Tuesday, June 20, 2006

13 weeks, and the reaction

13 weeks this past weekend! Yay! I celebrated by feeling terrible again and relaxing on the couch all day. I've come to realize that in my newly pregnant state, I'm unable to tolerate the heat. Or at least, that is my interpretation of why every time it gets above 75 degrees here in Boston, I seem to shut down. On Saturday I walked to our town center, about a 3/4 of a mile walk, in about 85 degree heat, and ended up totally sick again that evening. It was hot, but I walked slowly, and with water, and it wasn't THAT far! Regardless, I was out for the count the rest of the night and all of Sunday. I feel like such a weakling every time it happens, even though Josh is fabulously understanding. He never complains about taking over the brunt of the housework, and reassures me constantly that he understands, all while fetching juice and water and snacks.

Last night at 10:30pm, he even drove to the grocery store to purchase green olives stuffed with jalapenos (I know, yuck) and plums, because after seeing people on the television having martinis with olives in them, I became desperate for them. The olives, not the martinis. And plums, well, just because. I have no explanation for the strange combinations.

I also told my work last week, and wisely told the head of our department, who is a woman with three children. They were very excited! In fact, the head of the department jumped up and down! And then another senior partner told me to name the baby after him, whether it was a girl or a boy. I told a couple of the other partners, and a few associates, but left the news to travel on its own to most people. So far, everyone has been very enthusiastic and excited. The partners have offered part-time (3 days a week) or flex-time (4 days or some other combination of home and in-office work) or any other combination I'd like, as alternatives after the baby is born. I'm definitely coming back to work for a number of reasons, but I will likely have to wait and see how I feel after the baby is born before deciding the number of days I'll work. I can also take extended maternity leave, although my regular maternity leave is 5 and a half months, and my mom thinks that might be enough time for me. We'll have to wait and see.

I was extremely nervous going in to tell them, but was very pleasantly surprised. It was a great experience, and everyone has been happy and excited for us. The head of the group even gave me lots of breastfeeding and pumping advice, since she pumped for all of her kids even after she came back to work and breastfed for over a year. I feel very supported, which is great.

And just in time, because I am starting to show these days! Only two people told me that they'd wondered about my new growing belly, which surprised me, because I am finding it rather obvious. Today is the first day that my stomach appears to be bigger than my boobs! I figure that is the big giveaway to most people.

So all in all, it has been a good week. I have ups and downs with the nausea, but I feel good most of the time. The best part of all this is that I am starting to get very excited over the whole thing! We have done absolutely nothing with regard to the pregnancy, and we are probably going to start some minor preparations soon, especially while I feel good. The guest room that will be the nursery is in shambles, so we'll have to start emptying and rearranging that stuff around the house. The closet is still full of Josh's clothes, so we'll have to empty that too, and then I might start looking at paint samples.

I can't remember if I've mentioned that we aren't finding out what this baby is, so I can go ahead and look at colors and bedding if I feel like it. Josh thinks we should get two sets of bedding, one girl and one boy, and then return whichever one we won't use. I have to decide if I want to do that, or pick something unisex. I have lots of time, though!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

YEA! So glad to hear that they were cool at work.

And I'm excited to find another blogger who isn't finding out the sex. In real life, everyone I've told we aren't going to find out looks at me like I have grown a second head, because it seems everyone finds out these days. But I like it the old fashioned way!

mc said...

5.5 mos. leave?? color me green with envy!! that is awesome for you.

Anonymous said...

I looooove jalapeno olives.

What nice & generous boss-types. Yay!

Anonymous said...

YAY, I'm so glad they were all excited and cool at work. Phew!

I found out the sex both times I was pregnant but when we do decide to go for number three (which we are doing, but when exactly is still up in the air) we're not finding out. I'm excited for a surprise.

Phantom Scribbler said...

Me thinks you are being nice and not reporting that it was walking around in the heat with US that tired you out for the rest of the weekend. We're sorry! You want to come over and sit in our air conditioning? We have cake...

nancy said...

You sound almost giddy, thrilled for you.

Jalapeno olives? Must have!!

And FYI, we had twins and did NOT find out the genders. We wanted the surprise, and it was wonderful. Totally wonderful. Good for you guys.

When do we get to play the name game?

Liz Miller said...

I'm still plotzing over the 5.5 months. And you told me about THAT months ago.

I say ignore the pink and baby blue and go for intense primary colors.

Anonymous said...

I live in Canada and we get 6 months to a year paid maternity leave. Fathers get 3 -6 months paid maternity leave. It is mandatory for companies to pay a percentage of your wage after your baby is born.

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

what a great reaction from everyone at your work! hooray!! :) 5 1/2 months is outstanding for maternity leave compared to what's "normal" for country. that's great!

i have to give you props for not finding out the sex. i don't think there's anyway i could wait if i didn't have to. btw, our ultrasound is friday so we'll be finding out (if baby cooperates) then. :)

hope the nausea leaves for good soon!

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

er....
that should say:
5 1/2 months is outstanding for maternity leave compared to what's "normal" for OUR country.
i got up too early this morning. ;)
anyway, wish other companies would follow suit. or better yet, that the government would step in and make that kind of leave universal across the board!

K said...

Ooh, I can't wait for the name discussion to begin! As for the nursery, I love that red gingham stuff they have at Pottery Barn. Works for boy or girl. Though now at our house, the room that will one day be the nursery will be very untraditional ... actually very traditional but about 100 years ago traditional. It has a fireplace, for goodness sake!

Anonymous said...

Gawd, I totally want olives with jalapenos now.

We didn't find out the sex of our girls beforehand (either time) so all of our bedding and car seat, etc. is unisex. For the bedding we got primary colored jungle animal stuff at Company Kids, with a cute gingham-y crib bumper in bright blues and greens and reds and yellows and oranges. It worked fine and would have been OK for a boy too. Carseat was yellow and green.

We loved the surprise of not finding out until birth -- I am sure you will too!

Jessica said...

Olives...YUM.

I can hardly stand the heat and I'm not pregnant (yet), so I totally empathize with you here.

Also, YAY for not finding out the sex of the baby - to each their own, but this is the best in my opinion. There are lots of bedding that is gender neutral, too.

Oh - don't visit my blog - you may order pizza later.

Yankee, Transferred said...

Even though I knew I was adopting a girl, my nursery would have been fine for either-there are plenty of unisex items out there, and the gender-neutal stuff is fun. I think it's exciting that you'll be surprised. I cannot wait to see and hear.

Notes from the Trenches said...

Whatever you buy you will want to use for more than one baby, so going gender neutral is probably the best bet.

Unless of course you fall totally in love with something girly ;-)

OneTiredEma said...

Your workplace sounds amazing. What a gift.