Hope for the finances at 27 weeks

First, the delay in writing the past couple days is because Sunday and Monday were my two busiest days of the year at work, and I didn't have time to even think about making a post, let alone do it. Things should calm down between now and the rest of the year.

Anyway, to my updates. This past Friday, I was called into the office of our company's editor/president. He's a nice man but is very quiet and our jobs don't intersect all that much, so I think my longest conversation with him in 5+ years was the interview I had before I started. I didn't think it was about anything bad, but you never know! It turns out it was about what I expected it to be about. Whew.

Some background: Our company previously had a specific maternity policy that allowed for 6 weeks paid for a regular birth and 8 weeks paid for a birth "with complications." Usually that means c-section, but I know that it's not necessarily limited to that. I found out I was pregnant at the end of May, but our company's policy changed on July 1 to get rid of a specific maternity policy and that instead would fall under 6 weeks paid for short-term sick disability (I can't remember the official name, but something like that) with no additional paid time for "complications" (well, not beyond whatever vacation and time time you choose to use, which we have to use before we can take unpaid time). When I talked to our HR person about my pregnancy, I mentioned this change in policy to her. She had said that if it looked like I would find myself in a situation where I would have gotten the additional two weeks under the old policy to let her know and she'd talk to our company's owner and see what she could work out. Once I had my pregnancy-related gallstone attacks, I had planned to see about getting the additional two weeks paid.

Well, our HR person put in her two weeks' notice last month, and I had no record of having had this conversation with her. Before she left, I asked her to look into it so I could get something in writing, and she asked for my permission to pass along the situation to our company's editor/president so he could take over what she would have done about it. Honestly, I kind of didn't expect it to go any further than that, and I probably wouldn't have pressed it if it had stalled. I understand that the company has a right to change its policies and make them effective whenever, but I just figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

So, on Friday afternoon, I was called into the editor/president's office, and he was asking me questions about what was going on. I told him the basics of the gallstone attacks and that they want it to come out soon after birth--all the stuff I've mentioned here a few times now. I again stressed to him that I understood the company's right to change policies as they wish, but since the policy changed while I was pregnant, I had wanted to ask about it. He said he's passed it along to our corporate office's HR department for them to look into the legalities of it both in their state and ours and see if they could come up with something that would help, maybe an extended disability policy (just extended more than our current one). If they come back and tell me there's nothing they can do, that's fine; I've got vacation and sick time that will cover my time off, but I'd rather not use it unless I have to. But at least I know I've given it a shot by asking. I really had nothing to lose. He also took the time to ask me, not in any official capacity but just as general conversation, how things were going with the pregnancy, if I'd been feeling well, etc. It was the longest non-work conversation I've had with the man ever! (And funny to note...I find that it's more likely to be men than women who ask how I'm doing. I'm sure there are a number of reasons behind that.)

In other news:

*It looks like The Husband may have a job very soon. He received an offer yesterday from his #2 choice, and he's hoping to hear from his #1 choice this week. The #2 choice still has a lot of advantages and is a good job, so even if #1 doesn't pan out, there should be an additional paycheck returning to the household soon. Baby B can have diapers! Hooray!

*I was again told that I still don't look pregnant (by that infamous tell-it-like-it-is co-worker). The conversation went as follows:

Co-worker: "You still don't look pregnant."

Me: (intentional pause) "Thank you?"

Co-worker: "Well, you don't."

Me: (laughing) "I know what you mean. I'm almost 7 months, though."

I raised my shirt up a little (since no one else was around) so she could see I really didn't have much to show.

Co-worker: "Yeah, it looks like you've had a few too many doughnuts is all."

In a way, it's good to hear stuff like that, just because it confirms my own thoughts that I don't really look like I'm as pregnant as I am...that my self-image isn't way off from what other people are seeing, you know?

Weight loss/gain:
3w5d starting weight
5w (-1.2 pounds)
6w (-3 pounds, -4.2 pounds total)
7w (-2.4 pounds, -6.6 pounds total)
8w (-1 pound, -7.6 pounds total)
9w (-2 pounds, -9.6 pounds total)
10w (-2.6 pounds, -12.2 pounds total)
11w (+1 pound, -11.2 pounds total)
12w (+3.6 pounds, -7.6 pounds total)
13w (+1.0 pound, -6.6 pounds total)
14w (+1.2 pounds, -5.4 pounds total)
15w (+3.4 pounds, -2 pounds total)
16w (+2.0 pounds, no change total)
17w (+2.0 pounds, +2.0 pounds total)
18w1d (+2.0 pounds, +4.0 pounds total)
19w (-1.0 pound, +3.0 pounds total)
20w (-0.4 pounds, +2.6 pounds total)
21w (+1.4 pounds, +4.0 pounds total)
22w (-0.4 pounds, +3.6 pounds total)
23w (+3.4 pounds, +7.0 pounds total)
24w (+0.8 pounds, +7.8 pounds total)
25w (+0.0 pounds, +7.8 pounds total)
26w (+4.2 pounds, +12.0 pounds total)
27w (-1.0 pounds, +11.0 pounds total)