Recent Events

This week I'm 27 weeks. I worked out that I only had 7 more weeks to go at school which is pretty crazy! (that is helped by 2 weeks of holidays!) That was a pretty exciting thing to realise.

This week I saw my Dr and had my glucose challenge. It's not very fun to have such a sweet drink at 8:45 in the morning! Not a big fan. I had to wait around for the hour before I could have my blood taken. I saw Dr Booker and it was another quick appointment. My blood pressure is good, the size of my tummy is good too. He asked if I had any questions - I only mentioned that if I had pains at the top of my tummy, was that normal? (I was guessing it was normal as things grow and shuffle around). He agreed with that. I also asked about a student in my class who has angry moments in the mornings and has started to swing at me. I asked if I got hit would Bubble be ok. He told me that I should be fine and that pregnant women have car accidents all the time and their babies are fine. It should be ok.

I am so glad that I spoke with him about it as yesterday morning, this student walked into the classroom fine but then during the morning routine started to get upset. As I followed steps to help work through the situation, his anger escalated. This resulted in him hitting my tummy with 2 hands. While it didn't hurt, the shock was pretty bad. I couldn't believe he actually hit me. He has swung before but I always thought that would be the extent of it. I took him out of class, walked back into my classroom and burst into tears. Not so fun. Funnily enough, it was the quietest my class has been all year. They asked if I was ok and I said yes and keep working but I was pretty shaken up. I sent for help and had a couple of different teachers come in and check I was ok. I was but each time they asked I started crying again and shaking again (funny how the hormones kick in). The student (once calm) came back in and apologised which I appreciated. He really is a beautiful boy, just has extreme anxiety which makes his personality completely change.

At recess I went in to talk to my boss. My class was taken by a couple of other teachers so I could fill her in with what happened. I am so fortunate to have colleagues who support me, look after me and back me up. I spoke with her and she took it very seriously. Consequences were put in place which is good and I was looked after and very supported. I filled in an incident report, incase something does go wrong, but as I said I was ok, it was just a lot of shock! Again, I am so fortunate that my boss has looked out for me and has been focussed on protecting me and Bubble. Thanks God for such a wonderful place to work in.

Since then, Bubble must have known that I would want it to let me know it's ok. It has been so active! I am hoping to upload some video of it moving my tummy.

You will see Bubble moving on the left hand side of my tummy at around 11secs and then 27 secs. Hopefully it works :-) 

Here is another one.

 In this one Bubble moves at around 4 secs. Hopefully that makes it exciting, even though you can't necessarily feel it (as Bubble definitely doesn't perform a lot of the time).

So please don't stress that Bubble isn't ok. There hasn't been any bleeding. There were some pains, but I am pretty sure that was because I was so stressed and anxious about it all. And Bubble has been very active since so I'm not worried. :-)

Also, strategies are being put in place so this won't happen again which is good.

Now, as requested by Jenny, here are a couple of photos of my growing tummy. I have just started to pop a lot more this past week. 

25 weeks

26 weeks - still fitting into my swans guernsey (just). Might be the last time wearing it for a while.

Chilli

I have heard that pets know when something different is happening and that they sometimes act differently. Well, I think Chilli knows that something has changed and that has resulted in her acting weirdly.
Over the last month, she has started to bite me, for no reason. On Thursday morning when James was getting ready for work, I was still in bed and Chilli jumped up and then bit my arm. I hadn't even said hi to her yet. Then the other morning when I was having breakfast she bit my foot. And this morning when she was having snuggled on my tummy, she bit my chest. 
I really hope that she gets over this and will be friends with Bubble. I also really hope that she stops biting me because I don't like being bitten or getting cranky with her because of it.

This week I have had laryngitis. My voice is much better today which is good but still not fully back to normal. I got 2 days off work to rest. I'm so glad that they body can heal itself. Hopefully when I go back to work on Monday it doesn't come back.

Impact

This week while teaching I have been thinking about the impact which you have on a child. I look at some of my students and think that they must get away with a lot at home. I look at some others and think that they must have very firm boundaries at home. I see the mums who just can't seem to let go, and I see the kids who see more of school than home. It is amazing how much responsibility comes with being a parent. I have always known this but it is pretty scary to think that Bubble has been entrusted into our care, and to think how am I going to be as a parent. What impact will I make?

I am hoping that James and I will make a very positive impact where the child feels loved and cared for, knowing that they are so special to us. I am hoping that I will be able to teach my child to be themself and to not be worried about what other people think about them (I have a student who is too scared to do news because she thinks she will get payed out by others). I am hoping that Bubble will be down to earth - not needing to wear the latest fashions, go to all the cool place, but understand the joys of hanging out with family and relaxing at home or at a park. I am hoping that Bubble will make great friendships and enjoy playing with others. I am hoping that Bubble will feel God's love in its life and choose to follow God one day. 

Another thing which is constantly on my mind is the thought of 'what if Bubble has autism?' I know this is silly as we will love it and raise it no matter what. But still, each year at school I have taught a child who is on the autism spectrum and early on I joked saying 'I hope God isn't preparing me for a child with autism'. It is something that is a possibility and I guess I have the bonus of working with students who have it so I know some strategies for both them to manage and me too, but still it is something which is in the back of my mind. I also wonder if I will be able to accept it if Bubble does have autism, as some students that I teach have clear symptoms but their parents don't want to 'label' their children. I hope I will be able to acknowledge it if it is there, and I do feel it helps both the child and the teachers and those they interact with when people can understand why they act differently. Don't worry, I'm not freaking out about it, just something that is in the back of my mind.

I am so grateful that both my parents and James' parents raised us in such a loving way, where we did feel loved, valued, cared for, and were allowed to be ourselves. (and I'm not just saying that knowing that both sets of parents will be reading that). I guess when you have that as your foundation, then those features will filter into your own family life too.