Teaching with morning sickness and through pregnancy

Welcome to world of pregnancy! 🙂 I to am pregnant and due begining of February.

Yes I “HAVE” daily sickness and it started at about 7 weeks and hasn’t stopped! My kids are right about the same age as yours so I can totally relate.

One thing I would suggest is making sure you decide what will be priority this year and putting it in that order. I don’t feel that at this age if you miss poetry and picture study it’s going to ruin them for life. But if missing math and grammer and reading to them in your opinion will than make sure they understand that comes 1st everyday. Just decided what’s most important to you and your DH and set it up like that. Also, maybe DH could do history in the evening (or whatever works for your family), science or the family reading. Get him involved if he’s not. My hubby would also help with correcting which was simple and didn’t take much time.

Being I was known to stop reading right in the middle of history my boys just knew I would be back and we’d continue ASAP. They also found that there were just days that we skipped things and that was ok. They knew mom wasn’t feeling well “cause the baby was growing”.

What about having the 11 yr old read to the younder ones? Try to get more crockpot meals ready during the time you feel the best that way when it’s time to eat you just sit down. Also, remember training isn’t only for school work get the kids to help out if they are not or just pitch in a bit more.

Being sick isn’t fun, but God has blessed you with another one of his children to care for and my feelings have always been if he didn’t think I could do it or his other children would miss out he wouldn’t have planned it right now. He knows what you can do and only gives you that much. I will keep you in my prayers and don’t worry about what you accomplish just do what works.

That’s just my advise take what you’d like and ditch the rest. Speaking of rest get a lot of it!

Misty

I completly agree with everything too that has been said. I am pregnant with blessing 5, and am still very sick….and sooo tired…and soo big! (Does everyones belly fall out once you’ve had this many?) I’m due at the beg of May, and have ages 8, 6, 4, and 1.5.I got pregnant right at the beg of the school year and had all these great ideas. I found that I was so discouraged when I couldn’t keep up with having a daily shower and staying awake through it let alone HS. Some things that got me through, was really understanding that this is (maybe the longest) 9 months, but it’s only 9 months, whereas HS is a lifelong journey. I created a schedule for my oldest in which she could pull out on her own, (reading, writing, etc) and get it done on her time, and when I had a small spurt, we would (quickly) sit and go through math and anything else I actually had energy for that day. When DH got home, I really made an effort to pull him in and let him know what I needed, so he would take care of science experiments, playing K’nex and building things. He would also fill in with any math help that was needed. I learned to rely GREATLY on my crock pot. I now use it about 5 days out of 7…and have a set menu plan which has helped too. Things which we often do anyway, but when we are preg, these things make such a world of difference. As far as family reading, it would happen at night before bed, because I could at least compose myself enough for an hour! As an example to make you smile, we are studying Monet…ok, we’ve been studying Monet since Sept. (In “theory”…LOL) We are only today (hopefully!) going to get our first pic up, and then in 2 weeks when our holiday is done we will do our picture study. I was mapping out just this morning, that even if it took us a month to get through one picture, we could just spend 6 months on Monet and that would be ok…right??? Also, audio books helps ALOT!!! I’m sending you a huge hug! I understand how you are feeling!!!

I love what Misty said…Being sick isn’t fun, but God has blessed you with another one of his children to care for and my feelings have always been if he didn’t think I could do it or his other children would miss out he wouldn’t have planned it right now. He knows what you can do and only gives you that much.

Love and blessings,

Christina

Cindy- Tents as in, will have look like it has pitched a tent right on top? If yes, that is what you mean, the answer is yes. I was told after my first that my muscles had separated, but it always just “seemed” to work out, and noone told me I needed to do anything, so I didn’t do any extra, just the usual exercise. I also have an irritable and mobile uterus to boot! When the uterus starts shifting around, it irritates it, and then contractions start…what a lovely thing. The muscle thing would explin why I look like I should be giving birth today though! How does it affect you not pregnant?

Oh, ladies, this morning as part of our Advent we listened to “He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd” from Messiah. The soothing melody and beautiful string accompaniment washed over me, and the words “gently lead those that are with young” reaffirmed all that you have been sharing with each other in this discussion. May the Good Shepherd gently lead you through each day.

If you have some time and have a recording of Messiah, I encourage you to listen to that song. What a peaceful respite for those few moments.

By the way, I had a thought in the shower this morning. (Isn’t that where most of our ideas come to us? 😉 ) Have any of you tried using those motion sickness bracelets? We’ve used them for a couple of children on trips, but I wondered whether they might work to hinder that morning-sickness signal from going to the brain too.

I wonder if we’re thinking of the same bracelets, Cindy. The ones we used were just like sweatbands with a little plastic bump insert. You would position the bump (that’s the technical term for it, I’m sure 😉 ) on the correct spot between tendons on your wrist area. Is that what you used?

I’m new to this so I am not sure if I am doing this correctly. 🙂 My name is Ann Katherine – I am pregnant for the 6th time and have 4 (living) children. They are 7,6,4,(had a miscarriage), 1 and now pregnant with baby due in June/ July. My husband and I also home school our sweet children using the Charlotte Mason Methods. (I met Sonya at church 6 years ago – and knew that I would be a CMer.) 🙂 She lovingly emailed me this morning to let me know what was going on with this forum – and I read and laughed!

I totally understand the schooling through sickies and pregnancy!! (I must admit that this time I am not feeling as bad as I did with my one year old – that was my worst one so far.) And I agree with what has been said so far. May I offer a few suggestions?

What Sonya said is so true – and I have found it to be more and more so with each child I have. I was bathing my 6 and 7 year olds one day when they were only 1 and 2 and singing in the bathroom (because that’s the best accoustical place to sing!) and I was trying to sing operatically the very song she was pointing out from the Messiah. The one before that one is sung by the alto – Come unto me all ye that labor (Matt. 11: 28 – 30). Then the orchestra changes key and the soprano steps us and sings He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Is. 40: 11). Well, in the middle of my silliness, the Lord “a-hemmed” and I realized what Bible verses I was singing! What perfect verses for a mother with young children – and especially a pregnant mother with all the responsibilities she has!

I cannot tell you how many times as a mother, I have gone back to those two verses!! I would encourage you to spend a lot of time with those verses! 🙂 Something else that I have to do as a mother is, before I even lift my head off the pillow each morning (pregnant or not) – I cry out to the Lord begging Him for His mercies that are new each morning (Lam. 3: 21 – 26), asking for much needed grace and Divine wisdom for the day. I have noticed the mornings I forget to do this – I have a rough go of it – until I remember to stop in my tracks and ask Him to help me!

We try to eat somewhat healthily – but during pregnancy I try to find what I can at the store that will lend itself to minimal fixing in the kitchen – frozen waffles, bacon that can be cooked in the microwave, applesauce I can pour out of a jar into a bowl; already made peanut butter ers, individual packets of dried fruit, etc. It’s easy to have a guilt trip with this kind of eating – but I have to remind myself that it’s only for a short lived season.

I have done much of my kid’s school work in my bed. I have the school supplies in an easily accessible place – I tell which child what they need and tell them to bring it to me in the bed and they read or do math as I lie there (trying to stay awake and listen)! 🙂 They love it and think it’s really cool for some reason!

The last thing I would suggest is making sure the older children are working around the house to help you out. I know this has been mentioned – and I have found it to be unbelievably helpful during times like this. My three oldest empty the dishwasher, set the table, clear the table, fold their own laundry and put it away, clean up their rooms each evening, dress themselves; the older two use clorox wipes to clean the kid’s bathroom (toilet and sink). And I don’t allow toys to come out of their rooms into the living areas – to try to minimize clutter. All the rest of the bigger chores (like dusting a vacuuming) I let go until I feel better. This week my husband taught my 7 year old how to run the washing machine and dryer and she did the entire household’s laundry! I couldn’t believe the impact this made on my personal work load!

I know it can be hard as a mother to turn over these kinds of jobs to the children – because it isn’t quite done the way we ourselves would do it – but if we could relax and let them do it – with time they will be able to do it to our standards, and in the meantime, it takes so much off ourselves, especially for times like this when lifting our heads off our pillows means exerting most of the energy we would have had for the day!

I hope all you preggies feel better! Oh – and as for the tummy – well, I’ve given up on ever having a flat tummy again! I’ve exercised/ not exercised – and it doesn’t make a bit of difference either way! :/ It runs in my family – we joke about having the “Carlton stomach”. ho hum. I’m liking the new trends in shirts that I’m seeing – empire waisted, loose on the hips and tummy! I told my husband, that now that so many of the maternity shirts are getting tighter and tighter, I could just go buy a bunch of those after the baby comes, and it should fit nicely on a non-pregnant tummy and hide a lot! 🙂

One thing I would recommend is a good vitamin. I would look into Super Mom’s. They are wonderful.

Praise the Lord for His blessings. He knows what subjects you need to include. As moms especially pregnant ones we can be emotional and a little too attached. You might try asking your husband what subjects he feels are most important right now. Then follow his lead.