2 months to go

Apparently, I'm not very good at updating a blog when it pertains to personal news - worse than when I post on theological issues over at our other blog (where Josh does a decent job of updating). I could blame it on life being busy, but other people find time to post on their blogs, and I'm sure many of them are busier than I. So maybe I'm just lazy or find other things to occupy my time. Unfortunately, one of those things is NOT my thesis, so now I really have to get moving on it if I want to have a bulk of the work done before the baby arrives. The topic has changed a bit; my current working title is "Authentic Feminism and the Role of Women in the Church". It's been done before, but since this is just a master's thesis and it's a topic I'm interested in learning more about, I'll save a new or more creative/theoretical topic for the Ph.D. dissertation (if I make it that far).

Speaking of Ph.D. we need to do some more work on our applications; I'd like to submit them before Christmas, although I don't think any of them are due before February 1. Right now the plan is to at least try out a Ph.D. program (assuming we are accepted and receive decent funding). I think I'll always regret it if I don't at least try, although I know that starting a family can make such an endeavor quite complicated. We are ready for a change, though. Josh is tired of his job - in the sense of all the extra work he has to do, which keeps him from his studies, not in the sense of not liking teaching. We both enjoy teaching, although I cannot see myself teaching at the high school level or lower ever again (aside from teaching my own children). I really love teaching college classes, NFP classes, and even adult religious education (like RCIA). Anyway, we both relish the thought of taking classes, reading, and studying being our only responsibilities outside of the home.

In baby news, at my last appointment (28 weeks) our midwife felt for the baby and said s/he was head-down already, which is great. From what I can feel, I think s/he is still head-down because it seems like there are feet kicking my ribs fairly often. Mom came with me, so she and I both got to hear the heartbeat through the fetoscope (fetal stethoscope). Everything seems to be going really well. I'm generally hungrier, which I suppose is what makes it easier to meet the 80-100 grams of protein quota per day. The baby is pretty well-developed and is in the bulk-up stage at this point, which means I'll be putting on more weight now. I'm not sure how much I've gained, but my next appointment is Monday (32 weeks), so maybe I'll find out then.

Our moms held a baby shower this past Saturday, so we actually possess some baby things now. I cleaned out the closet in the office and was able to organize and fit most of the stuff in there for now. The cradle will be in our bedroom since the baby will either sleep with us or in the same room as us. We're not going to get a crib until we know what our plans are for next summer. If we end up moving, we'll have the crib shipped to our new address instead of moving it with all our other things - at which point the baby will probably be too big for the cradle anyway. (I'll post more about our planned sleeping arrangements some time in the future. For now, though, I'll just say that the U.S. is an oddity in that it's one of few places in the world where babies are expected to sleep in their own beds in their own rooms at such a young age - which isn't necessarily healthy.)

I guess that makes up for most of the things I failed to post lately. Perhaps another post next week? We shall see...


My sister and I at the baby shower (about 31 weeks)

Into the Sixth Month

Life has been a bit crazy around here. We were evacuated to Shreveport for a week during Hurricane Gustav and were riding out the outer bands - with tropical storm strength winds and rain - of Hurricane Ike at home by the end of last week. Josh and I were fortunate enough to have only minor damage to our house from Gustav and no significant flooding from either storm. The day we evacuated for Gustav was the same day Grandma's funeral was held. I was sad that so few people could come, knowing that the church would have been packed given other circumstances. Also, I felt like we just left her behind as we ran away from the storm - not knowing whether my grandparents' house (which is located south of Houma, near the area where the eye of Gustav made landfall) would even be there when we returned, leaving us with very little to remember her by. Their house made it through the storm with relatively little damage, but Grandpa had to stay with my parents the following week due to the excessive flooding from Ike. The time between the storms was interesting - being unwilling to stop watching the news or unpack or restock the refrigerator or put items around the house back in their places (which I still haven't finished).

In the meantime, my new job as the Director of Religious Education at our church required me to try to hold registration for religion classes for public school students after weekend Masses, while people may or may not have even returned to their homes. We have a large Hispanic population at our church, so the language barrier presents further problems with trying to get the children to class. We held our first class and parent meeting on Tuesday night, to which many people who registered did not attend and several who had not registered did attend. I've been staying busy with tons of paperwork and organizational tasks to try to help classes run smoothly.

I've finally been able to start my online training course for teaching Natural Family Planning. Since I've had almost a year of practical experience already in teaching with supervision and helping to counsel couples, I'm hoping that I'll be certified before the end of the year. Additionally, Josh and I have started the real work for our master theses. I really want to have a draft written before the end of the semester so that I will be at least mostly finished when the baby comes. I think Josh is aiming for the same goal. At this stage, the work required is mostly reading/research. I hope to come up with a working outline in the next week, but we'll see about that...

In baby news, I can definitely feel movement at this point, and sometimes Josh can feel it, too. We should be going to see the midwife either next week or the following week. (Our schedule got thrown off due to the hurricanes.) While I'm still adapting some of my regular clothes to fit, I don't think that is going to work for much longer. Depending on what I'm wearing (lucky for me, the current fashion includes large, flowing shirts), it's still not obvious to some people that I'm pregnant. We should be starting our 12-week Bradley course in the next few weeks, which I'm excited about. My mom, Josh's mom, and I are going to work on registering for baby things on Saturday while Josh goes with the pro-life club (at the school where he teaches) to pray in front of an abortion clinic.

So, that's what we're up to lately. I'll try to update again after our next pre-natal appointment.

20 weeks +

We had our appointment with our midwife today. It was supposed to be Monday, but the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay presented a weather problem to meet with her. We were going to reschedule for this coming Monday, but we'll be evacuating on Sunday due to Gustav. So today was it. The baby's heartbeat is good, the position of my uterus is right (height at about belly-button level), my blood pressure is good, I have no swelling, there are no problems with my urine, and my weight is about 131 lbs. In other words, everything is as it should be.


My Grandma passed away on Tuesday. In light of all the suffering she was going through, with new problems seeming to crop up every day, (and in light of the storm currently heading directly toward my grandparents' house) I believe her passing was an act of mercy by God. If I've ever experienced a living example of redemptive suffering, it was through her. I will miss her terribly, of course, but I know in hope that she is numbered among the saints, part of the Church Triumphant (as they used to say). And part of the beauty of being Catholic is that I know she is present every time Mass is celebrated. In the Liturgy we gather together with Christ - in the Word and especially in the Eucharist - and with all the angels and saints as we praise God together. I am saddened knowing she won't be able to hold my children, knowing how very excited she was about becoming a Great-Grandma, but I am consoled knowing that she will now be able to watch them grow - much better than she could have here.


Grandpa, Grandma, and I at our wedding rehearsal dinner

It's really a baby!

We had the 16-week appointment with our doctor/midwife today and got to listen to the baby's heartbeat. It was pretty exciting since I wasn't fully convinced that there really was a baby in there. I've felt pregnant, but I just wasn't convinced. The heartbeat was strong and fast, which is how it's supposed to be. The baby is fairly large at this point - about the size of a grapefruit, I'd say - and my clothes are definitely getting tighter. However, when I got on the scale, I weighed 127 pounds, which means I've only lost, not gained, weight since the last appointment. That's not completely abnormal, and given the fact that I don't particularly care to eat and rarely know what I'd even like to eat, I'm not too surprised.

We were able to listen to the heartbeat via Doppler device, so there was sound only. We don't plan to get an ultrasound unless there's a good medical reason for it. We don't want to know the sex of the baby before he/she is born, and there have been few comprehensive studies on the long-term effects of ultrasonography, so no one really knows if it's truly safe for the baby. It may or may not be linked to miscarriages, for example. Anyway, we won't be getting one unless absolutely necessary (just like any other medical intervention), so don't hold your breath about seeing a picture of the baby in utero. If you really want to see what he/she looks like at this point, you can do a Google search for 16-week baby pictures.