Let the countdown begin:
Currently: 23 weeks 5 days ( ear of corn )... craving peanut butter and ANYTHING SWEET!
Oh gosh. It has been forever. I am sorry-- I have no excuse except to say, hey people-- we are sort of planning for a baby. Oh, that and I went back to work. Which sucks.
I will give a quick update on what has been happening since the gender reveal--- yes she is STILL a girl. lol Sorry Eric! I have had one doc appt, and she is doing very well! Looking great and now busy as ever. She kicks all the time, and others can feel her AND see her doing it now, which is exciting!
We have started purchasing things for the nursery thanks to our incredibly generous families! I am so tempted to share some pictures with you of the item we will be expecting, but I will save it for when it is all done :) All I can say is-- I DO NOT remember putting this much work into making my house look like this.
Going back to work has been, um, enlightening. I can definitely see my energy levels drop, but that is expected. My students have been for the most part sympathetic to my new "teaching style"- which consists of constant cookie eating during lecture, rolling around in my chair instead of my usual hopping about the classroom, and oh yes, having to leave every 20 min to pee for 3 seconds. Joy. I actually have a code system now with my classroom neighbor- I knock on the wall three time which means, hey I am leaving to pee. Enter with caution.
Sooo the real point of the blog was to be honest with you and to share with old and new moms what I experience, as brutal as it may be. Here are my updates on that--
*I was asked the FIRST day of school by a student if I have a belly button ring. Um no, boo that's my protruding belly button. So I KNEW it would happen, I just didn't think this early. I don't know what I should be more horrified by-- the fact that my students are noticing my poking belly button or that they actually think I would have a belly button ring...pregnant.
* Speaking of things my students say, I have to share more: "Mrs. Matte, are you prepared to pass something the size of a watermelon?" (why no Student X, I haven't thought of IMPENDING LABOR PAINS AND THE FACT THAT I WILL BE BIRTHING SOMETHING WHICH COULD ESSENTIALLY TEAR ME TO PIECES. But thanks for reminding me) ... ""Mrs. Matte, you look bigger every time I see you, and you look funny when you waddle" ( thanks so much Student Y... I need constant reminders that I have the center of gravity of a cow).... "Mrs. Matte, if you go into labor, can I drive you to the hospital?" ( Student Z, I don't care if you are the last person left in this city, you will never drive me or my unborn child anywhere.. considering I saw you peel out of the parking lot yesterday, nearly run over Fr. Danny, bomp your favorite Lil' Boosie jam all while texting. I'm good... I'll walk.)
Now, of course this is all fine. I love my kids, but their comments are just so hilarious bordering on insane. I HAVE immensely appreciated the influx of cookies and treats. :) Keep em coming kids, Matte hungry.
* Where are my feet? So my bump is huge now... and I am only a little over half way, which scares me. Yea I know, I'm lucky I haven't gained weight anywhere else...blah blah. I can't see my feet people. Or anything else below happy go lucky belly button. Getting up and down has become much less graceful. Eric laughs and asks if the grunts are necessary.... um yes, Eric the grunts are necessary. I have never had to hold this much weight on my body before and just like the tennis players use the grunts for more power, as do I. I have to sike myself up for these types of movements ( and by movements, I mean standing up and sitting down)
*anddddddddddddd speaking of weight gain, doc says I am on track now. oh...yay. Ok, before everyone freaks out and reports me to child welfare.. I was doing everything I could to gain weight. And of course I am happy that I am on track now, because that means Aria is healthy. But I will not say I didn't freak out when I stepped on the scale two weeks ago and saw the number 141. Since freshman year of high school, I have never been more than 128 my whole life. So when I nonchalantly stepped on the scale and saw the devil of a number, I IMMEDIATELY broke down into tears and ran out crying to Eric. Luckily he didn't mock me TOO much, just kept reminding me I am pregnant and that it's normal. But gosh.. I have so much more to go.
* Oh here's a fun update that Eric wanted me to share----------- so I am starting to finally get those mommy instincts. I'm like alright that's what I am talking about, I am READY for this baby. Let's do this. Yea breast pumps! Yea poo poo! Yea sleepless nights! I can BE A GOOD MOM! Andddddddddddddd then I attended my nieces' birthday parties today. While my mother in law is holding my nephew, Adam ( a little over 4 mo ), I start making googoo gaagaa faces and making his smile blah blah... and he starts laughing. Great-- mother instincts affirmed. Until with no warning AT ALL he busts out into a terrifying, blood curdling scream. A scream that makes everyone at the party turn around to see who either A) dropped the baby B) cut the baby C) slapped the baby. So what do they turn around to see? Me.... sitting in front of him with this stupid look on my face like "what did I do?" I still don't know what made him do it. Eric tried to make me feel better by saying, "he just thought you were his mom at first and then got upset when he realized you weren't." Yea, Eric that's it. He totally thought I was his mom and then thought oops, wait no-- that's a murderer. All I know is my hormones sent me into a depression immediately. Everyone of course at the party was full of "aw brittany...what did you do" and "uh ohh brittany... " and "hmm let's hope that's not a routine." Yea, because that will make me feel SOOOOOOOOOOO much better when I cry myself to sleep tonight over the fact that babies see my face and immediately become inconsolable and horrified. And hearing from his parents "Wow, we have NEVER heard him cry like that before" was awesome. I just wanted to leave and cry, but I love my girls too much to leave. So instead I watched Adam carefully so as not to lock eyes again, lest I send him into another fit. Eric came to the rescue once again and basically forced me to hold him. And luckily, all was fine. But I am still scarred. I need to work my confidence back up again... it took a big hit today.
This last update needs a WARNING---- WARNING: ONLY MOMS AND SOON TO BE MOMS READ. TMI WARNING TMI ( too much information for those of you who don't own phones ). Ok, so my pregnancy symptoms have been very minimal. I still say I am one of the most blessed pregnant women out there. zero morning sickness or any physical discomfort other than your normal backache. However, I have begun experiencing the boob leakage. Yes, the sexy evidence that you are indeed making a human and will be responsible for its nutrition. Yikes I thought it wasn't supposed to happen till 3rd trimester! But helloooooooooooooo 19 weeks and leaking. It's funny because, growing up girls aren't really taught that their breasts are meant to be functional. I mean, all I knew about mine were A) they were non existent and B) they were nonexistent. No, but really. I think our society sexes them up so much that we forget their actual purpose. It was disconcerting to me, I won't lie. Suddenly the things I had been waiting on since I knew what a bra was were here...but there um, uncomfortable. Want to wear a normal bra? Ha, that's funny. I LIVE in sports bras now. oh and nursing pads? Never had heard about them, truly. THEY SUCK. I am still trying to find the best one... but ladies who are naive like me, you are basically wearing a pad in your bra. And we all know how fun THOSE are. I guess this is just one of those things I will just have to deal with... and obviously even after giving birth. Yes all you older generation people, I do want to try breastfeeding so lay off.
So that's what's happening so far :) things are definitely moving along... getting bigger by the day and really anticipating Aria's arrival ! Hopefully I can be back more often...
Stay tuned :)
Brittany & Aria Marie Matte
