Eventually, we'll need a crib or something

Things at work are less than awesome, so that's been taking up most of my brain space for the last week. I'm trying very hard to work on the things I need to work on and don't feel like I'm getting much out of my efforts. I don't want to end the year on a bad note, so I guess I'll just keep trying harder--although today I had to break a promise to my students; their grades aren't up to date because I can't get to the gradebook from home, apparently--and hope that something good comes of it.

This week was another checkup, mostly just having blood drawn and making sure that there is still a baby in there (there is). Heart rate is 156, my glucose and iron levels are about normal, and they're going to run the screens for birth defects. March 8 is when I learn if it's a boy or a girl. I'll scan or upload an ultrasound when I get it and be sure to let you know.

I'm also coming out of the morning sickness phase. It's gone back to the level it was in December--vomiting about once a week--with no daily nausea, which is so much more amazing than I ever would have appreciated before. I'm not feeling kicks or anything really yet, but hearing the heartbeat reminds me that there is a tiny little being in there whose heartbeat doesn't match mine. That's a weird feeling. My students are also starting to ask to touch my stomach, which I mind a lot less than I thought I would. Mostly they poke it and go "oh, that's weird!" or make a super-obvious comment like "there's a baby in there!" I really thought I would hate people wanting to touch my belly, but I don't. It's kind of funny.