Christmas Fun

Before December slips away, I wanted to share some of the fun Christmas activities we have done this year! My family is not celebrating Christmas until tomorrow, thus making it Christmas Eve [again] so I think that it is very appropriate to still be writing about Christmas!

I was super excited for Christmas back in November. Usually I am all about no Christmas until after Thanksgiving, so I held off, as usual, to listening to Christmas music, Christmas shopping or decorating. The week after Thanksgiving is when I was hospitalized, thus throwing us off a bit. There have also been some other emotionally tiring events happening that really made it difficult for me to get in the mood for Christmas this year. However, through all the hardships, I am thankful that the Lord is growing me. This year, I am even more thankful to the Lord for our families. It was hard for me to make a list of what I wanted for Christmas, because I really did not want any materialistic things. The best gift I got this year was through answered prayers, a growing baby boy inside of me, a loving family and being able to celebrate Christmas with our entire family. That is a great Christmas present to me and I didn't need anything else.

We did manage to sneak in some Christmas activities that I am thankful for and will have many lasting memories about.

 

 My mom brought me my first Christmas decoration while in the hospital :)

 Candlelight Tour of the Biltmore House with my mom, Jen, Jessica and Yiqing

This year, Justin and I decided to go to a local tree farm to get our Christmas tree. Before we went, I informed Justin that he would be chopping down his own tree. He was convinced that we just chose it and men with chain saws would be walking around and cutting it down for us. Well, you can see who was right ;) It was a fun experience and perhaps a new tradition!

With my parents planning on going up to Ohio for Christmas again this year, they did not get a tree. We invited them over again this year for a little "Thanksgiving" meal and to decorate our tree with us!

 

 

My sister, Jessica and I, headed down to Atlanta one weekend to have a fun-filled sisters Christmas weekend! When we arrived, there was a delicious dessert spread prepared. We packed up to-go containers and hot chocolate and were off to go look at Christmas lights!

 The next day we went started our Christmas shopping.

That night, Jen surprised us with a truly wonderful surprise- going to see The Nutcracker at the Fox Theater. I had never seen The Nutcracker and have been wanting to go for years! We got all dressed up and went to the performance. Afterwards, we got dessert at Richard Blaise's new restaurant. It was such a wonderful surprise. I loved it!

And here is our tree this year- completed with our 'Sweet Baby Boy' tree topper :)

24 weeks!

How far along: 24 weeks, 1 day! 
Baby is the size of a: Cantaloupe or Length of an ear of corn
Maternity clothes: Nada.
Food cravings: Chinese Food. I wanted it for a good couple of days (which I would consider a craving) and finally got it on Sunday night.
Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope.
Miss anything: Not really. 
Have you started to show yet: I think from here on out he (and my belly) will be growing rather quickly. Yesterday I had about 5 kids tell me I was getting fatter and my own sister said that I was looking bigger than I was just a couple days ago.

Boy or Girl: A little man :)

Movement: Everyday! And I love it! He still seems the most active in the evening, with his busiest time being between 8:00-9:00pm. I also feel him move when there is music playing, either at church or in the car. I wonder if he can actually pick up on the tunes?!? Some evenings I have also started to "play" with him. There are times when I will poke my belly and I will feel him move back, then I poke in another spot and I feel movement in that spot. Then I stopped doing it because I didn't want to be poking him in the head or anything ;)

Best moment this week: Having a spectacular weekend with my sisters in Atlanta AND surprising my parents with Christmas down South and learning that ALL my sibs will be coming down here for Christmas. I have such a wonderful family :)
Worst moment this week: I ran into a door handle at school on Friday and I have the largest bruise I think I ever had on my back. Thankful it is my back and not my belly. 
Best kid comment about the baby this week: Wednesday was our last day of school before break. We were suppose to wear a Christmas sweater. Well, I don't own any, so I decided to make my own. I glued two candy canes into the shape of a heart on top of blue paper and taped it to my bump. Well, with six and seven year olds, if you change one thing, they flip out. Walking into my class, they were all very confused why I had a heart on my stomach. One little boy even told me I looked 'awkward'. (Thanks buddy). I just told them that the baby wanted to celebrate Christmas too!

Other tidbits: Baby got his first Christmas present this week from one of my students. So sweet :)
How have I been feeling: Great!  
Looking forward to: Christmas Break and celebrating Christmas with both of our families. My little niece also turns ONE on Sunday! I am excited to celebrate her birthday down here as well :)

23 weeks!

 How far along: 23 weeks :)
Baby is the size of a: Grapefruit
Maternity clothes: No new ones.
Food cravings: No- I think it is very strange how I haven't had any 'real' pregnancy cravings. I have noticed this week that I have a bigger appetite. I feel like I am hungry all the time. At lunch today I had my pb&j sandwich, greek yogurt, string cheese, veggies and ranch and gushers (yes- I eat gushers) and I was still hungry!
Anything make you queasy or sick: Nope.
Weight Gain: I don't know if the scale at the doctor's office and the hospital are much different- but according to the doctor's office scale I have gained around 10 pounds- wowee! There might be a correlation between this increased hunger and weight gain ;)
Miss anything: Seeing a number on the scale that I am used to. This past doctor's appointment weigh in put me in a new category on the scale that I have never seen before. I guess it's only going to go up from here.....   

Have you started to show yet: He's a growing babe! I had another student tell me that I was getting fat. This past Friday we also had this award ceremony for two students, and one of them, who is about the same height as my bump, conveniently used my bump as her own personal pillow while she stood and waited. It was kind of amusing.

Boy or Girl: Boy!

Movement: We have both been able to see my stomach move for the first time this week when he kicks or moves about. It was kind of strange and fun at the same time :) His movements also seem to be a little bit more powerful. The little guy also seems to be most active in the evening. It is a new sensation when you are trying to lie down to go to sleep and you feel these movements in your belly!

Best moment this week: Getting our Christmas tree and decorating it with Justin and my family. I love having the tree lights on at night and falling asleep on the couch next to it. I also had a big answer to a personal prayer that I have been asking for some time :)
Worst moment this week: Returning to school after having a sub for 3 days. Between the switch of authority and routines and the excitement for Christmas the kids have been wound up lately. I had 8 kids move their clips yesterday! Eight! I usually don't move that much in a time span of 2-3 weeks. (Disclaimer: Clip moves is the consequence system).
Best kid comment about the baby this week: Too excited about Christmas to ask about the babe. Haha
Other tidbits:Went to the doctor's this week and everything looked/sounded good. They still made the decision to keep me on antibiotics for my entire pregnancy which is something that I will just have to live with. I also received 'the drink.' Yep- glucose test is scheduled for my next appointment. I also started the registry! It is very, very small but things are gradually being added to it. Baby steps!
How have I been feeling: Still a little tired, although that may mainly be from keeping 19 kids who are overly excited about Christmas under control for 7 hours. 
Looking forward to: Atlanta Christmas festivities this weekend! Christmas break is only 5 [school] days away!

22 weeks!

 If I look extremely tired in this picture- it's because I am. It was taken at 6:30 in the morning before I left for work.

Welcome to what has been the most difficult week so far in my pregnancy. Here is how the past week has looked:

While at school on Thursday, I started getting some side pain. I thought it was just some pain that I was getting like the back pain I was experiencing last week, and I am so busy throughout the day, that I just decided to ignore it. When I got home, the pain was getting more intense and constant. I was pretty miserable. Justin tried to convince me to call off school the next day, but being the dedicated teacher I am, I thought that a good nights rest was all I needed. I was wrong. I was not able to sleep at all that night. There was no position that was comfortable for me and the pain was getting worse. At 4:00 in the morning, Justin made the call to take me to the ER. At around 10:30, the decision was made that I was being admitted to the Maternal-Fetal floor with a kidney infection.

I spent the entire weekend hooked up to an IV with fluids and antibiotics being pumped into me, rolling my IV around with me everywhere I went, not being able to sleep more than an hour at a time because nurses were either checking on me or my IV was beeping, eating hospital food and not having the comforts of home. But, as much as I did not like being at the hospital, this past week has really shown me how blessed I am and I am thankful.

I am first thankful to the Lord for protecting me and the baby. The doctor said that the infection was caught early enough (due to the fact that I did not have a fever). Normally they monitor the infection by your fever reducing, but since I never had one, they monitored my pain. I am thankful that I am healing and that the baby is healthy. Our little baby boy's heartbeat was taken several times throughout the day. He had a strong heartbeat and sometimes it was even hard for the nurses to get it for the whole minute because he was moving around on them. I think we have one active babe in there.

I am thankful for my husband. Despite having work commitments, and tons of school work to do, Justin stayed by my side every moment he could. He even slept both nights at the hospital with me. I was very comforted to know that he was with me the entire time.

I am thankful to our families. While in the ER, both Justin's sister and mom came in to check on us. When I was first admitted to the floor, they stayed with me so that Justin could go home, take a shower and pack a bag for me. I was also spoiled with gifts to make my time at the hospital more comfortable. My own family was also very supportive and loving. My mom came to visit several times, and even brightened my hospital room with some Christmas cheer since I was not going to be able to do all my fun Christmas activities I had planned for the weekend. My sisters came and entertained me and spoiled me with gifts for myself and for the little babe. My own dad was even willing to bring his birthday celebration to the hospital, since I was not able to celebrate with them at home. It was quite a sight to see my mom assemble a German Chocolate cake in the hospital :) We are very blessed with such loving and supportive families and I am so grateful for them.

I am thankful for my co-workers who were able to look after my class, make lesson plans for me and allow to me to just relax and not think about school. I am also thankful to Justin's co-workers who were so supportive and covered his shift all day Friday so that he could stay with me.

I am thankful that the doctor who was on call over the weekend was my doctor and he was able to put my mind at ease. I feel comfortable with him and I am happy that he was the one to talk me through what was going on. I am also thankful for kind nurses. I felt comfortable on the floor and they treated me very well.

I am thankful for all of our families and friends who were praying for us. I received so many texts over the weekend that Justin had to inform me that I was close to going over my text limit. So if I did not text you back, I'm sorry. I was on text restrictions.

I was discharged from the hospital on Sunday afternoon. I now have to take antibiotics every day for the rest of my pregnancy as a precaution that the infection does not come back or another one does not develop. At first, this really scared me. Fear has been a struggle of mine and I tend to think of the worst possible scenario that could happen. I was afraid that I would get another infection and go into pre-term labor or lose the baby. I was afraid that essentially being on antibiotics my entire pregnancy would have adverse side effects on both my body and the baby. But during my reading a prayer over the past couple of days, I have decided to continue to say yes to the Lord. He is in control. He has made this baby and He can protect us. Even if it may be a more difficult pregnancy that what I was hoping for, God is in control. Please continue to pray for us. Pray for healing for my body and protection for both me and the baby. Even though we have not met our little babe, and still have several months until we will, we already love him so much and want to meet him in April.

Onto the stats:

How far along: 22 weeks!
Baby is the size of a: Papaya and Length of a Spaghetti Squash. He also weighs approximately one whole pound!
Maternity clothes: My sister got me a really cute dress that I wore to school today :)
Food cravings: Nope.
Anything make you queasy or sick: My vomit count went up over the weekend- but that was due to being in so much pain. Nothing is making me sick now.  
Weight Gain: Well I don't have a scale and never weigh myself. However, since they had to weigh me in the hospital I believe I have gained 7 pounds.

Miss anything: Sleeping in. I cannot seem to sleep in past 7:30 :(  

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes. 

Boy or Girl: Boy! Before we found out if he was a boy or a girl, I would try to picture what our life would be like with both. Now that we know, and I feel like I am starting to know him, I could not imagine my life with anything but a boy right now. He is our little man :)

Movement: I think I am able to distinguish between kicks/punches and when he is actually changing position. Aunt Jen was also able to feel him this weekend :)

Best moment this week: Feeling all the love and support from our families and friends. I also didn't mind hearing the babe's heartbeat several times a day- it never gets old to me!
Worst moment this week: I think you can answer this question without me telling you.
Best kid comment about the baby this week: Since I missed 3 days of school, I haven't been around my kiddos too much. However one of my students told me today that I was getting fat.
Other tidbits: The clothing collection has officially started for baby boy, thanks to a massive spoiling by Aunt Jen!
How have I been feeling: Still recovering from being in the hospital. I still feel very tired and worn out.
Looking forward to: Getting our Christmas tree and decorating on Saturday!