But back to my story, I really like the feeling I get from the doctor I met today. She was really nice, had a good sense of humor, and included my husband in the appointment. She basically told us that there was no point on doing an ultrasound this early and she suggested we waited until 12 weeks. We were happy to save the money, so we took her advice. She answered my questions about various things and gave me a list of the things I need to get blood/urine tests done for before our next appointment. We scheduled an appointment for next month and we were done! My SO thinks that I overdue it on questions (he is not the list-making type) but the doctor was really nice and answered all of them.
How I am feeling: well up until a week ago, I had just been feeling nauseous but no throwing up so I was hoping to be like my mom who felt sick but only threw up once or twice during pregnancy. No such luck. Last Friday, I threw up at school. And since then, I have thrown up 1-2 times a day.
It really isn't so bad and I've gotten kind of used to it. I am trying all the tricks: bringing crackers with me everywhere, eating/drinking ginger and lemon things, and eating smaller meals more often. Other than that and sore boobs, not many other symptoms as of now. My current worry is about telling my job. You see, I am on a year long contract which ends at the end of August. There is (was) no question they will renew it for me for next school year and every school year after that if I wanted to stay. I know they like me and are happy with my work. Butttttt my school is not the kindest to their employees and one of my coworkers (yes, the same know-it-all one) has told me that she thinks there is a chance they won't renew my contract once they know I'm pregnant. Basically, if they keep me on board, they'll have to find a substitute for 3 months and pay 1/3 of my salary for those 3 months plus the sub's salary.
I personally was thinking that they'll want to keep me around for years to come and they would be understanding about my situation. A few months back, I had asked my director straight-out if I got pregnant, would I risk losing my contract. She had said no and that she would support me, etc. But in the end, she isn't the one who decides. Well, she never mentioned it again but yesterday she asked me where I was with my "plans". I was really awkward about it and just said "Oh, we're working on it". But then my nosy co-worker was like, why do you think she's asking you now? Because the recruitment committee, where they choose next year's staff and see who they need to hire, is next week. Then said coworker made me feel pretty stupid for having ever told my director about my plans.
Well, it's too late now- can't go back on telling her and can't go back on getting pregnant! I'll need to tell my job about it before 14 weeks or something (I still need to look up the law about that here). But either way, they'll have plenty of time to decide if they want to renew my contract or find someone else. I'm definitely worried about losing my job but trying to stay positive. If I did lose it, we do have enough money saved that we could live frugally without income for 9-10 months until we moved to the States. But it obviously wouldn't be an ideal situation.
Okay, enough for today. Help me calm down, friends!
ps. I just emailed a weekly shabbat group in yet another attempt to make friends.
@LB: The renew my contract in September or even October (they suck at being on time with paperwork). If I was not pregnant, then I wouldn't be worried at all about them renewing my contract. Anyway, can't keep it secret for that long- there are some laws here about telling your employer before the first trimester is over.
@TwoThree: Yeah, I thought she'd want to do an ultrasound too. But she was like, you've taken a home test and you have all the symptoms so might as well wait another month. I think she is in the less technology=better camp too. I think we have those same kind of laws to protect pregnant women from getting fired but I don't think they protect from contract renewal. They'd be within their legal right. My coworker didn't have that problem because she got pregnant in the summer, therefore didn't have to tell them until after she'd signed her contract. And yeah, I guess the way it works here is 1/3 of your salary is paid by the employer and 2/3 paid by social security.
Your coworker seems like a.. uh.. lovely lady.
Here, your employer pays all your leave, unless like me you're not entitled to leave (I'm casual and only worked for a year, I'd need to be full time for two years to get paid leave.) and then social security will give you full-time minimum wage for six months. Which some people complain about but honestly it's more than I was earning when I was working so yay!
I'm glad you found a doctor you're comfortable with, it truly makes all the difference. Personally I'd prefer a doctor who I didn't have to wait months to get in to see, what if she's busy at the crucial moment?
Morning sickness... Do you have fruit tingles over there? http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9HfJudwB1v...06b075897b.jpg
Most of my mates swear by them, for both morning sickness and the dreaded heartburn that you can look forward to in the 3rd trimester. I suppose if I posted you some they'd never get there would they?
On the ultrasound front, less is more. I had the early ultrasound for "confirmation" and really it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. At 12 weeks they can test for nuchal translucency (which tells you how likely it is your baby has down's syndrome - but not actually if it's present or not) so there's more of a reason to go.
I'm so excited for you XD yay pregnancy blogs!
Good luck on the job front. Hopefully they can see you're too awesome to pass up and they'll renew your contract