I'm on a bit of an emotional high right now. I shared the news with my students yesterday and it was one of the sweetest, most genuine things I have ever experienced. They are just way too stinkin' cute--and excited!
I'd been debating when to share for a while, but it is becoming pretty necessary that I wear maternity clothes and really let things show. I put together a notice to share with parents and copied it onto light blue paper. Then I put 3 games of 'hangman' on the ActivBoard. The first one said "I have big news". The second one said "It will be here in January". The first one they nearly got 'hanged' so I gave them a hint on the second one--the last word is a month. After the second, I turned to the next page. It read _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ! Immediately after turning to that page one of the girls called out, "Mrs. Cherian is going to have a baby!!" without guessing any letters. The kids started squealing and hugging one another. One boy asked me, "So, does that mean that you are actually pregnant now or that you are getting pregnant in January?" The student beside him said, "You know, it takes nine months to grow in there."
The girls were immediately delighted. Finally, someone asked if it was a boy or girl and I told them "I'm sending their parents a note today and I copied it on...." and they saw the blue paper. This is when the boys went crazy with excitement. They stood up and danced, and gave each other high five.
After processing the moment, a few had some questions. They wanted to know if I'd be their teacher any longer after January and who would be my replacement. I told them they'd be in good hands, but we're still sorting out a lot of that. One girl became quite upsetand was very emotional. After we had dispersed a bit, she came back up to me and said, "Mrs. Cherian, if I tell you that I love you and that your my favorite teacher ever will you keep him in there until March so that you can stay our teacher." What a sweet girl! I responded by asking her, "March? The school year doesn't end until June." Which led to her quick reply, "Yeah, but there is no way you can keep him in there that long." Awwww!
At the end of the day as kids were heading out, another boy came up to me very seriously. He said, "I just want you to know. If your baby goes to school here, my baby sister who is just one will be in first grade when he is in kindergarten and I will totally tell her to watch over him and protect her."
You know, I have just the greatest job in the world. I am so lucky that I get to work with such a compassionate, caring, exciting group of individuals every day! It's funny how it is said that teachers change lives. There are few days I feel I've changed a life, but every day I feel like I've had an experience with a child that has changed mine. Today that was all put into perspective.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Hard work = Positive outcome
Had a check-in with Dr. Brown Tuesday. He has been incredibly flexible in allowing me to go in for visits in the afternoon and not requiring me to go mid-morning when the other diabetics have to go. Both of us actually enjoyed the time for a calm check-in without the rush of 25 other patients. In fact, for a change I was the only one in the waiting room. I had to leave school about 40 minutes early and, luckily, I have an amazingly accomodating teammate who took my kids for the last part of the day. It is such a relief to work in such a supportive environment!
Everything looks great according to the doc. Blood sugars are within the range he'd like to see. He really appreciates that I adjust and monitor everything on my own--apparently not the norm. We measured the belly which is also in range. My blood pressure has been low, so we've been staying on top of that, too. Because everything looks right on track he actually gave me permission to schedule my next appointment a whole month out! He said that is about the length of time between non-diabetic patient appointments! Of course, this was with the idea that if anything changes of if I have any questions, concerns, etc. I can't hesitate to call or get in there. Understood.
Next scheduled appointment: October 21st!
Everything looks great according to the doc. Blood sugars are within the range he'd like to see. He really appreciates that I adjust and monitor everything on my own--apparently not the norm. We measured the belly which is also in range. My blood pressure has been low, so we've been staying on top of that, too. Because everything looks right on track he actually gave me permission to schedule my next appointment a whole month out! He said that is about the length of time between non-diabetic patient appointments! Of course, this was with the idea that if anything changes of if I have any questions, concerns, etc. I can't hesitate to call or get in there. Understood.
Next scheduled appointment: October 21st!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hello there Mr. Cherian - you're very tiny and cute
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I know that thus far I have pretty much taken a back seat in terms of actually contributing posts for our blog, but today is a good day as any to change that.
Today we found out that we're having a boy. Yep a boy. For some strange reason I had made an initial guess and thought that it might be a girl but I'm pleasantly surprised that its a boy. I think Ghee had a feeling all along that it was going to be a boy but she wasn't going to play my guessing game. Looks like I'm going to have a little buddy to play with. As soon as I heard the words "Its a boy" I had a flurry of images of building legos, soccer, rough housing, flying rc airplanes, building tree-forts, riding bikes and all those other things that boys and their dads like to do.
I'm going to have to make mention of the amazing advances in technology that Ghee and I witnessed first hand today. Today was our full anatomy scan at the UW Medical Center and it was really state of the art. They used a PHILIPS HD11 ultrasound machine which is in reality a small supercomputer on wheels and measured practically all possible key indicators.jpg)
of health. It was truly a miracle of modern science and medicine being demonstrated to us.
Today we found out that we're having a boy. Yep a boy. For some strange reason I had made an initial guess and thought that it might be a girl but I'm pleasantly surprised that its a boy. I think Ghee had a feeling all along that it was going to be a boy but she wasn't going to play my guessing game. Looks like I'm going to have a little buddy to play with. As soon as I heard the words "Its a boy" I had a flurry of images of building legos, soccer, rough housing, flying rc airplanes, building tree-forts, riding bikes and all those other things that boys and their dads like to do.
I'm going to have to make mention of the amazing advances in technology that Ghee and I witnessed first hand today. Today was our full anatomy scan at the UW Medical Center and it was really state of the art. They used a PHILIPS HD11 ultrasound machine which is in reality a small supercomputer on wheels and measured practically all possible key indicators
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of health. It was truly a miracle of modern science and medicine being demonstrated to us. They measured the baby's kidneys, adrenal glands, checked his spine, measure arms, legs, brain, heart. The detail that this machine provides is amazing. My jaw just dropped at how thorough they are at the UW. Of course we are also really fortunate to have I think the best doctor in this region Dr. Zane Brown. He is one of those doctors who reassures you by just talking to you. There's something to be said about exuding confidence and he sure does do that.
Coming back to the baby, Ghee had a great idea yesterday and it was about names for a boy. We were pretty much set on Abigail if it was a girl but since that is now not the case we were in a quandary. Well at least from the time we went from the scan to the doctors room. We had not thought as hard about boy names as we did about girl names and we have a couple of ideas but none were as concrete as our girl ideas. But as of yesterday I think we've got two likely contenders. Both are names we like. One is an old biblical name and one is a newer variation of an old biblical name. I'm not telling what they both are yet but I guess Ghee and I have a lot of thinking to do over the next 4.5 months.
Based on how many times he was twisting and turning in his mommy's womb, I think he's going to be like Ghee. Excited and full of energy and always moving around. That's the first impression I got of him. His profile is pretty cute and we saw his nose, lips and he even had his mouth open for us while we were observing him. I'll post the pictures as soon as I get them scanned.
Coming back to the baby, Ghee had a great idea yesterday and it was about names for a boy. We were pretty much set on Abigail if it was a girl but since that is now not the case we were in a quandary. Well at least from the time we went from the scan to the doctors room. We had not thought as hard about boy names as we did about girl names and we have a couple of ideas but none were as concrete as our girl ideas. But as of yesterday I think we've got two likely contenders. Both are names we like. One is an old biblical name and one is a newer variation of an old biblical name. I'm not telling what they both are yet but I guess Ghee and I have a lot of thinking to do over the next 4.5 months.
Based on how many times he was twisting and turning in his mommy's womb, I think he's going to be like Ghee. Excited and full of energy and always moving around. That's the first impression I got of him. His profile is pretty cute and we saw his nose, lips and he even had his mouth open for us while we were observing him. I'll post the pictures as soon as I get them scanned.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
No news is good news here
We realize that we've been a bit laxed in updating our blog. Ghee is back at work and we've had busy weekends lately.
School is back in session. It has been a bit exhausting and I'm finding that I miss the luxury of frequent naps during the week. The beginning of the year really takes a lot out of me each year, but this year it has been particularly tiring.
As I settle in with the new class, I can't help but think about the year as a whole and how it will go. I've met with my principal to start sorting through what the year will look like for my class--mostly after January. We decided it is best to wait until after I meet all the parents next week at Curriculum Night to make the announcement to them and the students. Of course, I've been fretting over what to wear to cover the tiny watermelon that is developing across my waist. Last week, by the end of each day I was unbuttoning my pants or loosening drawstrings. Yikes! I may be warm, but Thursday night for the presentation I will definitely be wearing a jacket of sorts.
One thing I have sorted out is my long term replacement. I called a friend who used to teach 3rd grade at my school. I felt the biggest sense of relief when she accepted (without hesitation) the opportunity to come back for the rest of the year. It is so good to know that the kiddos will be in such good hands and I hope that will bring parents the same sense of relief it has brought me.
This week it is on my list to check with HR regarding time off. From my own deduction, it appears that I can take the rest of the year if I combine all my sick leave and short term disability. We'll see what they say! My principal jokingly says he expects I'll take the Sarah Palin maternity leave and be back in 2 days. Ha!
Both Philip and I are gearing up for Tuesday when we go in for the anatomy scan we thought was supposed to happen 3 weeks ago. We'll get to see how things are coming along and we'll find out the sex of the baby. That'll be a big day and the day of our next update!
School is back in session. It has been a bit exhausting and I'm finding that I miss the luxury of frequent naps during the week. The beginning of the year really takes a lot out of me each year, but this year it has been particularly tiring.
As I settle in with the new class, I can't help but think about the year as a whole and how it will go. I've met with my principal to start sorting through what the year will look like for my class--mostly after January. We decided it is best to wait until after I meet all the parents next week at Curriculum Night to make the announcement to them and the students. Of course, I've been fretting over what to wear to cover the tiny watermelon that is developing across my waist. Last week, by the end of each day I was unbuttoning my pants or loosening drawstrings. Yikes! I may be warm, but Thursday night for the presentation I will definitely be wearing a jacket of sorts.
One thing I have sorted out is my long term replacement. I called a friend who used to teach 3rd grade at my school. I felt the biggest sense of relief when she accepted (without hesitation) the opportunity to come back for the rest of the year. It is so good to know that the kiddos will be in such good hands and I hope that will bring parents the same sense of relief it has brought me.
This week it is on my list to check with HR regarding time off. From my own deduction, it appears that I can take the rest of the year if I combine all my sick leave and short term disability. We'll see what they say! My principal jokingly says he expects I'll take the Sarah Palin maternity leave and be back in 2 days. Ha!
Both Philip and I are gearing up for Tuesday when we go in for the anatomy scan we thought was supposed to happen 3 weeks ago. We'll get to see how things are coming along and we'll find out the sex of the baby. That'll be a big day and the day of our next update!
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