Embracing Women...

On the personal side...

We called our family to let them know that the previous gender prediction was incorrect, and we were actually having a girl.  This was quite a fun process, as no one knew what to believe.  Especially because, if you know my husband, you know that he LOVES to pull pranks.  He will make up a story that sounds almost too good to be true just to see if you will fall for it.  And, he comes by this honestly as many members of his family also enjoy these pranks.

So, when he told his family we were having a girl, it was funny to see the texts back and forth trying to determine if he was kidding or serious.  I remember one text was -

"Ok, Just tell me the truth, No Jokes Here.  What are you having?"

To this my husband replied, "Ok, ok.  We are having a girl.  Or, are we???"

I'm so thankful that God brought us together.  He is truly the light of my life.  I'm a pretty serious, type-A, nose to the grindstone person.  He is a fun, it will be fine, relax type of guy.  I need that.

The next few weeks / months were full of work, travel, and spending time with our little boys.  We were rearranging bedrooms, buying baby girl items, etc.  The pregnancy went pretty well.  I felt good.  Only gained about 50 pounds - which was good for me.  And she seemed to be progressing nicely.  We were all very happy. 

On the business side...

And, I was very excited that I was asked to participate in a women's leadership conference at the end of November / early December.  It was a 3-day meeting with 20+ amazing female leaders across our organization.  I was so excited.  However, it was going to be near the end of my pregnancy, so I wouldn't be able to fly.  I thought I would need to miss out - disappointed!  To my surprise, the meeting was scheduled to take place in Chicago, so I would still be able to attend - I could drive there.  Yippee!!  Back to being excited!

The reason I tell you about this conference is because it sets up the last 2 years of my life.  If I wouldn't have gone to this conference, I'm not sure where I would be today.  And, I had many people in my life recommending me not to go.  Rightfully so.  I was 35 weeks pregnant and it wasn't a work necessity.  So, saying "no" would have been okay.  But, for some reason, I truly felt like, if I could make it work.  More importantly, I felt it was where I needed to be.  I mean, truly, it was like I was being pulled.  I needed to go.  I wasn't sure why at the time...

The three days were AMAZING!  I learned so much about myself, why I do the things I do, and how to potentially make different choices for a bigger impact - and a happier life.  Please know, I cannot oversell how impactful these three days were for me and for my family.  I have included a link to the program information from their site.  This does not do the program justice.  It is truly life changing.  Well, at least it was for me!  http://www.womensleadership.com/women_leading_change.php

When the program ended, I only had a few days left of work prior to heading off for maternity leave - what I was hoping to be three weeks of family time prior to the birth of our little girl.  During those few days, I was finishing transitioning all work projects to other colleagues.  We were going through a realignment, so the leader that I had been working for and with for the past few years would no longer be with the organization.  I would work for another direct supervisor who I didn't know.  Plus, the program I had just completed came with a commitment.  We needed to commit to a project that would save or generate significant dollars to our organization.  My previous leader was in 100% support of this project.  I wasn't sure what my new supervisor would think...

I started my leave on December 7th.  I remember making a call to a gentleman in HQ asking if, when I returned to work, he would help me with my project.  I can only imagine what that call must have sounded like on the other end of the phone.  Here is this crazy, pregnant woman who is asking for my support for a project that will start 3 months from now, but felt it was so urgent, that she needed to call me on the first day of her maternity leave. That call also sets up my current place at work.

Putting it all together...

It's December 8th.  I'm finally shutting down.  I slept in the first morning. Loved waking up to the boys jumping in our bed.  I had nothing to do.  Nothing on my schedule.  Just time to think, and pray, and wait... 

Until December 11th, when I started to feel labor pains.  I knew what to do.  Lay on my side, drink lots of water, try to relax and get some sleep.  I remember all of those suggestions when my labor started the last time.  None of it was working.  So, I called to doctor who told me the same thing.  And, if it didn't work, we needed to go to the hospital.

At about 8pm, we decided that we needed to go in.  We weren't packed and ready.  We still had 2+ weeks of peace and quiet and relaxing and...

Side note:  Seriously, I can never give myself a break.  This is a personal issue for me, but I truly don't know how to "shut down."  As you can see, when I am pregnant and shut down from work, my body takes over and starts into labor.  I really need to get this checked out!
When we got to the hospital, my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and were getting closer each time.  And, because I was just into my 37th week, she was considered full-term, so no medicines to stop the labor.  We were heading into surgery.  Our daughter would be born soon.