At home

So, news. Forgive me, it's a little disjointed, but I am tired (yes I know it is 8:30. I'm old, pregnant, and Eden was sick last night; I'm OK with it).

I've been seeing the doctor every week for quite a while now (had a weird heartbeat non-issue plus a ton of contractions, which up to now have been thankfully unproductive but also quite annoying). Thursday afternoon I had my usual doctor's appointment and, as usual (for the past month), she does a quick "exam." (yeah, that kind).

She gets a little quiet. I am too nervous to look at her, plus it's a little awkward in that position... and so I stare at the supply cabinet. And she says, "Yeah, you're about 'fingertip' dilated, and a lot 'shorter' than last week... You have the capacity to work from home, right?"

Yes, ma'am, I do. But first, please tell me this is not a big deal.

"So you're 33 weeks now." (33 1/2 actually, but who's counting?) "At 34, we wouldn't stop labor anyway, but ideally we'd like to see you get to 36 or 37 at least." (I know this, and I am a little bit freaking out about the thought that 34 weeks is in FOUR DAYS, and they wouldn't do anything to stop labor? What?? I can't imagine having a 34 week baby - oh please God no!) "I don't think you'll go too soon - I think you'll make it to 35 or 36 at least." (Oh, thanks, so you're giving me 1.5 weeks?? ELEVEN DAYS???) "And you might make it to 40, 41." (Bless you for saying that, Doc. I needed to hear that.) "But I want you to start working from home anyway. I think you need to take it a little easier. Do you need a note from me?"

OK, so it's not a huge deal, I'm barely dilated, but I'm being told to work from home. And Leah could be here soonish. Or not.

I went in to the office on Friday, gathered some stuff, talked to HR and the associates' committee chair, and got set up to start my official work-from-home phase on Monday morning. From a work standpoint, it is not going to be super easy, but it will be doable. From a life standpoint, it takes a HUGE load off. I can stop working at 6, and be home at 6! I can sleep until 8 and start working at 8:30 (gotta eat breakfast and stuff, but don't have to shower/get dressed/even get out of bed!). Plus, I finally feel like I'm doing something to help this baby stay in, other than try to drown contractions while lying on my side on the couch.

The firm has been really great about the whole thing. The associates' committee chair told me to just let them know whatever I needed - if I need to start working a reduced schedule, OK, that can be arranged (at full pay). And if I need to quit working altogether, OK, that can be arranged (at full pay). And don't worry about utilization this year. We understand. (Can I get that one in writing, please?) My practice group was very understanding; to be honest I think they half-expected something like this for a while. I had a client meeting with one of the partners a couple of weeks ago and he told the client ((a woman) who was gushing over my belly, asking when the baby was due) he didn't expect me to make it to my due date. But they're a great group of people, so I didn't expect any less. The only difficult thing is, my secretary was fired a couple of weeks ago and they haven't replaced him, so I am in this weird in-between phase where I am shoving my administrative work off onto two other secretaries. Each secretary on my floor works with 4 attorneys, so each of those two secretaries now essentially works with 6 (their regular 4, plus 2 (give or take) which my secretary was working with) - which is, of course, insane already. Now one of those attorneys (yours truly) is going to be out of the office, which means these two ladies will be answering every single phone call, emailing about every piece of mail, sending documents back and forth to my house, getting stuff out of my office, etc. Thankfully they're both wonderful.

So, that's the story. We'll see how tomorrow goes. The firm set me up with a loaner laptop, a loaner printer, a ream of paper, and a bunch of office supplies. Everything is set up in our office and I should be ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. And if I need to take a rest, put my feet up, and make the contractions stop, I can do so. I might even be able to sneak in a nap.

Plus, I no longer have to wait in below-freezing weather for a bus every morning! Bonus!