The month of May was spent on the phone with Leave of Absence people, insurance people, and many texts back and forth with Charles. Also much crying. Here's what we have learned recently:
1. With FMLA, I can take up to 12 weeks off in a calendar year. So if I used it before the baby is born, I couldn't get anymore time off afterward unless it was approved by my manager. And she isn't the easiest person to talk to... she doesn't like it when nurses go from Full-Time to Part-Time after having a baby.
:-(
2. Even if I do get Long-Term Disability, it doesn't guarantee me my job after 12 weeks, it just replaces my income.
3. I'm currently taking out Short-Term Disability, but again, I'm not guaranteed my job after I've been gone for 12 weeks. I just get 60% income replacement. I don't need 6 months of income replacement... I need my job!
4. I am a nurse at Primary Childrens Medical Center! I take care of kiddos with brain and spinal cord tumors, brain-injured kids who have been in traumas I couldn't imagine, whose lives are changed by the accident. And I get to see them recover and get back to whatever level of functioning they've worked so hard to achieve. I can honestly say that I really love my job.
5. We need my job. Charles left his job as manager of Shell Rapid Lube, and he took a slight pay-cut in the process. We still need me to be the sugar-mama for a little while til he rises up the management chain again at his new job. His new boss said he wants him as a manager ASAP, but how much truth is in that and how fast will that really happen?
6. I e-mailed multiple international adoption agencies with an extremely heart-felt letter. Charles said after reading what I wrote, "I would give you a baby even if I were the meanest person in the world." I really tugged at some heart-strings with the story of my own adoption. But all I have gotten back are negative replies because I am apparently too young to be considered a good mother and we apparently aren't in a stable marriage (India Government Requirements: parents must be older than 30 and married for 5 years).
7. Apparently, we aren't supposed to have a baby now or in the coming year(s).
8. We get to spend more time together and travel more, which is something I can live with. But I can't live without getting a baby in the next year or two, so I'm not giving up hope.
9. The Irony of the Cruise - We were going to start trying to conceive on the cruise, so when we found out we couldn't/shouldn't, thinking about the cruise was really bitter-sweet. But in the end, it was the best thing we could've done to get an escape from life.
10. Pictures take forever to load on here, so please check out my FB page to see cruise pics. But I will put a few here for your viewing enjoyment.
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| We played in the jungle. |
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| We met some awesome people. |
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| We ate A LOT of stuff I can't even pronounce. |
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| We explored where the Lamanites once walked. |
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| We saw some tropical fish and coral reef. |
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| We spent way too much money! |
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| And we enjoyed ourselves in the Caribbean sun. |
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