Maternity Leave

I officially started my maternity leave yesterday. I went to the doctor on Friday afternoon and he told me I had been doing too much (again). When I told him I was doing nothing besides going to work he told me it was time to stop working. I expected to start singing or dancing in joy but in the end I just said thank you.

I am excused from work until delivery but I also was told to stay very calm and to lay down in the afternoons. I am not supposed to go up and down our 5 flights of stairs so I am pretty much stuck in the house. He prescribed some medicine to relax my uterus because he thinks I might be having contractions and not realize it. So, as Josh likes to say I am stuck up here in my ivory tower.

I am very grateful to be in France where women start maternity leave 6 weeks before the birth. I am only 1 week ahead of that so nobody blinked an eye at work. I can't imagine leaving 7 weeks early in the US. I also get 16 weeks after the baby is born so it is really, really generous and I am very lucky. The only downside is I actually have to have the baby in France away from my friends and family.

I am going to the American Hospital which is a great facility. The only downsides are the extraordinarily long waits for appointments, always over an hour and often two. Also, many doctors and nurses don't speak English, which I thought would be a requirement with it being the AMERICAN hospital. My doctor does speak English which is super BUT he is probably going to be on vacation when the baby comes so I can only cross my fingers and hope for the attending doctor and midwife speak English.

In other news we have a friend coming to visit this weekend. A friend of Josh's from college who I have never met will stay with us for a couple of days. I have heard about him for years so it will be nice to finally meet him. It also gives me something to do between now and Friday, change the sheets on the guest bed. I have to be pretty bored to look forward to changing sheets!

Now it is time to start my exciting day of laundry, cooking, CSI downloads and napping. The fun I will have!