Due Date

What does one do with the last few days of pregnancy when she knows there is a finish line?  I'm not sure yet.  Reminisce about this process?  Plan for the next few weeks (how on Earth do I know what to plan for...)?  Relax?  Clean?  Sleep while I still can?  Read?  Go to a Memorial Day BBQ?

I sort of wish I was still working.  It's Monday, and school let out last Thursday.  This is what I originally wanted - school to end, tied up in a little bow, and for baby to show up a few days later on schedule.  Now I'm not so sure the extra downtime has been good for my brain, but it is probably good I'm not with all of those people.

My job is so social.  There are my co-workers who are my friends, the co-workers I don't know as well, the students, the parents, etc.   It is one building that has over 2,000 people in it every day.   Sometimes that's great!  We're all in it together.  But during those times you just want to lay low, it can be a smothering environment.  My students (and this year I saw about 120 of them every day) were/are very excited.  They ask a lot of questions.  And they make a lot of comments with seemingly no filter.  My co-workers who are my friends have been supportive, but also watching me with baited breath.  My co-workers who are just acquaintances have been the most curious group for me to observe.  They want to make comments, tell their own birthing horror stories or ask the most PERSONAL questions.  And because they barely know me, changing the subject is out of the question.  The only thing they want to talk about is the baby.

This was making me a little crazy.  While I wanted to talk about all of this baby stuff with my friends, listening to a million comments from random people in the hallway to remind me every second that I was going to be a mom in a week was getting old.  I know that!  And I'm still processing that fact!  So let me be to stew and freak out a little without making it worse!

So, I've holed myself up with Matt for the weekend.  And it has been really, really good.  If I need it, he lets me cry or freak out for a minute, stays calm enough for both of us, and then we talk it out if I still need to.  Some of my favorite days are when we just spend the day doing "nothing."  Things like eating homemade pancakes and alternately cringing and laughing while we clean out the fridge together - among other chores, that's what we did yesterday.  I'm glad we had one more low-key weekend to hang before our family grows from two to three.

So while Matt works this afternoon, I sit at home with the Cardinal's game.  Just waiting.  And trying not to think too much.

Maybe I'll go unpack and repack my bag one more time.  Just to be sure.

Another Year Behind Us

The 2011-2012 school year is officially behind us!  Today I finished up finals with my two block classes (it's a presentation for ease of grading), finalized grades, cleared out all extra handouts and unclaimed assignments, and filled out my "End of the Year Checkout List." Tomorrow I return to the building for a few minutes to officially turn in said checklist, return a library book and clean out my classroom fridge.  For the first time ever, I'm not teaching summer school and even though I'll be taking care of a newborn, I don't have to think about school for many weeks.  Quite refreshing. 

I had a great group of students in the U.S. Studies Block class this year.  We usually had a grand time and everyone learned a lot along the way.  I am still surprised and happy about their reaction (and subsequent interest and pestering) about Baby Foster.  I really hope they come back to visit like Krissy (in the first picture below) did all year during her study hall.  

[With Krissy outside the Media Center]

[With Megan in my classroom]

[Again with Megan from the side....hmmm.]

[With Kia, photo bombed by Brandon.  Man, was I puffy today, or what? ]

Dont' get me wrong.  I'm glad to say goodbye for a few months - they were especially feisty this week and did a little dance right up on my last few nerves.  But the students in next year's crop have some pretty huge, and pretty hilarious, shoes to fill.

For now, FREEDOM.  For a few days, or hours....until Baby Foster takes over.  

Finish Line

As Baby's due date approaches, they still tell me she might be a big one.  The due date is still Monday, May 28th, but if she doesn't show up by then the doctor is serving her eviction notice.  She has scheduled a "back-up plan" induction starting Tuesday at 10pm.   

Crazy.  Time to vacuum the carpets one last time and finish packing the bag.  

38 and 39 Weeks

Yesterday we reached 39 weeks of baby bump.  Only six more days until the due date - a date that once felt so very far away is practically here and I'm not sure it has officially sunk in yet.  For over two weeks, I've endured the most inappropriate comments and questions - mostly from people who barely know me.  The same question from a friend or family member doesn't seem out of line.  I'll spare the details, but some of these questions even gross me out.  Needless to say, I've been feeling lots of pressure - from just about everyone I come in contact with, including strangers - to have this child.  My students are even throwing my own advice back at me, "Ms. Chip, you really shouldn't procrastinate.  Hurry up and have that baby!"  We've even passed around an email sign-up list in case she shows up after finals are over (two days from now) so they can get a name update before school starts up in the fall.  They just can't wait.

Well, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the ankle-swelling and the heartburn and the fact that I need help getting off the couch, but I figure every minute she waits to arrive is one more minute I am meant to let reality sink in a little further.  Pretty soon three people are going to live here instead of just two.  So crazy.  So surreal.

Doc says it could be any day now and we go back to visit her tomorrow afternoon for an update.  Either way, she won't let me stay pregnant longer than June 4th, so if by Monday the 28th she hasn't arrived an induction will be scheduled.  For right now, I'll just continue to be the "ticking time bomb" as one of my colleagues called me at lunch today.  Awesome.

Below is a full bump/body progression.  Good lord.  Breastfeeding better, #1 be possible for me and #2 burn 500 calories a day like they say.  I've been working on some puff!

[Baby Announcement]

[16 Weeks]

[18 Weeks]

[20 Weeks]

[24 Weeks]

[28 Weeks]

[32 Weeks]

[34 Weeks]

[37 Weeks]

[38 Weeks]

[39 Weeks]

In Other News....

Since babies apparently take over your life months and months before they actually arrive, I feel like that's all I've talked about lately.  Or all anyone wants to talk to me about.  It's a cyclical and logical thing - I get it.  But life does go on.  Even when there is a babe on the way.

• School is just crazily trucking along.  The end of school (May 24th) has coincided so closely with a baby due date (May 28th) that they have become synonymous in my head.  Right now we're prepping for finals or giving final presentations in all of my classes.  The end of the school year is here.  I can smell it.  We're saying goodbye to a pretty darn great group of seniors this year.  Since I teach solely juniors, I'm not so caught up in their hoopla or their senioritis, but I've had many come to say goodbye, give me senior pictures, get my signature in their yearbook, etc.  Here's a picture with last year's U.S. Studies student, Krissy, on her last day of high school yesterday.  Not bad for a phone photo! All year she tried to crash our block class during her study hall.  She's a pistol.

• Matt took a new job.  He has been working for a physician recruiting company since he came back from Saint Louis in November, but it was just to pay the bills and reunite us.  All the while, he was looking for a job in the area that would actually use his expertise.  Through a strange chain of events, Matt reached out to the local fitness club that has pretty much monopolized the city for almost 30 years.  And they created a position for him!  So he is still learning the ropes as he has just been there for a few weeks, but so far it's going well.  He's using his education and experience now and will able to be creative in a setting he really enjoys. 
• We rearranged the living room.  I know.  Not a huge deal, but we've finally found a way to have a couch face both the fireplace and the TV which used to be on opposite caddy corners of this oddly shaped room.  If I think about it, I'll snap a few pictures this weekend.  Even if it's not permanent, I quite like the freshness of a furniture change. 
• For now that's it.....I guess our non-baby news list isn't so long after all :-)   

Two Showers and a Baby - Part #2

So, baby shower number two!  What a successful, and delightful celebration of Baby Foster!  I have to tell you, my family really knows how to put together a shin dig.  First of all, everyone can cook which is why even my pre-maternity waistline was less than svelt.  Second of all, everyone is so supportive and really knows how to band together.  And third, we were dealt a healthy dose of the "good taste" gene as seen by all of the beautiful details of our grey and yellow, book themed shower.  Sommer planned the whole deal, including the very adorable and thorough theme.  She had help from all around to accomplish her vision.  To all of my sisters, aunts, cousins, my grandmothers and my mom who hosted this party, we say THANKS A MILLION!

[We were showered once again with beautiful gifts for Baby Girl.  Oh dear.  So spoiled already.]

[All the guests created a handmade alphabet book for the kid - complete with pictures drawn on the spot!]

[We received a beautiful baby guest book with well-wishes and congrats - great idea!]

[Sommer's pretty milk glass made an appearance again as the vases for these paper flowers made out of grey, yellow, or text-filled paper.  The girls apparently all got together to make these decorations together and now they happily reside in Baby's room.]

[Mark and Eunice made us a diaper cake!  And gave us an Ugly Doll book.  I adore Ugly Dolls and am glad my kid has one of her own.  Not pictured here is the another diaper cake given to us by Matt's cousin Ashley and Aunt Debbie.]

[A book that is a cake!  If you ask me, that is the perfect collision of world's right there.]

[Mom made her now famous "shower" cookies.  And I think this was her best batch yet.]

[Book garland!]

[Another pretty poster from Claire]

[Food, food and more delicious nursery rhyme themed food!]

And because the people are the most important, here is a smattering of the people of the this fabulous baby party.  I should say all pictures came from my mom's camera since we were too busy to even bust our out for a second.  I think the camera credits should go to....well....whoever picked up her camera at the time :-)