Baby Blog 34

First of all, I think I am going to stop giving each blog the title of Baby Blog + # anymore.  I am starting to find myself wanting to assign a title to the blogs. Who knows? I may go back through and give each one a title. That's probably only if I find the time.  For now, since I can't think of any creative name for this blog, it will remain titled as they all have been.


So, there are a couple of things that I have been wanting to write about.  Since they are fresh in my mind and it's Saturday, I'm taking the time to write the blog now.


I was 19 weeks pregnant yesterday...aannnd...we are finally back to fruit! No more roots like potatoes and onions.  I did realize a pomegranate would have been a good substitute back when my ticker gave me a large onion.  But anyway, this week, my book and my pregnancy ticker both say that baby is the size of a mango!

I believe this size is head to rump.  I haven't checked out any mangos in the produce aisle (which I will, of course, be doing as soon as I am in the grocery store again).  However, I just have a feeling that this is probably more like 6-7 inches (size from head to rump) rather than 9 inches, which would be roughly baby's size from head to toe!  I'm just glad we are back in the fruit bowl.  

Pregnancy hot flashes? Back in the blog when I wrote about things I didn't know happened during pregnancy, there was still something I didn't know about! Pregnancy hot flashes! I was sitting at home last night watching a movie with Lee when I started feeling very hot.  I have actually had this happen a few times, but I just thought it was because the weather in Georgia has already started getting warm.  So, I asked him, "are you hot?" He said, "no." I couldn't believe it.  "I'm burning up!" I said.  Then he looked at me and just calmly replied, "You're having a hot flash."  "A hot flash?" I respond in disbelief.  "I am not menopausal." "You get hot flashes due to pregnancy," he informed me.  

I can't believe he actually knows more about pregnancy symptoms than I do.  He must be reading some literature somewhere about this!  Either way, I did look it up and lo and behold pregnancy hot flashes do occur.  I know I did say something about night sweats in my other blog, but I just thought that was something else. I don't know why I didn't make the connection.  Still, when I did my reading, I found out that hot flashes start becoming prevalent in the 2nd trimester, which is exactly where I am (it's due to lowering estrogen levels in case anyone wondered).  I also learned that leg cramps can be common too.  Except, I have been eating a lot of bananas recently, and I wonder if those are keeping leg cramps away for me.  Anyway, so it isn't the Georgia heat that I am experiencing after all, it's the mama-to-be heat.

Onto the next topic, WORK! I have yet to break the news to anyone at school that I have no plans to return next year.  I am not sure how to do this yet.  Normally, I'm given a paper I must fill out as a statement of intent.  But I haven't gotten one here yet.  I did not get pregnant on purpose, and I really don't want them thinking that I came there to work for them only for a year only to fall pregnant and leave! It has simply been my plan for a long time that I would stop teaching when I have children.  After working in daycare, I just feel that I need to be with my children when they are very young.  Plus, there is only such a small window of time when you can really have that.  I don't want to give that up for work.

But this does lead me to what I am going to do after he gets here.  For a few months, I won't be working at all. Yet, I do bring in a pretty significant portion of our income.  I am not saying that his pay isn't enough.  It is.  He will also be receiving a raise before Gordon Lee comes, but my paycheck is actually very decent here.  So, I really don't want to go from this to bringing in no money at all.  So, I'm exploring my options for what I could do while caring for my child at the same time.

I first thought of tutoring, but I have ruled that out for two reasons. 1.) I can tutor during the day, but I cannot guarantee that the baby will not cry or interrupt tutoring sessions for some reason. 2.) If I tutor at night, then Lee and I never have any time together, and I don't think that is good.  So, no tutoring.  

The things I'm thinking of now are jobs where I can work from home or take my child to work with me.  Since I do have a degree in English, there are some writing positions where you can write articles from home.  You can also do editing from home.  I just don't have any experience in that area, and I'm not sure exactly how possible it will be.  The other thing I've thought about doing is going to the YMCA and possibly working in the childcare department where I could bring him with me and work at the same time.

As of now, those are the two main things I have thought of.  If anyone else has any other ideas, let me know!