Starting the 5th Month

Wow, starting the 5th month already, crazy!! Well, lots to update, since it's been awhile!

Baby Showers! We've already had 2 small showers. The people at Nelson's work threw us and 2 other couples a small shower, which was very nice. We got a nice sized gift card for Target, which will definitely come in handy! My 2nd grade team threw me another small shower at Sarah's house. (she's the woman I'm doing my long-term sub job for) We got some cute clothes and 2 great books, one about making our own baby food (which we plan to do) and one about raising a "green" baby, which is perfect for us! The women on my mom's Kindergarten team are also throwing me a small shower on Tuesday. 3 already, awesome!!

Belly!! I officially have a baby belly. I put a pic up of it on MySpace and Facebook, which taught me 2 things. (1) People either think I'm pooching it out to look bigger (I'm not intentionally, but my back may be slightly arched) (2) SOME people think my belly is bigger than expected. I have already been asked about twins. NOPE, but, I am past 4 months, so back off! (only a little bitter, I swear) Anyway, I think it's fun to have the belly! AND, I've started feeling little flutters and movements, which is very exciting!!

THE ultrasound! It's scheduled for December 10th, as long as baby will cooperate. I know, I know, we said we wanted it to be a surprise, but I hate saying "IT." Plus, I'm ready to register and all that and (unfortunately) it's just easier!!

Our Living Situation: We are moving out of my parent's house! I honestly don't mind living with them a bit, but it will make life easier for Nelson and my jobs. Plus, I'm ready to be back in our own place. And, we really like the (rental) complex we're moving into. For the first time, I feel like we're living in an adult and family complex, rather than college/cheap housing. It's REALLY nice, in a beautiful area and convenient to a lot. (it's in Tualatin)

Jobs: Nelson is staying with his job for now, who knows for the future? As we've planned all along, I will not be working much longer. Being a stay at home mom is exactly what I want and Nelson has always supported that and encouraged it. I will still be making an income as the youth group leader at our church, which is just perfect. I am starting my nanny job in January and may keep that once the baby is born, but in the fall. I'm going to see how I feel about having a toddler and an infant 3 days a week. I plan to give it a try, but I don't know about our baby yet! It would be nice to have the income and it will be in my home, which is nice. I finish up my teaching job this week and am very excited about it!

Hmmm...I think that covers it. If I think of more, Ill blog again!

Kosrae Baby

This is hilarious and very interesting!  Nan found this online for Nelson and I to make sure that our baby is as true to its culture as possible!!!

CHILDBIRTH ON KOSRAE 

Although there are no ceremonies before childbirth, certain customs are followed by many expectant mothers. Everything that she needs should be prepared before the delivery. According to custom, the woman should not go out at night. Otherwise she will become very weak and will be sick when her child is born. Also, the woman is encouraged to be active to exercise her body and to swim in salt-water. It is felt that if she does not do these things, she will have difficulty in her delivery. She is also restricted in the kinds of foods she may eat.

Responsibility for the pregnant woman is usually in the hands of her own mother. However, others who are familiar with delivering babies may be asked to assist. After the delivery and the severing of the umbilical cord, the husband will bury it and usually plant a coconut tree on top of it to mark the place. The new motherwill be provided with food and also local medicine so she can gain strength. The baby will be kept warm by a local leaf that has been heated and placed on its body.

In Kosraean custom, the husband cannot stay with his wife after childbirth. He must stay in a different room or house for a number of months. The practical reason for this is so the mother or child will not contact diseases and become ill. The husband and other members of the family will provide her with food and limit the kinds that she eats. The foods given to her will have very little fat. Also, fish is considered to be the best food at this time.

The main celebration of childbirth on Kosrae takes place one year after the child has been born. Plans for the occasion will be made well in advance of the day and it is the husband's responsibility to organize it. On this day, very early in the morning, the mother will feed and wash her child and dress him/her in his/her finest clothes. The cooking for the feast will begin immediately and different foods such as breadfruit, taro, pigs, and chickens are prepared. Cooking takes place at the houses of both the husband's and wife's relatives. Although men do much of the cooking at this time, women and girls will assist. Also, every woman on this occasion will bring a gift for the baby.

When the cooking has been completed and all of the food is brought together, the father and child will select several men to distribute it. It is the mother's responsibility to keep track of the gifts and food.

There is little difference in the celebration even if the mother is not married. The only difference is that other male relatives of the mother would be responsible for the duties of the father. The actual celebration is the same for all children on Kosrae.

There are names given to children that are particular to the people of Kosrae and different names are given males and females. These names are traditional. Although they were given much more in the past, they are quite evident on the island today and the parents make this decision. Baby boys might be named Sru, Nena, Alik, Kilafwasru, Aliksru, Palik, Palikna, Alikna, Kun, Tolenna, tolensa, and Tulenkun. Popular names for baby girls are Shra, Notwe, Tulpe, Shrue, Kenye, and Sepe, among others. Today, a combination of Christian and traditional names is given and anyone might name the child with the permission of the parents.

Maternity Clothes and Another Ultrasound

So, I have officially entered the second trimester!  Not much has changed, I still need to keep eating to keep from feeling sick.  I'm also still tired most of the time.  It probably doesn't help that I am in the middle of parent-teacher conferences and have had to be at school until 8 o'clock the last 2 nights.  Plus, we had our Halloween party on Tuesday and our field trip to the pumpkin patch on Monday.  Whew!!  No wonder I'm tired!

Well, I'm officially starting to show, just a little bit.  I'm sure some people may just think I have a spare tire, but only if they don't know me.  People at school and church are excited and are saying, "You're showing!", which is exciting!  I can still fit into normal pants, but they are extremely uncomfortable if I have to wear them all day.  My only 'normal' pants and skirts that I still wear have elastic waists.  Otherwise, I've switched to maternity clothes!  Luckily, I have a couple of friends who have passed on cute maternity clothes that they don't currently need.  I have also found some good sales at Target and Ross, and found some cute tops at Goodwill.  Of course, the shirts that fit me right now are borrowed from Jennifer and I'm pretty sure she was able to wear these clothes until her delivery!!  Oh well, there's a lesson, never borrow maternity clothes from your skinny friends.  : )  Her taste is so cute though!

We had another (scheduled) ultrasound last Friday with much clearer pictures!  Baby is growing and moving around!  The pictures really looked like a baby and it was awesome!  We got to see the face, arms, legs, heartbeat, you name it!  I'm still having occasional spotting, but I have remained calm about it and there haven't been any scary changes.  Seeing the baby twice has really helped!  Not to mention prayer!

Incase you don't know, Nelson and I are the youth group leaders at our Episcopal church and it has been quite the experience already!  We really like our kids.  We went to a haunted house out at the Washington County fairgrounds last Sunday evening and had a lot of fun!  They had 2 under 12 haunted houses, 2 PG-13 houses, miniature golf, and a hay slide.  "Expectant mothers" were not allowed in the scary houses and I was thrilled to have an excuse not to go in!  I HATE haunted houses!  I get nightmares.  Plus, Halloween has turned into this big excuse for girls to dress like sluts (thank you Mean Girls) and haunted houses full of disgusting, vulgar displays.  I love the fun side of Halloween, but not the other stuff.  Nelson will have to take our kids some day, if they want to go!

Scary (kinda blunt too)

Well, last week we had our first and hopefully VERY LAST scare about the baby.  On Thursday (at school of all places) I started having some blood and spotting.  I of course, freaked out, cried, panicked, you name it.  Have I mentioned how nice it is to work in the same location as your mother??  I went in her room and told her what happened.  This was 2 minutes before my class was supposed to be coming in from lunch.  My mom told me not to panic, I wasn't cramping and there wasn't a lot of blood.  I told one of the teachers on my team and she kindly offered to take my class while I called our midwife.  I am so greatful to her for doing this!

I called the midwife and told them all of my symptoms.  They called right back and said not to worry.  Based on my description, it sounded like everything was okay.  They gave me things to watch for and to call back if anything happened.  The rest of Thursday was okay.

Then, Friday morning, I woke up with more blood.  Luckily, it was still the same color as before, but there was more.  No cramping though, thank God.  I immediately called the midwife again and the nurse I spoke with was so wonderful.  She calmed me down and offered to let us come in that afternoon for a quick checkup for reassurance.  We went at 4 and had a quick exam and ultrasound.  We got to see baby's heartbeat and I have felt nothing but peace since then.  Still a little bleeding this weekend, but I feel much, MUCH better.  I have been thankful all weekend.  I also participated in some healing prayer at church yesterday, which put my heart even more at ease.  So, baby is safe and all is well!

Week 12

Well, as promised, the world found out during week 12!!  We've made it through the first trimester, hooray!!!  I'm still eating constantly, but I feel like I have more energy.  Nelson may tell you otherwise, I'm still going to bed very early!  But, remember, I teach 2nd graders all day!  That's tiring even when you're not pregnant!  I feel energized during the day, but I'm still pretty tired at night.

I told my students yesterday and they were excited!  However, they were disappointed that the baby won't be here until May.  One girl wanted to know how I could possibly be pregnant if my husband isn't a doctor.  I'll leave that one for her mom to answer.....

I still don't know how to post pictures on here, so the ultrasound pictures are up on MySpace and Facebook.  We got congrats from people we haven't heard from in YEARS.  What's that about??  Oh well, it still made me feel good!

Wonderful Daddy Already...

My wonderful romantic husband brings me toast with peanut butter and bottled water in bed every morning, just so that I won't feel any morning sickness.  I love you Nelson!!!

Our First Midwife Appointment

Very exciting, we had our first midwife appointment last Thursday!  Her name is Janna Ellings and so far we loooove her.  She answered all of our questions and just had a fantastic attitude about our pregnancy.  I am still disappointed that our insurance does not cover birthing centers or home births, but I will settle for giving birth in a hospital.  We have only heard good things about St. Vincent's, where it looks like we will deliver.

We got to see our baby!!  We had our first ultrasound and got to see the baby!  I still can't believe it. I know my body has been going through big time changes, but to actually see the baby was a totally different feeling.  It was completely surreal.  I felt like I did on our wedding day.  It was another of those life events that you've seen on TV and others experience, but to have it happen to yourself is so crazy!  Everything is healthy and going well.  The nurse and midwife both commented on how strong the heartbeat is several times, which is great!  And (as Nelson puts it) the baby waved!!!  I saw it too.  Nelson knows it must be our baby, because it already has a sense of humor and can't wait to come out!  The midwife also said I'm as healthy as can be and that I'm doing everything right, so hooray!  We've been nervous about telling people, because we wanted to wait until the 12 week point (for reasons to scary to mention), but Janna said at that point there's nothing physical that I can do to cause this to change.  She said at this point there's a 95% chance of a full term pregnancy.  So, the word has started getting out.  I'm just about to post it on MySpace and Facebook.  I hope to scan pictures and get those up soon too!!

The word is out!

Well, this pregnancy is no longer a secret!  I went on the women's retreat at church this weekend and I think it took them all of 10 minutes to figure out the news.  The retreat started off with happy hour and of course I wasn't drinking, so people got suspicious.  THEN, apparently I was "glowing in a special way" (meaning I was dead tired from teaching 2nd grade all week, not sure how they got "glowing") and the eventually just figured it out.  It was very fun though!  Everyone was very excited and congratulating me and it was very fun!

Bean Burritos are wonderful!

Well, food has stayed down for 2 days, which is good. Saltines are my new friend. And my wonderful husband said that he is more than willing to get up on Saturday mornings to make sure I don't have to get up to eat, he will bring me breakfast in bed! How romantic : ) I am preferring bland foods right now in the mornings, so I had plain oatmeal with toast with peanut butter. DELICIOUS! He earned his day of golf that he's playing today. I feel bad though, because I'm only really hungry for certain things and it can change at a moment's notice. For dinner last night, Baja Fresh sounded amazing, and luckily everyone else in the house thought it sounded pretty good too. (we're staying with my parents until December, incase you didn't know) I just feel bad that my food desires are so unpredictable. Well anyways, Baja Fresh's black bean burrito was just DELICIOUS, although I wasn't able to eat the whole thing. Oh well, I had the rest for lunch today! Their Salsa Baja was amazing as well. I may crave this again!

I've been trying to keep up with reading about the daily development of our baby. Apparently (and do NOT ask me how they know this!) they can detect brain waves at this point. Already! That's amazing. I'm excited for the ultrasound on Thursday and to meet our midwife!!

Food issues

Well, I slept with Saltines next to my bed last night (thank you Jennifer for the idea) and it seems to work.  Although, I think I will also sleep with a bottle of water next to my bed, because my mouth was super-dry after a few crackers!  I wasn't filled up, but it was enough calories to tide me over until I showered and got ready and made breakfast.  My taste in foods have changed.  I was afraid this would happen.  Previously delicious foods are no longer as tasty.  I ordered a meatball sub at Subway last weekend and couldn't even finish it.  (they used to be my fave, even though I know they're gross!)  It's weird the things that smell and taste delicious and the things that now are gross.  I have been craving bread and toasted anything.  The smell of toast is DELICIOUS.  Peanut butter too, but not jelly.  Oh and what grosses me out?  The smell of the fridge.  I don't know, it's like too many smells at once.  It's hard to pack my lunch in the morning, while I hold my breath!