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Ever since being pregnant, I get asked a lot of questions-which I like. In fact, if I see someone I haven't seen in a while, and they don't ask about my pregnancy, I get bugged. Everyone should care about my pregnancy. Yes, everyone.
Here are just some of those questions and my current answers to them:
1. How far along are you? Today, I am 28 weeks and 4 days. Thank you, "What to Expect" app for keeping track of that for me.
2. How have you been feeling? "Pretty good," is what I always say. Because although I'm experiencing back pain, heartburn, and many other uncomfortable symptoms, I do not feel nauseous, I am not on bed-rest, and I have an incredible husband who takes such good care of me.
3. What are you having again? A girl!
4. When are you due? I am due April 12th. Which we all know means anytime between now and the end of April.
5. Are you planning on going back to teach? Yes. I plan on going back to teach the last week of school and then enjoying my summer with my baby. Then back to the old grind again in August for another year. And if you're wondering if I'm looking forward to that... the answer is no. Not at all. But you do what you gotta do and both baby and I will learn to adjust.
6. Who's going to take care of the baby when you go back to school? I am so lucky to have a mom that lives only a mile away and a husband who can help out.
7. Can you feel her moving? Absolutely! Not when I'm teaching or busy doing something. But as soon as I sit down to plan, go to a faculty meeting, casually talk to a co-worker, or when I lie down for the night, those are the times I feel her the most, which is a wonderful sensation and distraction.
8. Do you have a name picked out? Ammon and I are not the kind of couple that has kept it a secret. We've had a name picked out for a while. All of our close friends and family know what that name is, but I'm not going to share it online until she is born. Sorry! But not really...
9. How's "The Unknown?" That's what one of my students likes to ask me. Since I haven't told my students the name we have picked out, this particular student has decided to call my baby "the unknown." I usually say the usual: "She's doing well," "She's sure kicking a lot," or "She's growing healthy."
Those are the typical questions and my answers to them. Now for the details that I don't usually share with people because... well.. nobody really asks. So even though you didn't ask either... here I go.
Farting. Yep. I said it. Farting. Oh man have I been farting! (Way more than I would like to admit.) I would say, "Poor Ammon," but for those who know him really well, know he's not at all innocent when it comes to this unpleasant phenomenon. So now we're even. Okay fine... I do it more than he does. At least I have 27 students I can blame it on while I'm at school. :)
Crying. Oh the crying! In the first trimester, I cried easily whenever someone else was crying. Now, I still do the sympathy crying, but I also cry whenever things aren't going smoothly. For example, my calling in church. For those of you who didn't already know, Ammon and I have been Sunbeam teachers for 5ish months in our new ward. That means teaching the 3 and 4 year olds gospel principles. In January, our three students moved up, and we received eight new students. Eight! Eight little babies who are accustomed to spending their Sundays with mom and dad and then the rest of it popping bubbles and pooping their pants. More or less...
The first Sunday we had these babies was quite the learning experience. They did okay during sharing time/singing time. But when it was time for class, Ammon and I were completely unprepared. We didn't bring snacks, toys, pictures, or even a plan for that matter. Just our lesson book and ourselves. Picture this. It's the last ten minutes of class. I've got a little girl sitting in a chair next to me bawling her eyes out because someone looked at her wrong, a student who has turned off the lights, is yanking at the door handle, and screaming her eyes out because her dad just left the room, a little girl who is running around the room, and then there's me-crying uncontrollably because... because... well I don't know! Call it hormones, call it the teacher-in-me, call it whatever you want, I could not stop crying. I learned a lot about Ammon that day. I learned that he is the most amazing man in the world. Being the champion that he is, he just started laughing when this happened. And then he said, "Primary is rough, huh guys?" He handled it so well. He stayed calm the whole time, even when his wife fell apart.
Don't worry, this has a happy ending. Luckily, the room next to us is the Nursery room. They must have heard all the crying because one of the teachers came and asked our class to join them for bubbles. Thank the heavens above! She was my angel that day. As soon as I could legally leave the kids alone, I bolted for the bathroom, where I sat in a stall and cried the rest of church and a good 10 minutes after church as well. Then I kept crying when I got home. And I continued to cry about it for days. Now, I can laugh about it. Thank goodness. I really don't enjoy crying. And let's just say that Ammon and I were much more prepared the week after and the week after that. :)
Varicose veins. I think it's safe to assume that we have all heard about and know what varicose veins are. Or at least what they look like. They're those ugly veins that can show up on your legs. They happen to old people. At least that's what I thought. But what you probably didn't know (I certainly didn't!) is that varicose veins can also show up in the vulva! That's right, the vulva. And that's exactly what happened to me. And it is not pleasant. Talking to my doctor about it helped verify what it was and that I had nothing to worry about. Reading more about it helped me emotionally accept what was going on. (I cried and moped when I realized that it wasn't going away until after the pregnancy.) I found this link very helpful. Here's their explanation of this oh-so-fun phenomenon:
"Vulvar varicosities, or varicose veins in the vulva, aren't a common topic among women. Women just don't tend to talk a lot about their vulvas — the outer surface of the female genitalia. And many probably don't even know that they can develop varicose veins down there. Vulvar varicosities tend to occur most often during pregnancy. The risk of varicose veins is greater during pregnancy because of the increase in blood volume and decrease in how quickly your blood flows from your lower body. This puts pressure on your veins. Vulvar varicosities can occur alone or along with varicose veins of the legs."
At least I don't have them in my legs...
Breasts. About two months ago, when I was only 20 weeks along, I lactated for the first time. It... weirded...me... out. Nobody told me that it could happen in the second trimester! I figured it would happen right before having the baby. Okay fine... I was naive and thought it only happened after having the baby. After nervously looking it up, I was relieved to find out that it's normal. The stuff that comes out is called colostrum (premilk) and it happens to many women. Another thing about my breasts is that they are covered in stretch marks, which I do not love. Oh. And they're still sensitive. It is for these reasons that I'm not as in love with them as I was the first trimester. Oh well. As long as they can feed baby, then that's what really matters. :)
Vivid dreams. All my life, I have been that person who never remembers their dream. However, lately, I can remember many of my dreams and they are very vivid. Most of them have been about my baby and about teaching. The dreams about my baby don't usually end well and the ones about teaching magnify a big fear of mine-losing control of the students. Can I go back to never remembering my dreams? Please?
Glucose Test. I just took the glucose test. They like women to be at 140. I was at 142. So now I have to go in for another test. This time it will be 3 hours long and I have to fast 12 hours before taking it. This test will confirm if I have gestational diabetes or not. Ammon and I are praying that I don't have it or that if I do, I will be able to manage it and that the baby will be healthy.
Other common symptoms:
Peeing all the time? Yup.
Backaches? You bet.
Heartburn? Oh yeah.
Finding a comfortable position when trying to sleep? Definitely.
As you can see, my pregnancy has not been too bad at all. I can function every day just fine and from what the doctor's have seen so far, my baby is healthy. I just have some other not-so-fun symptoms that nobody really talks about. I guess writing this post is my way of coping. Just getting it out there helps. Sorry if this was T.M.I., but I did warn you!
I can't wait to meet you sweet child!
