19 week check up

Well that was a huge let down. 

I have just had my 19 week follow up  appointment with the midwife. And there I was... All geared up to listen to the heart beat of my unborn child and it never happened. 

On a positive note though. All is healthy. I'm low risk when it comes to Down's syndrome. My iron levels are above average. And the pregnancy is progressing nicely. Phew!

Now roll on the 25th when I get to find out if bump is a boy or a girl. Place your bets now.... 

What do you think I'm having? 

Bleeuurrrggggggghhh

One of the main things that I am struggling to get used to now I'm pregnant is the strange aversion to the foods that I once loved.

Take yesterday for example. Mum made me a lovely lasagne for tea. I wolfed it down and then proceeded to puke it all up soon after. 

A one off? I was certainly hoping. Fast forward to this morning. I thought I'd forgo my usual "safe option" of toast and be healthy and have porridge with chopped bananas on top. 

"Yummy." Or so you'd think! Yes. Again it was. Going down. Just not coming back up to say hello ten minutes later (sorry to be so graphic but one thing you will learn as you continue to read my blogs is that I like to say things as they are). 

So what's the solution? 

In this mornings case I left for work minus breakfast but was able to buy some ginger nut biscuits and a small bottle of sprite on my way into work (thanks for the suggestion Lauren). And they seemed to do the trick. At least for now.

As for tonight's tea. Will keep you posted... 

The first time you meet a new class...

.... Can be one of the most scariest experiences of a teachers life...

Unless of course you actually take an interest in them as individuals and use the time to find out what they enjoy about your subject and what they hate! 

When I first met my middle set of Year 10s on Friday morning I needed to do something different and so started off by asking them to write down two things that were true about themselves and two things that were a lie. Or if you prefer: fact or fiction?

A good idea? Well... You'd think until one of my students pointed out that the three examples I'd put on the board about myself (to demonstrate what I meant) where all actually true. 

Damn it I thought to myself as I quietly joked with said student. How on earth did they guess their teacher was a former journalist, is pregnant and allergic to melon?! 

Anyhow like a consummate professional I carried on and actually thought it was quite an enlightening exercise. I found out that one had visited Brazil six times in the same year, another can only read off yellow paper and judging by the smile on each of their faces - all appreciated the fact that I had actually taken the time and effort to find out about them. 

The next task worked just as well. What makes English enjoyable. Here is what they came up with.... 

Customary bump pic..

Can you really believe I'm 18 weeks and 5 days pregnant? I look like I'm carrying twins or have ate all the pies... 

14 years since 9/11?

Has it really been 14 years since the atrocities of 9.11? Where does the time go?

Like the older generation say they always remember where they where when JFK was shot or when Diana, Princess of Wales died in a tragic car crash I can vividly remember where I was at the time; Asda in Wigan!

I'd finished university only a couple of months before and lets just say I was "between jobs." I remember coming off the home and leisure department to go on my break when it was all over the TV in the canteen. 

No one could actually believe that history was unfolding before our very eyes. My first thought was that it was the start of world war three and the second was that we were all under attack. All I wanted to do was to finish my shift and get home to see my loved ones. To hug them. To kiss them and to never leave their side... But alas I had to wait until my shift was over. 

Fast forward to a year later and I would actually find myself stood at the very site where all those innocent people lost their lives. 

It was such an eerie and bizarre experience. There was still dust everywhere and a dull lifeless feel about the place. But the site that stuck in my mind the most wasn't the huge gap that now existed where the twin towers once stood. It was the little church just round the corner that still had posters, firemens hats, pictures and even a random canoe plastered all over and around it. Almost like a make shift memorial filled with desperation that somehow... Somewhere someone would find what they were looking for. As helpless as it seemed what else could be done in such a desperate situation. 

What would you do? 

Today I have been reflecting on this memory of that fateful day but I'm also thinking ahead to the future and hope that my unborn child - whose sex I will know within the next few days - doesn't grow up in a world full of fear and terror but instead is happy and safe. 

I have also decided that one day I will take my precious loved one to that very site so that too can reflect on the fragility of life and the fact that it does go on after death. 

Is it only Thursday?

Well the hump of the week is over and the end is in sight. Believe it or not I do actually love my job but I have never been a morning person. I sometimes struggle to get out of bed in the morning and now that I'm pregnant I'm finding it even harder to move my body and "jump" in the shower. 

If only I could work from home.... 

Getting fat

So I'm now 18 weeks and three days pregnant and boy does my stomach feel it. I've lost count of the amount of articles that I've read that say "don't eat for two" but it's easier said than done when you either have no appetite or want to down everything in one. Or two...

I have to say though it's so refreshing that I can now eat what I want again after spending most of the first trimester eating what I like to call "plain" food. Pizza. Pasta. Omelettes. Toasties and the like. 

But. And that's a huge but... I don't want to end up putting on a load of baby (and extra weight) during my pregnancy so I am going to make a conscious effort to watch what I eat from tomorrow... And if it's not too ambitious... Re join slimming world next week. Not to get weighed every week but to be more mindful of what I'm eating and when. 

 

Wish me luck....

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