Hello? Anybody out there? I can't imagine I have a single faithful reader out there left...after all, it looks like it has been nearly a year since I wrote! I'm surprised I remembered my own password! Maybe this will show up on somebody's blog roll and they'll check it out. Either way, I always blog more for myself than for anyone else. So if you are the lone soul out there reading this today, welcome back and thank you for still having that interest in my life after all this neglect! I hope to not bore you with the details I'm about to write down!
Today is Monday, April 25, 2010....I am writing this from the hospital bed in Houston, TX as I await the coming birth of our second child! Matthew and I arrived last night about 8p for my scheduled induction. The hospital was quite busy last night and I didn't get started on any meds until 11pm. It is now 7:45 a.m. on Monday morning and I still haven't made much progress. We may not be having baby until tomorrow, at this rate! But I think that is okay all things considered. I am still early--37 1/2 weeks, and I'm not feeling stressed for time. As long as my doctor thinks we are okay, I'm not going to stress over it.
We decided to schedule the induction for this weekend after much consideration and advice from my doctor. Baby girl Hawkins has been measuring ahead the entire pregnancy--at our 20 week ultrasound she seemed to be almost 2 weeks ahead of expected size, and our other appts. as well. I have been gaining plenty of weight myself and it has ALL been in the front---I look like I am seriously hiding a basketball in my tummy. Ohh, the stretch marks I will be enjoying for the rest of my life due to this baby! Good thing I'm not a bikini wearer of any sort. I sure hope they fade. Anyway, since Noah was a 9 lb, 3 oz.er and I had the complications with his delivery, we decided pretty early on that the only chance I had of avoiding a c-section would be to try to take the baby a few weeks early, before she got as big. My dr. told me at my 34 week appt. that she felt very comfortable scheduling this as soon as we hit 37 wks. Well, the only thing about that is that it has happened over Easter weekend. So, with Matt being in ministry and with having a 4 year old, I wanted to try to wait just a few more days.
Thus, our arrival here on Sunday night at 8pm, Easter evening. We had a great weekend, even though the whole time I was nervous that my water would break and put an immediate chaotic turn to the festivities! Thursday was my last day at school, and I was soooo very thankful for that. Making it that last week was pretty tough. I was feeling quite a bit of increased Braxton Hicks and just overall crumminess. My feet were swelling each day so much that my LARGE comfortable flip flops were still tight on my toesies! My partner teacher was really sweet to me and had the kids bring in a couple dollars and do a little mini shower for me. She made me my first diaper cake (cheesy, but cute and sweet still) and gave me a little diaper bag with baby's name on it. It's not one I would pick out, but it can be an extra carrying bag. The kids all made me a big card and have also been making little signs for me. Then on Wed. my 5th grade teachers/team had a surprise breakfast and flowers and gift card for me, also unexpected and very sweet. Everyone at school has been great, asking how I've been doing and offering support. I hate accepting help, but haven't really had much choice lately! So many things in my room needed covering and cleaning in preparation for our state testing next week, and they were things I just couldn't do. God provided a great last week of work for me which made it possible for me to finish without taking work off. Half of my kids in each class were on science field trips 2 days last week and that left it possible for me to do some science videos/games and grade papers, clean, and sort thru my room. I LOVED having that time to prepare for my long term sub. I actually feel pretty good about the way I was able to leave my room and plans she has for next week. I don't have to do lesson plans for while I'm gone, but I wanted to get her started off right. My kids still have a big science test on Thursday and I can only trust that I have done all that I can and that they are ready.
It was a REALLY good feeling coming home on Thursday. No work! For who-knows-how long! I love that feeling. It is even better than the last day of the school year. I don't know my status for my job next year but I am determined to not allow myself to stress over it unnecessarily. There is nothing I can do for a while! With all the budget cuts in our state and with teaching, I am lucky to still, at least at this point, have a job. I was for a while on the "excess list" from my school, which means that I was one of the last 12 people hired at McFee and that I would hopefully still be offered a job elsewhere in the district, but not at my school. Well, I got off that list officially about 2 weeks ago, but it's still quite uncertain what will happen. Best case scenario is probably that I will have to change grade levels, and I have let my principal know that I am highly interested in a job-share position, which would mean working part time (half days) with a teaching partner. I am praying that this works out for next year so that I can only put baby into part time daycare setting. Maybe even having Carrie and or a friend like Michelle Anderson keep her for the morning. At this point, my principle is only TALKING to people about switching grades, and nothing is set in stone or will be until the state makes their decisions about the budget and then our district can make more final plans.
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