35 Weeks ~ Crunch time

I have been feeling very relaxed for the last few weeks up my pregnancy.  Last weekend was my baby shower, which did so much to help me feel like we are prepared for this baby.  I went to Target and got the last few essentials that I felt like just in case she fell out early. (BTW, you may notice that I have and will continue to refer to giving birth as "when the baby falls out".  I'm hoping it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.)

However, yesterday I logged into the Bump and saw that I only have 35 days left.  5 weeks sounds like a lot more than 35 days in my crazy pregnant mind.  I also realized that Bug will be full term in only 2 more weeks.  It still doesn't feel real and I really can't imagine that we will have a baby so soon. 

I am now, as I have been throughout my pregnancy, counting the days until the next milestone that will give her the best chance of doing well at birth.  At this point, days make a huge difference in how well she'll survive outside of the whom.  So although I'm looking forward to meeting Bug, I'd like her to do more cooking.

I'm so close to the end of my pregnancy that, due to the timing, I really only have to work for another week.  I wanted to be a teacher, in part, because it gives me plenty of breaks for mommy time and that thought is paying off big time now.  I have one more week until we are off for two weeks (hooray for winter break).  When we return its only two weeks until my due date, and 10 weeks until we are off for Spring Break (another two weeks off, love this schedule).  I'm planning on going back after the break, but preparing for not going back. 

That means, crunch time.  This is the stack of paperwork I need to get through before going to work tomorrow.

On top of that, I have 10 weeks of lesson plans to write by Thursday when I meet with my sub. 

It doesn't help that I've been feeling pretty crappy this weekend.  I feel dehydrated, a little dizzy and nauseous and physically exhausted.  I haven't been taking great care of myself and have been eating out ALOT  because well, see for yourself....

Pardon the crappy camera phone pics, but I'm two lazy to take/download pictures with my actual camera right now. 

Swollen doesn't even begin to describe my ankles and feet.  I thought swelling would be an annoyance, but its actually pretty painful.  The skin is stretched so tight that it feels like its going to rip. 

I also have baby brain, bad.  I don't want to think about anything except getting ready for the baby, which is why I'm blogging and not working right now. 

Did I mention I have a yoga and newborn care class that I'm supposed to be going to this week, too?  I just need to get through this week, and life will be a whole lot easier.

Maternity Leave

I know I waited WAY to long to talk to my district about maternity leave.  My doctor has been asking me about what I plan on doing for maternity leave for the last few appointments now, and I have no idea.   Just dealing with a new job, a new marriage and the day-to-day woes of pregnancy are enough to make anyone crazy.  On Thursday, with the upcoming break looming, I decided it was definitely time to haul my ever growing arse to the district office.

What I found out was not horrible, but it wasn't exactly good either.  And it is incredible confusing.  It took the woman in HR about 20 minutes to explain it to me before I figured out what the hell she was talking about. 

I will get 6 weeks of maternity leave for a normal birth and 8 weeks leave for a C-section.  Pay for maternity leave only kicks in after sick days are used up.  However, these sick days, if taken after the baby is born, run concurrently with your maternity leave.  This means days taken prior to maternity leave don't count against your leave, but they can't be added on to your leave either. 
Right now, I have 16 sick days accrued, which roughly works out to about 3 weeks.  During the remaining 3-5 weeks, depending on the type of delivery, I qualify for something called differential pay.  This means, the pay for my sub comes out of my pay, and I get the difference.  Subs are paid $150/day unless they are given daily lesson plans and then they are paid $120 per day. 

FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) allows for all employees to take up to 12 weeks, unpaid, for the birth of a child.  After my maternity leave is over, I can take the remainder of time (up to those 12 weeks) unpaid.

Confused yet?

This is what it means.  The good:

• As long as the baby isn't born prior to winter break (starting December 18th) all of the leave options I have will more than cover the 10 weeks between when school starts up again in January and spring break in March.  Spring break is 2 weeks.  This means I won't be working full time until the baby is almost 3 months old!  Sweet.

The bad:

• I'll be returning to work, no matter what happens, with 0 sick days.
• In order to make the extra $30/day, I'm going to have to still be responsible for what happens in my classroom.  This means grading, planning and the like.  The sub will just be acting as a body to prevent students from shanking each other and to deliver assignments.

The so-so:

• There is no benefit to me hanging out at work for as long as I can since my sick days, used prior to the birth, won't count against my maternity leave.

I had a mini-melt down when I got home from work.  Luckily, DH is still the best husband ever, and helped me realize that the worst parts of this deal will make life a little inconvenient.  DH agreed that he will save as much sick leave as he can to make sure that he can take time off with Bug if she needs anything between spring break and summer. 

The space between spring break and summer is only 9 weeks, thanks to our funky schedule.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with Bug for that time.  DH can cover some days, but he's the boss at his job and there isn't anyone to do his job if he isn't there.  I don't want to put Bug into daycare until she is 6 months old if I can avoid it, but we'll do what we have to do.

And Carlos is a .......

Today I had my 20 week ultrasound, though I almost didn't make it.  I almost had a complete and total melt down and I almost had to shank someone.  

I let my principal know weeks ago that I needed to leave early today (just 30 minutes!!!) to make sure I had plenty of time to get to my ultrasound appointment.  I told her that if there was any way that this would cause a problem, I'd be happy to take a full sick day because I have been waiting for day for um... 20 weeks.  She assured me it wouldn't be a problem.

However, when I was walking to my car to leave I was summoned to the principal's office.  Never a good sign, and never a quick trip. 

There was one of my trouble makers, who's parents I had contacted earlier in the day.  I'd informed them that their precious LO hadn't been doing work, was failing tests, and consequently was failing the class.  Precious LO that he is, he responded by marching into the principal's office and telling her that he was failing because I didn't like him.  AGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  REALLY?!?!  Though I know this was simply a ploy on his part to get me "in trouble", and that I had more than enough evidence to prove that the young man was not trying (ie. Homework Question: What did Darwin discover on his trip on the HMS Beagle.  Answer.  He really liked being on the boat because it was like vacation.) I started to panic.  It took a conference call home and 20 minutes before my principal let me go. 

Now 20 minutes late, I frantically drove toward my appointment.  Since I work an hour from home,  I had about an hour long drive to get to an appointment that started in 45 minutes.  30 minutes later, DH called wondering where I was.  Bumper to bumper traffic.  A car had flipped over and was blocking the 2 right lanes. 

Did I mention that in order to perform the ultrasound, I'd needed to empty my bladder 2 hours before the exam, then drink 4-8 oz glasses of water and not pee again until midway through the ultrasound.  And, it was 102 degrees today, just to make me more uncomfortable.

And, I was likely going to miss my appointment.

By the time I pulled in to the parking lot, I was already 30 minutes late to my appointment.  I ran, full bladder and protruding belly, through the hospital and to the ultrasound room.  I pleaded to be seen, and by some miracle, they had a late opening, so I was able to get the test done.  But, I had to wait, without the sweet relief of a bathroom for an additional 20 minutes.   Small price to pay. 

And we found out.....

When I came out of the ultrasound, I had 4 missed calls and 3 new text messages.  Apparently my mom and sisters were a little anxious too. 


Ultrasound pictures coming soon.

Prego Teacher

I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to tell people I'm pregnant. I am at the point in my pregnancy where those who know me see a very obvious bump, but those who don't just assume I'm fat.
The big reveal is awkward, no matter how many times I've done it, and I find that I'm telling more people than really need to know because I have an overwhelming urge to explain that I don't normally function at such a low level. For example, the barista at the coffee shop where I stopped today to get an iced tea didn't need to know that I'm pregnant, but how else can I explain that it takes me several minutes now to count out the money for my beverage because in the last 3 months my brain has turned into absolute sludge? Or, when I'm out of breath walking Daisy Dog when we used to run the same route with ease, I want to yell to people that I'm not some overweight slob that never makes it off the couch.
Last week I got to make the big reveal to my new principal. It went surprisingly well but I can't help feeling like I showed up as damaged goods. There is simply no way that I can do my job to the same caliber that I did last year.

Today was only the only official paid day of setup and prep before the students come tomorrow. I discovered today that I have turned into a weakling. Lifting stuff is so much more difficult than before. I'm hoping that this is because I have been more sedentary than normal, and it will improve if I follow through with exercising more. I also was completely wiped out by about noon today and had difficulty staying awake at my desk.

The biggest change is in my attitude. My job used to be my life and I was willing to take home a crap-ton of work. My students were my priority. Not anymore. That is now so far down on my to-do list and I am totally focused on becoming a mom and getting things done at home.

I am starting to be concerned... Will I be a sucky teacher this year?

Back to Work

Ug. Its 4:30 am and I just had a dream about a co-worker lecturing about chemosynthesis while I stuffed my face full of disgusting cafeteria food. While the dreams have gotten weirder and more vivid thanks to those prego hormones, the weird work related dreams are pretty typical of this time of year.

Yes, that's right! Back to school. I know its early... My district is wierd. And yes, I did get laid off, and knocked up, but I was offered another position in the same district, and let's just say we can't afford to be turning away jobs right now.

My anxiety is a little higher this year because I'm switching from being a bio teacher where I worked in a department of 10 to a department of just me at an independent study high school. What does this mean?!?

The good: I'll only be teaching half days and counseling kids in a credit recovery program the rest of the time. I'll be getting my full salary, but probably working less and I'll have a flexible schedule which will make Dr's appts and maternity leave a little easier. And the curriculum is written aside from labs.

The bad:Everything I know about the job is based on a 5 minute conversation I had with my new principal while I was on the beach at a conference in San Diego and had terrible reception. I'll be at a school where I don't know anyone, and it doesn't sound like I'll be doing more than handing out packets and running labs... No real teaching.

The ugly: I am meeting with my new principal today and I have to tell her 1) I'm knocked up and 2) I'll be missing work for my upcoming wedding.

Ug!