My Bump

Students always ask me "How's your baby?" or "How is Hannah?" But one day I got a different question. . .

On Fridays we can where jeans to school.  One day I wore jeans and a Tee-shirt that said, "I love my bump. I love my bump."  Many of the students didn't know what it meant, when they asked, I said, "I love my bump," and then I rubbed my belly.  The student would then say, "Ohhh."  Some of the older students thought it was funny.

A few weeks later, I went to a second grade classroom to give something to one of the students.  A student came up to me and asked, "How's your bump?"

My Growing Belly

5-19-11 (26 weeks)

A first grader walked past me and noticed my belly had grown and asked me, "Your baby is growing up?"

I smiled and said, "Yes."

Baby Due Date Countdown

5-17-11

I have a school blog.  I post assignments for the students and links to websites that we will be visiting during class.  A friend showed me a countdown and I thought it would be great to put a count down to my due date on the blog.  So many students ask me if I have had my baby yet that I thought that if they saw a reminder of how many days are left it would help them understand how long a pregnancy can be.

When one of the 7th grade classes saw the countdown for the first time one of the boys was a little confused.

7th Grader: Why does it say due date?  Why doesn't it say the baby will be born?
Me: Not all babies are born on their due date.  I don't know if that is the day the baby will actually be born.
7th Grader: But why doesn't it say when the baby will be born?  Why does it say due date?
Me: No one really knows when a baby will be born, a due date is just a guess as to when the baby will be born.
7th Grader: Why didn't you put when the baby will be born?
Me: The doctor doesn't know exactly when the baby will be born.  The due date is just a guess.  I don't know when the baby will be born.

He still wasn't satisfied but I had to move onto our lesson for the day.  I did not know any other way to explain it to him.

Why are you working?

5-16-11

When I was 25 weeks along and we had just a few weeks left of school until summer break a 4th grade girl and I had the following conversation.

4th Grader: Mrs. Gardner, why are you working? You're pregnant. You shouldn't be working.

Me: I have to work, I have bills to pay.

4th Grader: What about your husband?

Me: He works to help pay for bills too.

Lemon

When I was almost 26 weeks along a 4 year old at church put her hand on my stomach.  She said, "You're pregnant.  My mom is pregnant.  Her baby is a lemon."  I smiled, knowing what the little girl meant, and said, "My baby is the size of an eggplant."

24 Weeks

I began wearing more maternity clothes and less pre-maternity clothes.  I only had 2 non maternity skirts that still fit.  I no longer had to wear a maternity belly band to keep my pregnancy clothes up.  The more I wore my pregnancy clothes, the more students started noticing my growing belly.

I had other friends who were pregnant during the same time I was pregnant.  One friend was 2 months ahead of me and the other was 2 weeks behind.  I looked at pictures these two friends on Facebook and they both were swollen.  I was dreading the day it would happen to me.

6th Grade Girl #1: You can see you stomach now.
Me: Yes, she is getting bigger.  Only 3 months left
6th Grede Girl #1: Really?
Me: Just about.
6th Grade Girl #2: Mrs. Gardner, you still don't look like your pregnant.  Your stomach looks the same.
Me: Really?  Because I don't fit any of the pants I wore before Thanksgiving.
6th Grade Girl #2: But you look so skinny.
6th Grade Girl #2: You're so pretty Mrs. Gardner.
Me: Thank you.

Another Clueless Student

I was wearing my maternity clothes more often and my belly was really beginning to show.  As I walked around campus I could hear students excitedly whispering to each other, "Look, you can see her belly now." Some studente even boldly proclaimed to me, "Mrs. Gardner, you can see your belly now."

I was teaching a 6th grade class and standing in front of the room giving them instructions.  One of the boys sitting near me must have notice my growing belly and asked, "Mrs. Gardner, you're pregnant?"

Two months earlier when I told the class I was pregnant there was a lot of excitement and lots of questions and comments were made.  In fact the posting from 4-5-11 came from this class at that time.

Mrs. Gardner, would you. . .

An 8th grade boy asked me,

"Mrs. Gardner, if your daughter were my age, would you let her date me?"

Who is Pregnant?

A first grade class came to my class.  It was the first class with me since I found out the gender of the baby.  I told them during the last class that the next time they came I would tell them if I was having a boy or a girl.  So when they came lots of the children were asking me if I had found out.  I told them that I was having a girl and many of the students were so excited. 

One boy asked, "Who's pregnant?"
I replied, "I am."
He said, "You are?"
I said, "Yes, where have you been the last 2 months?"

How anyone at the school did not know I was pregnant was beyond me.

When do you find out?

In 6 days I was finally going to be able to answer the question, "Are you going to have a boy or a girl?"

The 3rd grade students were standing in line.  I walked passed them on my way to the restroom.

Boy 1: Mrs. Gardner, how is you baby?
Me: Good.
Boy 2: When do you find out you are having a boy?
Me: Next week.
Boy 3: She is not having a boy, she is having a girl.

Are You Still Here?

One day after school I was walking back to my classroom from helping a teacher in her classroom.  An 8th graders saw me and we had this conversation.

8th Grade Boy: What are you doing Mrs. Gardner?  You should be home waiting for your baby to come.
Me: I have a lot to do.
8th Grade Boy: You should get paid for that.
Me: For what?
8th Grade Boy: Staying at home waiting for your baby.
Me: I wish. I'd sign up for that.  Who would pay me to stay at home?
8th Grade Boy: Mrs. Stockton

Mrs. Stockton is our school principal.

When are you going to have your baby?

When I was about 17 weeks along. . .

8th grade boy: Mrs. Gardner, when are you going to have your baby?
Me: In August.
8th grade boy: That's a long time.  Why does it take so long.
Me: Because it takes 9 months to make a baby.

You should. . .

One day when I was about 4 months along I had this confersation with a 6th grade girl.  Many of the students began to notice the bump on my stomach beginning to grow.

Student: Do you know what you should do Mrs. Gardner? You should model, and show off your tummy.
Me: You mean model maternity clothes?
Student: You should model bikinis so that you can show off your stomach.

Wow, I did not have a body for bikini modeling before the pregnancy and being 4 months pregnant did not change that.  No one wants someone who is overweight to be modeling bikinis.

Can I touch your stomach?

March 28, 2011 When I was 17 weeks along

A second grade girl asked me if she could feel my stomach. 

I like it when they ask and I try to remember to thank them for asking.  I want them to learn that you can't just walk up to someone and touch their stomach, that it is polite to first ask for permission and wait for the permission to be granted.  However, this time I forgot to thank her for asking. 

I told her she could and she put her hand on my rib cage and asked if it was kicking.  I moved her hand to my belly button and told her that it probably was moving around, I just don't feel it yet.  I was amazed that another child had the wrong idea as to where the baby was located. 

I knew I was not showing much, but I was showing. . . I had a bump. If someone didn't know I was pregnant, I just looked like I was getting fat. One would think they would assume the baby was where the bump was growing.

Does it Kick?

March 28, 2011 When I was 17 weeks along. . .

A second grade girl came up to me and gave me a hug.  Her hand lingered near my waist, then she said, "It's not kicking?" I said, "No, but" then I moved her hand from my rib cage to near my belly button, "but the baby is here."

That's a Long Time

March 28, 2011

When I was 17 weeks along. . .

8th Grade Boy: Mrs. Gardner, when are you going to have your baby?
Me: In August
8th Grade Boy: That's a long time.  Why does it take so long?
Me: (I shrugged my shoulders) It takes 9 months to make a baby.

Quiet Students

March 11, 2011


Inspired by my neighboring teacher, I began to tell my classes if they were too loud the baby could be born deaf.  This tactic worked great on the younger students.

I did not want to keep bringing that subject up, but I did want to keep my students quiet. 

The computers are set up in four different groups.  I began choosing a student (usally the noisiest) in each group  to monitor their group, and if they were too loud, that student was to quietly remind the students to be quiet.

One day when I asked one of the 1st grade boys to do this for me he asked, "Is your baby taking a nap?"

Noisy Students

Thumbing through a pregnancy book I read that being exposed to extremely loud noise could damage the developing ear drums of the baby and the baby could be born deaf.  (I never told anyone about what I had read, though I thought it was interesting).

The middle school students aren't the most well disciplined students on campus.  Sometimes they are so noisy they disturb the classroom next door.  One day my neighboring teacher came over to talk to the class.  She told them how her class was trying to learn, how they were disrespecting her, and they were disrespecting me.  She told them that if they are too noisy and cause my baby to be born deaf they would feel so sorry that they were so loud.

I Know Why. . .

March 8, 2011

I had just read in a book that it is normal to be forgetful during pregnancy.  The book gave a tip to write things on sticky notes to help you remember what to do while you are at work. 

A couple of days later during the first hour of the day, a teacher asked me if she could bring her class into the computer lab during the last hour of the day when I did not have  a class.  I told her that would be fine.

After my escorting my last class to their next class I returned to my classroom.  The class was lined up in front of my door.  Surprised I said, "Oh, I forgot you were coming."

One of the sixth graders said, "I know why you are always forgetting things, Mrs. Gardner.  It's because you are pregnant.  When my mom was pregnant she was forgetting things all the time."

How Does the Baby Come Out?

A fifth or sixth grade girl asked me how the baby comes out.  I told her there are muscles in my stomache that push the baby out when it is ready.  (I didn't tell her it was the uterus).  A boy listening asked, "Doesn't that hurt."  I said, "Yes." Another girl asked, "Are you afraid?" I said, "Yes."

First Baby Gift

March 3, 2011

The following day, the very same 6th grader came to see me at lunch again.  She gave me little mittens for my baby so he/she doesn't scratch his/her face. They are yellow, green, and orange - neutral colors because we didn't yet know if it was a boy or a girl.

It was so sweet.

Projects

March 2, 2011

A sixth grader came in during lunch and gave me a copy of a power point slide show she made for me.  It was so cute.  In the slide show she said that she hoped I will be happy being a mother and she thought I was going to have a girl.  She wished me happiness with my daughter or son and told me to give the baby love.  Then she asked me to tell her what the gender of the baby is so that she could give the baby a present.  It was so thoughtful of her to make the slide show for me.

Is the Baby Hungry?

I like to teach by exmaple.  I don't let students eat or drink in the computer lab and therefore I do not either (at least when they are in the room).  I want them to know that I think the rule is so important that I follow that rule too. 

However, being pregnant, if I need to eat, I will eat.  So if I need a quick snack to tide me over before class is over I will eat something in class.  I told the students that the baby needs to eat and I can't wait.  The only way the baby can eat is if I eat something too.

Now, whenever the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd graders see me eating on campus (in or out of the classroom) they ask me, "Did the baby want an apple?" "Is you baby wanting some crackers?"  "Mrs. Gardner, is your baby hungry?"  I just answer yes every time.

How is Your Baby?

The students always ask me, "How is your baby?"  It is so cute.  One day when I was about 15 week pregnant and not showing very much a first grader asked me this question.  The very next question was, "Did it come out yet?"  I smiled and said, "No, not yet.  Have you ever seen a pregnant woman with a really big belly?" I put wrapped my arms around my invisible 9 month belly.  He said, "Yeah."  I told him that when my belly gets that big, then the baby will come out."

How Do You Know You Are Pregnant?

A group of 7th or 8th grade girls asked me this question.  I told them I got a pregnancy test and "peed" on a stick. 

They asked me how that worked.  So I told them that there are hormones in your body that help you grow and hormones that help the baby grow.  The test can find those hormones. 

But then the girls got to the real question they were trying to find out.  "How did you know you needed to take the test?"  So, I asked them, "Do you know how someone gets pregnant?" They told me they did, I didn't verify, it didn't matter because what I was going to say next didn't matter if they really knew how or not.

I said, "Well, my whole life I never did any thing that could get me pregnant.  Then when I was old enough, married, and mature enough to be a parent, I did those things that could get me pregnant."

Not sure if I answered the question they wanted but I gave them a teaching moment and boy was I grateful that I did not have to lie.  I was completely honest with those girls.

How Are Babies Made?

One third grader asked me how the baby was made. I told him, "Well, it starts off as a cell. Then it divides in half and then it divides again and it keeps dividing until it forms arms, legs, and everything." He looked at me like I was crazy. I think he thinks I didn't tell him the truth.

I find this question a lot easier to answer.  I can be very technical and tell the truth without revealing any information about how to get pregnant.

One time an older girl asked me this question, she was in the 6th or 7th grade.  After I gave her the explanation she wanted to know how the cell knew to start growing into a baby.  So I told her there was an egg and the egg had to get fertilized.  She asked me how it gets fertilized.  Luckily another student asked a question at the same time and I answered his question avoiding the fertilization question.

How Do You Get Pregnant?

The kids at my school are so excited about my pregnancy. Many students asked me how I got pregnant. I just tell them to ask their parents. One 5th grader said her mom didn't know how. I told her that if her mom was pregnant with her, then she knows how.

Sometimes I wonder if my pregnancy is causing parents to answer questions they weren't quite yet ready to answer.  However, I am not their parent, I am not their health teacher.  I am the computer teacher and I am not going to teach the students how someone gets pregnant.

A Girl Or A Boy

February 22, 2011

Sixth graders are so much fun! (This conversation was in class)

Student: Mrs. Gardner, did you know there's a rumor that if you have a girl you did it because you were in love and if you have a boy you just did it to. . .


Me: Okay, let's talk about something else now....

 

That ended of the answering questions about my pregnancy (after my announcement to the class) & the beginning of the lesson for the day.

Pregnant? Really?

February 17, 2011

When I first began telling my students, I could only tell them one class at a time so some students were finding out before I announced the news to their classes. 

This conversation occurred with a small group of 4th, 5th, and 6th grade girls.

Student 1: Mrs. Gardner, is it true you are pregnant?
Me: Yes
Student 1: Really?
Me: Yes
Student 1: Your lying.
Student 2: Not ah, she doesn't lie.

I guess when you are only 13 weeks pregnant, it is hard for kids to believe you really are pregnant. Well, when school gets out and I am 26 weeks pregnant, perhaps they will believe it. I wonder how big I'll be at 26 weeks.

How Can You Be Pregnant?

When one little first grader found out I was pregnant she asked, "How can you be pregnant?" Then she put her hand on my stomach and said, "Your stomach is so flat."

That was so nice to hear, considering I had some weight to loose before I got pregnant, so I began the pregnancy overweight.  I guess I did a good job hiding my weight.

Second Graders

The second graders are the most excited, especially the girls.  Every time they see me they wave to my belly and say, "Hi, Baby."

Baby Excitement

February 16, 2011

2nd Grade Girl: Your mom is going to be excited.
Me: She is already excited.
2nd Grade Boy: She is already excited and you haven't had the baby yet?
Me: Yup.
2nd Grade Boy: That's weird.

Gender

I don't know the gender yet, when this blog began I was only 3 1/2 months along.  My students are anxious to find out.

Starting This Blog

A friend of mine suggested I either write a book or start a blog about my experience with being pregnant and the reactions and comments of my students in relation to my condition.  I thought it was a good idea, so here it goes.



Each entry will be brief because I know it can be overwhelming to read lengthy blog entries.  I will be updating once a week, so come back often and see what my students have to say.



I am a computer teacher at a charter school.  I see all of the students from Kindergarten up through 8th grade.  Two weeks ago I announced to my classes that I was pregnant and they are all so excited.  Here are some of their reactions.