Why I love my job...

So, my birthday is on Sunday. And when I walked into my classroom this morning, here are a few of the things that greeted me:

  

Seriously, I love these kids! My birthday isn't even for two more days, but I feel like it was today. It was such a great day... We worked on a science lab project for most of the day (testing conductivity, buoyancy, etc. of different materials), then opened my birthday presents, ate cookies, and went to outside for P.E. On top of everything, it was "Groovy Dress Up Day," which meant the kids all looked really funny. Good times!

The best part of the day, though, was that I finally told my principal that I'm pregnant! I had my annual review this morning before school, and the "review" portion lasted for about a minute, as usual. We got into a conversation about next year, since right now it seems kind of uncertain who the 5th grade teachers will be. One of my teammates is trying to transfer to a school with a later starting time, and the other one is almost 27 weeks pregnant (yay!!), and isn't sure what she's going to do after the baby is born. So my principal was basically telling me that I would once again be the "rock" of the 5th grade (this will be the third team I will have worked with in 4 years... So really, I am kind of the only one who knows what's going on.). Sooo... it seemed like the time to tell her the news. Honestly, though, she was very happy (of course, because she is an awesome boss!), and said that my timing was good... I will be able to start out the school year and get my classroom routines set up the way I want... then I'll get a good sub to take over until after Winter Break, and then I'll be back in time to cram my kids full of knowledge before STAR testing. Hooray! I was just so happy to get that off my chest... I mean, I knew she would be supportive, but I was still a little scared. I'm glad it's over with!

The next step, now, is to tell the rest of the world ("What? You mean you haven't already told everyone??"). As of right now, the only people who know are our closest friends and immediate family members. We are waiting until Easter (April 8th) to tell the rest of our family members, and I'll tell my coworkers on April 9th or 10th. Why the wait? It's hard to explain... But the risk of miscarriage is so high in the first trimester... I didn't want my extended family to get excited about something, just to lose it... But only one more week! I can't wait! :)

Meet the Fetus!

Click image to enlarge

So... I had my second appointment today, and it was AWESOME!! The baby is exactly 10 weeks today, and everything looks great. We weren't sure if I would get an ultrasound at this appointment or not, but I convinced Gus to come along just in case. And look what happened! It was so... surreal!!! As I sat there watching the ultrasound monitor, I felt like I was watching one of those baby shows on the Discovery Channel or TLC. But then it was like, "Wait a minute... that's inside ME!!" Such a trip! It was such a relief to finally see the proof that I was pregnant. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to see the fetus in the picture, but both Gus and I had no problems. The little peanut was wriggling all around!! We were also able to see its little heart beating away. It was really, truly an incredible thing. I wish I had a video of it- it was SO COOL!!! Anyhow, I just wanted to share our excitement for the day. Yay for the fetus! :)

Nine Weeks!

So today, the little embryo is nine weeks old... awww! :P The cool thing is that it's starting to look more like a human, and should start swimming around in there by the end of the week. Check out this neat picture of a nine-week embryo:



And now for my random pet-peeve of the day: I keep thinking to myself, "Wow, I've already almost made it to ten weeks... I'm just about one-fourth of the way there! I can do this!" But the way that the week-counting process works is, well... really dumb (if you ask me). Physically, the baby has not existed for more than seven weeks. The doctors base your week count on the first day of your last period (when, obviously, you weren't pregnant. duh.). So they tack on an additional two weeks to the beginning, since most women ovulate about two weeks into their monthly cycle. Then, after you ovulate, your body doesn't start releasing a measurable amount of the pregnancy hormone for about two more weeks (this is the dreaded "two week wait" for people who, like us, have been trying to get pregnant for a while). Confused yet? How about a flow chart??

First day of period
|
(~2 weeks pass)
|
Sperm meets egg
(therefore, technically pregnant)
|
(~2 more weeks pass)
|
Positive Home Pregnancy Test

So really, by the time I discovered I was pregnant, I was already at four weeks (by the doctor's count). Which means I've only KNOWN about being pregnant for five weeks. Which therefore means that the next thirty-one weeks are going to take FOREVER!!!! Whew, that was a lot of scientific babble, just to explain why I am annoyed. Hopefully you were able to follow along! :P

In other, totally-unrelated-and-random news: one of my students stole money from my wallet today! A whopping $2, but I was (and am) really ticked off. Heads are going to roll tomorrow... I am pretty sure I know who did it, but that doesn't make it any better. It happened during P.E. time this afternoon, probably when a kid asked to go to the bathroom (the bathroom is right by my classroom). My purse was hidden in a closet, but I bet a bunch of my students have figured it out. When I went back in after P.E. (which was the last activity of the day), my wallet was sitting on top of my purse and my cash was gone. PUNKS! Tomorrow I need to find a new hiding place. And I'll definitely be locking the room ALL the TIME now! I usually lock it, anyway, just not during P.E... sigh... Isn't that sad?? I have never once had a kid steal from me before-- not even when I taught in Los Angeles. And I actually have a very nice group of kids this year, minus one or two. Oh well... :(

Tenure!

This past Thursday was March 15th! That doesn't mean much to most people, but it was actually a pretty big day for me. For one, it marked the 4-year anniversary of when Gus proposed (awww!). But, perhaps more importantly, it marked the deadline for the school district to notify me if I won't be invited back to teach next year. Since I didn't hear anything, that means I am guaranteed a job. And, since I am guaranteed a job, that means I will finally become a tenured teacher on the first day of school next year!! I wasn't exactly worried about losing my job, but I wanted to make sure I got tenure before the baby arrived. It just means that I will have more options and flexibility when it comes to my maternity leave. Even if I chose to stay home for the rest of the year (which won't happen!), I would still be guaranteed to get my same job back when I returned. People who don't have tenure and choose to go this route basically have to start all over at square one: filling out applications, interviewing, etc. So this is a pretty big deal! And honestly, it feels pretty good to finally get tenure after teaching for six years (has it been that long already?? yikes!). I would have already had it two or three times over if I had stayed in one district. So, happy day! Hooray!!!

P.S. Today the baby is growing eyelids... Weird!!!

Fatness

So, my pants are tight! I was noticing today that the button on my pants left a really nice red mark on my stomach. I also had to really "suck it in" when I buttoned them earlier, and it felt soooooo good to undo the button as soon as I got home. I was thinking that maybe I was imagining the whole thing- I mean, 8 weeks seems too early to have any sort of belly. But then I received the following email from baby-gaga.com (I subscribe to these weekly emails that tell me what's going on, developmentally... interesting stuff!):

And how's mom doing? Your slightly-larger-than-a-cherry embryo is also starting to have a physical impact on you this week—and not just hormonally, as you may be noticing a slight bulge at your midline. Most people wouldn’t even notice the change, but since you’re tuned in to every little change in your body, it hasn’t slipped past.

So I'm not hallucinating! This could be the very beginning of an actual pregnancy belly! I have a feeling that most of it is due to bloat and bowel distention (ah, pleasant thoughts!), but still! This is so exciting! Soon I can wear maternity pants or, if you remember that episode of Friends, "Thanksgiving pants"! hehe! It will be so much more comfy than buttoning my pants. Hooray!

In addition to feeling fat and really, really tired, I am getting really annoyed with some people (heightened irritability?). For example, today at lunch I was talking with my coworkers about my TMJ problem. It's been flaring up the last few weeks, making it painful to chew my food. So my one coworker was going on and on about how I should take ibuprofen, or maybe a few Aleves, etc. I can't take any of that stuff!! Of course, she doesn't know I'm pregnant yet, and it's not her fault, but I was really annoyed. I guess it just frustrated me to think about how much my stupid jaw hurt, and how I couldn't really do anything about it. Stupid TMJ!!!!!

Added at 7:10p.m.: I took a picture of my belly (very hard, since nobody else was around to hold the camera!). Click here to see what it looks like when I "suck it in" as much as possible.

(Finally) Told Gus' Parents!

Let me preface this by saying that the only reason we hadn't told them sooner was because we knew Fofo's birthday was coming up, and we knew that a grandbaby would be the best gift ever! So we decided to wait. Meanwhile, we decided to tell my parents a few weeks ago while they were still in Maui, with hopes that they'd bring back some cute Hawaiian baby stuff (which they did, hooray!). So there is a method to all this madness! :)

We drove up to Anaheim yesterday to have lunch with Gus' family, since his mom's birthday was on Friday. His mom (Fofo) and sister (Maria) were both home, but his dad (Nick) was still at the restaurant. Nick typically gets home from work around one or two o'clock on Saturdays, so we planned to wait for him before eating a late lunch.

When we got to the house, we set Fofo's birthday present on the counter. The plan was to wait until Nick got home from work, and then to have her open the present in front of him. Inside, she would find this bib and, inside a nice box, this picture in a fancy frame. Everyone would be surprised, and tears would start flowing. It would be perfect! But, you know what they say... "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry..." That plan never exactly came to fruition.

Nick called us and said that he was running late, since some family friends had decided to pop by the restaurant to visit with him. He told us to go ahead and eat without him, and that he would get home as soon as possible. So, we ate. After a great lunch, we sat around the table and chatted some more, and then Maria mentioned that the cable TV in her room wasn't working properly. Being the nerds that we are, Gus and I both followed her upstairs to take a look. Apparently, though, as soon as we were all out of the room, FOFO OPENED THE PRESENT!! Next thing we knew, she was standing in the doorway to Maria's room, crying, saying, "I opened it!" It took a minute for it to sink in, but Gus started saying, "Why did you do that??" and I started crying and hugging her. Meanwhile, Maria is standing there wondering what the heck is going on. She later said that she thought we had gotten Fofo a really nice card or something. But after a minute, Maria said, "What, are you pregnant???" The cat was out of the bag!

Meanwhile, though, Nick still wasn't home, and had no idea what had happened! Fofo started to feel a little guilty about opening the present, so she wrapped it back up. The new (revised!) plan was to wait until Nick got home, and then pretend like she was opening it for the first time. It worked like a charm! When he finally got home (around 4:00), Maria had secretly set up the video camera, and Fofo opened her present. More crying from everyone (this time, Nick too). We would have pulled it off, but Maria finally confessed that Fofo had opened the present earlier and discovered the news.

Anyway, it didn't go as planned, but it made for a better story! We all had a good laugh about it (honestly, it was pretty funny). The nice part is that we at least got to capture Nick's reaction on video, and it was a great one! This little baby has some very excited relatives, that's for sure! :)

Spring!

Alright, so this is entirely non-pregnancy-related, but the fruit trees in our yard are looking so pretty that I wanted to share! Our peach tree is absolutely covered in pink blossoms, and white blossoms are just starting to appear on the apricot tree. Our peach tree makes the BEST peaches-- only a few more months before we can eat them! :)



And in belly news... The idea of eating after 5pm makes me want to barf. Seriously. I have a feeling this is a mild variation of that wonderful thing called "morning sickness," only in my case, it hits me in the evening. Ugh. It's 6:00 right now and my stomach is churning. Last night, all I could get down were some chips and guacamole (dinner of champions!). Tonight I am attempting a chicken burrito (with guacamole, brown rice, salsa, and cheese on a whole wheat tortilla). It would normally sound really good to me, but... blechhhh. Actually, the only thing I want is the guacamole, which I could eat all by itself with a spoon. Could this be my first craving??? I just hope this feeling goes away soon. I don't even like writing about it! UGH!! :(

Life after 9:00 PM??

All I want to do is sleep these days... I mean, that's pretty much all I've wanted to do since I graduated from college, but since getting pregnant it has become an all-consuming desire! I can't even stay up past 9 o'clock most nights. Take yesterday, for example. It was Saturday. I slept in until around 8 o'clock (which is actually kind of late for me), and had a nice, not-overly-strenuous day. I got some work done for school, and the three of us (me, Gus, and Florian) went to go see "Zodiac." I should have been able to stay up until 10 or 11 o'clock without any problems... but, once again, I was in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9. I'm like an old woman! From what I've read, though, this is extremely common in the first trimester. I just feel constantly fatigued. It's really bad when I'm at work, and I start fantasizing about taking naps. sigh...

First Appointment

Well... I had my first appointment yesterday! Everything is fine, but the appointment itself was a huge disappointment. Basically, I just sat in the room with the nurse practitioner while she copied information from the questionnaire I had completed into my chart. She gave me some packets of information, and then told me a whole bunch of stuff I already knew. I kept waiting for her to say, "Alright, let's get your ultrasound started," but it didn't happen! When I asked her about it, she looked really confused, and said something to the effect of, "Oh, hunny, it's way too soon to see anything on the ultrasound... We won't do that until you're further along." Anyway, I know that's not true-- you can definitely see a sac and an embryo at this point (case in point: click here and check out all the 6/7 week pics!). But whatever-- I wouldn't have even expected the ultrasound if they hadn't told me it was going to happen! The letter they sent me a few weeks ago says:

Your first visit: Congratulations on your pregnancy. The first obstetrical visit typically will be conducted by our nurse practitioner. The focus of this visit is reviewing information and the physical exam, which includes the initial fetal ultrasound, and ordering the necessary laboratory studies. Any questions you may have will also be addressed.

So, silly me, I was expecting an ultrasound, and was totally disappointed! The nurse practitioner said she didn't even know why the letter said that. Anyway, I should be able to see the baby at my next appointment on March 26th... only a few weeks away. I think I can make it!

Some good things did come out of the appointment, though. We scheduled my BIG ultrasound for Friday, May 25th. That one will take place at a special, high-tech radiology facility. At that point, I will be 18 weeks and 4 days pregnant, which means we should be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl (and yes, we want to find out). Hooray! I also learned that I will be giving birth at Mary Birch Women's Hospital, which is awesome!! It's one of the best places around, so I was thrilled. The nurse practitioner also gave me the listing of all the pregnancy and parenting classes that are offered through the hospital, and it was really exciting! We're definitely going to do a childbirth class together, and probably the "baby care basics" one, too. They even offer a bunch of post-partum classes that include childcare for newborns-- very cool!

So, all in all, it wasn't a bad appointment... just not what I expected! They ordered a bunch of bloodwork, which meant that I had to go to the lab after work today. They took 8 vials' worth of blood, and that was kind of a nightmare. I am totally not squeamish about needles or blood, but the lady in the lab really messed up my arm... I told her that I usually have much more success with my right, and that the veins in my left arm are a) hard to find and b) collapse easily, never giving enough blood. She didn't listen, insisting that she use my left arm because I already had a small bruise on my right arm from Tuesday's bloodwork (which, by the way, was done by a much more skillful lady!). Guess what? She could barely get enough blood to fill one of the vials. So she started jabbing the needle all around, and it hurt like crazy! My arm is still sore- I'm sure I'm going to have a spectacular bruise. Finally, she gave up and used my right arm, which started spurting blood right away and gave her no problems as she filled up the other seven vials. I was really annoyed (can you tell?). I can barely bend either one of my elbows right now, because they're all bandaged up. I think I need to ice my left arm. Yippee.

Anyway... enough of my whining! I will end this on a positive note by sharing some of the clothing my parents brought back from Maui. This baby is going to be ready for a Hawaiian vacation, that's for sure! :)