Strange Flights of Unconscious Fancy

From babycenter.org at 37 weeks:

"While you're sleeping, you're likely to have some intense dreams. Anxiety both about labor and about becoming a parent can fuel a lot of strange flights of unconscious fancy."

That is so spot on for me. In the last week, I have dreamed the following scenarios:

• The baby was born with a five o' clock shadow and his scruffy beard hurt my face when I tried to kiss him. Russ was proud; I was mortified.
• The epidural needle was as thick as a hot dog.
• Russ was playing a three-on-three basketball game while I was laboring and turned his phone off, so I couldn't get a hold of him to come to the hospital and the baby was born without him.
• We didn't have our own apartment; instead we brought the baby to Nordstrom. I sat on one of those velvety couches and the swanky shoe salesmen looked at me with disgust as I ate a sandwich, wiped up spit up, and asked where I could shower.
• When I tried to breastfeed the baby, milk shot out of me like water out of a garden hose. And it kept going. My mom showed up to help and said it was completely normal and that I would "leak" like that for another hour or so.

Despite the fact that these dreams begin my day with distress, everything else is going fine. I have weekly appointments now with my doctor, who is a gem. He always makes me feel relaxed and excited about what's happening in a few short weeks. 

I now have this thought in my head every time we go anywhere or do anything: "I wonder how many more three-hour naps I will take'," "I wonder how many more drives in the car where it's just you and me," "I wonder how many more times we will go to all three hours of church without interruption," or "I wonder how many more packages of frozen corn dogs we'll get through before the baby comes." It's a weird feeling -  I know that my life is about to change dramatically, and yet I can't really imagine what it will be like. To calm my fears of the unknown (since my dreams aren't helping anything), I am spending all my free time reading up and getting mentally prepared as well as taking inventory of all our baby goods and making sure we have the important things.

Although I grow increasingly more uncomfortable and whiny each day, I feel that my pregnancy has been relatively easy. I don't have anything else to compare it to, but I know I have managed to escape a lot of miserable things that happen to other pregnant women, so I count myself lucky.

At this very moment, the baby is hiccuping like mad inside me. Three more weeks until I get to meet him!

Back in the Saddle

School started this week. There is no A/C. I work on the second floor and there is no elevator. I am 35 and a half weeks pregnant. Am I insane?

Russell, Katie, and her boyfriend Rick helped me get my classroom ready. I mostly sat right in front of the fan and directed them on where to put things.

Things are off to a pretty good start. I don't know whether it's my three years of experience or my suddenly short fuse that is making me so good at nipping discipline problems in the bud. I have no problem laying down the law for my students - and they really don't want to mess with an enormous sweaty emotional woman that looks like she may have a breakdown at any moment (or go into early labor - that's what I have been threatening them with).

I have three fans in my room and there is a swamp cooler in the hallway. I keep the lights off, point one fan directly on me, and remind my poor students that it will start to cool down in a few weeks.

I teach part-time, which means that I don't start classes until 10 or 11 every day. Even though I am only been doing half of what I did last school year, it feels like a full load for me. I have no idea what I'd do with a full-time schedule. I come home every day at 3:30 and read and nap. I realize that this precious time to myself has an expiration date, so I am determined not to waste it.

Baby is due September 29, and I plan to work up until my due date. I will have six weeks of maternity leave, and I want to be able to spend as many of those with baby as possible.

I have all my lesson plans ready for the long-term substitute who will take my place. We have a crib, a carseat, a changing table, and curtains. Up next on my to-do list: get a pedicure, stop treating baby's room as a place to throw junk into and shut the door when people come over, and read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.

26.2

Russ ran the Deseret News marathon on July 24th.

I was especially proud of and inspired by him because my current state is one in which I cannot run for even three minutes without feeling like my stomach will explode and/or needing to find a restroom pronto.

He had a lot of support from our friends and family. We're so grateful they took the time to come and cheer for him.

I saw a lot of families running the 5K and 10K races together - dad, mom, kids, and baby in a jogging stroller. It made me want to start training after the baby is born and become a runner extraordinaire and then make it a family affair.
We'll see if my enthusiasm lasts.

Whirlwind Trip to Arizona

One of my best friends Tiffani got married this week to Hideaki Suzuki in the Mesa Temple, so Russ and I took a quick road trip down to Phoenix. The wedding was lovely and I was so happy to be there. On the drive back, we stopped at the Grand Canyon. The views were incredible, and I also enjoyed listening to the other tourists talk and trying to guess what country they were from.

Arizona is ridiculously hot. Experiencing the 114-degree heat as a 6-month pregnant woman was, to say the least, an uncomfortable endeavor, and one that I am not eager to repeat. Russ and I spent 72 hours drenched in sweat from head to toe and swearing up and down that when we got back, we would never complain about Utah's "heat" (we are such babies here).


The bigger I get, the less likely we are to take another trip before baby boy arrives, so I guess this counted as our babymoon. We had a really good time, and I'm so grateful to Russ who drove the whole time and let me sleep and put my feet up on the dashboard. What a gem.

Three Cheers for June

Three major things have happened since I last blogged:

1) The school year ended. I can't believe how fast it went by! It was a wonderful year and I am full of love for my students.

My French 3 class. I can't wait to see what awesome things they do in the future. 

Three teachers, all due (with BOYS) within a month of each other.

My empty 95-degree classroom. 

2) We moved. I love our new place so much.

A nice, open living room with lots of natural light.

Covered parking. No, that awesome kayak does NOT belong to us.

A nice front deck where we sit and watch the sunset and eat watermelon.

3) I am getting bigger every day.

At 26 weeks...

I am craving Taco Bell, Spaghettios, and applesauce.

Tums are my best friends.

It's getting really hard to bend over, and painting my toenails is out of the question.

Baby boy is moving constantly, and is especially good at finding and smashing my bladder.

My mind is mush. I trip, run into walls and doors, drop things, and call people on my phone
asking them to call my phone so I can find it.

The Castleton-Lees are Back in Town

and we are so happy.

C'est un Garçon

Last week, Russell and I found out we are having a baby boy.

Nothing can prepare you for that moment. The radiologist is scanning over his miniature heart and spine and feet and then casually mentions a fact you know that will change your life forever.

I knew my life would be altered dramatically one way or the other - princess dresses and tea parties and painted toes versus sticks and mud and Cars 2 bedsheets.

Russell is so excited, of course. He keeps grabbing my stomach and loudly proclaiming, "My SON! Heir to the Lee throne!"

I can't believe there's a little man inside me. I don't know anything about little boys, but what a better way to learn everything? Although I still let out a small pitiful sigh every time we pass the ruffly dresses and headbands in the store, I am getting really excited about little plaid shirts and onesies covered in tigers and lions. I know we're meant to have this baby and that he's meant to be a boy - and I can't wait to meet him.

I had up two posters in my classroom that my students signed. If they guessed right, they got a Tootsie Pop, courtesy of Russell. If it had been up to me, it would have been a Skittle. That's right - one Skittle per person.