Gift Wrapped & Hand Delivered

Well, it has been a very busy week for us. My last day of work was on Friday, and my husband's last days for his jobs were Friday & Saturday. He just started his new job on Monday and is loving it. I had an appt with the doc on Tues. and he said that we could induce as early as the 11th, but unfortunately the hospital was booked until the 14th. At first I was disappointed. Who wouldn't be? But as I started to think about this, I realized that everything had been taken care of about last November... before I was even pregnant.

Let me explain. Last October, my husband got a job offer from the company he is currently working for. After he accepted, they gave him the starting date of Aug. 4, 2008. I got pregnant sometime around the end of November. So my due date was Aug 16th. We thought that worked out well because if he took his 2 weeks vacation at his old job starting on the 4th, and started his new job on the 4th, we would have double insurance coverage.

Back in May(ish), after he finished his MAcc, we found out that his new company would be shipping him off to Texas the week after my due date. This concerned me quite a bit, especially since most women are overdue with their first babies. My doc assured me that he wouldn't let me go more than 1 week over. I told him that was not OK because my husband would be in Texas. The doc said that if everything was going well, then he would induce me up to 1 week before my due date. Sounded good to me. I knew I would be home by myself for 2 weeks before my mom could come and help me, but at least my husband would be there for the evenings and nights. (We had asked his new company if they had paid paternity leave, and they did, but it wouldn't start until he had worked there for 1 year.)

About 1 month away from my due date, and my doc starts backing out of inducing me, saying things like, "It's the birth of a child, I'm sure your husband's company will be flexible." Needless to say, I was a little bit upset. I stressed over it and even considered going to a different doctor. That led me to the idea of switching to the other major hospital in the valley. Once I had made that decision, everything started falling into place again. It made me realize that the hospital we had planned on was only covered by one of the insurances, whereas the other hospital is covered by both. Since my husband was the policy holder on both, we didn't know which would be primary, so the other hospital that took both insurances made more sense.

The next week the doc was back to wanting to induce me early. Cool. So, we both quit our jobs, he started his new job, everything was going well. I was still panicking about when she would come, but not quite as much.

My husband went to his first day of work, only to find out that he is the ONLY person who's starting date was Aug. 4th. Everyone else that they had hired at the same time was scheduled to start around the 18th. The HR girl said she didn't know why he was scheduled so early. They are supposed to only have 1 week of training before they ship them off to Texas.

He also found out that the HR policy regarding paternity leave has changed. Now, employees are eligible for it starting day 1. Huh... that's convenient, eh?

Well, I know it's a little late, but to make a long story short, I'm getting induced on the 14th (which just happens to be my husband's company's Lagoon day, so he doesn't even have to worry about missing work), I will probably be in the hospital on the 15th still (which means he can head to work for a day if he so desires). We can head home and he gets a week off of regular work, and I have someone to help me. Once I put all that together, I was OK with the 14th. I was amazed and awed at how well the Lord has taken care of us. It is humbling to look back and see His hand through out this whole process. Everything was taken care of and we have only a week until we can welcome this special little girl into our home.

I'm thrilled.