21 Weeks

(Can you tell I'm totally uncomfortable posing for these pictures?  But it seems to be a right of passage when you have a pregnancy blog and your sisters/mother/grandmother live too far away to keep an eye on the bump.)

When you're counting the weeks of pregnancy, they seem to creep along slowly.  It took absolutely FOREVER to get to week twelve when the first trimester was over and we could breathe a little easier.  Then the trek to 18-20 weeks crawled along as we waited to have our ultrasound to see our little love bug and find out she was a girl!  I was hoping that at my 20 week appointment last week the doctor would change my due date since Emerson has continually measured a week bigger that my due date.  It would have been so nice to magically skip ahead a week--kind of like daylight savings in the spring only without the sleep loss!  But unfortunately for this pregnant mama, the doctor says if the measurements are within two weeks of your due date everything is good.

So here I am at 21 weeks trying to be patient!  It's not because I'm tired of being pregnant already...I'm just so excited to share the world with this little girl!  And in all seriousness, I will happily walk, shuffle, trudge, and even waddle through every single week of this pregnancy to do everything I can to give my child the best start in life.  I know it is such a gift to do so.

Plus, if my experience as a kindergarten teacher means anything, patience seems like a good virtue to have with a little one in your house.

Pregnancy and Teaching

I love my job.  I'm teaching kindergarten again this year (yay!) and these sweet five year olds are not shy about my pregnancy.  Some of them are very knowledgeable about this subject, like Brian, whose mom has TWO babies in her tummy--both boys!  He reassured me before we had the ultrasound, "Don't worry, Mrs. Harmon.  Its okay if you don't know.  They will tell you." 

Then there's Juan, who felt the need to tell the whole class how the baby would get OUT of my tummy...I hope none of my students were scarred for life.  (The rule now is that we let the doctors take care of that part and we don't worry about it at school.)

Other kids don't have as much background knowledge about pregnancy.  Little Sarah asked me, the day after she found out I'm pregnant, "Did you have that baby yet?"  When she heard that I had not, because the baby needs to grow more, she shook her head and said, "You better go to the doctor and get that thing out of you!"  The other kids helped by explaining that I have to get REALLY fat before the baby can get out.

My past students that are now in 5th grade have a much more mature take on things.  They want to know how many months along I am, what the gender the baby is, and in which hospital I will deliver.  And they were polite enough to wait until someone told them I'm expecting, instead of asking me about it when they noticed my stomach growing.  They didn't want to be wrong and seem rude.

So  I was confused yesterday when a fifth grade boy asked me in passing, "Mrs. Harmon, where's your baby?"  Knowing he has younger siblings and understands the long nature of pregnancy, I pointed to my belly and gave him a questioning look.  Resisting the urge to smile, the boy cried, "You ATE her???"  Then giggled and ran away. 

My first thought was to laugh that he set me up for such a line.  And my second thought was of pride...because this young man came to school four years ago speaking only Spanish...and now his English has developed enough for him to make a joke!  Using correct past tense!

My feelings may change in about 15 weeks when I'm waddling around the school ready to pop, but for now I love the extra fun that pregnancy is adding to my job.  Thanks for that, baby girl!

Baby Likes...

These cookies!  Pumpkindoodles are a delicious take on the old Snickerdoodle, but with a little more spice and, well, pumpkin!  They're not overly sweet and have a nice, spicy, fall kind of flavor!

And in case you're interested, here's the bump at 20 weeks.

How do you know?

Some people find it interesting that we are sharing our daughter's name before she's born.  Many parents keep it to themselves...to have an element of surprise after birth, maybe to prevent someone stealing the name, or to be sure that they can change their mind at the last minute.  But I have wanted to shout it from the rooftops for months!

"Months?"  You ask.  "Didn't you just find out the gender, like, a week ago?"

Its true.  Last Wednesday was our ultrasound. But it just confirmed something I have felt strongly since I saw those two pink lines on the pregnancy test.  I always *knew* she was a girl.

Think I'm crazy?  I've spoken with other moms that have experienced the exact same thing.  But of course there are some very different stories.  There are the moms that had no idea.  And still others that were convinced of the gender, only to find they were wrong!

I'll admit, I tried to prepare for that.  We had a lovely little boy name picked out.  I had scoured the stores to be sure there are adorable boy clothes on the market.  And I looked at pictures of my husband when he was tiny to remind myself that there would be sweet days ahead if I was wrong about the whole *knowing* thing!

But I couldn't shake the feeling.  When I prayed for my baby, it was "she" and "her" and I'd have to add in..."Or him.  I would love a him, too..."  One day I was by myself in the house, trying to grab the things I needed to run some errands and when I felt a kick I responded with, "I know, baby girl.  I'm almost ready."  The words were out of my mouth before I could even think that I didn't know the gender for certain!

I got fairly anxious in the days leading up to the ultrasound.  I realized how much "girl" had become part of my thinking process, and I was going to feel guilty if it turned out my baby was a boy!  (I'll admit, my husband had to remind me that HEALTHY was the preferred diagnosis from the ultrasound, and finding the gender was just a perk.  So true...)

My point is that I'm happy to know that my hunch was on target.  I'm glad to be able to use pronouns without correcting myself.  I LOVE that the nursery can be painted pink.

So back to the name...In the same way I instinctively knew she was a girl, I feel that Emerson will grow into her name.  It's perfect for her.  And I want the world to know it.

It's a Girl!

How do I begin a blog about the most important thing I've ever done? The thing I've eagerly anticipated for as long as I can remember? This miraculous thing that God is allowing me to do...something I could never take for granted?

As much as I'm at a loss for words in this first blog post, I know that they will come eventually. And when they do, I'll now have a place to share them.

This is our Emerson Grace.

She's been growing like a weed for the last 20 weeks and should continue to bake for another 20. Her daddy and I are so in love with her already.

I hope you'll join us on this journey.