Maternity leave plan + 18 weeks!!

...I interrupt this regularly scheduled blogging to bring some GREAT news - this past weekend, I started feeling something I had heard described, but never knew if I'd actually know it if I felt it. The sensation of popcorn popping down low in my pelvic area. I am pretty positive that it is Baby Worry Bud moving around in there & I am soooo excited! Love her. It's still nothing I feel regularly, but it does happen a few times a day - it actually just happened a second ago. :) Keep moving away in there Baby WB!!

The past few weeks I have been working on trying to get a few things on my "Getting Ready for Baby Worry Bud" list done & it's a doozie! One of the more immediate things on my list was to really sit down & take a look at my job's maternity leave policy, then sit down with an HR representative to discuss my plan/options. I had that meeting on Monday, then spoke briefly with my first level supervisor (he's actually not really, he is just a team leader...it's complicated, lol), but the overall news is that everything with my leave looks like it'll work out how I'd hoped! God-willing, if this pregnancy continues to go smoothly & with relatively no complications that require me to cease working, then I plan to work up until my EDD. I can work past that if Baby WB does not make an appearance before then - I'm actually halfway expecting her to be a little late - seems to happen with first time moms more often than not (barring any complications). Working up until/around my EDD will bring me to the beginning of November & I plan to take off 12 weeks for maternity leave. That means (much to my excitement), I'll be out on leave over all the major fall/winter holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years - yay! I have enough sick & annual leave to cover 11 weeks of paid time, so the final week I'll either take leave without pay (spaced out over several pay periods/weeks) or do five telework days during the last few weeks of my maternity leave, so that I can stay out of the office through the last full week in January. Also, since we are coming up on the busiest time of year in my industry, I may end up working some additional hours & getting some comp time this summer. And with the way my work load looks these days, it won't be a problem to accrue 40+ hours of comp time in the next 3 or so months. Hopefully things will calm down soon though, sigh.

This week, Baby WB is the size of a sweet potato (Photo Credit)! She's getting so big! The Bump confirms she's spending her time moving away in there - kicking, punching, rolling, hiccuping, twisting, etc. So cute. I wish I could have a look at her every day. :oP I am feeling pretty good still - just random aches & pains here & there (growing pains I think), heartburn, sore boobs, getting sleepy early. In other news, my side of the bed is turning into a pillow fortress. Poor Mr. WB can't even spoon me, which I know he LOVES to do! ;oP But even if he tried, it's physically impossible b/c I have pillow behind me (for back support), in front of me (belly support), two between my legs (hip/back support) & one under my head, hahaa. I REFUSE to buy one of those maternity pillow thingys b/c what in the heck will I do with it after the baby is born? And I despise clutter...so regular pillows it is for me!

I think people who don't really know if I'm pregnant (mostly at work) or not, are really starting to notice this week. A few people have asked me that oh so uncomfortable question - are you pregnant or uhhhh...? I feel like that's a DANGEROUS question to ask a woman, you know? So I never ask people, I just wait patiently for the "popping" of the bump (or for the person to talk about the baby), LOL. I think maybe the "popping" has started happening with me! Here is this week's bump pic @ 18 weeks exactly:


I'm in maternity pants/jeans full time (minus my yoga pants), my maternity shirts are still kinda big, but then my regular ones are getting a little short too! I am wearing my very first maternity dress this weekend to one of my good friend's wedding! The dress is so pretty & I'm excited for her wedding - I know she will be a breathtaking bride!! Then, next week we get our official anatomy scan, after which, I plan on ordering Baby WB's bedding & we are going to register for Baby WB's shower!! Can't wait to see my little girl again! Until next time!

I Wanna Quit the Gym....

Haha remember that episode of Friends where Chandler tries to cancel his gym membership??? LOL - that's what my afternoon reminded me of....

Photo Credit

So I know what you're thinking - this girl has gestational diabetes, she's 33 weeks pregnant and she should be spending at least a few hours a week getting some exercise and she should NOT be canceling her gym membership. Yeah yeah!

I didn't really try to cancel my membership - I just tried to put it on hold for a few months. I figure it's starting to get light out earlier at night so I'm going to start taking walks after work with my two other pregnant girlfriends. (That should be a funny sight!) Also, once Baby GB is here I figure for at least a month or two I'm not going to be spending much time at the gym. They do have a daycare but I don't think they take infants - also, since it'll be spring time and I'm in LOVE with my jogging stroller, I'm going to try to make good use of that while I'm on maternity leave.

Anyway, I go in and tell the front desk girl that I'd like to put my membership on hold. She asks why and I explain that I'll be having a baby in 6 short weeks and I don't feel I'll be using it as much as I'd like in the next few months. She tells me that this shouldn't be a problem as they do it all the time however they will need proof that I'm pregnant. At this point - the front desk girl gets the SERIOUS side eye from me...

... said side eye doesn't faze the girl whatsoever.

So I say to her - "Proof?" - as I turn sideways showing her my 33 week belly? "Seriously? This ain't a beer belly lady!" She barely breaks a smile and tells me yes, they need a doctor's note and as soon as they receive it that they'll be more than happy to put my membership on hold.

Wow... I just laugh and say ok. Even my doctor laughed at me today when I called for the proof! She joked that I should POAS and bring it in for them... now there's a thought!!! :) I told her something in writing should be sufficient. :) tee hee!

Tentative Work Schedule

It's been a busy week in the GB household!!! I feel like I have so much to share this week... or maybe I'm just an AW lately! :)

First of all, I finally had the much anticipated meeting with my boss this morning - I'm not sure why I was so worried (just goes to show that people "tone" can be misconstrued very easily through an e-mail or text)... it went perfectly and we worked out a schedule that **fingers crossed** will work for us.

The company I work for doesn't offer a paid maternity leave but through FMLA they are required to let me have up to 12 weeks off before filling my position - during which time I can use my accrued sick time/vacation time. So what's Mrs GB going to do? She's going to take full advantage of 12 weeks off with Baby GB!!! Even though I don't technically have that much paid time off our HR department said I can spread out the time I do have so I'm at least getting paid. So during my leave I'll only be getting paid 20-30 hours a week but I figure that I'm not going to be doing much as far as anything that will cost money anyway so we should be ok.

After my leave my boss agreed to let me come back at 30 hours per week and we have a tentatively set schedule. Mondays & Friday's I'll be putting in full 8 hour days because those days tend to be our busier days. That leaves 14 hours to be split between Tues, Wed, & Thurs as needed and as it works best for us. It's hard to have a schedule laid out exactly because my job really depends on work flow.

WAHOOO!!!! One less thing I have to worry about for the moment!

Tomorrow at 8am I go in for the 3-hour Glucose testing (that I'm REALLY excited about?!) and then Sunday is my shower... STAY TUNED!!! :)