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?"