Practical Joker

I am 29 weeks today! About 11 weeks to go and we still have so much to do. I think limiting my blog time and facebook time helped me be a lot more productive this week! Not reading all of the updates on your blogs was very hard, though! I think about you ladies everyday!

I had an appointment on Wednesday morning and Ponyo is doing well. Her heart rate was 163.

TMI warning...

On Thursday night Ponyo was a kicking fool. Starting at about 10:30pm it seemed that I started leaking... something. I convinced myself that Ponyo's enthusiastic movements were just wreaking havoc on my bladder and I was very slowly and unpleasantly leaking urine. The next morning it was still going on. I went to work Friday and taught my morning classes and then did recess duty. On my lunch break I called the clinic hoping they would say, "No worries! Sounds like you are just peeing on yourself!" Well, the nurse sort of freaked out (and freaked me out) when she said, "You need to come in right away. If you have a ruptured membrane you need to be hospitalized today." She transferred me to the appointment line and they got me an appointment at a clinic in another city (my clinic was booked for the day and my doctor was out of town).

I called my husband and let him know what was happening. I told him it was probably nothing so he didn't need to try to come to the appointment and that I would call him as soon as I knew more. I stopped in at the school office to let them know I needed to use half of a sick day and would cancel my only afternoon class. The office staff (who are truly wonderful) looked very concerned and asked what was going on. I started to cry as I told them and they started saying things like, "You are so far along, things will be fine! Even if she is born today!" Then I REALLY lost it! I can't have this baby today, I thought, She is much too small and our home isn't ready. My classroom isn't ready. We didn't even get to take the classes we are registered for.

I drove to the clinic and called my Mom on the way as she lives about 10 minutes from the clinic I was going to. She invited me to come over after the appointment and assured me everything would be okay! At the appointment the doctor watched my cervix for a little while (very uncomfortable!) to see if there was any pooling of fluid. Thankfully, she couldn't see any and my cervix was closed. They also did a ferning test (if the fluid swabbed from the cervix ferns, then they can tell there is amniotic fluid present) and it came back negative. When the doctor came to tell me the good news she was laughing and said, "Your baby is just kicking your bladder!" Thankfully she has stopped (for now, anyway) so I haven't experienced that unpleasant feeling since yesterday. Mostly, we are just glad that our little stinker is safe and healthy! Seems like we have a practical joker on our hands already!

(29 week photo posted under the pregnancy tab)

Weekday hiatus

Due to what seems to be a never ending to do list, I'll be catching up on all of your blogs on the weekends for a little while. I know everyone feels this way sometimes and I am sure my anxiety will pass, but I need to get some work done for both my job and home. I have this growing sense of impending doom over the last few weeks. Not about Ponyo, we are thrilled about that part of our lives! Mainly about interviewing for long term subs, planning for said long term sub, handing my classroom and students over to someone who is probably a stranger! I am not sure exactly why this is what I am worried about, but it currently makes me more freaked out than the thought of giving birth.

I will be keeping all of you in my prayers as always and I look forward to catching up Saturday/Sunday (maybe Friday because I know this will be hard for me!).

Days like these

Days like these I wish I could stay in bed and snuggle with my husband instead of getting up to go to work. He got home at 11:30 last night (after a 14.5 hour day) and by then I had fallen asleep on the couch trying to wait up for him. Now I am up getting ready for a day at school and he is nestled in bed, sound asleep, as the rain pours down outside.

I hope things at his work slow down. I am not sure how long either of us can keep this up. He is sick (just a bad cold) and stressed from his workload and late nights. I am exhausted from trying to keep up with everything at home by myself (housework, cooking, grocery shopping, preparing for Ponyo) on top of working full-time as a teacher and being on my feet all day. It is slowly getting harder and harder as Ponyo grows. Carrying an extra 20+ pounds puts a lot of strain on a body and I just don't have the energy to spend much more time on my feet after teaching 7 classes and covering recess duty!

Enough whining on this Tuesday morning. I just miss my husband!

Third tri

Yesterday marked 27 weeks* for Ponyo, which means we made it to the third trimester! After all of those months (and years) of praying and hoping for a baby, I cannot believe that this is where we are today. According to my Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy book (which I highly recommend, by the way...it is my only baby/pregnancy related book aside from The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding), Ponyo has a greater than 85% chance of survival if she decides to arrive right now. Of course, we still want her to stay put at least until the beginning of January!

She must know that she made it to another milestone because I am experiencing new and exciting aches and pains. The Bee was concerned yesterday when I was retrieving something from a low cupboard in the kitchen as I cooked dinner and all of the sudden I yelped and sat down on the floor. He rushed over to my aid, and asked what happened. This is so weird to share, but it might save someone some anxiety some day...it totally felt like Ponyo kicked me in the backside (NOT a cheek, either, if you know what I mean). And it HURT! Additionally, I now require even MORE water to stay hydrated, which means more middle-of-the-night bathroom breaks. And I think the nesting instinct may be starting because I feel like I need to get everything done all at the same time! This doesn't work very well and so far has resulted in me starting a lot of things and then feeling overwhelmed and not getting much more done than some laundry and excessive cooking. I think I need to make a list and tackle one thing at a time so I can actually make some progress.

I am beyond thankful that things have been going so well so far. And like I said, we still (yes, STILL) can't believe we have been so incredibly blessed to be expecting Ponyo. We are praying for 3 more relatively uneventful months and the arrival of a healthy Ponyo in early 2013!

*I posted a 27 week photo. Week 26 was missed b/c my husband was out of town.

The Amazing Bee

I just got home from work and noticed right away that The Bee cleaned the kitchen this morning before he left for work!

I immediately texted him: Thank you SO much for cleaning the kitchen! I love you, sweetie!

And he texted back: :) you are welcome! I could tell it was stressing you out. Can't wait to come home to you!

I didn't even share my anxiety over the mess with him. He just knows me so well:) How amazing is my husband?!

Anxiety

Over the past 3 weeks or so, I have woken up in a panic over several things. Most of the time they don't seem as daunting during the daytime, but at 2:30am (i.e. right now) they have me terrified. Some of the causes of my anxiety include:

• Getting all of my clock hours submitted for my relicensure next spring
• The Bee's wardrobe for family photos this weekend (this is taken care of now, but it woke me up more than once!)
• Preparing plans for my long term sub
• Interviewing long term sub applicants
• Finishing curriculum mapping for all 9 grades that I teach
• Ponyo's nursery (which is still our library/art room/office at this point)
• Planning the baby shower for my BFF
• Dirty dishes in my sink
• Signing up for our birthing classes (we have the time and place chosen, we just have to officially register but The Bee wants to finish his next exam before thinking about the classes)
• Photographing and uploading student work to their online portfolios (I haven't even started this for this school year and it is mid-October already!)
• Stories "helpful" people have told me about labor and delivery (i.e. "When are you due?" January 12th "Oh, my daughter was due January 10th but then arrived December 17th!" or "All of the teachers I know have gone into preterm labor. You'd better be careful." or "Are you sure you want to deliver at a hospital so far from work? You might have the baby in the car like my cousin did!")
• Our carpeting. It is fine, but I really want to clean it all before Ponyo arrives. I'll just feel better about tummy time if I know it is as clean as possible.
• The holidays (not sure why these freak me out this year. I LOVE Thanksgiving and Christmas!)

That is all I can think of right now. I've finished my toast so I should try to get a few more winks of sleep before my alarm goes off at 5:45 (sleeping in an extra 15 minutes because it is Friday!).

26 weeks

Today's appointment included:

1. Glucose screening: Passed! They need to see a number under 150 and mine was 95. Phew! Not sure what I would have eaten if they told me to change my diet even more!

2. Ultrasound: It was confirmed that Ponyo is a girl. She is measuring at the 52nd percentile, weighs about 2lb 2oz, and had a heart rate of 151 beats per minute. And, she is currently head down! We hope she favors staying that way instead of deciding to be breech.

3. Normal appointment: My hemoglobin is low so I have to eat more iron rich foods. Totally thinking of indulging in my red meat craving due to this...it's really Ponyo that wants steak, right? My blood pressure was great. I have gained about 20 pounds and thankfully my doctor is not concerned about that...I can still gain 15 more over the next 3 months and be within the range they'd like to see me.

All in all, everything looks good! I have all of the rest of my appointments scheduled through January 16, but I am hoping Ponyo arrives before then (if she is not born by that point she will be 4 days overdue).

Not much to report so, as a typical Minnesotan, I'll talk a lot about the weather

Not too much to report around here. The Bee has been working crazy hours (as usual) and this weekend he is out of town with his Dad to winterize the house that my mother-in-law and father-in-law are fixing up in order to retire to some years down the road. Starting in July, they began the enormous project of lifting the house and digging a basement. Yes, they lifted the entire house off of the ground and added a basement! It sounds so crazy and was even crazier to see all of the pictures as the project progressed. This weekend they are trying to put in the last of the windows and dig the window wells for the egress windows so everything is sealed before winter officially hits. The poor men are working in pretty cold conditions...it snowed Friday night and has been in the 40s and 50s since then.

Yesterday I went to my twin niece and nephew's third birthday party! My sister-in-law and brother-in-law waited 6 years and did many treatments in order to have them join our family. It was a fun party (although, admittedly, it would have been more fun had my husband been there!). I am a little worried because several of the little kids had pretty nasty coughs and now I woke up with a stuffy nose and a cough! Ugh! Hopefully that has more to do with the dry weather (a cold front moved in Wednesday and it has been in the 40s, 50s and 60s since then. Right now (at 10am) it is 32 degrees out but it feels like 25 due to the cold winds) we have been experiencing.

In exciting news, we have our next appointment on Wednesday morning and we will get to see Ponyo again! She has been very active the last 2 days and on Friday night my Mom and one of my sisters got to feel some pretty strong kicks! Prior to that, it was only the Bee and I who had felt her wiggling around. I am lucky to be feeling well. I am just experiencing some of the normal stuff: some back pain, especially at night, and ankle swelling (I haven't worn my compression tights since Tuesday and I am paying for that choice now...eek!). Many people (mostly relatives and parents at my school) have been telling me that I am looking really good for being 26 weeks (and that I am still pretty small) which makes me think that either: 1. I really look terrible and they are all saying nice things to make me feel better or 2. Ponyo might not be getting all she needs from my vegetarian/gluten free diet. We'll see what Dr. D tells us Wednesday. I hope Ponyo is measuring right on track again!

Photos

I uploaded a few photos from weeks 23-25 to my "Pregnancy" page.

When I thought getting pregnant would be easy, I always thought I'd do weekly belly pictures. When it didn't happen for us, I changed my mind and thought I wouldn't do them. Now, after having seen our baby girl growing at our ultrasound last month, my husband and I decided that it would be fun to document things.

A real post will be coming soon...school, family events, and trying to keep up with housework while still finding time for some fun with my husband has been preventing me from spending as much time online. I am sure as things calm down and the days get colder, I will find myself curled up with a blanket and my laptop again!