Trying My Patient

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I think some pretty famous literary work that I was asked to read in the 12th grade began like that. I frequently consulted the Notes of some guy named Cliff to assist my insight and overall understanding of thematic elements, so I'm kinda blurry on the title. But I digress.

Things are getting tougher. Maybe I'm overstating the situation, but a combination of several things kinda hit us all at once this weekend. All of a sudden, we're anxious, frustrated, uncertain, excited, miserable (Leah more than me) and everything in between.

Leah's getting to the really uncomfortable stage--we knew it would come, and it's definitely here. At night, she's restless, can't get comfortable, often can't sleep, and all that. Maybe it's God's way of giving us a glimpse of what frequent interrupted sleep is like!! Of course, lots of folks offer a remedy (e.g., sleeping with 112 pillows), but more often than not, it just doesn't work for her. Dr. B did prescribe a prescription sleep aid for her, but now the trick is getting used to the dosage and it's effect. Should she take it early or late? Is it too strong? Trial and error might be the only answer. That, or having the baby.

Work and paychecks and finances are another consideration. This week, we finished paying off the "delivery deposit" to the doctor, so now their services are paid in full. I'm not sure when all of that started, but we certainly do appreciate the fine folks that caused us to write a check each month for 5 months to cover the 20% of the estimated cost of a "normal" delivery. I think Leah's annual deductible has been met, so the biggest remaining expense (aside from the screaming, needy child that the process leaves us with) is the hospital and any remaining doctor bills like the staff neo-hyper-checkums-ologist and crap like that who will invade our mailbox at some point. Luckily, we'll be pretty close to our out-of-pocket limit, so we'll proceed to call Blue Cross/Blue Shield and say something to the effect of ,"We're done for the year, so pay up, suckers!!!"

On top of that, the discussions have commenced about taking Leah off of a full 40-hour work week. If Leah sat at a desk and answered phones for 8 hours, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion at this point. But walking around a bank branch, behind teller row, into and out of the vault, etc. etc. including darting across the lobby to temporarily do another position's task is starting to take its toll. Leah isn't jumping at the opportunity to get out of work, but the bank wants a concrete "the doc must tell us precisely what her orders are" type answer. Being that days are typically 8-9 hours (depending on day of the week, day after a bank holiday, etc), working 4-5 hour days raises questions--what will the schedule be? Same hours every day? Determined on Monday based on staffing needs? At this point, Leah wants to be as helpful as possible to the bank, but keep her sanity and health (and Nicholas's!) at the same time. Hopefully we'll be able to arrive at an answer shortly.

One small, annoying note for the week involves this rude, incompetent person at the doctor's office. She filled out the form excusing Leah from work for Thursday and Friday, but she included Monday and today's date as well. Leah went to work today, and was told to go home since the doctor's office's note indicated as such, and they couldn't let her work. Now, because she's not at work today, she can't leave early on Thursday for our baby shower being given by my office. The response from the immediate supervisor was, "Well, I don't have a problem with it, but you work with a bunch of women who don't get to leave early and probably won't understand." A pretty flimsy excuse, if you ask me (especially since all of them have children), but we'll see where it all ends up. Leah's first response was, "No big deal--it'll just be you. I'll see the stuff when you get home." Well, you have a first child one time, so I think it's crappy that she might not be able to come.

It's been a really up and down day emotionally, but hopefully we'll arrive at some answers before all is said and done.

Update: Effective immediately, Leah is going to be working 20-hour weeks (i.e., 4-hour days), with a consistent schedule from week to week unless something changes. We first discussed somthing like 6-hour days, but apparently this can't be done because of benefit time being used and some goofball reasoning like that. So it had to be either 8 hours, 4 hours, or none. So 4 hours it is. A by-product of this decision and its immediate commencement is the fact that Leah gets to attend the shower on Thursday. So all is right in the world of Russellbaby! : ) The new schedule will definitely take some getting used to, but it should give Leah some much needed rest and keep her from running herself ragged at the bank for 8+ hours a day. She gets to sleep late 4 days a week (Tue-Fri), so now our morning routine won't be the same (read: Eric gets more sleep!! lol), and on Monday she'll have the afternoon off. This also is very complementary with doctor's appointments, which are usually first thing on Thursday morning. So as of right now, it seems like it'll be good all the way around.