#15w4d

I think the ultrasound went well, KA”H? The actual doctor unexpectedly wasn’t there today (I guess vacation or something - she’s usually in that office on Thursdays and they said she’d be back “next week”), so we were told that if she sees anything amiss she’ll call. But the baby looked like a baby (more like a baby than it did 4 weeks ago) and the heartbeat looked good and everything the tech was measuring showed on the screen as measuring within a few days of the gestational age, so BzH everything is fine? It just wasn’t as much reassurance as I’d been hoping to get from this visit.

As far as not having felt definitive movement so far, it’s seeming like maybe this baby is just a chiller. My mom reminded me recently that basically from the day he was born, my son was constantly kicking and kicking his legs. He never liked his arms to be inside the swaddle either. So it makes sense that he was having a lot of fun in utero too. This baby did not want to budge. The tech wanted to get a different view of its spine, so she kept trying different things to get it to flip over, but nothing worked in the end. Kid was comfy. Not interested in moving. So hopefully that explains why I haven’t felt much so far, and as it gets bigger I’ll feel more.

My first week of the new job is going well!  Drinking from a firehose in all aspects but I’m, thankfully, not drowning.  

Day 1 included two hours of IT onboarding in which, out of 23 people, I finished dead last.  I’ve always considered myself tech savvy but I kept running into issue after issue.  I had to get individual help so many times!  But, despite all of that, the support team was incredibly kind and helpful.  They never once made me feel like it was user error and were unbelievably awesome.  I then proceeded to have four more meetings that day, all while navigating the new Mac, and by the time my work day ended at 8 p.m. I was in bed asleep by 8:30.  So exhausted. 

Day 2 I started my work day three hours early so I could attempt to stay on top of everything.  I only had four meetings (keep in mind in my previous job I had maybe 1-2 meetings a week), and was struggling to keep up with tasks, learning protocols and trying to absorb as much information as possible.  I was asleep by 9 p.m. that day.  

Day 3, I had my 16 week check-up (at 15w3d) and all is going well with baby August!  Since Kevin is home this week (doing FULL erp care so I can focus on the job, bless him) I was able to go to that appointment solo, so I swung by the grocery store then hit up Starbucks before my work day began at 11 a.m.  It was SO great to be able to be so productive before work!  I only had ONE meeting this day and it was glorious!  I was finally able to breathe, take my time and sort priorities out.  I also was able to put the time into submitting my IT WFH kit and learn how to submit an expense report.  Excited for Friday when all my goodies arrive so I can be much more functional with a mouse and extra monitor.  Asleep by 10:30 p.m.!  Getting better!  

Day 4, today, I woke up at 6:30 a.m., was able to do all of the things - clean the kitchen, do laundry (including putting it away!), make coffee, make breakfast, do my yoga, hang out with erp, clean up all the rooms, do some personal admin stuff AND take the time to write this blog post all before the work day starts!?  So crazy awesome to have so much time in the morning.  I look forward to when I feel ready to include walking before work into my routine.  I’ve got four meetings today, TWO of which include @zerocarb which is just the coolest thing ever.  

All in all, despite how intense and overwhelming starting over is, I’m super happy to be in this new environment and taking on this challenge.  My bff said it best, I can’t WAIT to no longer be new.  To know what I’m doing, to have others know that I know what I’m doing.  To be respected and trusted, to be a resource for others.  But, I know being new is part of the process and I’ll get there eventually.  

Above are some photos from my week off and first week of work.  Including:

Change your life chicken!  Thanks again to @lifeofmoderation for recommending it.  I wouldn’t say my life is changed but it was tasty!

A walk in the 25 degree weather!  I kept finding all these frozen over puddles which you KNOW I had to step on for the cronch. 

An example of my level of intake at the new job.  I take pages and pages of notes, then when things are crossed off I tear off and crumple and throw the pages.  Don’t worry, I recycle.  

My outfit for the doctor appointment including a shirt from my last Stitch Fix which I planned on wearing to work during the holiday season which never happened because covid. I didn’t even attempt to put on jeans, full on embracing legging life.  

A pic of me this morning with my 15w4d belly.  Definitely something going on there. Still dealing with the B-belly like last pregnancy but thankfully with my pants pulled up high, it looks relatively smooth.  

My midwives had me do an early 1 hour glucose test this time around because my mother had GD in both her pregnancies (not sure why we didn’t do this last time but whatever). Results over 139 identify 80% of women with GD, results over 129 identify 90%. Mine came back at 130. With my son it came back at 135, and then I passed the 3 hour test no problem. So...I’m REALLY hoping they’re not gonna make me do the 3 hour test now and then make me do another 1 hour at the normal time and then maybe have to do ANOTHER 3 hour after that, based on my 1 hour history to date. Yesterday I felt like my blood sugar never really fully balanced out the rest of the day.

Yesterday Old Boss informed me that she wants to take me with her to a conference. It’s run by an organization I’ve taken some courses from and actually looks substantially interesting.....but

a) It includes the day of my son’s upshernish

b) It’s RIGHT before Rosh Hashanah (it’s a Tuesday-Friday and RH starts Sunday night)

c) Oh yeah, and I’ll be on maternity leave with my ≈1-month-old KA”H

She wants me to let her know if the dates work for me so she can book it. Obviously, they do not. But I’m debating whether to play it off as JUST the first 2 concerns or to tell her I’m pregnant a bit earlier than planned. I’m afraid that if I try just the first 2, she’ll say, “Oh ok, so if you want to leave early that’s fine, I’ll just sign you up for the first part.” But I hadn’t planned on telling work (or the rest of the general public) about the pregnancy for another couple weeks or so.