The Secret's Out!

On Thursday I told my students I was pregnant. I didn't have plans to tell them for a while longer, but the opportunity just presented itself. We were talking about how water expands when it freezes and before I knew it I said, "Just like Mrs. T's belly has been expanding. . ."

Absolute silence.

". . .because there's a baby in there." My homeroom erupted! They were so excited and had so many questions. They wanted to know if it was going to be a boy or a girl, and when I said I didn't know yet the boys started chanting BOY! BOY! BOY! and the girls starting chanting GIRL! GIRL! GIRL! I even had one girl call out to the others, "Girls, we better start praying to God that the baby will be a girl!" The kids wanted to take a poll right then and there on the baby's gender, but I told them we'll do that later.

There were also questions about the baby's name. One boy asked, "Aren't you supposed to name it after your father's middle name?" Huh? Another suggested that the baby be a Junior, just like him. I think once we do find out the gender I'll make it a warm-up one day for the kids to suggest a name for the baby. With my population of students, I should get some pretty interesting answers.

Once they found out the baby would be born in August, they wanted to know if I'd bring it up to school next year so they could see it. I told them I might be able to do that.

By the time we switched blocks, the "rumor" had gotten around to the next class. I won't even bother telling you about their reaction. Let's just say there is a huge maturity level difference between my homeroom and this other class. One comment that was kind of funny from that class happened right before I confirmed the rumor. I asked the class, "Do I really look like I'm pregnant?" Most of the students said no, but one brave boy spoke up, "Well, from the side. . . ."

So that's how the secret got out. I'm glad I no longer have to keep things quiet. Maybe I can use my pregnancy to my advantage with the kids. :)

I Finally Gave In. . .

I bought some maternity clothes. I've been putting it off and putting it off, because 1) I didn't want to spend the money and 2) I just knew my BeBand would take me through a good part of this pregnancy. Ha! So yesterday I headed to a little consignment shop to see if they had anything that would fit me. Do you know how weird it is to try on maternity clothes when you don't feel like you REALLY look pregnant? Anyway, I ended up leaving with a pair of black dress pants, a pair of jeans, and a top. I was really surprised to find pants that fit everywhere, including in length! Thanks to my handy $10 coupon I only paid $30. Not a bad deal, if you ask me. :)

While I'm talking about buying things, I went ahead and bought another Chi this past weekend. I hope it lasts just as long (hopefully longer) than my last one!

One last thing--In response to a couple of comments from the Let the Guessing Begin post, I don't have any feelings about what this baby may be. I tend to lean towards girl, but I think that's just because girly baby clothes are cute and Eric REALLY wants a girl. I'll be just as surprised as everyone else in 12 days!

Lucy and the Snow

My dog, who does not like to be wet, LOVES the snow! It was too funny to watch her this afternoon.

eating snow

chasing the ever-elusive snowball

Let the Guessing Begin!

*Updated with a couple of belly shots.

We had a doctor's appointment this morning and all was well. We got to listen to the heartbeat (164 bpm) and could even hear the baby moving around! Dr. F asked if I had felt the baby move yet, which made me feel less crazy about thinking I had felt something in church yesterday. For about a 10 minute period during the sermon I could feel an occasional gentle tap in my lower abdomen. I can't wait until Eric can feel those movements from the outside. :)

Our next appointment is the BIG ultrasound where we'll get to find out if we're expecting a boy or a girl. Eric would really like a girl and I'm indifferent, as long as the baby is healthy. I've made a poll over to the right where you can make your guess. I even thought I'd help you out by including some old wives tales below:

• Take the number of the month that you conceived and add it to your age at the time of conception. If the total of those two numbers is even, it's a girl.--GIRL
  
• Baby girls don't like to be held by women expecting a boy.--BOY


• If you have acne while pregnant, it’s a girl.--GIRL


• If you see a “V” or “branches” in the white part of your left eye when you pull it down, you’re having a girl.--BOY


• If the dad-to-be gains weight while you are pregnant, it’s a girl.--BOY


• If you had a smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness, it’s a boy.--BOY


• If the heart rate is over 140, it's a girl.--GIRL


• Chinese Gender Predictor--GIRL
  
• Take a wedding ring and attach it to a thread. Hold it over mom-to-be's belly while she is lying down. If the ring swings in a strong circular motion, you will be having a girl. If it moves in a to and fro motion like a pendulum, you will be having a boy.--GIRL
  

Here are a couple of pictures that may or may not be helpful. Notice the difference in the belly? The first picture was taken showing my usual not-so-great posture and the next picture is of me standing up straight and sucking it in a little. I don't know which one would be considered more accurate. Eric insists there's not really much of a difference.

So there you have it. Be sure to make your guess--more people guessing=more fun!

Sad Day

I think my Chi is experiencing a slow death. When I tried to use it this morning the power light would cut on and off. I think it has something to do with the rotating cord. . . .So here I sit at school with semi-straight hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. I guess I know what I'll be shopping for this weekend. :(
Here's a question for you: Do you have a flat iron you absolutely love that is not a Chi? What is it and where can I find it?

14 Weeks

I've officially made it out of the first trimester! Here's what BabyCenter has to say about our baby this week:

Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another.

In other news your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells.

On a sad note, some of you know that my 87 year old grandmother passed away rather suddenly a little over a week ago. She loved Jesus with all her heart, so I can find comfort in that. However, what breaks my heart is that although she already had a few great-grandchildren, our baby would have been the first that she would have been able to see and hold on a regular basis. She was excited about that prospect.

How are you feeling?

That's a question I've been asked a lot lately. Honestly, I have nothing to complain about. I haven't experienced any of the horribly unpleasant or scary pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness or spotting. In fact, I have been feeling so well that when I went to the doctor last week I told him that I was afraid there wouldn't be anything there when he did the ultrasound. He assured me there would be, and thankfully he was right. :)

So what have I been experiencing?

Bloating! Not long after I found out I was pregnant I noticed my pants were feeling tight. I knew this obviously had nothing to do with the lentil bean-sized baby. I don't guess I'd ever really been bloated before, because it took me a while to figure out what was going on. Enter my friend, the BeBand. I started wearing it about a week ago on days when my dress pants felt snug and it makes a world of a difference!

Acne! About a year before I got pregnant my dermatologist put me on some wonderful medicine. . .too bad the medicine is a big no-no when you are pregnant. At the very beginning of my pregnancy my skin was actually relatively clear. I had read about women whose skin clears up with pregnancy and I thought I was lucky. Boy was I wrong! In the past week or so the acne has come back and I can't really do anything about it. :( If anyone has a suggestion about what to do, I'd be willing to give it a try!

Restlessness! I wake up several times during the night trying to get comfortable. I flip from side to side and even onto my back, but I can never seem to stay in one position for very long.

Laughing fits! I suppose I can blame this on hormones. Last week I was trying to tell Eric a story about something funny that happened at school. Once I got the story started I could not stop laughing. I laughed so hard that I began to cry; I literally had tears streaming down my face. The same thing happened just the other day when we went to see a play at the community theater. The scene was funny, but I apparently thought it was extremely hysterical, once again to the point of tears. I'm sure the older man who was sitting beside me must of thought I was crazy! Have any of you other mommas experienced this?

Those are the biggest effects of pregnancy that I've noticed so far. Ask again in a few weeks, and I'm sure I'll be able to add to the list. Tomorrow marks 12 weeks, 28 to go! :)

By the way, thank you so much for all of the congratulations on the last post! It means a lot to know that y'all are excited and praying for us and the baby.