In this blog post, I share my expectations and experiences as a first-time pregnant teacher… during the midst of a pandemic. Read on to see my expectations versus experiences as a pregnant teacher, and what I learned along the way!
Expectations & Fears
Because we found out really early on that we were pregnant, this meant I thought about it all the time. Overall, this was a positive, I could pay attention to all the feelings and changes happening and know why. (And then I could share these with my husband.) However, this also meant at a tumultuous time in teaching, in the middle of a pandemic and in the midst of shifting back to in person teaching, I was paranoid about potential trimester one symptoms as a pregnant teacher. Symptoms that sound a lot like an illness: fatigue, nausea, vomiting…
I was so worried!
Also, as a pregnant teacher in the midst of a pandemic, there were a lot of added stressors and worries. What if I did experience intense morning sickness and the potential throw up while at work? Would I have to get a COVID test every time? Would I be sent home to quarantine? Would I have to tell everyone I was pregnant? What would parents think about their students’ teacher being pregnant and due at the tail end of the first semester?
At this point, my husband and I decided to keep our pregnancy to ourselves. For me, I didn’t want to share that time, that knowledge with anyone else–even our families.
While we don’t regret this decision, I do think it could be helpful to share this with others, particularly our moms. Then I could’ve asked questions about their experiences.
Once we did tell them, I learned that my mom didn’t experience severe morning sickness (a misnomer if there ever was one!) and salty crackers helped her through it with little to no vomiting. I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard that a mom’s experience can indicate a daughter’s experience, and for me this proved true in many regards.
Throughout my life, at least until the last handful of years, my thoughts about kids: nah, probably not. However, whether a biological imperative or a change in mindset, my husband and I decided we were ready to talk about kids. And then, a year or two later, we were as ready as we could be. And, here we are!
Actual Experience
First Trimester as a Pregnant Teacher
So, what did I experience particularly as a pregnant teacher?
Because much of my life was spent with the expectation I would not have kids, I knew little to nothing about pregnancy other than what movies show. Which, after all I’ve read and experienced, is fairly inaccurate.
I suppose this makes sense. Movies are supposed to be dramatic, so they take the extreme symptoms and focus on those.
In the first trimester, these are the expected, or usual, symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic and What to Expect
- Tender or swollen breasts
- Nausea with or without vomiting
- Increased urination
- Fatigue
- Food cravings and aversions
- Stronger sense of smell (connected to the nausea!)
- Heartburn
- Constipation
I experienced many of these.
I definitely had tender breasts, and this was very uncomfortable sometimes. Thankfully, I transitioned years ago to the most comfortable bras ever: True and Co (and these are now available at Target!). These bras were, and still are, a life saver! I wore them all the time, even to sleep.
Despite my fears, I, thankfully, only experienced “morning sickness” in the evenings, after I was home from work. Throughout this first trimester phase, I only threw up one time, and this was actually my own fault–I’ll explain in a bit.
I didn’t throw up at work, or even get close. I did, though, have to pee what felt like all the time. Luckily, my classroom is right next to the bathroom and I could dash over easily.
The number one symptom for me during the first trimester? Fatigue. I felt exhausted most of the time. Through my reading and own experimentation, I learned I experienced more fatigue when I didn’t exercise. Some days, no matter what I “knew,” I couldn’t get myself to work out or even go for a walk. Other times, and I think most times, I was able to at least walk a little loop around the neighborhood and usually felt much better on days I managed this feat.
In terms of perhaps the second most infamous pregnancy symptom, food cravings and aversions, I had flash-cravings and -aversions. One day, I wanted shredded chicken so bad. The next day? I couldn’t even think about chicken without feeling gross.
Generally, during the first trimester, I knew with absolute certainty what I wanted to eat.
“I want Thai food.”
“I want a burger.”
“I want fish and chips.”
My most consistent craving was a childhood food: mac and cheese. The boxed kind. Yep.
I hadn’t imbibed in this food since high school… if not before then. I did choose a slightly better version than my childhood go-to’s. I relied on Annie’s, which if you’re going to do a boxed mac and cheese is pretty darn good. But, as someone who is lactose intolerant… this was a surprise craving and a bit annoying.
At school, when I couldn’t satisfy my cravings or when I was too busy working with students to really know what they were, I relied on always eating. Seriously, while I am normally a serious snacker, I always had a rice cake, granola bar, carrot, yogurt, you name it, in my fingers. I would step in the doorway of my classroom, slip my mask down, take a bite, and go back to walking around the class and working with students.
The stronger sense of smell was weird. It was like I could smell everything! Nothing really sent me into fits of nausea, not even disgusting smells. It was just like someone fine-tuned my olfactory senses to “prime condition.”
Ultimately, I feel extremely lucky with my experiences. I expected all the symptoms and extremes, and it was a better first trimester than I anticipated.
Everyone’s experience is different. If you had or have a different one, I am certainly not a marker of comparison! Sometimes I read or heard I should be experiencing that I wasn’t, and I would worry. Then I would call my doctor, ask questions, and hear my experiences were on par. Just talk with your care provider, I found this the best source of information and stress relief. The internet, as my midwife said, “is a dark hole of despair.” Don’t go down the rabbit hole without a heavy dose of skepticism.
Despite my fears of being pregnant while working in a classroom during a pandemic, I was diligent with sanitizing, wearing a mask, and social distancing as much as possible. In many ways, I am grateful I worked in person because it kept me busy and productive rather than down the dark hole of the internet or online shopping for baby stuff!
Second Trimester as a Pregnant Teacher
My second trimester took place over summer break, so I won’t say too much about it here, as this is a “pregnant teacher” blog post. I continued to experience some fatigue, but I tried to take a nap as many days as possible which helped along with continuing to exercise.
Until about month five of pregnancy, I was able to keep up jogging, and once I couldn’t do this anymore due to tendon pain, I tried to walk everyday. Going outside and moving was the best choice I could make for my mental health, and I’m pretty sure my baby loved it too.
While my intense cravings subsided, no more mac and cheese for me, I continued to have a huge appetite. Like previously mentioned, I’m normally a big snacker, but while pregnant my mealtime appetite increased significantly.
Another key factor, the continued need to pee all. the. time. Seriously, it was ridiculous especially when we did a little road trip to visit friends in Colorado. We stopped at so many rest stops!
Third Trimester as a Pregnant Teacher
During my third trimester, I was back to work for the start of the school year. As I heard many times, my belly looked small, so surprisingly few people, including my high school students, asked if I was pregnant. Finally, one student, two weeks into the school year said, “Ms. Kyra, I’m just going to ask. Are you pregnant?” The whole class did a shocked laugh and then a gasp. I belted out a laugh and said, “Wow! You’re the first one with enough courage to ask! Yes, I am indeed pregnant.”
From then on, my students surprised me. Even students who were not in my class seemed to receive a memo that I was in fact pregnant, and they wanted to know everything. I don’t remember ever having a pregnant teacher until I was in college, and I was hardly curious then about babies. My students wanted to know everything: What was I having? What names were we considering? When was I due? Was I coming back this school year? Did I actually want to have a baby? They also wanted to help me with everything: opening the door, passing out papers, turning on/off the lights, and more.
During this time, I wanted to prepare as much as possible for the teacher taking over my classes. For both the teacher and my students, I wanted this transition to be as smooth as possible, so I spent quite a bit of time laying out lesson plans and creating ideas and activities for future units. I tried to make sure these were easily adaptable in case the plans (as they always do) changed.
Ultimately, this help was much appreciated especially later in my pregnancy when it was harder to see my feet and anything I might trip over as a pregnant teacher: laptop and extension cords, backpacks, gym bags. The hardest part of my third trimester in terms of physical symptoms was when my baby dropped and it became uncomfortable to sit in any way. This wasn’t an everyday occurrence, just a few days a week where it was super uncomfortable, and so I’d be standing all day and my legs and body would be exhausted by lunchtime. For much of my pregnancy while I was in the classroom, I used a ball chair… yes, I also judged the people who used an exercise ball as a chair. But it was super comfortable and helped me resolve my sciatic nerve pain!
While I had planned to work until my due date, and this would have worked out well in terms of when my baby was ready to come, COVID cases began to spring up in our area and I didn’t want to take any chances on contracting it, so I decided to take the week before my due date off as well. In terms of mental toughness, this was probably the hardest part (besides labor) because I was home, no longer a pregnant teacher, just pregnant, without anything to do, waiting for my baby to arrive. The anticipation and boredom were difficult to deal with, but Netflix helped quite a bit.
What I read, watched, and listened to as a Pregnant Teacher
As I said earlier, I was fairly ignorant about pregnancy, so I wanted to read and learn as much as I could. The learner in me could not be denied!
Readings
After reading a few different “recommended lists” online, I decided to invest in these books:
- The Mama Natural by Genevieve Howland
This has been my favorite pregnancy book. I haven’t yet checked out the author’s YouTube channel, but the channel is mentioned a few times in the book for other info.
This book goes week-by-week and shares a broad spectrum of information and experiences. Throughout, there are insights from different mothers, midwives, and doulas. There is information on baby and mom health and changes, as well as inclusion of partners in this experience and how to help them feel connected to the baby! Also, each week there is a recipe, and I thought these were nicely tailored to what I needed in terms of nutrients and palatability.
For me, the information this book provides is thorough and helpful. Plus, even though the author shares her own experiences, there is information and resources provided for moms who want to make different choices with birth. Because I like this book so much, I checked out The Mama Natural Birthing class which was also thorough and informative.
- The Kind Mama by Alicia Silverstone
While I’ve read some reviews say this book is “hippy dippy,” I imagine that opinion comes about due to the author’s, Alicia Silverstone, diet which is vegan and the references to her midwife. I don’t think it is especially “hippy,” perhaps because I have a plant dominant diet and a midwife. However, I also think that in the last few years there has been a resurgence in the term “midwife” as normal and acceptable, rather than hippy-ish.
When reading this, I did struggle in a few areas for my own reasons. She shares her own experiences, just like I’m doing–I know, and then shares comments from her midwife. For example, Silverstone experienced severe nausea, and her midwife, according to the book, told her “strong morning sickness, strong baby.” For me, this was worrisome, as I mentioned I had tolerable nausea. Did this mean something bad? No. It didn’t. As my midwife essentially told me, “You’re a good host.”
As with most types of information consumption, the more wide-spread the reading and intake of information from credible sources, the better. This is one source. In short, I found this book helpful to offer a vegan perspective with some out-of-the-mainstream tips and tricks.
- The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book by Reed Mangels
I’ll be honest, this is the book I’ve read the least, mostly because it is a cookbook. In my house, I make breakfast, sometimes lunch, and dessert. I do not enjoy making dinner, and out of necessity and reluctant interest my husband makes dinner. Obviously, this works out well for me. 🙂
For a variety of reasons, we are largely vegan at home, so this book has been helpful for me and my husband to consider what foods I should be eating to be healthy while growing another human. As I’ve learned from my readings, babies are essentially leeches, and they take what they need from mom’s body, so the food intake really supports mom, which in turn helps mom support the baby.
- The Whole 9 Months by Jennifer Lang, Dana Angelo White, et al.
This book is written by an OBGYN, which I found helpful. While it is primarily a cookbook, the first several chapters are really about the health needs of mom and baby. At the start of my pregnancy, this was exactly what I needed to know! As I mentioned earlier, I knew little about prenatal needs prior to becoming pregnant, so I devoured these first few chapters.
For the rest of the book, it is a cookbook. The recipes look great, and I have tried a few. My favorites, unsurprisingly, are the desserts: the almond cookies and chocolate chia pudding are so good. Every recipe looks and sounds delicious, even though I haven’t tried out too many yet.
- Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman
I found this book in a used bookstore and bought it on a whim. I thought, “Neat, I can learn from another culture about motherhood!” I’m not sure I planned to read it seriously. It sat on my bookshelf for a while, and then I had a “what the heck am I doing?” moment–I wasn’t ready to be a mom! I didn’t know anything about taking care of a baby!
I cracked open the book to a random page and read. Now, I don’t normally start a book on a random chapter, but I found a chapter title that sounded interesting enough it distracted me from my momentary freak out. The book was funny, engaging, and honest. Druckerman’s American perspective on French parenting was refreshing and insightful. I loved it and it reassured me that there is no singular “right way” to parent or mother.
If you want to see all the books I’ve read so far about pregnancy and motherhood, and books I want to read, check out my list.
Watchings
I’ve also enjoyed reading and watching the experiences of a few bloggers/YouTubers/fitness people:
- The Ambitious Kitchen
I love this blog for the recipes. Seriously, every single one I’ve tried is delicious. Especially the desserts. Clearly, I have a sweet tooth! This blog feeds that in a healthier way. Also, in the past few years, Monique has had two boys and shared her experiences. Even before I got pregnant, I loved reading about her experiences, so I highly suggest you check her site out.
- Sarah’s Day
Although I don’t spend a ton of time on YouTube, and I don’t really follow many YouTubers, I do love watching Sarah’s Day. I can’t precisely say why, but her vlogs and videos make me happy. Also, she seems real in a way that not too many vloggers achieve. Obviously, Sarah’s Day is on this list because she has a kid and shares her experiences. Like anything, they do share personal experience, and each person’s experience is different, but these videos made pregnancy seem less intimidating for me.
- Elsa’s Wholesome Life
Another YouTuber, but not one I follow closely. I put this on the list because I’ve watched a few videos where Elsa’s Wholesome Life shares what she is feeding her baby. In particular, I found the video on “baby led weaning” interesting. Not to sound like a broken record, but I have zero experience with babies, so it was helpful to see and hear an approach to transitioning to “real food.”
- Kat from Tone It Up
I love Tone It Up. I’ve been a member of this fitness community for over five years. Personally, I love the workouts, the informed and explanatory nutritional guides, but I mostly love the relationship between Katrina and Karena, the founders. Tone It Up has expanded in the past few years to include more trainers, which has been awesome, but the founders set the stage for a community of supportive women.
I’m not sure I can explain, but I have never regretted joining this community, and I think every (reasonably priced) penny I spend on the membership and products are worth it. One of the recent additions in this fitness community is the pre- and postnatal workouts.
There is a specific program I followed for prenatal approved workouts in the Studio Tone it Up App (which you should still check with your care provider about, because these are general guidelines and each person’s needs are different!). Plus, I love hearing about Kat’s own experience with pregnancy. You can check out her blog posts and videos for free.
Documentary:
- The Business of Being Born
Honestly… watching this while pregnant was a little terrifying. Mostly, though, it was helpful in kick starting conversations and research into birth and different philosophies. I learned a lot, and I’m glad I watched it, but it also is a bit disheartening to learn about the status of birth in America. Hint, as the title indicates, in far too many places in the USA, birth is a business, and it rakes in a lot of money.
Listenings
Lately, I’ve been searching for a podcast or two to listen to, and so far I’ve checked out:
- Raising Good Humans
Thus far, I’ve listened to three episodes. I’ve enjoyed every one of them! Particularly, I found the conversations on breastfeeding, sleep training, and potty training helpful, even though I’m not doing any of these things yet.
I don’t want to share too much, because this is really the type of thing you should check out for yourself. If you like podcasts, want to hear from a trained, educated, and well researched professional about raising good humans, then try out this podcast.
The Takeaway
In the end, my pregnancy was quite a bit smoother than I anticipated, and even though I was a pregnant teacher in the middle of a pandemic, I was able to stay healthy and safe. My students’ and colleagues’ support and compassion was undoubtedly a big reason for this. My baby is here, and we’re both happy and healthy!
Through this process I learned, obviously, much about pregnancy itself, but I also relearned how adaptable and kind humans can be. Additionally, I learned about maternity leave… which is a whole other beast. If you’re a fellow teacher and you’d like to learn about maternity leave, read through your contract, it should all be in there. I’d also suggest talking to your HR rep and asking about maternity leave if you’re considering having children. Lastly, if you plan to have kids, look into obtaining disability insurance, as this will help keep you partially paid even when you run out of sick time pay.
If you want to learn about my experience with maternity leave, specifically any of the ideas I just mentioned, leave me a comment!
As always, happy teaching! 🙂
