Dr. Appt, Job Change, Nesting, & Getting Close

I keep thinking and thinking about the same things, so I figured I need to blog about them!

Friday was my 30 week appointment (almost 31 weeks). I gained 4lbs in the last 2 weeks! Yikes... One thing that I know would've made a difference was my last weigh-in was first thing in the morning, and I hadn't been able to eat anything.. This weigh-in was at the end of the day, after I definitely was able to eat! I was worried they would say something about my weight gain, but instead, when the midwife came in, she said 'You know you are all baby!' That made me feel better! She said the pains and things I've been experiencing are normal because Aeson's so low-lying. He seems to have moved lower lately, which results in some super weird feeling movements. :) She also said something about my belly button, but I didn't catch it all. It's more 'out' and puffy than normal ones are, I guess, and she said something about putting something back together after the baby's born if it doesn't do it automatically. I went from having absolutely NOTHING wrong/weird/bad with Westen to it seems like something every single appointment with this baby! As long as we both survive birth and are healthy, then it will all totally be worth it, though. I'm not sure if I mentioned that within the last couple of weeks I developed pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. It happens primarily in my right hand, off and on at this point (but always at night). I guess it can last a while after the baby's born too. Otherwise my appointment went well and I have a sonogram scheduled for two weeks from now. Hopefully it will tell me for definite whether or not I have to have a C-section.

Nesting hit a couple of weeks ago.. We've gotten some done, but I'm constantly thinking of all that needs to BE done and I get overwhelmed. Last night I even kept waking up thinking about how one of our rooms could be organized.. It's that bad! On my days off, I try to do what I can, but I quickly get worn out and frustrated with myself that I can't do more. (especially when there is SOOOO much to do!)

I'm soon going to have more time at home. The state of Illinois is in a bad place financially right now and as a result, they've cut the budget for the place I work for big-time. There's a tax hike that could help and it will be up for vote on Tuesday. It would lessen our cuts from 62-75% (yeah, yikes!) to 20-30% (still bad but not so bad). Right now, everyone's operating on the assumption that it won't get passed and we'll have the huge cut. So, in a meeting on Friday with our director and the boss of the agency, they told us they're cutting all of us to part-time. This was a relief at first, because we'd all thought that some jobs would have to be cut completely. (As the newest employee, this may have been very bad for me!) They're very upset themselves and wanted to do everything they could to make sure we were able to at least keep our insurance, which means working part-time hours and they were able to do that for all of us. We'll be cut back from 5 days to 3, from 37.5 hours to 22.5 hours. I'm relieved to still have a job (although I'm not sure how unemployment pay would have compared) and definitely to still have my insurance.. but the more I've gotten to thinking about it, the more worried I've become. If they pass the tax hike on Tuesday, we should be back to normal in about a month (a month is still going to be hard, though!).. and if they don't, there's still chances into the fall and so on that we could be back to operating normally. So.. there's hope for the future, but we still have to re-figure our budget and really hope that we have enough to cover everything. On the up side, it will be nice to have more family time.

Because of all of this, and because there's a job opening at the last place I worked, I've been considering applying for a different job. However, you all KNOW how pregnant I am! There's no hiding it. And while I know they're not supposed to discriminate, I'm certain nowhere would want to hire someone this pregnant. So I keep debating on whether to apply or not. I don't want to embarass mmyself and have people think 'why would she even apply?' but the job itself would come withOUT all these worries. I was also thinking I could use it positively, because it means no more for several years (no maternity leave) AND I'm definitely staying in this area, which a lot of people do not have plans for. What do you guys think? What's your opinion on applying and interviewing when I'm this hugely pregnant (and about due)? I'd appreciate it if you could give me your honest thoughts!

Speaking of being close, Aeson is SO close to being here. Just in the last couple of days, I've been thinking about how I need to treasure this time. I know the next weeks will go by so quickly. I have three more 2 week appointments left and then begin the weekly ones.. and they're all scheduled now, which makes them feel that much closer. Plus it's almost July and while I have up to 9 weeks left, I will be having a baby NEXT MONTH.

Well, I think that's all I needed to get off my chest. :) Court was on Friday too but of course my attorney hasn't called me to let me know what happened.. so hopefully I'll find out tomorrow.