Pregnancy + Teaching Jr. High = Awkward

Obviously, I did not tell my students about my pregnancy right away. Partially, it was for the same reason that you don't tell most people right away, just to make sure there weren't any early complications, but I also didn't want it to be a distraction. 7th and 8th graders already will look for any excuse to get you off track.

Finally, I decided my baggy shirts could hide it no longer, and I figured it was time to break the news to my crazy kiddos. They were SO cute and excited about it, and in the week since I let them in on my little secret they have been quite inquisitive and funny about the whole situation. I will say that their responses (so far) can be divided into three main categories:


Unsolicited advice:

1. Student: "Are you going to teach next year or are you going to stay at home with your baby?"

Me: "I am going to teach part-time. So I will be here on A-days and on B-days I will be home with my baby."

Student: "Oh. I think you should probably stay home and take care of your baby every day"

(Thank you for your input)

2. (I sip from my soda during class sometimes to keep nausea at bay)

Student: "GASP! Does that have CALORIES???"

Me: "So what if it does?" (it was diet. I was just being a punk)

Students: "You really shouldn't drink your calories"

Me: "I do what I want"

3. Student: "You run, right? You really should run while you're pregnant"

Me: "Oh...what makes you say that?"

Student: "My young women's leader runs and she's six months pregnant. And she is really skinny"


Ponderings on my child's ethnic ambiguity:

1. Student: (Whom I called on thinking she had a legitimate question in relation to what we were discussing in class) "Ok, don't take this the wrong way, but will your baby be, like, Japanese?"

Me: (hoping I am not breaking any laws on what we are allowed to talk about with regards to reproduction in Utah schools) "Well, my baby will be half of me and half of my husband. So it will be half Japanese and half white."

Student: "That is so cool."

Me: "Why would I take that the wrong way?"

Student: "You would be surprised" (I still don't know what that meant)

2. Student: "WAIT, will your baby be American?"

Me: "Well it will be born in America, so...."

Student: "NO, I've got it, it will be JAMERICAN!!! That is SO funny!"

Surprisingly accurate and wise words:

1. Student: "Pregnant women eat double dessert" (sounds about right)


2. Student: "You will probably have a hard time sleeping. My mom said it was hard at the end because she was really uncomfortable."


3. Student: "What are you craving? Like, that we have in the vending machines here? I want to buy you a snack"


4. Student: "I am going to be really nice to you. We watched "Into the Womb" in health and pregnancy looks hard." (This, coming from one of my most rowdy 8th graders, was actually quite appreciated. And so far I have to say that he has followed through. He came in and organized my bookshelves for me last week just because.)


5. Student: "I will do whatever you want from now on. In my experience, pregnant women can get pretty ornery.... (this kid has like 8 siblings. So I think he knows) 


Oh, and I have to throw in this grammatically accurate honorable mention. My 7th graders have been studying some commonly-confused words the last week in order to get ready for the vocab portion of the state testing we are having in a few weeks. We were talking about the difference between "you're" and "your." I asked the class if anyone could come up with a sentence using "you're" correctly.

Student: "You're fat"

Me: "You're rude. But you're also right. Who can use "your" correctly?"

Student #2: "Your belly is fat."

Me: Again....correct.

*I should mention that these are both students that I have a pretty good relationship with, and we joke around a lot. So I was not offended! I asked for it by walking around pregnant in the cesspool of hormones that is jr. high!

Returning to the blogging world.....with a baby update!

I have been such a loser about blogging! It has kind of become overwhelming, because I feel like there is soooo much to catch up on. BUT since we are having a BABY in September, I decided to get back to journaling. I really want to have a record of this little period of our lives, and there are certainly a lot of changes going on in our lives that are worth remembering!

This post is sort of boring; it's mostly just for me to remember this time. I promise to blog about more random and entertaining topics in the future!

We found out I was pregnant on January 26th. At the time I was about five weeks along. We were both very surprised and excited to hear the news. Well, scratch that, I was excited, Dave seemed to be in a state of shock for a while (happy shock I think). Later on, he confessed that he sort of didn't believe it. I understand that, because I could feel that I was pregnant (or that I had a severe case of mono and a tropical parasite of some sort taking over my life), but didn't look it yet, and since we hadn't been to the doctor I think he was apprehensive about getting too excited. 


However, when we went to the doctor and heard the little heartbeat, it was kind of like a switch flipped with Dave. He has been SUPER excited ever since. We had an early ultrasound because I am participating in a medical study for new moms, so it was also really fun to get some early pics of the little bean, which made it a lot more real. 

At about eleven weeks, he/she is a little bigger now

Once eight weeks hit, so did lovely nausea! Thankfully I was able to keep food down, but not much sounded good, and I needed to snack constantly to keep from feeling yucky. So I counted on a few standby foods that usually sounded edible:

Weirdly, I craved pop when I was feeling nauseous, and I don't really drink a lot of pop usually. I at least tried to drink pop with no caffeine or sugar (just lots of wonderful artificial sweeteners and additives...yay! :) Bagels, protein bars, and dried fruits were usually things I liked to snack on during the day while I was teaching. There was also a lot of pizza consumed but I don't have pictures of that.....shameful foods best left undocumented! Unfortunately vegetables sort of went by the wayside and haven't returned since. I LOVE green smoothies, though, and so I have been trying to make those often so I can at least get some greens in. On Easter I tried eating some salad and gagged on it hardcore. Dave just patted my hand and said "just keep taking your vitamins..." It is hard not to feel guilty for having a less-than-perfect diet, but I just keep telling myself that the baby's nutritional needs are small at this point, and I really am doing my best.

I have seen these questionnaires on blogs, and I thought it would be fun to do one every few weeks to keep track of everything. I am so thankful to be out of the first trimester: suffice it to say, the only documentation that stage needed was extreme fatigue, nausea, and a general aversion to acting like a productive and social human being.

The following questions are as of today:



How far along? 15 weeks and 2 days 

How big is baby? My baby app says the size of an avocado.

Total weight gain/loss: suffice it to say I have gained! Not a huge amount yet but definitely some poundage.

Maternity clothes? Not yet. I have bought a few things, but I am trying to wear my old clothes for as long as possible! I have employed the rubber-band trick on the pants button and I have used the Be Band I bought once (it's a stretchy thing that goes over your pants so they can be unbuttoned. Very classy :)  

Sleep: Not great, but not terrible! I just wake up a lot to use the bathroom, and sometimes wake up feeling nauseous, or coughing up acid. Again, lovely :) 

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat at our doctor's appointment this week!

Movement: Not yet! Hopefully in the next few weeks.

Food cravings: This week, I have kind of been liking sweets more than I did before. So I don't know if that is good that I am returning to normal, or bad....

Food Aversions: just veggies still :(

Gender: We find out in two weeks! But I am betting it is a boy, and Dave is betting that it is a girl.

Labor Signs: Uh, thankfully no!

Pregnancy Symptoms:  Still really tired, and the occasional bout of nausea. But the most annoying by far is almost daily headaches! And heartburn. I could go on.....

Belly Button in or out? In (please let this stay this way)

What I miss: Just energy, and motivation. I feel like I rely on Dave a lot more than before. But every discomfort is worth it!

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender!!! 

Milestones: Starting to actually look pregnant. I catch people staring at me and I think they are trying to decide. Also, telling my students was tons of fun! I will have to do a whole post on that one.

Bump Picture: