Teaching and the Third Trimester

Should you continue teaching into the third trimester? The best answer is probably "maybe". The demands of a typical school day can be grueling enough as it is, but it becomes even harder when you're also dealing with the added distractions of swelling and aching that hits during the third trimester. Now that I'm in the midst of it, here's my thoughts about how to keep on keepin' on during the final stretch of pregnancy given the realities of the school setting and the nature of teaching.

An Ounce of Prevention...

As they say, it's easier to be proactive, than to run around putting out fires. I find this is just as true for keeping yourself going, as it is for dealing with student behavior. You'll feel much better during the third trimester if you don't allow yourself to get too tired and run down in the first place. Most of the things that make the third trimester "difficult" are also things that respond well to proactive or preventative measures.

The Standing/Sitting Dilemma

Eventually, if you haven't already, you'll come to a place where neither standing or sitting really feels comfortable. I've found the key to my own comfort is a good mix of the two. The middle ground is walking, so walking around a little bit here and there helps break things up. One thing I strongly recommend is investing in a belly band to support the bulging abdomen (this reduces the backache factor a lot), and compression socks if you're on your feet a lot and your legs tend to swell up.

Get Comfy

Now's the time to get the best chair you can get your hands on (if you haven't been forced to already). If nothing provided by the school qualifies, it's totally worth your time and money to go to an office supply place and invest in something better...Totally Worth It! If you don't want to drop a lot of cash, those used business furniture places are a good way around pesky retail prices. Plan B, for those of us who float, is to get a good seat and bring it everywhere. A good alternative to a traditional chair, by the way, is a birthing ball/exercise ball. I've spent a good bit of my third trimester sitting on one while working with students who are seated at tables. Sure they giggled about it a bit at first, but they seem to get that it helps me.

They always say you should put up your feet when you're pregnant. Well, one way to accomplish that is to put a box or something underneath your desk to prop your feet up on. Another good idea is to get some cushions or put a little pillow behind your back.

If things are really getting bad, invest in heat packs or pads. You can get these at any drug store, and boy are they a lifesaver on those days when your back really starts to let you down. The adhesive kind can even be worn unobtrusively under your clothes.

Uplift

Let's talk about lifting. Granted teaching doesn't involve the kind of lifting that say working at Fedex does, but there are times when you are called upon to do a bit of lifting...be it books, or reams of paper. If you're in Special Ed, of course, we're also talking about lifting kiddos (yes, that's part of the gig sometimes). Be smart about lifting--have someone else do it! Your students are an obvious choice. Believe it or not, it's pretty easy to talk students into helping you with physical tasks, and if you haven't discovered this already, it's time to give it a whirl. You'll never have a higher sympathy factor than you do right now... Otherwise, try sympathetic staff members, people in the athletic department, you name it. This is no time to be a superhero...generally speaking, you'll pull something if you try to lift anything that weighs much more than about 25 lbs.

You'll also notice that at some point bending over gets super annoying too. I for one have gotten less particular about stuff on the floor (in normal times, I'm downright anal about the state of the floor). At some point during pregnancy, the cost/benefit ratio of bending over to pick something up doesn't pan out. Naturally, if you must pick up something, squat, use your knees, not your back. In general, it's a good idea to just ask for help if there's someone else around. You could even turn it into a fun game with your students where the first person who picks up the thing you dropped on the floor gets a prize...yes I'm not above bribery. If that's not your style, I would also recommend investing in one of those pick-up sticks that janitors use to pick up trash on school grounds. They're amazingly dexterous and you can pick up some incredibly small items with them. They're also good for those times when students aren't around...like when you're at home.

Relax

A generally good piece of advice for anyone who's pregnant is to take breaks when you can and rest often. In the first trimester, this is obvious because you are soooo unbearably tired and feel like you're on a permanent dose of Nyquil. Then the second trimester hits, and you're feeling like superwoman again. The third trimester is a time of aches and pains as you take on amazing new proportions, so it's time to revisit the whole resting concept.

Now it goes without saying that "rest" and "teaching" don't go together in the same way that "sugar" and "students" really don't go together...at least not in an ideal universe (while I'm at it, I would also add that portable electronic devices and students don't go together, but unfortunately the world's moving in the opposite direction, but I digress).

Obviously, there's nothing terribly restful about teaching, and it's really really hard to find time to take care of yourself while coping with the demands of the profession. So rest for us teacherly types means something different (than it does for everyone else). Taking a break in this case, doesn't mean getting up and walking out of your classroom for 15 minutes (unless your students are really well-trained), but rather not attempting to work through your lunch period (something many of us are guilty of). The key here is relaxation: Listen to relaxing music, do some stretches/yoga, go outside for a few minutes, breathe...turn of the lights, take a nap. Do what you gotta do. If you can, take short naps 15-20 minute in your room, break room, or your car, if necessary. I recommend using a timer so you don't pass out.

Taking a break could also mean listening to relaxing music during your planning periods, turning off the lights for awhile, eating/drinking in class, or doing 5 minutes of yoga during passing periods. Seriously. In fact, I would strongly recommend listening to relaxing music DURING class if you're having one of "those kinda days" and need to take the stress level down a notch. It won't hurt the kids any. Neither will eating/drinking when you need to. No matter how much they may whine any other time about how unfair that is (if you have a no food/drinks rule in your classroom), you won't hear a word if you're visibly pregnant. Kids get it. Drinking water, by the way, is really good for you and your baby. The bad news is that the more water you drink, the more you'll have to pee (as if that wasn't already problematic), but it's still worth trying to do your part. If you're a thousand miles from the staff restroom, now's the time to suck it up and start using the student restroom. Hopefully you can cut out for five minutes without your students going crazy. If not, find a teacher or other staff member who has a different schedule than yours and see if they can cover your class for brief periods of time.

Also, if you haven't already taken to doing so, it's a good idea to keep food and healthy snacks on hand in your room. My appetite really went up big time in the third trimester after being totally non-existent during the first, but the catch is that its really hard to eat much at one time (during my lunch break), so I kinda have to graze throughout the day to get anywhere near meeting my nutritional needs. Things that are working really well for me are juice, baby carrots, grapes, apples/oranges, bananas, trail mix, granola bars, and cereal in a small bag that I can just reach in and nibble on. I've also discovered that the school cafeteria has a surprisingly good range of healthy (and tasty) things to eat, so that's a good option for the days I don't have my act together. If your teaching schedule doesn't coincide with the cafeteria schedule, find a trustworthy student to pick up a meal for you (you can set up a "tab" with the manager so that you don't have to send kids with money). Plan B is to train them to bring their unwanted breakfast/lunch items like juice/fruit.

It's also a good idea to get up and walk around now and then, do some stretching (you could turn it into a class routine--it's good for the kids too), and remember to move around frequently...walking is way better than standing. If your usual style is to stand in front of the room and talk while writing on the board/OHP/Elmo, now's a good time to mix it up and have a student do the writing while you walk and talk...plus this way it's easier to catch people trying to surreptitiously text under the desk.

Feelings

Some women tend to be pretty emotional throughout pregnancy. Others, like me, just get progressively crankier towards the end. One thing that will get really old is the numerous questions about when you're due/etc. By the third trimester, any sighted person will be well aware of the fact that you're pregnant. If you find yourself feeling a bit "crustacean", and get bothered easily by your students or co-workers, or parents, be sure to take a deep breath and think hard before you react verbally to a situation. Yes the kids will get on your nerves, and your co-workers will seem somewhat less charming, but it's a good idea to count to 10 before telling them what you REALLY think.

On a totally different note, it's been my experience that kids are really good about the whole thing (much better than most adults). Sure they'll have questions, but for the most part, they'll be appropriate questions (and often a better "range" of questions than you'll be getting from most adults). They'll usually go a bit easier on you, be more forgiving of you when you're having an "off day", and are generally pretty supportive, if not downright considerate/solicitous. Some of my "toughest" students have also been the first in line to volunteer to help me carry stuff and do me favors (it's really cute). My only piece of advice is to keep your students in the loop (in terms of when you think you'll be leaving and if/when you expect to be back... there's no point in being overly mysterious about it.)

Dress Comfortably

Now's the time to say goodbye to anything in your wardrobe that doesn't fit quite right anymore--that's one less irritation you'll have to deal with during a time that's probably going to be chock full of irritations. The key to the third trimester is loose, non-restrictive, clothing that breathes (most people tend to be a bit "warmer" in the third trimester--it's kinda like having a free heater in your abdomen). Wear the most comfortable shoes you can get away with in your setting. I live in Oregon, so it's pretty casual--people wear sandals to white-collar corporate jobs every day of the week. Anything that doesn't contribute to your comfort will just make the whole third trimester-experience more taxing than it needs to be, so say goodbye to anything that's more fashionable than functional for awhile. Your feet, back, and legs will thank you.

Be Nice to Yourself

The most important thing to remember is that it's okay to take time off if you're sick, or just feeling overwhelmed. A job like teaching can be really stressful, and the weekend isn't long enough to undo the damage. As a teacher, you are on the go all week, and probably trying to pack all your unfinished business into the weekend. You don't want to wind up stressed out and overwhelmed---not only is it bad for you, but it's also bad for the growth and development of your captive audience--the baby. Even if you're the type who works even though you're sick, this is a time where you have permission not to be that person. Your immune system is already in a reduced state by virtue of pregnancy, anything you get will hang on longer, and this is a good time in your life to learn to let go of things. Is having a sub ideal? No, but chances are pretty good that life will go on. This is a good time to learn this lesson--since there's a lot of things you have to let go of when you have an infant to tend to.

Being Prepared

Be prepared for the inevitable as well as the unexpected. If you're due date falls during the school year, obviously you'll have a sub. If the baby comes early, you'll need to be ready for that too. At a bare minimum, you'll need to make a good subfolder, and start planning lessons for maternity leave. Some principals require you to submit plans for the entire period you'll be gone before you leave (if that's you, I'm so sorry). If you can, start "shopping" for a sub. If you get in the habit of leaving the room ready with your stuff out where it can be easily found and handled if you're not there tomorrow, then you'll feel a lot better and less anxious about the whole thing.

Scheduling issues

You can minimize the disruption of prenatal appointments if you schedule all (or as many as possible) for the late afternoon (or after school) so you can just go home and chill afterward instead of going back to work. Plus this will get you out of some after-school meetings, at a time in your life where you may not really be in the mood for these obligations anyway.

When to throw in the towel

If you can, go with how you're feeling, as opposed to setting a certain date when you'll leave work. Unfortunately, that's a tough call to make at the time when you're filling out your leave paperwork, since you're required to give a minimum of 30 days notice to Human Resources.

The problem, in a nutshell is this--you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. If you leave too soon, you might get totally bored and antsy sitting around the house. You also risk using up paid sick/vacation time that you might want later. On the other hand, if you're having a lot of complications or overwork yourself in those last few weeks, you'll be exhausted and stressed by the time the baby arrives.

When to quit working is a highly individual thing. I personally don't like lying around the house, and prefer having the structure and distractions of a typical school day to help me forget for at least 8 hours a day that I'm pregnant, so I'm planning on working until the bitter end. I find that it's a lot harder to get caught up with focusing on my own discomforts if I stay busy and involved, so I like working, even on those days when I'm not feeling great. Granted things really do get more taxing/painful during the third trimester. I've found that when something new hits, often my body will adjust and compensate in a few days. If you're feeling like you've hit the end of your rope, but aren't sure if you need to stop working, give it 48 hours. If you still feel like you can't do it anymore, then go ahead and get a doctor's note, and check out.