14 weeks

I had another appointment this afternoon. This is the fourth one I have had--we went in last week to meet the OB/GYN. Because of the monthly visits with the perinatologist, the doctor wanted me to come in this week because then my appointments will be every two weeks.

Today I met the midwife who works at the practice. I'll see her every other month or so. It was a very uneventful appointment--pee in a cup, weigh, blood pressure, chat, listen to heartbeat. She does want me to get a flu shot in October. That was my only real question since I've been asked by several people if I'm worried about swine flu. I'm not any more than I'm worried about the regular flu. I've never had a flu shot before--I'm honestly more worried about that shot than getting sick. The good news she gave me is that Paul will have to get a shot as well. Finally, he has to be poked and prodded in this process.

After the appointment, I ran a few errands including going to my favorite little shop, Red Geranium. I was hoping to find a few things to donate to an auction at the end of the month. As I walked in, the clerk greeted me and asked how my summer had gone. I had been in during June, picking up a gift for my MIL and I'd mentioned our upcoming trips. As we chatted this afternoon, she asked about the trips. I said that they'd both gone well and then I'd just hibernated the rest of the summer until school started. She smiled and asked, "Any other exciting news?" I guess I'm looking more pregnant than I thought. :) When I told her yes, she laughed loudly. She commented that I'm normally so thin (people are really too nice with that compliment) and the stomach didn't just look like something I'd get from eating on a cruise.

Here's the 14 week belly shot. I do think in the past couple of days, the belly is starting to pop. Still just look like I've dug into too many French fries but at least, it's looking less like that.
Paul said we needed a front shot for comparison. I'm showing him the itchy red spot I had.
And just for good measure, Paul at 14 weeks:

Add this to the list of things that scare me

Librarians and libraries do so much more than provide books for students. We're a safe place for the "weird kids" to come during lunches. We're a tutor for students who didn't quite get it in class (that ones always a little tough in the math department but I do it). We're a support for the teachers in the lesson planning and teaching. We're a meeting place for many groups. Personally, I am a ray of sunshine sent to antagonize students who want to be left alone but who would probably go an entire day without someone talking to them if I didn't do it (see above: weird kids). It's frightening to think that a whole bunch of someones think it will be just fine for 19,000 students to function without a school library and all that it provides.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6686591.html?nid=3245

California School District Closes All 28 Libraries

By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 8/31/2009

First California’s Folsom Cordova Unified Schools got rid of all its certified media specialists—and now it’s axing its support staff and closing its doors. As of today, all 28 K-12 libraries in California’s will shutter, leaving 19,000 students with limited access to their media centers.

This marks yet another blow to the district’s libraries. Due to severe budget cuts six years ago, five certified librarians were eliminated and the district replaced them with technicians and assistants.

Now, even the support staff is getting the boot.

School library staffers became a bargaining chip in negotiations between the district and the California School Employees Association, the largest union for school employees. As a result, library technicians, assistants, and clerks have joined a total of 59 classified employees whose jobs have been eliminated to help close the district’s $14.7 million budget shortfall.

The district has urged the union to ask employees to take an ongoing three-day furlough in exchange for the restoration of 16 classified positions, some of which include library staff. But union leaders have rebuffed the offer, demanding that all positions be restored.

In the meantime, students will only be allowed access to the library when accompanied by a teacher, and they will not be allowed to check out any materials.

School superintendent Pat Godwin has suggested that teachers take “bucket of books’ to the classroom and circulate them at their discretion.

Officials of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District have not responded to SLJ’s phone calls or emails.

Pink slips were mailed in mid-July, and the library closures came three weeks after the start of the school year because the district was required to give its employees 45-days notice of their termination.

This blow to the library program comes six years after the district reassigned middle and high school librarians and halted subscription databases due to a lack of funds.

The district, located 20 miles east of Sacramento, recently invested $100,000 in Follett’s Destiny Textbook Manager program to help librarians automate textbook circulation, but the future of the program is now in doubt.

Linda Rodriguez, a library tech at Folsom High School for the last 18 years, was surprised that the district chose to reinstate freshmen athletics instead of saving the libraries. "What a nightmare," she told the local Sacramento Bee. “There is no accountability, and things are going to be cannibalized."

Superintendent Godwin has suggested that students use the Internet, the public library, or resources at home to complete their classroom and research assignments.

In the past, when Folsom elementary libraries were closed, the Folsom Public Library saw an increase in use. Katy Curl, director of the Folsom Public Library, is expecting the same to happen this time. “The community has a history of backing school libraries,” she says. “Things are incredibly tough, but I am hopeful that some of the positions will be reinstated within the month.”

So I had this dream. . .

It was a week or so ago and it was just a snippet of a dream in which I heard someone say, "It's a boy. His name is Max. He weighs 7 lbs. 15 oz. just like his mama did."

Hmmm. . . . Let's evaluate this--

1. Baby's name will most definitely not be Max. I like the name but it's Donna's cat's name. That's just not happening.

2. I did weigh 7 lbs. 15 oz. when I was born (Paul was 8 lbs. 8 oz.). Max, aka The Big Fat Cat, has not weigh 7 lbs. 15 oz. in many years so I'm fairly certain my dream was not in reference to him.

3. My gut reaction since finding out I was pregnant has been to refer to Baby as "he." Amy said with Abigail, she referred to Baby as "she" so she thinks I'm having a boy.

We will be finding out the gender of the baby. I'm too much of a planner to not do so. That news will be coming in 5-6 weeks. As for Baby's weight, I guess we'll just have to wait 27 weeks to find out that one.

More about my delicate state

Several years ago, someone asked me if I purchased baby things "just in case" we had a baby. I didn't for a variety of reasons--we weren't sure we were going to have children, it seemed to be tempting the fates if we did decide to have children and then had fertility issues, and I just don't have much room to store stuff like that in my little house. I've got a variety of children's books at the house but most of those have been purchased to have on hand for baby gifts.

There was one thing I just couldn't stop myself from purchasing when I saw it a couple of years ago. I always thought that if we weren't/couldn't have children, I'd give it to one of my friends with the books I give for Baby but until then, I stored it away for myself.
A wee little onesie that just seemed too perfect for a librarian's kid (purchased at Uncommon Goods which is easily one of my favorite online places to purchase gifts).

I keep thinking I need to start taking pictures of the pregnancy belly since I'm 13 weeks along but it seems rather anti-climatic at this point in time. Mostly, I look (and feel) like I just need to lay off the french fries a bit. I've not gained much weight--only a couple of pounds so far. My belly pooch is just big enough that most of my clothes are uncomfortable, even with the rubber band trick. I remedied that a bit by buying some pants that are a size or so bigger than I normally wear. Tops are still fitting fine, especially since the trend the past couple of years has been for the blousier cut that has made every woman look like she might be possibly be pregnant.

My OB/GYN told me that unless it was unreasonable (gaining or not gaining), he wouldn't say a word to me about my weight but to remember that every pound I gain is a pound I have to take off. Be smart with the eating, expect to gain 25-35 pounds, and don't worry about what the scale says. And then he asked my 6'3" husband how much he weighs (between 185 and 190 currently) and commented to me, "Yeah. You could be within 10 lbs. of him." Huh! That's not the reassurance I need right now, Doc. I'm really working to accept the numbers on the scale that I've never seen before. It's hard since I spend so much time fighting those numbers to just enjoy this one bit of freedom I have with the scale. Not that I've been going crazy with the eating--trying to stick our mostly-healthy eating habits and just adding in a couple of snacks during the day (peanut butter! or some extra fruit). One of my big aversions so far as been chocolates/sweets so I've definitely not overindulged in that department. I also figured out that tomato sauce like on pasta or pizza has been a culprit behind my queasiness so I'm avoiding those for a bit longer as well.

I promise not to make this place only about The Most Miraculous Pregnancy in 2000 Years. I'm sure there will be other things to discuss along the way. Like preparations for the birth of The Most Miraculous Child EVER. Um, yeah. This child is really going to need a sense of humor to survive his/her parents.

June 30, 2009

Intuition or just a feeling that I knew before that day but that was the official day that confirmed I'm pregnant. That is the day that I think both Paul and I will point to as a changing point in our marriage. Like at that point, at 7:30 in the morning when I showed him the stick with a plus sign, we had to grow up and stop playing at being grown ups. Even if this thing didn't stick, some fundamental part of our marriage--of us--was changed with that little piece of plastic.

I've never missed a period in 21+ years and while my cycle varies from 30-33 days, it's always been there. I actually warned Paul prior to day 30 that something was different--I didn't feel "normal." I kept waiting to actually take the pregnancy test--it was several days late for even a 33 day cycle. I kept telling myself that I'd wait until Tuesday, or Wednesday, or hey, July is right around the corner. We agreed that I needed to do it before we left for the cruise on July 3, just because it would be good knowledge to have before I knocked back a Mai Tai or two or twelve on the ship.

But June 30, I finally screwed up the courage to pull a pregnancy test out of the bathroom cabinet. I'm not even sure how I ended up with it or when it was purchased. Even with no recollection of when the test was actually purchased, it wasn't past it's expiration date. I've taken a few pregnancy tests in the past 9 years, I think mostly for kicks and grins. Typically the results went like this--pee on the stick, wait two minutes, throw stick in trash, continue with life. Who knew that you don't actually have to wait two minutes when you're going to pass the test? That thing pretty much goes nuclear before you've had a chance to flush.

I showed Paul and he who studied out the test and instructions like one of his schematics. We stared at each other for a bit. We both said, "Huh." And that was that.

I'm pregnant. I'm due March 1, 2010.

I called the gynecologist's office just to chat with someone about the do's and don'ts (and get some basic reassurance) before we left on vacation. Paul and I agreed that because it was so early, we weren't going to say anything to the family on the cruise (WORST. SECRET. EVER.). We screwed up our courage against the fact that there was a 20-25% chance it wouldn't stick and started doing what will probably pretty much be the motto for the rest of our lives--we'll take this one day at a time.

And yeah, the reason we HAD to get home from Quebec was the doctor's appointment ( I couldn't reschedule with our two trips in July) that confirmed I was, in fact, 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant with a singleton. Baby had a strong heartbeat and the wee-ist nubbins of arms and legs that were kicked and waved around during the sonogram. Looks like it stuck.