I had a baby 5 days ago.
I have 4 kids now.
My husband is on a plane.
My doctor's office hasn't sent in my paperwork for my job yet, and time is running out.
I found out I don't qualify for FMLA.
I am a hot mess.
The above things are all true, and given just one of them, I'd probably be emotional, but snowball in all of them together and well...
Lesson learned the past few hours:
1) Jovie woke up crying at 4am, coughing so hard she almost threw up. Of course her sick wake-up call would conincide with a nursing session for Hartley. I so badly wanted to just sit, not move, and let Hartley nurse because for the first time since the "milk fairy" came for a visit Hartley was finally latched in a way that gave me some relief. Goodenss, this 4th time around oversupply of breast milk is...PAINFUL! Anyway, as I was walking up the stairs with Hartley who was still nursing, Kip flicks his light switch on in his bedroom. I stood in the hall way, in a half awake/half asleep daze and it hit me - I am in charge of a tiny army that we created, they are kicking my butt, and it is only 4am. Which brings me to point #2
2) NEVER give the final approval for your husband to go on a trip just 5 days after giving birth. Totally rethinking the "I'll be absolutely fine" comment I made when he was questioning my sanity. Oh, and don't judge P at all, it was a time sensitive trip that had to be done and no time was going to be a good time for it...
3) Having a third party assist in FMLA stuff is driving me batty. I am stuck in the middle of my place of employment, Unum (third party in charge of "organizing" this), and my physician, and all three parties can't get their crap together. This has been a mess of phone calls, faxes, messages, and things not getting done...and apparently I have just 7 days left before they drop it all and I don't qualify for the short term disability plan I've been paying into the last two years.
4) I worked 1,061 hours the last 12 months. To qualify for FMLA apparently they look back on the total number of hours worked the last 12 months, and somehow they came up with this magic BS number of 1,250 hours which qualify an employee to get FMLA. Realizing that I don't qualify for a 12 week maternity leave because of 200 hours has me...swearing. We were anticipating a 12 week maternity leave, and now it is being cut to 8 weeks which started the week before Hartley was even born when I was in the hospital for elevated BP and wonky lab values. I feel jipped, Hartley is getting jipped, my kids are getting jipped, and my husband especially is getting jipped. I never once had an issue with being able to take a full 12 week maternity leave in Oregon, and this just sucks. Big time.
And now is the part where I type out all of the amazingness that has my spirits high right now to boost my mood, after all the above listed junk to muck through...But really, I've decided to let things just fall into place. My worrying about it won't change anything, plus Hartley wants to eat, and this one-handed typing is for someone way more patient and less hormonal than I am...so a few pictures of my favorite people ever
My daughterS - yes, plural, which makes me so giddy.
My Mr. smitten with his new little lady of the house.
My favorite second born, who I just get. This kid rocks. He made progress in bonding with Hartley today, he touched her little hand - which was a 5 days in the making milestone. He slowly is warming up to her. That is my Kip, he does everything in his perfect time.
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