Week 19

I have really enjoyed every week of this pregnancy. No sickness, no nausea, just a little tired. Well, during the 1st trimester I was a lot tired. There was always a severe possibility of me falling asleep at my desk while my students were reading. But I digress.

The Nest Baby is a website that gives the size of the baby each week. It started out the size of a poppy seed. This week, week 19, it is the size of a mango. I used the think that pregnancies lasted for such a long time. Until I saw a special about how elephants' gestation period is over 520 days. No, really, I thought it was a long time until I thought about how a human body with all of it's intricacies is created within 38 weeks. That is mind boggling to me. No wonder I've been tired. :)

I have been feeling it move more and more often. Usually it's when I sit down after cleaning, doing yoga, or some kind of activity. So fun. I can't wait to feel it kick. I also can't wait to stop calling it "it". One week and counting.

More side effects

I didn't realize pregnancy has SO many side effects. You could essentially blame it all (any ailment known to mankind) on pregnancy, but I've really tried not to. Except for this. Now, you all know my allergy trouble. It never seems to end. Just before I got pregnant, I started using Claritin and it worked famously. I was loving life. Then my doctor said its okay to use "as needed". So does that mean everyday? Because, believe it or not, my allergies have actually gotten WORSE! I am constantly stopped up. When I talk to people on the phone, I get lots of "are you okay?" "Have you been crying?" "Are you sick?" That's because I have such sweet friends... and I can no longer breathe through my nose.

I feel so sorry for Woody, who has to listen to my constant sneezing (which makes me wonder if all of that sneezing is squeezing the baby too much), nose blowing, etc. I hate to even eat in front of him as I'm sure it looks similar to a pig in a trough since I have to eat with my mouth open so I can breathe.

This is my second order of business at my next appointment (next Thursday), right after the ultrasound and finding out the gender of this baby. I"m very excited to start calling it he or she instead of it.

Supermodel? nah.

Funny story. When we were in Rome last December, the camera never left Woody's hands. Since I was normally the closest person to Woody, I ended up in a lot of pictures by myself, many of which have since been destroyed as they were in no way decent or nice looking pictures of me. Believe it or not, this picture was not posed for. I was walking out of the camera view when Woody, as is customary of his picture taking, said my name, then snapped the picture. You know how that works, I'm sure you all have at least one person in your family that does this. I have been blessed with two, Woody and his mother. I think he got it from her, I think I'm gonna need to have a little talk with those two. I hate it he does this, it is super annoying. My mouth is usually hanging wide open like a fly trap as I'm in the middle of saying, "What now?" But this time, by some crazy swing in the universe, I ended up looking like a supermodel, even if I say so myself! So I thought, why not put that one on the blog?!

By the way, that amazingly beautiful building behind me would be the Vatican. It was Christmas Eve and we had just left the Vatican to scoot down to see the castle (can't remember the name for the life of me), then we enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner.

Just call me Sashsquatch

I was not prepared for the increased amount of hair growth during pregnancy. I mean, who knew that every pore of my body would start producing hair? Well, apparently everyone who has been pregnant. Not only do I have new hairs popping up, for example, on my chinny chin chin, but the hair that was there won't stop growing!! My legs get a 5 o'clock shadow. Now that's attractive. And the hair on my arms? I didn't think it was supposed to get that long. And let's not even get started on the under arm region. I imagine by week 25, I'm going to have to start getting full body waxes.

Dream a little Dream

I have read (and heard) that pregnancy brings on some strange dreams. I have not been immune to these crazy dreams. It seems like I wake up at least once a week in a cold sweat resulting from some outrageous dream. Last night, I dreamed I had the baby, but it was only 5 inches long ~that's its current size. Not only was it too little to cuddle with, but I kept loosing it! Oh my goodness! I woke up feeling like the worst mother ever!

This dream occurred after I had the annual first day of school nightmare. I had these all the way through school, and they have continued in my teaching career. In the dreams, I'm usually painfully unprepared for the first day, then I forget all of the tricks I have up my sleeve. On the more stressful years, I am naked during this time and have all of the adminstrators observing my pitiful attempt at teaching. Luckily this time, I was just unprepared and I couldn't get the kids to stop talking. So in relation to other years, this wasn't too bad. But to dream that I'm a terrible teacher, followed by a terrible mother?! I hope tonight's dreams are a lot sweeter.

New 'Do

It's hot outside. It's hot inside. My hair (which has grown exponentially as a result of the pregnancy) has become a tangled mess of insulation. It's always in my way. It takes FOREVER to dry. Combing it out has become a 10 minute process complete with tears (who would have known that I need to buy Johnson's No More Tears Detangling spray before the baby is even born?). It had to go. 5 inches of it. Gone. It went from below my bra strap to my shoulders (the curls get curlier when cut). If I would have gone for 5 more inches, I could have donated it to Locks of Love, but I prefer not to look like a washed up Shirley Temple. Luckily, this drastic move worked out for the best. I am not as hot as I was ~ make no mistake, I am still a human incubator warming the growing bun in my oven~ and Woody is pleased with the new 'do. Next stop on the mommy train: maternity tops as nothing I have fits anymore.

Yeah Blogging... Again!

I used to love blogging. It was like a creative outlet for all of my daily activities, which usually focused on either students or dogs. Fortunately, that is all about to change. With the extremely exciting news of my being a human incubator, I've decided to start blogging again.

At this point, I am only 16 weeks. It's summer time and I have lots of extra time on my hands. So don't get used to me blogging everyday, because you know that will probably end when school starts again... Hey, I'm just being realistic.

For now, I have chosen this lovely shade of non gender specific green. This will change in 3 weeks and 2 days when we find out the sex of the baby. Yes, we are finding out the sex. Don't try to talk us out of it. I look at this several different ways, one is that there are going to be enough surprises on that lovely day. And another thing, it's going to be a surprise at 20 weeks just like it would be a surprise at term. And you know how much of a planner I am. I must plan, decorate, name, etc.