Two announcements

I have been so busy that I haven't even had time to write about how the announcements of my two big pieces of news went over at work!

Announcement #1:
Three days after I received word that I was being offered the Supervisor position I went into my boss' office and awkwardly (is there any other way?) told him that I was pregnant. His first comment was "first off- congrats!" Then he laughed and said that it was a good thing I waited until after the position had been filled. I knew he was kidding about that but it is probably a good thing- both for me to get the position without having to worry if my pregnancy would effect my selection AND for my boss to not have to worry about any other candidates complaining that I got the position only because I am pregnant and they didn't want a potential lawsuit filled by me.

His next thought went to whether I would be back at work in time to do performance reviews for my employees- I KNEW that this was going to be one of the first things that popped into his mind! I should be back in time- especially now if I decide to follow the MFM's advice to deliver early. I then assured my boss that I would be coming back to work after the baby comes and that this was the last baby. Lol. One of his last comments was "Mr. X's (his boss) head is going to explode when he hears this news." (In that, he is going to be worried about my work getting done while I am gone.) I am in the process of hopefully being able to get an employee from another division that just did a rotation under me to maybe take some of my work on a part time basis, but we'll see what her supervisors think of that. My boss will have to take over my supervision duties during my maternity leave, but at least we wouldn't have to find someone else in our already-strained division to do my other work.

Announcement #2:
Last week was our division's staff meeting and my boss decided that it was time to announce my promotion. Most people congratulated me; the guy to my right who I'm pretty sure also applied for the position didn't say a word... but the funniest part of the meeting was later on when we were going around doing staff updates. This customer service person (who is not a great worker and files lots of unsubstantiated claims against management) didn't have an update but said instead "(Old boss), I have some grave concerns that I need to bring to your attention and will need to talk to you about it after the meeting."

I wanted to giggle because it was clearly about the fact that I was becoming her boss, but was able to hold it in. I mean really- right in front of your new boss? You couldn't wait 5 minutes to voice your concerns until after the meeting? Ha ha. My boss came over to my office after the meeting and laughingly said "welcome to management!" I joked that a lack of tact and telling it like it is were great traits for a customer service rep! She sure is going to make things interesting!*

At the same meeting I also announced to everyone that I was pregnant and due in August. One woman commented "wow what a great year for you!" and another one tried to butter me up by asking if I was sure I was having the baby this August because I didn't look pregnant (I like being pregnant but not for almost two years!!).

So now that the cat is out of the bag on both fronts I don't have to hide anything which is nice. But quickly I am learning that taking this new job is going to entail so much more work than I originally thought (which is why an interview would have been nice because I would have had an inkling of what they expected). I'm up for the challenge but boy am I going to be busy!!


*The funny thing is, we don't have a bad relationship. She just isn't a fan of change. Good thing I know her and was able to laugh about the comment later. Someone from the outside may not have been able to react that way.

Follow up Level II ultrasound

Yesterday I went back for my Level II follow up appointment. It was actually sort of nice to see the baby again and to have a second pair of ultrasound tech and MFM doctors' eyes on the baby. This time the baby was more cooperative and the doctor was able to check out everything that he needed to see. I liked him a lot better than the previous MFM because he talked the entire time so I wasn't in danger of possibly falling asleep! The cyst in the brain that the first MFM found is already gone and yesterday the new MFM reiterated that if only the cyst is found there is no cause for concern.

However, he did mention that he would like to see me deliver at 37 weeks. There is a 10% chance of uterine rupture (my uterus was weakened after having a myomectomy) if I wait too long before having my c-section...so in order to stay away from that, he recommends that I deliver at 37 weeks. As far as risks to the baby, there is about a 5% chance that the baby will need some breathing help when delivered that early. I asked if they do steroid shots that late in the pregnancy but he said that they stop doing them earlier on- I think he said 34 weeks?

Ultimately it is my decision whether to deliver early and I will make that decision after talking to my OB. But now that I have had some time to think about it, I do have some more questions. What is the likelihood that I would go into labor at 38 weeks? Is there a higher chance of me going into labor early because this is my second child? Maybe because of my age?

Have you guys ever heard of delivering early for a second c-section?

Hawaii trip: Part 3 (final)

The final installment of our Big Island Vacation. Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Day 7:

Today was the day for our submarine tour and Izzy was super excited for the tour, despite not knowing what a submarine was. Unfortunately, we got to the shop only to be informed that the tour was cancelled due to high surf. We rescheduled for the next day.

It right around lunchtime, so we walked around the farmers market, buying a ukelele and a bracelet for Izzy before eating lunch at TK Noodles (amazing!). 

Izzy loves noodle soup

After failing to get Izzy down for a nap, CP and my MIL took her to the beach while I relaxed in the condo in order to stay out of the sun. The time alone was rather nice as I got to take a nap and take a relaxing shower to get ready for dinner that night while the three of them were gone. When they got back I heard that Izzy had a grand ole time jumping waves. My MIL stayed home with Izzy while CP and I went out for a belated Valentine's Day dinner at Holokoa Gardens & Cafe. 

The restaurant was seriously delicious- I can highly recommend the ono (a type of fish) and the lilikoi cheesecake!

Day 8:

Unfortunately, the submarine tour was cancelled again due to high surf. We decided to try out a beach about an hour north. It was beautiful but with the high surf we stayed fairly far back and held on tight to Izzy's hands (the waves would break 30-50 feet away but there would be a large rush of water coming towards us). She had a great time jumping and getting splashed. 

We ended up having lunch there and eating yet another smoothie (we sampled lots of "moothies" while in Hawaii). CP's ankle was hurting him so we drove around looking for something cool to do on the way home, but decided to take a trip to urgent care because CP was having trouble walking and we weren't sure if he got stung by something in the water.

Doctor thought that it was most likely gout so we took a trip to the supermarket to pick up steroids for CP, stopped for an afternoon snack of shaved ice, then headed home to hit the showers and head out for our last dinner in Hawaii.

Izzy and I shared a "small" shaved ice

Shaka

Day 9/10:

We woke up and decided to have breakfast on the water for our last day before cleaning up the condo. After locking up we were off to explore Saddle Road, which is the road that runs between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The highest point is over 6700 ft and it was fascinating to go through different eco systems once again.

We stopped at the Mauna Kea Recreation Area for a quick bathroom break and some play time for Izzy. 

A few miles later we stopped to climb Pu'u Huluhulu (Hairy Hill- an old volcanic hill covered in vegetation). It's a good thing that CP's ankle was responding to the steroids because he was able to climb the hill and Izzy did the entire hill all by herself!

View from the top of Hairy hill

We made the final descent into Hilo, stopping for a quick lunch before dropping off our rental car at the airport. CP tried to run her a bunch before the flight, hoping that it would help her sleep later on. She was great on the first flight to Honolulu (only 45 minutes), but cried for a good 15 minutes on the flight back to Chicago (7.5 hour red eye). Luckily she was on the floor at the time so the plane noise drowned her out. She ended up sleeping for some of the flight, I feel asleep for about 1.5 hours but then woke up with swollen feet. We finally arrived in Chicago at 5am, exhausted, and took a cab home.

We arrived home to a tree limb in our driveway, I guess from high winds that Chicago had a few days beforehand. Luckily other than losing a few shingles off the roof, we were spared any damage.

Can't wait for our next adventure- although I assume it's going to be awhile!

Hawaii Trip: Part 2

Continued from this post...

Big Island vacation Part 2

Day 4:

We ate breakfast in our room- bagels and a fruit salad made of papayas, pineapple, and apple bananas (yum!). Afterwards we hit the road towards Volcanoes National Park. Less than an hour into the ride, Izzy pukes. Oh man. Here we are on the side of the road, trying to wipe off her shirt, shorts, and car seat. Her shorts weren't too bad but we took off her tshirt and put it in the back of the car. Other than being surprised, she seems okay so we cross our fingers that it was just car sickness and keep driving towards the National Park (with the windows open).

On the way we decide to stop at the black sand beach where there are supposedly green sea turtles. Izzy slept in the car (an adult stayed with her at all times) while we hung out on the beach a bit, but there were megabuses of tourists and too many people for a turtle to feel comfortable to come up on the shore (we saw them bobbing their heads out the water a bit).

We finally arrived at Volcanoes National Park and headed into the visitors center. We were hoping to see lava at some point, but found out that the depth of the lava lake in the crater (where you used to be able to see lava bubbling at night) dropped in April 2015 and the only way to see lava is to charter a helicopter. Hmmm too expensive.

So we picked up a guide on the 10 best hikes and headed for lunch at the Volcano Room which had amazing views of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater and some National Park tshirts. 

View from the Volcano Room lunch spot

Izzy's new Volcanoes National Park tshirt- her current tshirt obsession

With our bellies full we headed to the Thurston Lava Tubes which Izzy enjoyed, although it was hard to take pictures in it. Because I was pregnant and because we had Izzy we had to stay away from one of the hikes because there was too much sulfur in the air (I guess it was not good for our lungs). Instead we did the Ilahi hike (basically lots of steam vents on either side of the trail) with CP carrying Izzy on his back in the hiking backpack.

We figured that we would head back to the National Park another day so we cut the day short after seeing some boring tree molds and started to head back to Kona. As a bathroom break we stopped by the black sand beach again and all of us got to watch a green sea turtle eating!

Poking his head out of the water

Black sand hands!

Day 5:

After a lazy morning of hanging out at the condo while I washed and cleaned the car seat and associated clothes, I take Izzy to the pool while CP and my MIL go grocery shopping. We end up having lunch by the pool- grilled burgers (hot dog for Izzy), mango guacamole, pasta salad, and purple potato salad. 

Izzy by the pool

After a bit more time in the pool, we get cleaned up and head out to a farmers market in Kona. Izzy wants to try on ALL of the bracelets and necklaces while we are there.

Modeling a necklace

She also gets excited when one of the shop owners lets her try the ukulele (we end up buying her one two days later).

The rest of the day is spent exploring downtown Kona...

Ice cream afternoon snack

Ironman winner!

Cool tree in downtown Kona

Day 6:
We got up and headed out about an hour north of Kona for a whale watch. The people at the condo assured us that the boat would be safe for a toddler, but it literally had two ropes as wide as a pen strung around the boat. The whole trip was a mess as Izzy spent most of the trip eating or crying. She didn't understand that we couldn't swim in the water and although she saw a few whales, most of them were far away and there just wasn't enough action for her. 

Lunch then tested her patience because she ate so much on the boat and wasn't hungry but yet our food took forever to come out. She took a 30 minutes nap on the car ride back and managed to sleep through the bumpiest car ride ever as we turned down the road towards a state park. The 1.5 mile road was ridiculously bumpy and unfortunately I had to go to the bathroom before we even turned on the road. The state park consisted of an awesome, large lava field with a beautiful beach at the end (if your car could make it)- and thankfully, a porta potty.

Nice, right?

Izzy standing on lava

We hit some traffic on the way home (traffic in Hawaii?), so we rushed to our condo, grabbed a few things and then headed out to a luau at the Royal Kona resort. Izzy didn't eat much but had fun making a lei bracelet and watching the dancers. Her favorite was the fire dancer at the end of the show.

To be continued....

Microblog Mondays: First Day

Today is my first day at my new position. I don't have much information on what I will actually be doing or how much things will change around here, but I think I am going to get a whole lot busier! At some point my boss and I will have to sit down to have that conversation about what I am taking over (more than just taking over supervision of 7 employees from him), but I think it will take a while to sort everything out.

I am less worried about the actual work than I am of being a good manager. The 7 employees that I now have to manage were all co-workers just last week and all of them except for one are older than me. How are my relationships with them going to change? I want to make sure that I am a good and effective manager but have no training to help me learn the ropes.

Here goes nothing!


Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Hawaii trip Part 1

Big Island vacation Part 1

Day 1:
A lovely nine hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu. No nap for Izzy, but no tantrums so we got a lot of compliments as we were getting off the plane. Izzy ran off a lot of energy at the Honolulu Airport as we waited for our flight to Hilo. We got to our hotel by 7pm or so after grabbing our rental car, dropped our bags off, and walked to a nearby restaurant. Izzy was *thisclose* to falling asleep at dinner, but made it. Everyone went to bed by 8:45 as our bodies thought that it was almost 1am!

Day 2:
With our bodies still a little off, CP and I woke up around 4:30am and everyone else was up by 5:30. Izzy woke up in her crib asking "go downstairs." LOL. 

View from hotel room as the sun rises

We had a delicious breakfast at Ken's House of Pancakes (I can highly recommend the banana pancakes), before heading out. Our plan was to do some sightseeing in Hilo and the northeast section of the island while making our way towards Kona (on the west side of the island).

First we headed out to Rainbow Falls...

Then drove a little north to check out Akaka Falls....

From there we visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanic Gardens which was pretty amazing. They had a parrot cage and Izzy thought that it was very cool that the parrots could talk to her.

Picking up big leaves at the Botanic Garden

By this time it was lunch and we were starving. Luckily, a highly rated place was close by- What's Shakin'- so we had smoothies and a delicious lunch and a great view. 

After filling up our bellies, we settled in for a car ride to the west side of the island, stopping to grab coffee part of the way through the drive and seeing this sign which made me laugh.

It was amazing to see the eco systems change from lush greenery to scrub brush to lava fields. After arriving at our VRBO resort condo, we took a quick dip in the pool and then headed out to dinner. This was Izzy's first night in a big girl bed (we dragged a twin mattress to the floor and she slept on that in the same room as my MIL).

Day 3:
The next morning we were up early and had breakfast at Island Lava Java- a restaurant with amazing views of the ocean. My MIL had a cinnamon roll that was as big as her head and I had the most delicious chai latte with my omelette. While at breakfast we spotted a whale.

Using our amazing guidebook (Hawaii Revealed) we decided to head out to a tidepool not too far away because the waves were too high for Izzy to go into the ocean. 

Tidepool with the waves crashing behind it

We had a great time pointing out fish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and crabs to Izzy. Not wanting to stay in the sun all day, we left right before lunch and headed to the Kona Brewery (CP is a big fan of their beer). A quick trip to the grocery store and then another dip in the pool before heading back up to the room to eat CP's homemade ramen.

To be continued....

Level II ultrasound

This morning CP and I went to the Level II ultrasound to see how Baby Boy is doing. The ultrasound tech was very nice and throughout her exam kept saying great things like "this is perfect", "this looks good", etc. Baby Boy was not super cooperative and so there were a few shots that she had difficulty getting. Then the MFM doctor came in and explained that because I was of advanced maternal age, he would be taking a close look at Baby Boy's heart because after chromosomal abnormalities (basically ruled out with the bloodtest two months ago), the heart is where doctors see more abnormalities in older women.

In complete contrast to the ultrasound tech, he wasn't very talkative after his introduction and the way his arm was situated made it hard for me to see the screen so I got a little bored. He also kept digging into the side of my belly which was a bit painful.

After he finished with the ultrasound, he turned to us and let us know that he did find a choroid plexus cyst, which is a pocket of fluid filled space in the brain.  It's only seen in about 1-3% of pregnancies. It can be associated with Trisomy 18, however, if it is the only issue found during an ultrasound (and it was) AND the mother has already undergone genetic testing (which I did and everything came out normal), it's no big deal and something that will go away. The doctor also saw Baby Boy's hand open and close which is something that Trisomy 18 babies are not able to do. 

So, we are not worried about Trisomy 18. But because Baby Boy was not cooperating with the doctor either, I will have to go back for another Level II ultrasound in two weeks to get better views of a few organs. The doctor did mention that he didn't see anything concerning, but wanted to get a few clearer shots. So I head back on the 29th to get those images.

I wish that I didn't have to go back but I guess I should look at it as a good thing as I will get to see Baby Boy on the ultrasound again. If I am being honest, I am a little nervous because he got the shots that he needed but they aren't as clear as he would like them to be....does this mean that he possibly sees something? CP thinks that I am just being silly, but I'm pregnant so of course I am going to be a little irrational.