Sunday, September 29, 2013

Maternity Leave and Food

As of Friday evening, I officially entered the land of Maternity Leave...for better or worse. For those of you who know me, I don't do well with nothing to do. Since Ellis has yet to make his arrival (not for lack of encouragement from his parents....), I'm attempting to find other things to fill my time. Granted, I spent yesterday polishing off lesson plans for this upcoming week, and I still have the following week to finish up as part of my "teacher duties", but then I'm pretty much finished with all major teacher duties for the next 2 months. I've also got plenty of things I can work ahead on for my graduate classes as soon as I get the motivation to do so.

However, I spent a good portion of this afternoon on Pinterest. Ah, Pinterest - that lovely place where you can find crafts, projects, teaching activities, and recipes! Today was all about the recipes.... I'm going to go back to school in December still wearing maternity clothes if I try all of these recipes! Okay, I know, moderation is KEY. What I do hope is that I'll be able to use some of these before Ellis is born (and the freezer is already stocked for after he's born). Unfortunately, with my crazy schedule thus far and the pure exhaustion I inevitably find myself in, we've been doing a lot of eating out. An embarrassing amount, actually. So, I am really looking forward to some home cooked meals - and having the time and energy to enjoy making them! Tonight's dinner is crescent pizza rolls (which are smelling delicious) - not very innovative, but it's pretty much all I had ingredients for without grocery shopping! That's on tomorrow's to-do list :)

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

3 Weeks

Only 3 weeks until Baby Ellis is due. When I think about it in terms of work, I have this week (Fall Break) and two more weeks until I'm on maternity leave. Those last two weeks are crammed full of trainings, meetings, and preparing to be on maternity leave.

I'm guessing this short timespan (and generally being pregnant) accounts for all the bizarre dreams I've been having lately. Besides the fact that I get up every couple hours during the night to use the bathroom...again, I have dreams all night long. Last night every dream I had was about going into labor and my subconscious's interpretation of what it would feel like. In one I had normal contractions, in another I had back labor, and in the third my water broke. Another night last week I had a dream that worried me so much that I had to wake Davis up to reassure me that everything was going to be okay.

Besides the abundance of weird dreams, everything else seems to be going smoothly (oh, except for constantly swollen feet and fingers). We have the car seat installed in my car and a second that needs to be put in Davis' truck. Sunday we packed the hospital bags and purchased some more baby stuff. We got sheets put on the crib, the bassinet relocated into our room, and started getting the dresser/changing table packed and organized. I plan to do a load of laundry today to wash all the remaining clothes, sheets, and other items that are Ellis'.

As far as grad school goes, I was given the opportunity to change my internship project to something I can do from home during maternity leave. My initial project was going to have to be pushed to the spring due to the time frame and scope of the project. With my new project, I'll be providing feedback and guidance to 3rd grade teachers who are implementing some of the same lesson types that I've done in past semesters. My other classes are going well, and it looks like I'll be able to work ahead a bit this week thanks to Fall Break. Now I really should get to work on the literature review I have due tonight for the Action Research project that I never have to implement.

At my check-up yesterday, everything was measuring right on track. Davis and I joke that Ellis is our "Textbook Baby". He's done everything exactly when the books and other information said he would. This makes me believe that he'll probably come right on time - my guess is October 3 (though I'd be thrilled if he came September 28 - the first day of my maternity leave!) So, my question to all of you is...when do you think Ellis will decide to make his appearance?

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

36 Weeks - Ellis is the size of a honeydew

Tomorrow is officially when we hit the 36 week mark, but I had a few spare moments so I figured I'd go ahead and post.  While Ellis is apparently only the size of a honeydew, if feels like he's a watermelon! A growing, kicking, punching, head-on-my-bladder, making-it-uncomfortable-to-sleep watermelon. As the next 29 days approach quicker than I can imagine, I'm feeling just about every emotion that What to Expect When You're Expecting says moms-to-be feel in the 9th month.

Exhaustion pretty much tops the list of symptoms. Thankfully we just had a 3-day weekend and next week is Fall Break, so I'm looking forward to a little more rest to finish out my last 2 weeks before maternity leave.

Then there's the mixture of anxiety and "hooray we're almost there". While I'm SO ready to meet Baby Ellis in person, I don't feel prepared - at least in the physical sense. The crib made it's trek up here a couple weekends ago and we've had the changing table/dresser for several weeks now. However, everything else is still in bags and boxes. Hopefully next week I can get in some good organizing. (Speaking of which....has anyone seen my nesting instinct that I keep hearing about?)

This past weekend I took advantage of Davis' birthday and the fact that it was Labor Day to do a "stay-cation". We rented a hotel room here in Norcross and spent the evening/morning being lazy, eating hibachi (and NOT doing dishes), and - best of all - sleeping in a KING sized bed. There was just enough space for me, Davis, Ellis, and the myriad of pillows that I seem to require while sleeping at this point.

On the positive side, my new para started today, and she is fabulous! You wouldn't have known that it's her first day with us. (Here's where I breath a HUGE sigh of relief at knowing that everything is on track for when I go on maternity leave in 3.5 short weeks!)

Now I'm headed out to our infant CPR class. Goodbye from Ellis (the watermelon) and me!