19 (+3) week bumpdate

Look at that! It's a full fledged bump! The random substitute in my classroom last week questioned if I was pregnant or not. So it's official that it's a bump. Let's get to it shall we?

How far along are you? 19 weeks and 3 days.

How I'm feeling: Pretty good. A bit tired and I've definitely had some stretching pains this week. 

Total weight gain:  I'm up five pounds I think. Started at 120, dropped to 117 and have slowly made my way up. I've been doing a good job of watching what I eat. 

How big is baby? According to the Bump he's the size of a mango! He measured on time last week and weighed 8 oz.

Boy or girl?: boy!!! :)

Maternity clothes: I wear my belly bands almost daily. I wore a maternity top that I got from a consignment store two days. I love the ruffles on it and could totally rock it even if I wasn't pregnant. I'm rockin'  a pair of maternity leggings today under one of my old dresses. So comfy!

Sleep: On a good day, I wake up once to go to the restroom. I had great sleep this weekend but the last two nights have been rough. 

Best moment this week: Finally looking pregnant! Kind of crazy when I look down! The bump came out of nowhere. Oh and buying little man two cute outfits for 3 dollars at Baby Gap!

Worst moment: Last week at our scan, we found out baby has a marginal cord insertion. That's when the cord attaches near the edge of the placenta instead of the middle. Happens only to 7% of moms! A slight one (meaning if it was attached .25 cm the other way no one would be concerned.) Doctor didn't seem overly concerned, and it means I get more ultrasounds. So I guess it's a plus for getting to see the baby more!

Movement: On and off. I have an anterior placenta (found that out last week too!) so movements will be muffled for a bit. Last night I did feel some definite kicks!

Food cravings: Nothing distinct lately. Though now that I think about it, flautas from Tijuana Flats sound AMAZING!! Or the empanadas from the Race Trac down the street. Random I know!

Food aversions: I discovered in my first tri that my aversions are anything that was fairly new to me before pregnancy. The idea of quinoa and cucumber water makes me wanna hurl!

Belly button in or out:  Belly button is still in. But it's definitely not as deep anymore!

What I am thankful for: J. I lost it at our anatomy scan last week and he kept me calm. He's been absolutely great during this pregnancy and I can't wait to see him with our little boy!

What I'm looking forward to: Buying the crib. I think we've decided on the one we want. Plus hearing his heartbeat again in two weeks.

I wrote earlier this year that my word is TRUST. This pregnancy has taught me a lot about having faith and trust. I can't feel my baby but I trust that he's there. I trust that God is watching over me and him. It's a tough lesson for someone like me to take, but it's one that I definitely needed!

To work or not to work...

I haven't blogged in a bit (not counting my announcements or H54F) but when I saw Bonnie's and Brooke's posts today, I knew I had to chime in.

After I've received congratulations on my baby, I immediately get asked "Are you coming back to work?" It's almost a given. My answer is always the same.

Yes.

My husband is a budgeting genius. You think I'm exaggerating, but it's completely true. I am absolutely sure that if push came to shove, he would find a way to create a manageable and livable budget on his salary alone. It would be hard but we could do it.

But here's the thing. We like the lifestyle our two incomes provide. We like the fact that we will be able to provide many things for our baby without worrying about if it fits into the budget. Corporate world isn't the steady place it used to be. Jobs get cut and departments get shifted. We like the fact that if something (knock on wood) happened to his job, we would still have my steady job to get us by.

Teaching jobs are hard to come by in my district and in surrounding districts. My position would get filled immediately and who knows how long it would take for me to find something. A small part of me has always felt like I have the best job to be a working mom. I'll have off at the same time my kids will. Same holidays and everything. Working part time is an option but it's difficult because you have to find someone to be willing to job share with you. Someone willing to give up their benefits and a full paycheck.

After we had this conversation the other night, my husband told me something that stuck with me. "You are an amazing teacher. There are too many crappy ones for you to stop teaching." And it stuck with me. I love what I do and I think that being a mom will help me be an even better teacher than I am now.

I know I will want to be home with my baby. I'm already fretting over the fact that I'm planning on taking 8 weeks of leave (my district makes you burn any paid leave before you take FMLA and I don't want to be stuck without sick days). But I think something else that eases my decision is knowing that my mother has agreed to take care of our baby. My mother retires in August and won't even let us entertain the idea of letting us put this baby in day care. I know that besides me or J, a family member is the next best thing to take care of our child.

My mother was a working mother my whole life. She made it come together. She never missed a parent teacher conference, a field trip, and stayed home with us if we were sick. Now I know it was a sacrifice to her, but looking back  I never saw that. Only thing I saw was a mom at home making us dinner and getting us ready to go to music or baseball practice. A mom who took care of us and loved us. She also lucked out that she had my grandmother to take care of us too.

I don't knock mothers who choose to stay home and I don't knock mothers who work. We all do and plan to do what's best with our families. Something I've discovered during this whole pregnancy thing is that every decision you make as a mother will be judged. Want to breastfeed your child or bottle feed? Someone will judge you. Want to co-sleep or put baby in a crib right away? Someone will judge you. Want to have a home birth or a hospital birth? Someone will judge you. The list goes on and on.

I for one want to stop that. So I say if you want to be a working mom? Go for it! You'll be a great example to your kids. Want to be a stay at home mom? Go for it! You'll be a great example to your kids too!

I hope you respect and understand my decision. :)

Friday, Friday, Friday!

Oh hello there blog friends who still read this. I promise, I'm alive. Just super swamped. Can I just tell you how pumped I am that it's Friday??? Plus it's a planning day, and I'm such a teacher nerd. I love planning days (and not just because I get off work early too!)

So let's see what my five favorite things were this week!

1. PLANNING DAY = SHORT WEEK

My class has full fledged spring fever. I don't know how many times I had to have them have some quiet time. I have the sweetest, most well behaved class ever, so when they start acting like normal first graders, I lose it just a little bit. :)

2. 

J and I bought a new couch and love seat for our living room. I love them both! We did realize we will have to get rid of the breakfast bar, but these comfy babies are worth it. The couch is a power recliner. I'm not the only who loves it either: 

Silly girl!

3. I hit the 16 week mark this week and I have a visible bump that's actually bump and not bloat!

I also ::think:: I felt baby move a few nights ago. Woke up with some random feelings in my belly but they went away. We shall see. :) I have an appointment next week and then the week after we find out what we're having!

4. I went to the dentist on Wednesday. While I normally DESPISE this, it wasn't that bad! Plus Dr. Anand said my teeth look great and she didn't bitch me out for forgetting to go. SCORE!

5. My mom and I are going shopping for some maternity clothes tomorrow.My pants are getting snug and I want to buy another belly band. :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!!

The first few weeks

I wrote this during my first trimester... just wanted to remember. I'll try posting some bumpdates, now that I actually have a bump! 

January 3
I do NFP, which means I chart my cycles. I've been doing this since last March, so I have a really good idea when my period will come. I figured it would come Monday, so I decided to take a pregnancy test.

J wanted to be there, but I honestly thought it would be negative. Imagine my surprise when the line turned pink! I felt AWFUL about taking it without him. I thought I could keep it a secret, but the minute he walked in the door, I couldn't hide my smile. We figured out I was about a month along and that my due date is around September 14th.

January 10
Since the office manager at my doctor is also a close family friend, I ended up getting blood taken at a local urgent care. The results were positive, so J called this group of Ob-gyns that got great reviews from friends to set up my appointment. My appointment? February 11. SO FAR AWAY! (Oh and I couldn't go to my regular gynecologist because she's not an OB).

5 weeks
We told our parents. I knew that no matter what happened, I'd want my mom to know. She bawled her eyes out, which made me cry! J's parents seem pumped as well. We are waiting on telling siblings until after our appointment. My only symptoms so far are achy breasts and cramps. I also got sick with a sinus infection. I joked with J that I wish I'd get some nausea just to know I'm really pregnant. Well be careful what you wish for....

6 weeks
Nausea hit! Luckily no vomiting, just a heck of a lot of dry heaving and it tends to go away after lunch. It's really annoying actually. My only aversions are to new things I recently took a liking too (like quinoa and cucumber water.) Literally, if I even think of quinoa for more than a minute, I start to dry heave!.

7 weeks
Still nauseous every morning. One day, I even threw up my breakfast (I think I ate it too fast). I've been sneaking saltines at work, trying to make sure my assistant doesn't notice. I've also been drinking water non-stop. When people question it (never much of a water drinker before!) I tell them it's to help my acne. Speaking of acne, I guess the constant high of the hormones has kept it in check. I also got a flu shot this week. I couldn't get it back in fall when they came to work, and just never got around to it (I know, I know). My arm's a bit sore, but it's worth it.

8 Weeks
Nausea dies down during the week, but I think it's because I just eat more during the day. I'm getting antsy to get to my first appointment. I just want to know if everything's progressing right. The only main bother this week was a bad leg cramp I got from wearing crappy shoes.

9 weeks
I threw up at the beginning of this week. It was the worst because I didn't have any food in my system. Plus, I've discovered the smells of cleaning supplies make me nauseous and my assistant cleaned my tables with Clorox wipes. Thought I was going to hurl right on top of my students!
But the best part of this week? Seeing that everything is progressing right! My first appointment was Tuesday, February 11. We had to wait FOREVER but it was worth it to see the ultrasound tech say the baby looked great and was measuring on time. Official due date: September 15th. J and I went and had a celebratory dinner/early Valentine's Day dinner. Went to Cantina Laredo... so yummy!

10 Weeks
Just still that typical morning dry heave. It's the worst! We told my brother this week. I think he was  a little perturbed we kept the secret, but he's excited (I think). I know J's sisters were very happy and excited for us! 

11 Weeks
Nothing new symptom wise. A no real bump to speak of. I'm nervous about next week's appointment. Never knew I could worry this much! Side note: we closed on our house this week! It was fun thinking about which room could be the nursery! I let my best friend in on the secret. Her wedding is a month after the baby will be born. Plus she's a nurse, so she helped calm down a lot of my fears!


12 weeks
We had our NT scan and everything looked great! The tech had a hard time finding the fluid because their wasn't much of anything! The doctor was Puerto Rican and claimed the baby has a Puerto Rican nose, so we'll see! It definitely looks like the baby has J's lips. :) 
I told my boss. He claims he already knew! I'll be teaching regular first grade next year and I found out, I may have enough leave saved up to take all of it paid. I also told my team, and they were so excited for me! I can't wait to let everyone in on this secret.

These first few weeks have taught me so much about having faith and just being positive. I just need to keep those negative thoughts away and fill them in with happy thoughts!

So I've been MIA for a really good reason!

I know, I haven't posted in like 3 weeks! But to my defense, I've been pretty busy. 3rd 9 weeks is ALWAYS a hectic time of year and J and I just closed on our first house! He's been there, pretty much everyday, painting and taking down ugly RED wall paper. But to say that's the only reason I've been gone, would be a total lie...

I'M PREGNANT! I've known since January, and it's been killing me not to say anything! So now you know my little secret. :) I don't know if I'll keep up with bumpdates but I will most definitely try!

Woot! Woot! It's Friday!

Hi all! Feel like I keep ignoring this little blog space of mine. I could lie and say I've been busy, but eh that wouldn't be true. Unless you count watching the Olympics being busy!

Let's get to my five from this week:

J surprised me by bringing home roses and strawberry cheesecake from Publix on Valentine's Day. Because of all the extra expenses heading our way, we had agreed to not do anything major but he broke his own rule. :)

I received my Carabox from Jessie. Can't wait to paint my nails with the fun colors she gave me!

Source

I've really been loving watching the Olympics every night. I love that I was able to watch some of the best events live! I'm kind of bummed that the Olympics ends on Sunday. I adore the Winter Olympics. I can watch every event (yes, even curling!). Plus it's just fun!

I went out last night with one of my friends from my old school. It was nice to vent and just catch up with each other!!! Plus this ecard's perfect because we ended up at Chili's!

I don't have a number five, except to say YAY WEEKEND! :)

Where do you go for dinner with friends?
How was your week?

As always, linking up with Lauren!

Why we work

So I love reading Bonnie and Taylor and when I saw them do this fun link up, I knew I had to join in.

Tomorrow's Valentine's Day and I think it's really fun to look back and see why J and I work. We've been together for 3.5 years now (married for 7 months) and I think we really do complement each other.



So without further adieu... why J and I work:

He's black/white and I'm all about the gray.

He's laidback and I'm dramatic. All about balance right?

We both love sports. We've been perfectly content watching the Olympics.

Speaking of,  he loves to watch curling (which is analytical) and I love figure skating (which is emotional!)

We both love food. Simple as that. :)

We push each other. In a good way. I push him to watch his words and he pushes me to be a little neater (I'm working on it!)

Family's number one. To both of us. Watching him interact with his nieces, always puts a smile on my face.

He watches girly shows with me. Not necessarily because he likes them (except for Total Divas!) but because he likes to be with me. Same reason I'll watch Seinfeld with him.

He lets me get cupcakes for my class. And he comes to read to them.

I laugh at his dirty jokes. In fact, he loves to make me laugh and he loves to find the weirdest ways to make me laugh.

He looks out for my brother.

He's always down for ice cream...even when it's cold and drizzly (hello ice cream sundaes!)

We know how to dig at each other. And while we don't always do that nicely, something good always comes out of it.

We're both stubborn but end up figuring out someway to compromise. With both of us being Cancers...that can be tough.

We share a birthday!

 

 

 

Simple. Because despite the fact that we are too of the most stubborn people EVER, we try our hardest everyday to make each other happy. And sometimes that scale can be tilted in one way, we try our best to make sure it tilts the other way.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!