21w1d - 18w5d to go!

I got some good news this week!

I had been very nervous about what I was going to do about maternity leave - I have been saving all of my vacation and sick time since last August (my anniversary month at work) so that I would have at least three weeks of time that I could take for the baby. (Mind you, I made this decision before I even pregnant!)

I spoke with my manager (Alicia) shortly before Christmas, and she said she would see what she could do to get me a little extra time. A few days ago, after speaking with our department director (Luis), she got back to me.

The result: my company is letting me take two extra work-from-home weeks! So, total, I will be home for five weeks with pay. I am so thrilled - yes, it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but they also were not required to make this concession for me. There is certainly no law that says they have to let me work from home. It is so generous of them and reminds me why this is such a great place to work!

I may still have to take a little bit of time unpaid (if I wind up having to have a c-section - though I am still hoping and praying that I won't have to!!!!) but this alleviates a lot of stress I was having. There was no way I could afford to take more than maybe a week or two unpaid, and I don't have short term disability so without this, I was looking at having to come back to work three weeks after Angelica is born.

I am so happy! This means that between Scott & I, we have the first 9-10 weeks of the baby's life covered, where one of us can be home with her. (His company provides paid paternity leave - something that is unprecedented in this country. We are both so lucky!)

What great news!

Also resolved this week: the daycare issue. I was freaking out last week after finding out how much full-time daycare costs. (3 times what I thought it would be - should have done better research!) I didn't want to burden my family, especially since my mom is already watching Willy (my nephew) and has two grand babies on the way right now (Yes - Angelica will have a cousin who will be just a few weeks younger than her!)...that's a lot of work! But my mother has said she doesn't mind covering the 2-3 days a week we will need - and won't take money from us for it. And my sister offered to help whenever she can - but with her second baby on the way, and grad school and work - that will be a LOT on her plate!

The daycare relief is HUGE - I was looking at having to spend half my income on daycare, so this is amazing! We are so fortunate to have family living close and being supportive!

In other great news - we made the final payment on Scott's car yesterday. After five and a half years at almost $400/month - the car is ours! That will go a long way to helping us get other areas of our financial life straightened out (credit cards and student loans and such) - and maybe give us a little more "fun" money, too! :) (And, uhh, holy crap! We actually own property now!!!)

All in all, it's been a good week!