One Less Worry!!

What a relief! Dont' you get tired of planning life's major event's around things like this?!



wendy

[Amiens]

You know we didn't even think about whether or not Matt would be able to be at the birth of our first child.



It's crazy how this job has changed EVERY aspect of our life.



Crystal

[Amiens]

Well as all of you can sympathize, interns get worked to death, and sometimes have unbending attendings/chief residents.



I am due with Matt and I's first child in January. We were informed at my last appointment that because my due date is in question, that I could deliver any time after Dec 10th (what they are establishing at my 36 wk mark). Well that had created a problem, because Matt is doing ICU (tough tough month) at Denver Health (about 10 min drive from our home), the low-income hospital. The concern then turned into whether or not Matt was going to be able to attend the birth, because he had scheduled to be at the same hospital as I am going to deliver at doing ER. We questioned whether or not he would be able to attend the birth because right now he is getting pounded into the ground with patients (he has 7 right now in the ICU, and can potentially pick up 10 tonight while he is on-call). I expressed my concern to my doctor and she gave me some helpful suggestions and her opinion regarding if the chief or attending wouldn't allow Matt to leave to be my side (ie- make something up and tell her who that person is, and she will talk to them about being caring).



Anyway- good happy ending- Matt talked to his Chief, and she said that if I go into labor during his ICU rotation, he is free to leave, even if he is on-call, and they will get someone to cover for him. She was very understanding and accomodating. YEAH!!!



So Matt won't miss out on the birth!!!



Crystal

Crystal,

I am so glad that things are going to work out with Matt being there. Isn't it amazing that it was even a question?! This career does take sacrifices but ... that is going TOO far!



You are getting close! Have you got everything ready? This will be a fun Christmas for you. Have a wonderful time!



Robin

Yeah.....I'm glad that there won't be a problem with his schedule and you can take comfort in knowing that he will be there!!!!



Thomas actually got two paternity days too...see if Matt can have a couple of days off while his attending is in a good state of mind

This is so odd to me. Jon's program offers one or two weeks paternity leave (he's still finding out for sure - hopefully it's two weeks) and he will be immediately leaving work (if he's there) when I go into labor. In addition, they get four weeks off a year (but he can't take off more than a week per monthly rotation). So, in the end he'll get a few weeks off to help out and rest himself. I guess we really ARE at a great program family-wise!



Jennifer

[Amiens]

Matt gets 3 weeks a year for vacation, and if he wants paternity leave he has to take it out of that vacation time. So when we found out I was expecting, the CU IM program arranged one week of vacation around the time I was due, and placed him on an ER month for (12/23-1/22), with a easy call month following. He get 4 days off a rotation, and has already taken off 2 for this ICU rotation, so we will see what happens.



We do know if he takes more than his 3 weeks of vacation time then he has to "make-up" the missed time, which is impossible, because he is a preliminary year intern, and the dates he could be making up missed time is the "week break" in between internship and his anesthesia residency, which we found out is being used for orientation. Essentially the baby needs to come soon. =-) That is if her little heart so desires....



Crystal

hehe Crystal..I hear you on that....When Finny was born, my mom took two weeks off of work and flew to Northern Ireland a week before my due date to be with me.....her two weeks came and went with NO baby...She left and then my in-laws came for a couple of days....NO baby...Thomas' two weeks came and went with NO baby....and then when the house was quiet and they were going to induce me the next day....labor! Babies work in mysterious ways



I'm crossing my fingers for you that she comes soon!



Kris

[Amiens]

There is hope she will be coming soon, but I am not getting excited yet over the things that have been occurring over the last week. I am showing signs of prelabor, however if that is the case it could be a week or even a month or longer before I enter into the first stage. Isn't pregnancy fun?



Crystal

Can you possibly ask your doctor to induce early? My ob did that with my first and it worked out quite nicely. Of course, Jon wasn't in med school yet, but he did get to plan when he took off from work and he also was able to delay or take early some of his exams (last year of undergrad for him). This one we think will be induced for health reasons, but it will be very helpful with planning Jon's time off (especially since they have the rule of no two vacation weeks can occur in the same monthly rotation) and my mom's time off from work to help (aren't moms just great about that stuff?). I really, really understand what you mean about not being able to "make up" any extra time off because it's a transitional year! Jon and I were just discussing that yesterday. His current position will end here in Dallas on June 30 and then IMMEDIATELY the next business day he has to show up for work in Boston! Needless to say, he'll be taking his last vacation week that final week in June! It's really good, Crystal, that some of the people over him have been sympathetic and willing to work with him, though! I'm glad it all appears to be working out - hopefully the baby will cooperate!



Jennifer