Back in the USSR

meggiev123 · August 2014

Well, luckily despite Russia's best efforts Ukraine isn't the USSR yet, but I'm back in Kyiv! For those that remember, I temporarily relocated from Kyiv back to Michigan because of placenta previa. Well, on my 33 week ultrasound my previa had completely cleared so I'm back to having a "boring" pregnancy and medically felt comfortable coming back to Ukraine for the birth. That still left some security concerns about returning, but after a lot of discussion and planning we decided we'd be most comfortable with me returning (as bad as things are in the East, life in Kyiv continues basically as normal). Though, just in case we have plans for a birth in Prague if we need to evacuate and have the passport acquisition process mapped out for baby so we can get it as soon as possible after birth in case we needed to leave. But I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that!

And if the whole decision and travel process wasn't stressful enough, there was some added work drama. Once I informed my employer my intention to return (I had been working remotely) they got nervous about the "added stress" that this could put on my pregnancy and tried to stop me from returning (despite the fact that other expats were still in Ukraine and had not been asked to evacuate). After a week of playing hardball, and some thinly veiled threats that I would return regardless and they'd be forced to fire me if they didn't accept it, they finally agreed. I think they were ultimately concerned about having to fire a 35-week pregnant woman for refusing to follow different rules than other employees. While there is some stress associated with being back, so far it's much less than the stress of DD and I being separated from DH and the risk of him missing the birth or having to get back on a plane a few days after LO arrives.

So it's been a whirlwind, but now with the time difference I'm back to being the first one on the board for the day along with any insomniacs waiting for all of you to wake up

bumpuser10309732 · August 2014

Yay! Glad thing are working out the way that you wanted. FX for a smooth delivery and that nothing escalates there.

SusieBW · August 2014

Glad things are working out. It must be so nice to have your family back together again. I hope that everything continues to go as planned for you!

AppleGrapeMSTK · August 2014

I was just thinking of you yesterday and wondering if you had planned a return. It sounds super stressful and complicated, but I'm glad that you are with YH again and that there are plans in place!