Rejection

I have to say, as far as rejection letters go, this one was really nice.

Dear Allison,

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you through the interview process and we appreciated your willingness to come in to teach a lesson for us. Our hiring process is now complete. Given your pregnancy, we have filled the SK position with someone who can commit for the entire school year. However, we encourage you to keep in touch with us here at [our school] as an opportunity may come up again in the future.

Best wishes to you as you finish the school year and with your expanding family!

Warm regards,

[Principal]

I was a little surprised at myself.  I knew that I definitely wouldn't get the job given the fact that I chose to disclose my pregnancy because of long-term/future job potential, but I was still really disappointed to get this letter.

The closer the end of the school year gets, the more anxiety I'm feeling about not having a job lined up for the fall.  I've started to try to figure out EI and maternity benefits and what is going to make the most sense and I'm sure it will all work out (somehow) but I wish, wish, wish this weren't the situation.  :/

*Navalgazing* Reflections at Eleven Weeks Pregnant

So, I feel slightly guilty for not doing a reflection at ten weeks, but we were away and I got sick.  I mean, really sick. 

I don't know what happened, but last Sunday I woke up with stomach pain.  At first I thought it was just nausea  I don't think I was even up for an hour before crawling back into bed.  I felt progressively worse throughout the day and threw up the little water I had been able to sip at through the day after eating one bite of baked potato at dinner.  Did I mention that we were at Jen's parents?  Yeah.  And we were supposed to leave on Sunday night.  Fortunately plans were flexible enough that we were able to delay leaving until Monday. 

The drive back was a little rough, but we made it home, at which time I collapsed onto the couch.  At some point I moved into the bed.  Jen called me off work for Tuesday and on Tuesday morning after I was in tears on the phone with my doctor's office they scheduled me in for an appointment.  They tested for a bladder infection (who knows why) but the thought seemed to be that I had got food poisoning from something I ate on Saturday.  Jen thinks it was a virus.  I don't know what to think, I'm just glad it's over.  Wednesday I stayed home again and started feeling a bit better.  Thursday I was back to work and though a little weak, okay. 

I lost any weight I had gained in the three days that I wasn't eating, but now my appetite is back and I'm sure I'm gaining again.  My biggest concern the whole time was that I would lose the baby.  Fortunately everything seems to be okay.  

Some good news is that yesterday I forgot and today I purposely skipped my afternoon dose of Diclectin and I seem to be doing okay.  Both days I took one pill earlier in the evening and one pill at bedtime.  I figure if this goes well for a while I'll wean myself back to two pills a day, then one and then hopefully soon I won't need it anymore at all! 

We had a lovely, busy Saturday today, but I think I will maybe make another post tomorrow about my love of the warm weather and our plans to go to farmer's markets every chance we get this summer! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

As usual, I will update later (tomorrow, probably) with a belly photo. 

P.S. I had an ophthalmologist appointment on Thursday afternoon and at the end he said he wanted to see me again in six months.  When I was booking the follow up I realized that in six months I will be just a few weeks away from my due date.  Woah.

{this moment} Great Grandma

Wordless Wednesday: PA

{this moment} Mayfair

*Navalgazing* Reflections at Nine+ Weeks Pregnant

Wow.  I've gotten really bad at keeping up with things here. 

The Bean had his 16 month "birthday" on Friday.  We have yet to do the update and his photos, but I will sneakily back post them when we get to it.

We did take a belly picture.  It may have even been Saturday that we took it and I did scribble a few notes in a notebook, but I've had a hard time getting them up on here.

It's been a busy week.  I had a job interview last Tuesday and had a call back to teach a lesson today.  I love, love, LOVE the school but I found out in last week's interview that it is a mat. leave and I just didn't feel right going ahead with the process without telling them I'm expecting, even though it is still a bit early.  So, I taught my lesson today: a discussion on how music affects people's emotions with a group of 18 SK girls.  They were lovely.  At the end we had a few moments and I asked them to reflect on what they liked about the lesson, many of them said they loved all of it.  It made me so happy and so sad at the same time.  I told the principal that I hope that if they don't hire me for this position (which I am sure they won't), that I can substitute there through the fall and that if something comes up later on down the line that I would be considered.  She was very kind and said of course they would and that she appreciated my honesty.  Still, though,  I'm a little heartbroken at the missed opportunity. 

In terms of how I've been feeling, I keep waiting to start feeling better.  I'm not sure if the medication isn't working as well as it did initially, but I find I'm feeling sick much of the time.  Not throwing up, but nauseated.  Super-tired as well.  I'm trying to figure out better timing on taking my pills as I think I'm waiting too long between my mid-day and evening pills and that that is contributing to the nausea in the afternoons and evenings.

Jen has been amazing.  She's really been stepping up to take care of The Bean and I haven't been able to do anything in return.

I've been reading along in the pregnancy journal that we kept when Jen was pregnant and comparing how I feel now to how she felt then.  It seems like it was around this point that she started having some better days.  My sister, on the other hand, continued to feel sick until about 16 weeks.  I guess we'll see where I end up falling.

In about a month things will really calm down around here.  The interview-y job stuff is over for the time being, but I still am working on an online course, have to finish out the school year and write report cards and complete e-portfolios for each of my students.  We're going to PA this weekend to visit in in-family.  I'm looking forward to it, but also sort of wish it were just going to be a quiet weekend.   I know The Bean will be over the moon to see Grandma and Grandpa (both of which he now says!) so that will make it all more than worthwhile. 

And since I might not be updating next week because of the trip, I may as well mention that we had our first midwife appointment.  It was really low-key.  With The Bean we had a list of 20 or more questions and this time I felt like we were just chit-chatting with an old friend (same midwife, at least for the beginning! Yay!).  Kinda' funny to think about, but also very nice to be less nervous about everything.  She booked us an ultrasound for the first week of June, so hopefully we'll get some nice baby pictures then. :) 

Updated with nine week belly photo:

Sixteen Months Old!

Today The Bean is sixteen months old!

-The Bean is our busy boy.  He has continued to enjoy learning to climb over any obstacles in his way.  A favourite this month has been climbing onto the ottoman and dancing.  A mama worries about him falling and hurting himself, which he surely will at some point, but it's a learning experience, right? 

-His language continues to develop.  He seems to have a very good understanding of things we say to him, but is a little slower to speak himself.  He has is handful of words, and has added a few new ones (ball, cat and apple sauce come to mind) but uses them here and there rather than with regularity.  He babbles incessantly, especially in the mornings, and certainly gets his message across when he has something he wants us to know!

-He was quite sick at the beginning of May and missed a full week of daycare while Jen and I took turns staying home from work.  That was rough.  We were very happy when he started acting more like himself again.  He seems to have a bit of a lingering cough, but maybe he's like his mommy and just has some seasonal allergies.  (Though I really hope not.)


-He is happiest outdoors and I am really looking forward to this warmer weather and spending time with him over the summer.  For now he requests that the balcony door stay open and runs in and out while playing.  We try to get him to the park often.  I wish we had a yard he could play in, but we don't and likely won't for a while so we make due with what we have. 

-He's really taken to playing with balls and cars and trucks.  The truck thing is interesting to me.  I wonder if it's something he's picked up from the other boys at daycare (there's only one girl) or if it's something all kids love so much.  Anyway, he's got a few that he zooms around.  He throws and kicks balls and we've picked him up a few different sized ones to play with since he seems to enjoy them so much. 


-Books are still a big hit as well.  Two Llama Llama board books have been a recent favourite addition to our library.  It's good for Mama and Mommy to have some new books in the mix.  We know repetition is good for his development, but not always so good for our sanity. ;) 

-He still eats well and sleeps well.  Homemade smoothies with yogurt and fruit are a favourite. Often  he'll do only one nap at daycare since they go on outings in the afternoons, but at home he usually does two naps (1-2 hours each) and about 12 hours overnight.  

He is such a joy.  We can't get enough of his big smile and belly laughs.  I have felt like a terrible mama being so sick and unable to interact with him as much as I would like to the past few weeks, but hopefully I start feeling better soon and we get in some quality time as a family of three before the next little one joins us.

*Navalgazing* Reflections at Eight Weeks (+1) Pregnant

Written on Sunday... we still haven't done a photo, but I'll update when we do.

Our baby is now officially considered a fetus!  I have a tendency just to think of it as a baby, but I guess the transition from embryo to fetus is still notable.

I read somewhere that 7-9 weeks marks the highest rate of miscarriage, so I'm a little anxious, and figure I really will be until past 12 weeks, but right now I'm focusing on this coming Saturday as somewhat of a milestone as the risk drops fairly significantly then.


I'm continuing to take my medication to help with nausea.  The mornings are usually good and I feel worse and worse through the day.  I had one really good evening this past week (Thursday), but many nights I'm exhausted and crawling into bed by 8:30pm.

Smells have really been getting to me and I've been "off" many foods.  I know it's not a good thing, but I've really cut back on my fluid intake.  I normally have one or two cups of tea through the morning, but am finding it totally unappealing now.  Milk also seems gross.  I'm trying to force myself to drink water, but know I'm not getting as much as I should be.  I'm not having any consistant cravings, but various things seem very appealing at different times.  Ice cream cake and baked potatoes are two examples.  I didn't get the cake, but I did get baked potatoes.  :) 

I got on the scale yesterday afternoon and it looks like I'm up a pound or two.  I'm starting to be able to tell that my pants are feeling a bit snug around the waist.  I can still close them, but definitely not as comfortably.  I'm hoping that things continue fitting until the end of the school year.  I really don't want people there to know, particularly my principal, as I think I mentioned before.

Did I tell you that I have a job interview this week?  It's at a school I think I would like working at, so I'm pretty excited about it.  Nervous too.  And guilty that if things continue to go well with this pregnancy I'll only be there through the first term.  

Here's a belly photo:
Coming Soon

{this moment} Hide and Seek

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

Inspired by SouleMama.

Ultrasound Update

Yesterday's ultrasound went well.  (Phew!)  It was at the fertility clinic, and now that it's done we are officially discharged from their care.  We had my favourite tech, the one who did most of my monitoring.  The baby was measuring 7w1d, which is just a day behind where we'd expect it to be.  Heart rate was 144, which is just slight higher than The Bean's 140 at his initial ultrasound.  And, as expected, the EDD is December 16th.

Here the belly photo, taken yesterday:  

The Bean is still sick, so I'm home with him today, hoping to get him in to see his ped and make sure he doesn't have a sinus infection.  (He nose is disgusting.)  Poor little guy.  Hopefully he starts to feel better soon.