Teacher photographed completing lesson plans while in labor
"Really, I'm no different than any teacher that I know," said Jennifer Pope.
— -- A Texas teacher is gaining social media attention after a photo was captured of her finishing lesson plans while in labor.
Jennifer Pope of Burleson, Texas, was completing the paperwork on April 23 at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, for the person who'll be subbing for her during maternity leave.
The image was photographed by Andrea McDonald, owner of Rooted in Love Photography and shared on Facebook, where it received 21,000 like and hundreds of comments from strangers praising Pope for her dedication as an educator.
"Really, I'm no different than any teacher that I know," Pope told ABC News. "They would've done the same thing. We think about our students like our own children. I'm grateful [people] are celebrating all teachers and working moms. Being a working mom is hard, but it's also fulfilling. I can't imagine not being a teacher."
Pope, 35, a 2nd grade teacher at Christian Life Preparatory School in Fort Worth, began prepping her lessons after she unexpectedly went into labor two weeks early. Her husband, Andrew, later delivered the instructions to the substitute teacher who was waiting downstairs in the hospital parking lot, Pope said.
"So it would be an easy transition for my students, I was making sure I gave adequate directions of what [lessons] and when I wanted them to be taught," she added. "I wanted it to be a typical and normal school day for them while I'm gone."
That evening, Pope's friend Andrea McDonald, dropped by the hospital to photograph the birth.
"I was honestly trying to capture the whole moment...I sent that picture to my husband and he said, 'It looks like she was doing her taxes' and we both thought it was so funny," McDonald told ABC News. "It was totally relatable because I can remember being a teacher, it's crunch time and the work-balance of being a mom. There's not a enough hours in the day."
McDonald snapped the photo of Pope wrapping up her lessons and shared it on Facebook in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, she said.
That night, Pope welcomed a daughter, Clara, weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces.
Now one week old, Clara joins siblings Boston, 9, Ella Reese, 7 and Lennon, 1.
Pope will return teaching her classroom at the start of the next school year, she said.
