Lack of progress...it's a good thing! :)

Hey all,
Had another appointment on Wed. afternoon... A scheduled simple ultrasound since I was measuring at 39+ weeks last week... They wanted to check the size of the baby and the fluid... :)
The ultrasound was fine...a little painful (they really press hard!) but it was good to see the Little R in there... We saw a lot of its face...pretty cute if you can call an ultrasound picture cute... :) It makes me really curious to see what he/she looks like! Something to look forward to...
Anyway, the ultrasound showed that everything was fine... The size of the baby is normal for 37+ weeks...so they kept the due date as Oct. 17th. The fluid was good, too...and they said Little R was probably around 6-7 pounds. Not bad... I was especially happy to confirm that he/she will NOT be gaining a huge amount of weight in the coming weeks. The doctor said that, at this stage, it may gain 1/4 of a pound a week... I can handle that... :) My quetion is...why was I measuring at 39+ weeks? The doc I saw on Wed. said he got a normal measurement...so I guess that meant 37 weeks? So, where did those 2 extra weeks come from last week? Is that just how fat my non-baby belly is in real life??? Dag...
The nice internal check showed that there is NO progress this week! :) YEAH!!! :) I sort of cheered and a big smile spread across my face when he told me that I was still 1 cm. dialated and 50% effaced... He was a little confused...I guess most people are begging to get it all over with at this point. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not super comfortable, sleep is difficult...and being on my feet all day in the classroom is really hard on me... BUT, the pure and honest truth is that I am not ready to give birth yet... I am ready here at home...and probably just fine mentally (I think)...but I just don't have everything finished with school yet.
I'm not sure how much a person is to do for a long-term subsitute...Mrs. S., the angel "copy Goddess" has been absolutely amazing with lending her hand and time to make copies for me... So, I have 3 copy paper boxes organized now... 3 units for Science, 3 units for Social Studies (not finished yet), and lots of other things for reading and math in the last box. Fabulous... However, I just don't know how to write up stuff... :) I got smart and did a calendar for Reading - I just put the stuff in each week, but I'm not sure it's as easy to do for all the other subjects - with exception of Spelling... Anyway...enough with that... I will do what I can and hope and pray that she can make sense of my wild notes. :) I also know that I have 6 AWESOME 3rd grade ladies who will step in and help in any way they can... :) AND, I remember every day that I will NOT fall off the edge of the Earth when this baby comes... I will still be able to communicate and stuff... :) So, maybe I am making a mountain out of a molehill...?
Either way, I'm going in this weekend to get the last bit of copying done...and I will be working on report cards... They go home on Oct. 9th. Thankfully, I've been smart and kept up with grading...so doing report cards won't be a tough thing to tackle. It's just another thing to add to the list of "to dos." It's just that the list keeps growing... :) And, another blessing...I've had parent/teacher conferences this week and will finish them up next week... I won't have to write lengthy comments on the report cards since I'm meeting with so many of the parents... :) I think a "Great job, and keep up the awesome work" is going to be adequate! :)
And, strangly enough, my feelings about leaving the kids are bittersweet. I am excited to be home...to meet the baby, etc., but I'm sad to know that I'm going to be leaving the classroom and my "kids." At the beginning of the year, I just kept thinking, "You can make it until October 10th...when you get there, it'll be great and you can leave..." But, now that I've met them, I feel connected to them and don't want to leave them for nearly 3 months! I mean, I don't want to come back early or anything...but I just will be so amazed and surprised at how much they will grow and change in the time that I'm not there. I know that may sound cheesy...but it's something that I think and feel. Again, I remind myself that I am not falling off of the Earth or anything... I can bring the baby in to meet the kids...and see them and stuff... But, I will be strangly sad to know that, next Friday, the kids are in another person's hands for 46 school days...and that they will be a little different when I come back! :) Strange..........
Well, I'm tired and want to head to bed...so I better wrap this up... My long rant and randomness needs to end... :) If you're not sleepy after reading this, then I'm better at my stream of consciousness than I thought... Sorry to bore and thanks for reading... :)
I'll keep you up to date...until then, keep smiling! :)
:)