Saturday, April 20, 2013

The Pregnancy Story

March 7th started as a normal Thursday.  Woke up, got dressed, drove to school, made some copies, taught homeroom, then headed to the high school to assist with the orchestra there.  It was around that time, 9:30 a.m. or so, that I started feeling crampy, like I was going to start my period soon.  I'd been feeling like this for a couple days so I was sure I'd start soon.  My back was so sore that I had to sit in a chair while teaching.  Excuse my specificity, but usually when I'm PMS-ing, I'm not usually this sore, but I'd just gone off The Pill the month prior, so I figured this is just what PMS is like when you're not actively preventing pregnancy.   I'd had some other unusual symptoms that, in hindsight, should have clued me in a little sooner to the fact I was pregnant but that I had just chalked up to the assumption that my periods would just be a little worse now that I wasn't on The Pill.  So after class, I was groaning a little to Amy, my coworker, about how my back hurt and how much I was cramping.  She asked if I was on my period and I said no, but I should soon and then she asked if  I had taken a test and I said no, nah, couldn't be, I should start my period soon, and she said "You should really take one, just in case..." and I said, no, nah, it'll be fine, and she said, "Just take one" and I said, well, ok, maybe, it's probably nothing.

So now it's in my head.  Could I be pregnant?  I guess technically I could, but it's so soon!  I'm not pregnant, that would be crazy.  Just to calm my mind though, I ran to CVS on my lunch break and bought a test.  Did you know pregnancy tests are like twenty bucks?  Sheesh!  So I went back to my office and grabbed a plastic cup because I wanted to be absolutely sure.  I didn't want to pee on the stick then wonder if maybe I didn't do it right, so I decided I'd pee in the cup, hold the stick in for exactly 7 seconds, then wait.  I did it in the handicap stall in the girl's bathroom by Door 14, the music department entrance.  I had stuck two sticks in my bra and hid the cup up my sleeve just in case I passed a suspicious custodian on my way or something. It was at about 11:10 a.m. when I got the result.  I was standing on top of the never-quite-clean yellowish tiles within the brown-grey walls of the handicap stall in the Door 14 girl's bathroom when I saw two pink lines.  I read and reread the instructions that I had brought with me in my pocket. One line= not pregnant, two lines=pregnant.  I held it upside down just in case I was missing something.  I looked a the stick again.  There were two pink lines.  I held it really close to my eyes to make sure one of the lines wasn't just a product of spontaneous double vision caused by aggressive back cramps of hard core PMS.  Yep, definitely two pink lines.  And two means... yep, ok, I'm pretty sure now, pregnant.

I'm not sure how long I stood in that disgusting stall, not really sure what to do, but eventually I flushed the cup o' urine, capped the pee stick, put the cup and the test wrapper into the sanitation bin, took the bag out of the sanitation bin, shoved it down real real deep in the bathroom trashcan then crumpled a bunch of paper town on top of it so no one could see it or accidentally suspect some poor 8th grader of taking a pregnancy test, washed my hands and the positive pee stick, and walked back to my office.  I hid the pee stick and the spare pee stick deep in my school bag then stood in the middle of my office, not sure what to do yet.  I decided I should get on Google, because when in doubt, Google will know what to do, right?

When my shock wore off and I had read a few things online, I called my OB/GYN to schedule a blood test just to make sure.  I didn't want to tell my husband until I was really 100% positive.  Anyone who has gotten pregnant without really trying knows that you don't really believe it's true for, like, 3 months.  Maybe more.  I went to the lunch room like usual after that and picked at my food.  I must have had a weird look on my face because at least 3 of my friends asked, "What's wrong?"  After lunch I served my cafeteria supervision duty.  I don't really remember much of the day after that.  I sort of felt like I was walking on air and I couldn't focus on anything.  Long story short, after school I got my blood test, told my husband, and smiled a lot.  His reaction was, "No way!  I have super sperm!"

I'm officially at 11 weeks as of yesterday.  My due date is November 8th, 2013.  I've announced that I'm pregnant to family, friends, and Facebook.  I plan on telling the staff next Friday, at our next all-school meeting, although I'm sure most of them know already because of my friends blabbing.  I don't really care though.  I'll tell my students after that.  I'm looking forward to it.  They were my first babies and now I'll be giving them a precious baby brother or sister.

One funny thing happened about a day or so after March 7th when I was recording one of my 8th grade class' rehearsal on my phone.  I had Jamie, one of my violists, man the phone to push the record button then push the stop button.  Apparently she slid the unlock to the left instead of the right, which sends the screen to my most recent phone calls instead of the camera which was cued up on the home screen.  I was posed with my baton in the air, ready to start, and Jamie looked confused and said, "Some guy named "Geeno" or "Jyno" just popped up..." and I tried to cover up her words with a loud awkward cough, but as I ran off the podium to grab the phone from her, another girl said, "That's GYNO!" I was randomly yelling syllables trying to drown out the female-anatomy savvy students giggles and gasps of realization.  Luckily most of the class totally missed the moment.  None of the boys had a clue.  "Huh?  What?  I don't get it..." Before I was able to start the run-through, one of my girls in the front row caught my eye and was smiling knowingly.  It made me chuckle and sigh.  Ah, the joys of teaching.  And now when I tell them that I'm pregnant, I'll be able to refer back to the moment and they'll know they were a part of something special, regardless how awkward.

My blog posts may become more baby-oriented in the future because it's always on my brain.  I'm glad that I'll be able to remember this time in the future as it related to my job.  Who knows where I'll be when my little one is 3 years ole?  Or when he/she is heading off to kindergarten, high school, college or graduate school?  Now I can provide my child with this invaluable tale of how Mom peed on a stick in the middle school bathroom.