Maternity Leave

I have this slew of posts that I'd written, saved, and never published. Here's a recent post from my first day of maternity leave, back on May 18, 2015. I would only be pregnant for another 8 days as Miss Violet entered the world on May 27! Now that will be a fun post to share; her birth story!

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It's officially my first day of maternity leave. I slept in (if you can call it that) until almost 11am after a very typical as-of-late broken night of sleep which generally includes using all my energy to roll over, get out of bed, and use the toilet several times a night. I also got up for about 45 minutes to eat and drink some water, as I was super dehydrated after losing my dinner last night. Baby was kicking my stomach after dinner which led to quite a bit of nausea. I thought dinner was great, but I guess she didn't care for the pulled pork, slaw, and bean salad. After relaxing in a recliner for bit, I felt the urge to start briskly walking around my in-laws' neighborhood. The contractions had started before the walk, continued as we walked, and then continued through the evening. And for the most part, settled down and stopped by the time we got home. Thanks, prodromal labor!

I've been having labor symptoms since last Wednesday. Although I had planned to work until labor began, the overall exhaustion was hindering my productivity levels. Thankfully, I've saved quite a bit of sick and vacation time to cover my leave, and my short-term disability check will help as well. Thanks, Obama! Now if only all parents could have paid FMLA and not  exhaust all other benefits to make ends meet while caring for their child! That's a rant for another day.