British Bun in the Oven

[Jewel-8 21]

I quit my FT job today and took the PT job I've been wanting. YAY!!!!!

[Empress of Groovy 373]

I quit my FT job today and took the PT job I've been wanting. YAY!!!!!

Excellent! Congrats!

And I love the silly costume pic. She's gonna love that in a few years!

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Hi, ladies!

I hope the gestation is going well.

Mad-Ag's daycare/preschool had a fundraiser yard sale on Sunday, and I volunteered to help out. Over the course of a couple of weeks, people (mostly parents of kids in the preschool) donated lots of stuff. As expected, there was plenty of junk, but also some great stuff. There was some baby stuff in great condition...strollers, changing tables, swings, and a $100 high chair in mint condition, which was sold for something like $15. Also, tons of baby and kid clothes & toys. I'd recommend checking the newspaper classifieds or craigslist for rummage/yard sales for preschools. I wish I'd done that when I was expecting! I bought a few toys for cheap, and donated some stuff we're no longer using. Almost everything I donated was bought, which was cool. I used to love to go yard-saling, but I've become lazy. I should really rediscover them, because babies outgrow things so quickly, it seems silly to buy new. Well, for most things, anyway.

Tracy, anything new with the job?

[TracyTN 237]

I quit my FT job today and took the PT job I've been wanting. YAY!!!!!

Oh yay Jewel - that's great!! I'm excited for you!!

Hi, ladies!

I hope the gestation is going well.

Mad-Ag's daycare/preschool had a fundraiser yard sale on Sunday, and I volunteered to help out. Over the course of a couple of weeks, people (mostly parents of kids in the preschool) donated lots of stuff. As expected, there was plenty of junk, but also some great stuff. There was some baby stuff in great condition...strollers, changing tables, swings, and a $100 high chair in mint condition, which was sold for something like $15. Also, tons of baby and kid clothes & toys. I'd recommend checking the newspaper classifieds or craigslist for rummage/yard sales for preschools. I wish I'd done that when I was expecting! I bought a few toys for cheap, and donated some stuff we're no longer using. Almost everything I donated was bought, which was cool. I used to love to go yard-saling, but I've become lazy. I should really rediscover them, because babies outgrow things so quickly, it seems silly to buy new. Well, for most things, anyway.

Tracy, anything new with the job?

I never thought of that either, Empress - I need to tell a friend of mine who is expecting to check Craigslist for things like that around here.

Nothing new other than it's still sucking. Already this week, my boss came down on me for not having enough detail in some of the test scripts I've written, while my team writes scripts that are woefully lacking detail. I guess it's one set of rules for them, one set for me. Yesterday I had to stand up for myself as one of my coworkers tried to blame me for something which even my b*tchy team lead had just admitted wasn't my fault. So I hate it.

I talked with my recruiter on Monday - he was just appalled at how I've been treated, and apparently a job I was in the running for at the same time as this one is still open. The guy there who would be my manager sounded amenable to possibly talking with me again, so I gave my recruiter the go ahead to have us start talking. It's $5000 less in salary and a longer commute; but if I'd be supported and treated decently, it'd be worth it to me.

Meanwhile I'm at home this morning so I can go have a test done on my gall bladder. If this comes back ok, then I have to go have a scope down my throat to check for stomach ulcers. Frankly that seems more logical given what I've been going through. So the job is literally making me sick to my stomach. I hate going in every day.

My only ray of hope is this other job, which if I am offered it, I'm going to have a 'come to jesus' talk with my boss and see if there's any chance of this situation being turned around. I doubt it, because when I told him I was overwhelmed, nothing came of it. It was as if I hadn't even said the words.

[Jewel-8 21]

Tracy, that sucks!! I know what it is like to be stuck in a s@#$@ job and I'm glad to hear you are already exploring your options rather than sticking around for years. The stress isn't good if you're having ulcer/gallbladder symptoms. Luckily you can remind yourself that in a year everything will probably be different.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I agree whole-heartedly with Jewel! Sorry to hear you're having such problems, Tracy. Hopefully if things don't improve at your current job, this new possibility will turn out to be far less stressful!

I haven't been around much mainly due to third trimester fatigue! It's not quite as bad as the first trimester, but still...

[TracyTN 237]

Thanks ladies. I can't really believe I'm in this place - not quite 60 days into a new job and already considering finding something else. But I just don't think the people here are very nice - at least not to new employees, and I don't know how I feel about working for people like that in the long run. Even just thoughts like that stress me out.

That third trimester fatigue is no joke!!! I didn't find it as bad as the first trimester but it does throw you for a loop. Esp. after feeling pretty good during the second.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Thanks ladies. I can't really believe I'm in this place - not quite 60 days into a new job and already considering finding something else. But I just don't think the people here are very nice - at least not to new employees, and I don't know how I feel about working for people like that in the long run. Even just thoughts like that stress me out.

Anything new with the job situation? How's your stomach?

I only lasted 3 months at my previous job. Nice (but inept) people, but the job and chaotic environment were intolerable. I think your situation is worse, though.

[TracyTN 237]

Eh the job could be better, but I'm stuck here. The other option I had for a job now aren't interested in me because they see me as a 'job hopper'. So I have no choice but to suck it up.

My gall bladder is f'ed. I go to a surgeon next week to discuss options.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Eh the job could be better, but I'm stuck here. The other option I had for a job now aren't interested in me because they see me as a 'job hopper'. So I have no choice but to suck it up.

My gall bladder is f'ed. I go to a surgeon next week to discuss options.

Aw, that sucks! I'm sorry.

Is that what has been giving you so much trouble? I imagine it will be a relief to have it addressed, but surgery is never fun. But imagine all the sleeping and movie-watching you can do while recovering!

That's crazy that the other possible employer now sees you as a job hopper. Weren't you at your previous job for something like 10 years? People are wacky. I think about how close-minded some hiring managers are. They want all perfect candidates with backgrounds and experience that match exactly what they want but don't consider important things like personality, which is often a determining factor in whether someones thrives in the job, or other skills that may not be traditionally associated with a specific role. I've been running into something similar myself. I've been getting friends and former colleagues to help me with my job search, and in three cases over the past year, I've been passed over, despite a good word from someone internal, because someone had more slightly more relevant experience. One of my friends/former colleagues is the PR/IR manager for a pharmaceutical company, and she put in a good word for me when I applied for a job at her company in another department. I thought for sure I'd get an interview because of a recommendation from an esteemed manager, but they wanted someone with experience using a very specific pharmaceutical regulation & compliance document management system. The job was posted for six months, and they weren't considering anyone without this experience. What the hell? They could have trained me in that time. You would have thought I was applying for a tenured professorship. I know there's a learning curve with things, but good grief! Sorry to make this all about me! But I understand the frustration of being dismissed as a candidate for a flimsy reason like that.

So, how's Em? What's new with your 20-month, old? (Is that right?)

Mad-Ag is doing great. Just this past week, she has started pulling on her pants and saying "Poopy" at the appropriate time. It's so cute & funny. Her eating & sleeping have been good too, knock on wood. She calls both of us "Mommy," and everything with four legs and furry is "doggie." Jon was giving her a bath earlier in the week, and he took his shirt off because she was doing some major splashing. She pointed to his armpit hair and said, "Doggie!" But--*sniff*--she only wants Jon to put her to bed. This has been going on for a while. It's OK when he's not home, but if she knows he's in the house, she'll cry and fuss until he holds her for a few minutes. She goes to sleep immediately after that. I'll make sure I make her feel guilty about this when she's older. "Imagine my hurt feelings! After everything I've done for you!" etc. etc.

So...Jon is getting his long-promised weekend off this weekend, so Ma, Mad-Ag, and I are driving down to Tucson to stay at my brother's. I hope she sleeps OK down there. We have a travel crib and all that. I hope it will be better than our trip in May, when she went to sleep at midnight both nights and threw up multiple times on my brother's (tile, thankfully) floor.

Any news from our expectant mudduhs?

[TracyTN 237]

I have a friend who works there - apparently they have someone else there (a new hire) who isn't working out. This is that lady's third job in two years so they're definitely seeing her as a job hopper. I think they're somehow afraid I would burn them the same way so I think I'm being unfairly tarnished by that brush. Because yeah - I was at my previous job for 11 years. Oh well though. All I really hope for here is more good days than bad. I have two recruiters keeping an eye out for jobs for me but I can't take contract positions which is what most of them are right now. So, I hang and wait.

Emily is fine - thanks for asking, and she is 20 months old! (Good memory!!) She definitely gets into mischief now and you can see it on her face. Chas has also taken her to a couple of Predators games which she has LOVED. High fives everyone and the whole nine yards. We can also say 'do you want to go to beddy-bies?' to ask her if she wants to go to bed. Sometimes we get a 'no no' but if she kind of doesn't answer, or starts walking down the hall, that's our cue. LOL. She loves going outside in this nice weather and just roaming the back yard with the dog. Unfortunately she usually ends up sitting in the dirtiest spot in the yard, LOL, but clothes and babies can be washed.

I hope you have luck sleeping with her on the road too. We took Em on an overnight trip with us at just over a year old, and she would NOT sleep. We finally gave up at 5:30 am and drove home. I think Chas and I got about an hour and a half total, and that was only when she fell asleep on his chest. In her pack and play? No dice.

Em calls both of us daddy so I'm glad Mad-Ag does the same (though in reverse)! That's hysterical that only he can put her to bed though (and kind of sweet) - good for you for not taking it personally. She is so adorable on all the FB pics I see of her. She just makes me laugh for some reason.

Yeah I want to hear from the preggo ladies too!!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Ack, has a whole month REALLY passed since I last posted in here?!

Time is passing bizarrely slowly and yet really quickly at the same time! Each individual day seems to drag, but the weeks are flying by!

Tracy, sorry to hear about your job situation! I can't believe that *one* job is not working out and that as a result you are seen as a job-hopper! How was the meeting with the surgeon?

Mad-Ag really is so cute. I enjoy the photos of her, too!

Anyway - I am fine; usual back-ache and not-wanting-to-be-at-work, but when I hear of what other women in their third trimester suffer, I am really very, very fortunate!

Alex and I are already in a split-sleep routine thanks to his job. He picks me up at 4 pm, we go home, sleep from 5 pm - 7 pm, he goes to work, comes back at midnight and then we sleep 2 am - 6 am. Perhaps (just perhaps!) this'll help prepare us for when the baby's here.

I could've sworn I posted photos of the finished baby/spare room in here but apparently I did not?! It took a few evenings of staying up until past midnight, but I eventually managed to finish it:

(the day bed on the right pulls out to turn into a king-size bed)

(She'll be sleeping in our bedroom for the first few months, but I really needed to finish the room as my mother'll be staying in there for the month of May!)

I actually have much nicer pictures to hang up, but I lack strong enough picture nails - will have to try and find some soon. I just had these framed:

Anyway, I simultaneously can't believe I only have five weeks left and yet oh no, I still have five whole weeks left! I had my baby shower yesterday which was lovely, so now it's a matter of sorting through everything I received and getting the last few things ready. I need to stock up on all the boring things, like diapers and wipes, wash and organise the clothes, and pack my hospital bag!

[TracyTN 237]

Surgeon says I have to have my gall bladder out. But as I have no days off yet, I'll probably have to wait until August/September to have enough accrued for recovery time. That also means if I do happen to find another job in the meantime, I'd have to put it off even longer. I'm not sure how I feel about that given as bad as I've felt. May just have to suck it up here for a while. But I will say there's little to no way I'll be happy here long term. At this point, I just pray for more good days than bad - really all I can do.

Apparently the place that called me a 'job hopper' is having an issue with a new-ish employee right now. She's had 3 jobs in 2 years and they've already had to have the 'do this or it won't work out' talk with her. I think they're painting me with the same brush because she's burned them. Oh well!

I love LOVE the pictures - the rooms look so inviting! (I need that Union Jack poster btw - where'd you get it?) I know that the last 5 weeks will fly by for you. You're actually close to the point where you could go into labor anytime. I believe they say anytime after 37 weeks and all bets are off.

I do hope the sleep thing works out for you ok. Neither hubby or I really lost any sleep. He has always been a night person so he'd come to bed at 6 am and I'd get up shortly after that for the day shift. I will say it was a little harder on me being post partum and tired/emotional, so he probably missed a bit more sleep than I did. Plus of course she was more active during the day so sometimes he'd wake up from her crying or whatever. But let sleep be your friend if you can.

I'm excited for you!!!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Aw no! Having to accrue the time off does suck. I'll hope for your sake you have many more good days than bad from now on!

And thank you! The poster was from our local Blockbuster's when it was closing down. It's actually very thin cardboard, so it's nice and light (hence I was able to hang it on the small picture nails we have). I figured it was appropriate for a baby room.

I am excited too! Just playing the waiting game now. I joined babycenter a little while back and it's amazing how many ladies due in April 2012 have already given birth.

[TracyTN 237]

Oh yeah - you're in the home stretch now girlfriend! I know you guys must be so anxious to meet the little tyke, but if you're anything like I was at the end, you sort of feel woefully unprepared too. I mean, not that you don't have everything ready - just more the 'omg I'm going to be a mom!' factor.

I was surprisingly real calm at the end though - and thankfully so on the day I went into labor. Hubby was FLIPPED out. I had to force him to go to bed and try to get some sleep before our long day/night of labor would begin. I remember I kept thinking how would I know I was in labor? Because no one really tells you - but I guess each woman has a different experience. For me, I woke up feeling like I had to go number 2 really badly () and then when I went to the bathroom, there was a little blood and I did NOT have to go. Those supposed bathroom cramps kept on but it was probably 6 hours later until they had any sort of regularity.