As I may have mentioned, my work situation has gone through quite a change over the past couple of months. In anticipation of baby and to help my company cut overhead costs, I began working half-time there and half-time at my parents’ company. Working at my parents’ company offers some obvious benefits… I get to work with my parents (most days, this is a pro), I’ll get to bring our baby to work, and my sweet puppito gets to join me.

My original employer was quite generous in allowing me to keep all of my benefits (insurance, disability, etc) despite my part-time status; however, the last thing to be figured out has been my maternity leave. Now, with only 8 weeks until the big day, my boss has finally buckled down in trying to figure out the deal. As of right now, here’s where things stand… I will go unpaid (or can use vacation days – which I don’t have) for 3 weeks and then my “disability insurance” or maternity leave will kick in at 70% of my pay. So far, so good. But, the duration is where it gets tricky.

I have requested 12 weeks maternity leave, which would be 3 weeks unpaid and 9 weeks paid. My company is requesting that I get a doctor’s note to determine the length of my leave and they will give me the shorter of the two lengths (either 12 weeks or whatever my doc says). Well, standard required medical leave is 6 weeks for a vaginal birth, 8 weeks for a c-section. That will NOT work for me… at all.

So obviously my first thought is, what should I bake before my doctor’s appointment next Thursday?

Yes, as I’ve said before, I am not opposed to bribery. In fact, I plan to show up with something delicious… maybe mini pies… AND, will also have a couple of articles printed on the benefits of longer maternity leave for breastfeeding moms. Here’s one article I found. Oy… I hope my doc goes for it… wish me luck!

I know I shouldn’t complain because many women don’t get any compensation during their leave… but that’s just ridiculous. We spend 40 weeks housing a baby in our bodies, feeding this baby from our bodies, and then, expel said baby from our very petite vaginas… could you treat us with a little decency?

Symptoms

I haven’t been amazing at noticing our little girl’s movement patterns… except for one. She definitely gets playful and squirmy around 9/10ish. Her squirms typically last for 30-45 minutes and aren’t your average kick. These are full-on, belly moving, body twisting rolls. AND, I love it. Today I’ll pay attention to see when else she gets her play on.

In other news, I have to admit a symptom that isn’t really my favorite. But first, let me explain that my husband is SUCH a fidgeter. I’m constantly asking him to stop tapping (many times the tapping is on my leg or another limb), or to quit rhythmically messing with my nail or hand. There is just something about the fidgets that makes me nutso. Now, with that said… while I find the idea of our baby hiccuping in my tum ADORABLE, the act of it makes me a little neurotic. It hits that same twitchy nerve that goes off when my husband fidgets. And, I feel guilty for wishing it would end because as a whole, I love feeling her and knowing she’s doing well… but it’s just a bit annoying. And she gets them a lot… pretty much every morning… and a couple other times throughout the day. Phew… got it off my chest 🙂

Last night, I went to bed at 10, which felt super early. While I’m still tired today, it was nice to actually get some decent sleep!