Second Trimester

I'm officially into second trimester. I'm approximately 13 weeks along and at our last ultrasound on the 10th, things were still going well. We could even see arms, legs, finger bones, and feet! We could also see a profile of the little one's face. I asked the midwife if I could relax a bit now that trimester one has come and gone. She smiled, patted my hand, and then brusquely said, "Don't relax until that baby is in your arms!" ....Great, 6 more months of worry.

We have our sixth ultrasound on the 22nd and at that time they will make an appointment for me with the specialists in Eugene. I guess the specialists have to examine me and my funky uterus to determine if they need to take over my prenatal care and delivery, or if my small-town doctors can handle this particular high-risk delivery. Hopefully my small-town doctors can handle this one, but we'll see.

Here is what I look like these days. As I wander through the hallways at work I sing, "Here I Come A Waddling, A Waddling Along!" It puts a smile on faces and of course, the students just stare. Speaking of students, I must admit that it is quite an adventure to be pregnant around middle school kids. They have so many questions it's unbelievable. I've had to tell two 8th grade girls to quit touching my stomach and to call me by name, not Preggo. Not just once, either. I've had to explain that they may look, but they must keep their hands off the teacher! I also get a lot of questions about sex from students. Obviously they are very curious about things at this age, and apparently they feel as though they can ask me anything (which is a compliment, except in this situation). They've made me blush and I've repeatedly had to say, "This is language arts...not sex ed. Talk to you parents or P.E. teacher."

Naturally, this does not satisfy their curiosity about pregnancy. I get questions and comments like, "Does it hurt?", "Can you sleep on your stomach?", "Why do you wear such ugly shoes now?" "You're huge! What size clothes do you wear now?", "You're cranky!" (Mind you, this is because they don't quit asking questions and haven't figured out that my crankiness with them has nothing to do with being pregnant), and my personal favorite.... "Will you show us your stomach?" Yes, I'm being serious.

Ah, the joys of middle schoolers.... :)