be good for the next two months or so.

here's something scary: i realized last night that i am five weeks from the end of my second trimester. it has flown! i can't believe it!!!!!

End of the year and progress

Three more classes and I'm done teaching for the year! Yay! School is out on Friday and I have tomorrow to clean up/do inventory at my main school and Thursday to do the same at my second school. Friday is the awards assembly, which means it's not really a school day. The kids have been really helpful in the cleaning of my room. I've had so many kids in here willingly helping out. It's wonderful. A lot has been done already. That will make tomorrow easier on me, which is a good thing. I'll be able to take breaks as needed and still get everything done. I don't want to have to come back next week to finish up anything. I want to be able to fully enjoy my summer this year since it will be the last one without kids.

I'm excited for the summer. In two weeks Jeffy and I leave for a wedding in Iowa. We were going to drive but my OB just laughed when I told him that. Instead we are flying to Chicago, then driving from there to Iowa City - it's only 4 hours. We're staying with family friends in Chicago for a couple of days on either side of the wedding and driving down with most of the rest of the bridesmaids (I'm also a bridesmaid.)

Also in two weeks, I have my next ultrasound to check any progress on my cervix. Hopefully it's thickened up a little bit since last time. My mom will be in town and is going with me. Do you think she's excited about this? (Don't think too hard...) She'll also be going with me to my monthly OB appointment that same afternoon. Bob has been getting much stronger lately, judging by the kicks I've been getting. Some of them feel like pops...and they are lower down so they really aren't comfortable. Ah, well. I'm still enjoying it. Every kick, every movement reminds me that she's nice and strong and healthy. All good things. :-) Things are continuing to go well.

On Sunday we went and registered at Babies 'R' Us. Spent an hour there and still didn't get done. I have some questions I need to ask people before we register for some things. We got the bedding set picked out, the exercise station, lots of little things for the diaper bag (and we picked out that too), books, a changing pad, etc. (Kristen, I'm going to be calling you to ask about some things and whether you used them or not and what you'd recommend.)

Jeffy was so funny when I mentioned going and registering on Sunday morning. He curled up into a ball and put his arms covering his face, saying "I'm going invisible!" I laughed and told him that I guess that meant that I had control of the remote then. That got him un-invisible. It was fun. He got the scanning gun at B-R-U and even scanned some things that we will need but that I hadn't thought of. I'm glad he went with me.