Well, with roughly three months to go, we are finally starting to wrap our heads around the idea that we'll soon be a family of 3 (plus our 2 fur-babies.) The nursery is ready and Mr. Gryce has been honing his cooking skills in preparation for the busy days ahead. We've been doing some reading, and asking advice from other parents as we enjoy these last few months.
How am I feeling? I had some mild nausea for the first couple of months (the anti-nausea medication I tried actually made me feel much worse!) but I never puked or anything. After hearing other people's stories, I really can't complain. I was mostly just exhausted all.the.time. After taking the first trimester off from supply teaching, I returned to the classroom after Christmas. I've been getting 2-4 days of work per week, in addition to my regular tutoring clients after school. Nearly all my teaching has been at the school just around the corner from our home, which has worked out great this year. Also, having the car in a garage makes it easier to get out the door fast in the morning.
After making it through most of the winter without any sickness (very rare for me!), I recently got hit with a nasty flu bug. Fever, chills, exhaustion, congestion, and cough. It's been 2 weeks and I'm on the mend, however, I am finding that teaching 3 or more days a week is just too much. My first commitment is to the things at home that matter: my hubby and my tutoring.
Have I had any weird cravings during this pregnancy? Not really. Mr. Gryce is still convinced I'm going to eat that whole jar of dill pickles in the fridge before this baby arrives (I did have one on a burger a few weeks ago), but it's unlikely. During my first trimester, I craved fresh fruit and English muffins, and drank a lot of ginger ale. Lately I've been eating a lot of yogurt and having a smoothie a day, but that's not really unusual for me.
I have still not officially transitioned to "maternity clothes" yet (hooray!) Though I have a few maternity shirts, most of my regular shirts and sweaters still fit. As for pants, I have mostly been wearing leggings and yoga pants as the typical maternity jeans just don't fit well. (If anyone is heading to Victoria's Secret in the next few weeks, I'd love if you could pick me up another pair of yoga pants!)
Baby Gryce is very active. I first noticed movement at around 21 weeks and it basically hasn't stopped. Even the ultrasound tech commented on how our baby would not stay still for more than a couple seconds. So far, it's not disruptive to my sleep, for which I am thankful!
On February 10th we found out the gender of Baby Gryce. Everyone in our immediate family knows, as well as close friends. I'm sure the word will continue to get out as our due date approaches. As for names, we've had a boy name and a girl name picked out since before we got engaged...(yes, we're very future-oriented). We've never wavered on them, and to date, I haven't taught any students who have given me an aversion to either (fingers crossed!)
For those of you who have asked, my amazing sister-in-law (who I consider to be more like the sister I never had), is planning a baby shower for late April. (Your invite will probably be in the mail shortly.) We are registered at Babyli.st - a really cool site I stumbled upon months ago. It lets you choose products from any store, and put them all on one registry. For those of you considering buying us a gift, I can't stress this enough: we have so.many.clothes already! Having 3 nieces and 1 nephew, plus being one of the last couples in our peer group to have a baby gets you lots of really great used clothing. (Nevermind all the bag sales at the local thrift stores I've taken advantage of over the years.) And until we get the loft space above the garage finished, we have very limited storage space. So as cute as all those little clothes are...for now, thanks but no thanks.
So there you have it. Here's to the next 13 (or so weeks)....!
