Last night was the last Hypnobirthing class. What I enjoyed most about the class as a whole was getting to see other first-time parents and to hear their concerns and plans. Most people in the class are either moving or doing major home renovations around the time of the birth, which is a big source of stress. I also get to hear tips like, “take a breastfeeding course” or “the ERGOBaby carrier is better than the Baby Bjorn carrier.” I am hoping to keep in touch with some of the people from the class to hear how they are doing. We also did a script in class last night that I really liked because it had lots of rain imagery, and it made me think I want a track of rain sounds in addition to my ocean waves sounds.
Yesterday I had a hypothetical conversation with my boss about what might happen if I moved to Rochester with Kelly after having the baby. Ideally, I would like to take the full 12 weeks of paid leave, then return to work for a short period of time before resigning. She is amenable to that plan, as long as two things are true: we do not commit fraud and she can hire someone to replace me by the time I resign. She is going to call human resources and find out their policy regarding resignations soon after returning from a leave. Like, if you know that you will be resigning soon after a leave, will HR grant the leave? It may be that it’s all on the up and up because I am entitled to the leave under the FMLA and they can’t force me to resign at a certain time. If that’s the case, it will give the office the 3 months they need to hire my replacement – they can look during the leave. But on the other hand, it does seem like it’s not to the university’s advantage, so we’ll see what they say. Also, this plan hinges on Ellen (and Corey?) being willing/able to come stay with me and the baby in Somerville/Medford for a week or two when I return to work. I am planning on breastfeeding, and I don’t think that I could be away from the baby for 2 weeks. We’ll see what happens…while the 12 weeks of paid leave would be extremely helpful, if it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out. I don’t want to burn all the bridges (references) I have made here at Tufts. The conversation with my boss was pretty intense, but she was supportive.
I bellydanced this week for the first time in a long time, and it was more difficult than it was a month ago. I have to get back into it regularly. I have been having some lightheadedness and blood pressure drops this week, so I have been trying to stay relaxed and to take it easy.
