Monday Ticker Change - 28Mar16

smilormarie

How many weeks today? 

How big is baby (fruit size or other)?

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? 

Questions?

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery?

smilormarie

How many weeks today? 

16

How big is baby (fruit size or other)?

Avocado

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? 

My cousin passed away unexpectedly last Monday so on top of the pregnancy fatigue and pulled muscle feelings in my abdomen, I'm stuffed and have a constant headache and sore throat from all the crying. And I can't really take any time off for grief because I'm trying to save all my time for maternity leave.

Questions?

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery?

So due date is Sep 12th and I had assumed my OB would schedule the c section in Aug at 37 or 38 weeks because she stressed that due to the incision being on the side my uterus cannot experience any contractions. But apparently not because she scheduled me at 39.5 weeks on Sep 8th.  So my work takes 5 days PTO from me to start FMLA (we begin each year with 20). If I do the 12 weeks and extend it a week that gets me to Dec 8th with a week of PTO left to take for Christmas. I think between a few quick weekend trips and maybe a sick day, I'll be using up the other 5 days before I even deliver.  My husband will most likely take those weeks off from Dec12-16 and Dec 27-30 so we dont have to do daycare until Jan. He usually takes the 3 or 4 days we are in the hospital and the first week home.

Again, if I make it that late.

runsoncoffee

@smilormarie Sorry to hear about your cousin

How many weeks today? 21

How big is baby (fruit size or other)? Pomegranate

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? I have off work today (and had off Friday) so I am excited about my extended weekend! I have my monthly appt this afternoon along with my second anatomy scan to get anything the missed the first time (the first was an unplanned ultrasound) so I'm excited about today! Symptom-wise, definitely more uncomfortable than I was... my insides feel squished in my rib area and I've had shooting pain in my butt (maybe sciatica?). 

Questions? Any tips for dealing with sciatic nerve pain? I plan on asking my doctor this afternoon too.

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery? I plan to take 12 weeks... and also to look for a new job during my maternity leave. 

MamaKSquared

@smilormarie - I'm sorry for your loss!

How many weeks today? 21 weeks

How big is baby (fruit size or other)? Baby Bok Choy

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? I think I felt the baby move on the outside for the first time in the middle of the night! I was half asleep, so I'm not 100% sure, but I'm about 95% sure. 

Symptoms - I just can't seem to get comfortable and back pain is getting worse. 

Questions?

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery? I get 3 weeks of maternity leave on top of 6 weeks of short term disability. Anything beyond that, I will have to use PTO for. I'm not sure how much PTO I will add on, but I want to leave myself a cushion in case I go back and decide I'm not ready, or to go back part time. I still need to talk to my boss about my options, but she's pretty flexible. I work from home and I think I would like to go back maybe 3 days a week at first for a week or so, then go back to full time. DH gets 4 weeks total. He will use 1 week with me at the beginning, and use the remaining 3 once I go back to work. This should carry us through about mid-November, depending on how close to my due date I deliver.

JournoGrl23

@smilormarie I'm so sorry about your cousin.

How many weeks today? 20! Finally halfway there!

How big is baby? A banana

Rant/Rave/Symptoms? I'm mostly really sore in my hips and also have shooting pains in my left butt. It's really uncomfortable and makes it hard to sleep. I also suddenly became fatigued again when I've been feeling better! But I think that may also have to deal with the horrible week I had at work last week. I do have my anatomy scan on Thursday though! I'm very excited about that. Although I'm also nervous because a recent ultrasound revealed the baby's heart rate wend from the 170s to the 90s and then back to the 170s. So I'm really worried something is wrong with the heart.

Questions: Anyone else discovered their baby's heart rate fluctuates dramatically like that? If so, did everything turn out OK?

GTKY: I'm taking as many weeks as my vacation time and FMLA will get me. My company uses 4 hours of vacation time a day and the other half is FMLA. I have 22 days of vacation time so I think I can get about 8 weeks out of it. I really wanted to extend it to 12, but DH doesn't think we can afford for me to not get paid that long.

@court5608 I see a chiropractor about my sciatic nerve pain and it helps a lot. Other than that I've done some stretching and a couple exercises a pregnancy book recommended for sciatica. It's never gone away but it's helped a little.

sdavis2189

How many weeks today? 19

How big is baby (fruit size or other)? Mango

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? Acid reflux and migranes, yay! 

Questions? Nope.

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery? Luckily my husband gets two weeks of paternity leave whenever the baby comes. He's a resident doctor now, so other that those two weeks, he will rarely be home. I graduate from law school this spring and will take the bar exam over the summer before the baby is born. Then, I plan to stay home for a while with her, and start looking for jobs when she is about 6 months old. I have part time legal work lined up for when I am home with her, just to prevent a gap in my resume. 

megframe16

19 weeks!

Mangos!

Rant- insurance. Seriously MNsure is terrible. They approved my online application so I started all dr visits and blood work and ultra sounds etc. then I get a letter stating they actually don't approve me.. Then told me to quit my job. Which in turn I have to leave my job to qualify for any assistance. ( I do not plan on returning full time as I will have 4 under 4 and it wouldn't make sense to work and pay for 4 childcare!)  so now I am stuck with thousands of dollars in medical bills that they still may not cover. I am fuming. I am extremely sad about having to leave my job basically in HOPES of having ins back track. Not to mention half the people I call to talk to are extremely rude over the phone.

anyways... I plan to stay home. My oldest will start pre school in the fall very part time! 

jacmkelley

How many weeks today? 22 weeks

How big is baby (fruit size or other)? A Papya

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? Back pain- ciatic nerve, my sides feel like they stretch every time I eat since yesterday, I can't stop going number 2 it's constant and I've got the beautiful preggo hemmorhoids (I'm pouting). 

 

Questions? Anyone else back to exhausted? I l did go to bed too late last night but I passed out tonight in the couch at like 7:00 and DH didn't even bug me.

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery? I'm currently contracted with a very large corporation. My contract is up next month (my manager said she wanted to reinstate another 6 mo term) so renewal will probably go to October and I'm due 8/1. I have the ability to work from home and I'll prob request 4-6 weeks off. I would prefer to work from home one or twice a week after the 2 second week because I'm not a "sitter". And if possible I would love to continue bringing in some revenue even if it's a small chunk. 

haboobjob

@smilormarie sorry for your loss 

How many weeks today? 19

How big is baby (fruit size or other)? Gameboy

Rants/ Raves/ Symptoms? One of my wisdom teeth are growing in and it's terrrrrrrible. Also I'm pretty sure DD's canines are cutting through so she's throwing insane tantrums and DH is traveling this week for work. Pregnancy wise... Things are great. Found out we are having a baby girl last week at the anatomy scan! 

Questions? Have you ever tried sitting up and felt like you're squishing baby so you have to lay back down again, readjust and try again? I called my OB about this today and she said it was probably just my intestines or something but it legit feels like a leg. It's happened 2-3x during this pregnancy and it's the weirdest thing. 

GTKY: How are you planning out your maternity (and/or paternity) leave or if you are a stay at home mom, what arrangements are you making for post birth help during recovery? I'm a SAHM right now. I plan to stay home again for 6 mo-1 year after new baby is born and then try and find something part-time. DH gets 1 week off paid for paternity leave and will be taking off an additional week PTO, then working from home an additional 2 weeks. My in laws also live nearby so they will help with DD as we get used to our new normal.