Third Trimester + End of School

Hello all--I am back! Let's see what all has happened since last time...

I am very well in the midst of my third trimester. I have a lurking suspicion that this might very well be the last post I write before Miss Katherine makes her grand arrival. My belly is getting bigger by the day, and I am beginning to grow weary with growing a small human. I have developed a random, yet increasingly long, list of maladies that are all pregnancy induced. On the list: incessant heartburn, leg cramps that come in the middle of the night, back pain, vague pain in my ribs and lower abdomen, swelling (literally everywhere), fatigue, random leg numbness, randomly waking up at 3:30 AM and not being able to sleep for a few hours...I could go on.  Katherine kicks a lot, too. That is a good thing, but sometimes her kicking is crazy! It is equally bizarre and amazing watching my belly ripple and rock with her movements.

I am now in the last phase of pregnancy that involves weekly OB appointments. I found out that, despite my belief, Katherine is breech. I am currently 36 weeks pregnant, so it's looking like a C-section could be in my future. It isn't certain, as my doctor still feels like she could flip. Also, he is going to attempt to flip her next time I go in. He told me that a risk of him doing so is that it could cause my water to break, meaning that I'd go into labor. That's the main reason he opted to wait a week to flip her instead of doing so when I was in a few days ago. While he said she'd be perfectly viable now, like any OB, he wants her to stay in as long as possible. The sonographer also told me that he estimates her size to be somewhere between 6-8 lbs. I am not shocked in the slightest that my baby, who is a month before her due date, already weighs more than most people's full-term babies. What can I say, Hladik girls only grow one size of baby--huge! (If you didn't know, my nephews' average birth weight was 9.5 lbs. All of us girls weighed at least 9 lbs. Thomas and Elizabeth, for what it's worth, weighed 8 and 9 lbs, respectively. Like I said, I'm NOT shocked at all...) All of this to say that I have a lurking suspicion that my baby will not wait until her June 15th due date!

Thomas and his immediate family speculate that she'll be born somewhere between May 23rd and June 5th. I'm not sure what my family's speculation is, but I know they're antsy to know when to head south. I have no guesses, but if I know anything about Katherine, it is that she already has a big personality and will do things in her own big way. Steve has said that he'd like to start a pool among family and friends to bet when she'll be born. If he doesn't start it soon, he might miss the boat on that! It is becoming an ever-increasing reality that she will be here soon and our lives will be changed forever, all for the good. I am equally terrified and ecstatic.

Because she's coming soon, Thomas and I are in full-on prep mode. In other words, yes, I have started nesting! I always thought that was an old wives' tale, but I was wrong. I spent the better part of last weekend sorting, organizing, and tidying the nursery. I also did what every sane person does at 11 PM on a Saturday...I ordered curtains for the whole house on Amazon! All we really "need" to do is hang some floating shelves, and it'll be where I want it to be. Honestly, if that doesn't happen until after she's born, it won't be the end of the world. We have all of the basic necessities...a crib, a bassinette (from Emily), clothing in various sizes, blankets, a diaper bag, some diapers, a Boppy pillow, some books, and a number of other miscellaneous items. The school/my department is hosting a baby shower for me this coming week, so I know I'll a number of other things to add to our collection! I've also managed to get all of the clothing we've received thus far washed and organized. Like I said, definitely nesting! In other random news, we also now have a fully functional guest bedroom, so if anyone ever needs a place to sleep in the greater Dallas area, we're all set up...yes, that was another project from this past weekend.

Thank God for the fact that our last day of classes is this coming Thursday! I have honestly had a great year...possibly the best year of teaching thus far. I feel like I'm finally starting to "get it". I also have had wonderful students this year. This group of young people will always hold a special place in my heart. A few weeks ago, we lost a member of our department. No one died--this person was released from her contract at the end of April due to a number of personal/professional reasons. It was a messy situation that I really can't discuss much on here, but it left me and 4 other teachers to pick up the pieces and take over teaching her 6 classes for the rest of the year. No one was happy or excited about it, but we knew it was for the students, and that propelled us to give it our best and put on happy faces for them and the rest of our classes that had to take a spot on the back burner temporarily. Thankfully, my new class has been gracious and welcoming of me, which has made the transition easier. On the flip side, I am now up to teaching 5 different courses all day, comprising 7 teaching periods and 1 prep period. High school teachers at my school typically teach 2-3 courses, comprising 6 teaching periods and 2 prep periods so that's a lot. When I taught at Waukomis, I taught 4 courses, so it's still a lot, even by that standard. The other teachers involved are all in the same boat as me, hence our frustration. As I said though, this coming week is final exams, so it won't be too bad. I'm ready for the school year to be over and for Katherine to be born so I can move on to my next adventure of motherhood!

Now for the pictures of what we've been doing!

Thomas and I after Easter Vigil Mass.
Likely the most put together I've been in weeks.
(I promise Thomas loves me, despite the look on his face!)

Cole! Loved getting lots of snuggles from him during our time in OK for Easter!

Zoe came to stay with us for a weekend!

Thomas' friends Mitch and Trey also came to visit us!

We got a recliner!
So happy to have this now!

Project by one of my pre-calculus students!

Another project!

And another project! All awesome!

A gift from one of my sweet students!

We've changed a few things around, but a glimpse of the nursery! 

Had to bid my wall mirror from college adieu.
It could survive a fall down the stairs at the dorms, but not falling 8 inches to the carpet...

Elizabeth, Thomas, and Steve working on hanging the nursery curtains!

Mother's Day dinner with the Coulter-Lieses!

Love this picture of Thomas and me from last weekend!

She hardly sat still for the sonographer, but here's her face!
Can't wait to see it for real!