16 Down, 24 to Go

Wow! This is going by fast, really! 16 weeks today and only 24 to go. I had a realization last night...in only 10 weeks, I'll be in the 3rd trimester. What's so amazing about this? The fact that I'm viewing it as "only" 10 weeks. My first pregnancy didn't even last that long, yet now it seems like that isn't very much time at all and will fly by. And it will. My attitude is entirely different then it was with Arabella and I think that helps. I learned from her that I have no control over this, and so I've given that up and handed it over to whatever "higher powers" do. I'm grateful for as long as I've had so far with Peep, but it's not in my hands as to how long I have with him/her. I think this revelation has allowed me to live more in the moment instead of worrying all the time about what could be. Sure, I've had my moments, but for the most part I haven't been my usual obsessive self. And it's made it that much more enjoyable.

Today I will be meeting with Personnel at work to find out what exactly the policy is on maternity leave. I know the federal and state laws; that was the first thing I did when we decided to TTC. But the laws leave it up to the employer as to whether or not sick time can be used to offset the unpaid leave. I've accumulated 11 weeks of sick time just for this reason, in hopes of it providing for a paid maternity leave. I work in a union environment, so usually this sort of thing would be spelled out in our contract. But since most of the women I work with are beyond child-bearing age, it hasn't been an issue before and therefore hasn't been addressed. There is one woman who was pregnant recently there, but she was a "contract employee"-not part of the union. I believe their benefits follow management's, and management has a pretty generous amount of sick leave (I think they can leave for up to 1/2 a year and not lose any of their salary), so she probably stayed out under that. Today all will be revealed.