Yesterday was another one of them. Hell days. She started the night before, and carried it over into Sunday. 2 naps, 15 minutes each. The rest of the time? Yelling and crying. Lots of it. (Some from me, admittedly.)
She finally went to sleep around 11, and I knew, I *knew* that tomorrow would be better. It had to be.
After all, it's my birthday.
I woke up, peered over the end of the bed into the portable crib, expecting a sweet smile and a lovely nursing session, followed by another hour of sleep curled up together in the big bed.
And I got a rude awakening.
No smile.
Oh crap... I thought.
Yep. She's now got the stamina for two full days.
I think I cried just about as many tears as she did.
But, finally she settled down around 3 PM and we all jumped in the car to drive to Fargo to pick up the Jimmy, newly and very expensively repaired, and to go out to Johnny Carino's for my birthday dinner. I got a good start on the baby bolero I'm knitting for her (thanks, Flare!), and she was an angel, most of the time (except for about 5 minutes around Hillsboro, but I don't blame her. That sugar beet plant stinks.)
We got home, and I had to use my "crank the music and sing really loudly right in her face making up the words you don't know" trick for about a half an hour, but she's sleeping again.
I think I subbed too many days in music classrooms, if all that calms her is loud music and me singing my heart out.
Too bad I didn't get a karaoke machine for my birthday...
Showing posts with label substitute teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label substitute teaching. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2007
Saturday, June 02, 2007
The Motherlode
With no labor in sight, I taught a full day on Friday. French at a middle school--not a bad assignment. It was a tougher school, but generally, the kids in French classes aren't too difficult, I know the subject matter very well, and I've found that they tend not to mess with me too much when they see just how pregnant I am. Though I'm not very "big" on the scale of pregnant women due to my freakishly long torso (one girl asked me yesterday if I was 4 or 5 months along), an announcement of my due date being "Wednesday", usually results in a few jaws scraping the floor. Even the tough kids back off when they hear that, telling me about their mothers or aunts or sisters who are expecting, and hoping I don't go into labor right then and there. Heh! Whatever works!!!
After school, I planned to hit a garage sale I'd seen listed on Craig's List. Y'all know I love me my Craig's List. After a successful find a few weeks ago of a complete starter set (with extras she added when I arrived) of G diapers for about 1/4 of the cost online, I had a sneaking suspicion that my Craig's List luck may have run out, but decided to perservere nonetheless.
This sale was listed as "everything you need for baby", so I hoped to find a few things we didn't have yet, though I didn't count on it. I was showing up at the end of the day on day 1 of a 2 day sale, so I knew my chances weren't great.
As it happened, we were in a tornado watch, so the sale people were pulling things inside when I showed up, about 3:30. They didn't have anything I needed. I was a little disappointed, but figured I'd just have to keep watching the website for more, and I'd eventually find things.
"We don't have any of those things, but you should check their sale," the lady said, pointing down the street. "Keep driving around--there are lots of sales in the neighborhood."
And boy, was she right!!!
I found an exersaucer jumperoo, a swing, an older style baby gym, a travel bed and an antique wooden Jenny Lind highchair, that I will probably strip and refinish to match our table set and the hutch my grandfather built.
For all of this, I paid about what I would have paid for our highchair. (And that one was plastic.) And, I'm recycling!!!
Today, my cousin and her husband are going to help us pick up our crib, and then we should be pretty much set.
Except for one little thing.
After school, I planned to hit a garage sale I'd seen listed on Craig's List. Y'all know I love me my Craig's List. After a successful find a few weeks ago of a complete starter set (with extras she added when I arrived) of G diapers for about 1/4 of the cost online, I had a sneaking suspicion that my Craig's List luck may have run out, but decided to perservere nonetheless.
This sale was listed as "everything you need for baby", so I hoped to find a few things we didn't have yet, though I didn't count on it. I was showing up at the end of the day on day 1 of a 2 day sale, so I knew my chances weren't great.
As it happened, we were in a tornado watch, so the sale people were pulling things inside when I showed up, about 3:30. They didn't have anything I needed. I was a little disappointed, but figured I'd just have to keep watching the website for more, and I'd eventually find things.
"We don't have any of those things, but you should check their sale," the lady said, pointing down the street. "Keep driving around--there are lots of sales in the neighborhood."
And boy, was she right!!!
I found an exersaucer jumperoo, a swing, an older style baby gym, a travel bed and an antique wooden Jenny Lind highchair, that I will probably strip and refinish to match our table set and the hutch my grandfather built.
For all of this, I paid about what I would have paid for our highchair. (And that one was plastic.) And, I'm recycling!!!
Today, my cousin and her husband are going to help us pick up our crib, and then we should be pretty much set.
Except for one little thing.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
False Alarm
I'm still here.
Despite all the calls from concerned family members ("Have you had it yet?"), we haven't had it yet. I had back pain on Monday, but nothing happened. A few Braxton Hicks contractions, but no "real ones". The water has not broken. And Zizou, apparently, still has plenty of room to roam--I can watch my belly heave and burble like the ground near the San Andreas Fault.
Yesterday, while enjoying lunch out with my awesome cousin and her super cool husband (who's in the traveling show of Mamma Mia!, now playing in Madison), I started having some weird contraction-type things.
Except these were not at all what I expected.
I felt like a little tiny Klingon was in my pelvis zapping me with a taser. Or a cattle prod. Definitely something electrical.
They continued randomly while I "taught" for two hours at a local middle school (and sat through the first half of Shrek 2 and High School Musical, again), and then disappeared.
They reappeared around 10 PM. About every 10 minutes. And they hurt. I started sweating.
And worrying.
Why now? I am so tired!!! I just want to sleep. Please, not now. Just wait until morning, OK? Please???
To be on the safe side, after half an hour of hemming and hawing, I decided to cancel my teaching job for today. (Honestly, it wasn't too hard a decision--it was a tough assignment, and I wouldn't have looked forward to it even if I wasn't pregnant.)
They kept up, slowing to about every half hour, until approximately 2 AM. Then I fell asleep. Of course, I still woke up every hour or so to pee (what else is new?), but the contractions (if that's what they were) didn't come back. I started to feel guilty. That's a lot of diaper money I just flushed.
Then about 4 AM I had a thought. A wonderful, fabulous thought.
When I woke at 6:30, I called the sub office. I asked for this day to be taken from my "PI" account (personal illness). That means I get paid for today. We get one day for every 20 worked. I had forgotten. Yay for unions!!! I went back to bed, and slept until 9.
And this morning? Feels like normal. I'll let you know. There's no wifi at the hospital, despite the otherwise-state-of-the-art birthing suites, but I've trained Dr. B to moblog photos to my flickr page from his phone, so if there's anything to report, you'll see it there first. Even if it is just a picture of me looking sweaty, frustrated and angry.
Let's hope that happens soon!
Despite all the calls from concerned family members ("Have you had it yet?"), we haven't had it yet. I had back pain on Monday, but nothing happened. A few Braxton Hicks contractions, but no "real ones". The water has not broken. And Zizou, apparently, still has plenty of room to roam--I can watch my belly heave and burble like the ground near the San Andreas Fault.
Yesterday, while enjoying lunch out with my awesome cousin and her super cool husband (who's in the traveling show of Mamma Mia!, now playing in Madison), I started having some weird contraction-type things.
Except these were not at all what I expected.
I felt like a little tiny Klingon was in my pelvis zapping me with a taser. Or a cattle prod. Definitely something electrical.
They continued randomly while I "taught" for two hours at a local middle school (and sat through the first half of Shrek 2 and High School Musical, again), and then disappeared.
They reappeared around 10 PM. About every 10 minutes. And they hurt. I started sweating.
And worrying.
Why now? I am so tired!!! I just want to sleep. Please, not now. Just wait until morning, OK? Please???
To be on the safe side, after half an hour of hemming and hawing, I decided to cancel my teaching job for today. (Honestly, it wasn't too hard a decision--it was a tough assignment, and I wouldn't have looked forward to it even if I wasn't pregnant.)
They kept up, slowing to about every half hour, until approximately 2 AM. Then I fell asleep. Of course, I still woke up every hour or so to pee (what else is new?), but the contractions (if that's what they were) didn't come back. I started to feel guilty. That's a lot of diaper money I just flushed.
Then about 4 AM I had a thought. A wonderful, fabulous thought.
When I woke at 6:30, I called the sub office. I asked for this day to be taken from my "PI" account (personal illness). That means I get paid for today. We get one day for every 20 worked. I had forgotten. Yay for unions!!! I went back to bed, and slept until 9.
And this morning? Feels like normal. I'll let you know. There's no wifi at the hospital, despite the otherwise-state-of-the-art birthing suites, but I've trained Dr. B to moblog photos to my flickr page from his phone, so if there's anything to report, you'll see it there first. Even if it is just a picture of me looking sweaty, frustrated and angry.
Let's hope that happens soon!
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