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.

The Amazing Disappearing Belly Button!

Ok, so my favorite part to watch change is my belly button. First the lower lip disappeared, now the top lip is on its way out. My navel looks like an eye, with the top lip being the eyelid and the bottom being the iris of the eye. It's pretty funny.

I discovered this afternoon how to get Bob to move - CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! I had a couple of handfulls of M & M's (left over from Vegas - what irony) and lo and behold, movement! Yay! I was actually beginning to worry a little since I hadn't really felt anything much in a few days.

Off to the windy city tomorrow for the long weekend. :-) It was flirting with 90 here today so I'll be glad to get to a little bit cooler temps. I ended up taking my kids out to the park which is adjacent to the school and we did Dancing in the Park today. One of my favorite lessons to do. The kids love it too. I stayed in the shade all day long. It was really nice. My stage, on the other hand, was not. It was hot and stuffy. There are no windows and only one door, which leads to the lunchroom, so no chance of any ventilation. I had one third of my classes (3 of 9) in there. The two in the a.m. weren't so bad but the one in the p.m. was horrid. It was hot and stuffy. A fan would only have moved around the hot air so I decided against that. Looks like summer's going to be a blast...can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? I'm praying for 70s most of the summer, at least while we're here. It can get as hot as it wants here while we're out of town. :-)

18 weeks, 1 day

This is going to be short since I have kids coming in in about 5 minutes...

The minor complication is my cervix. It's slightly shorter (thinner?) than they would like it to be. For right now we're taking a wait-and-see approach, with a re-check in about 6 weeks. Other than that, things look good. I just need to take it easy, which isn't a problem. :-) Please keep us in your prayers! This is slightly stressful.

10 toes! Yes, the feet are backward because the legs are crossed.

The fingers are either going straight up or straight down. My guess is that up in the picture is where the tips are. You can also see the skull.

I think that's a hand in the middle of the picture.

The bit above and toward the top of the skull is a hand.