Pregnancy Part 4

We had our NT scan and blood draw for NIPT on Monday morning, but we have to wait until our next doctor appointment to hear the results. That will be a week from today on Wednesday, September 4th. During the ultrasound, the technician said that our baby was being very good and cooperative, which made me worry that he was not moving enough. But she did show us the heartbeat and dear husband confirmed that he saw movement.

It is my week 12 of pregnancy and week 1 of the semester. I feel I am turning the corner from the first to second trimester symptoms.

Week 10 - Aug 12-18 disrupted sleep, frequent urination, morning sickness, heartburn, headaches, flatulence, increased thirst
Week 11 - Aug 19-25 headache, neckache, heartburn
Week 12 - Aug 26-Sept 1 frequent urination, leg cramps, increased thirst, tender breasts

We have about 3.5 more weeks of summer, which is a relief because I am getting tired of this summer heat. This morning it was a glorious 68°F and slightly humid, which I love.

Friday is the new moon, which feels appropriate. By then I will have met and set the expectations for all my students and we will be ready to build on our foundation. After Labor Day holiday, of course.

With all the pregnancy cookbooks I bought, I am finding the most helpful menu plan from a website called "babycentre." Although I have only loosely followed it for a few days, it is already helping keep me calm and on track for getting all the protein I need. Some of the food sounds strange, such as "bubble and squeak" which I found out is like a fritatta.

I am motivated to keep eating healthy and making as much food as possible at home. We are just starting to feel concern for our future financial plans. If we could get into the CSUN Children's Center, that would cost $1300 per month, but they do not admit children under 18 months. Each of my paychecks were $2800 in the spring, which was for 11 units. There is a place called "Montessori Source" child care offered near our house. It is off-campus for $950 per month and they accept children as young as 1 month. Another place called "Happy Penguins" is a bit further away. People keep telling us to put our names down on waiting lists for these places, so maybe after we get the results of the NT/NIPT tests back I will feel confident enough to move ahead and do that.

We have been driving to school, but I am hoping that we can start walking. I guess if bicycle riding is out of the question, at least we can walk? Dear husband is afraid that I will be too exhausted by the end of the day to walk home. Luckily, I have so many caring people around me, I am getting lots of advice from co-workers about what the next few months will bring.