Week 20 of Pregnancy 4

Week 20 of Pregnancy 4

Week 20 of Pregnancy 4

Welp, I can’t believe it, but I made it to the halfway point! This week came and went so quick that I barely had time to realize that I was halfway through my pregnancy. It’s all downhill from here, right?? 🙂

Halfway through pregnancy

This week was interesting.

My boss from France was here this week. Her native language is French, but she speaks English pretty well. Ever since she visited the first time, in March, our relationship has improved. It was never bad, so to speak, I just don’t really think she understood everything that I had on my plate at the time. In March, she got a small glimpse of what I do and I think she appreciated me a little more. Plus, being face to face is always better than over the phone.

One topic of conversation while she was here was my maternity leave.

When I initially told her that I was pregnant, she was under the impression that I was going to be off for 6-8 months.

Yes, MONTHS.

I told her, I wish. I assumed the maternity leave was much different over there. When she was here, we discussed it. I explained to her how ours worked in the U.S. I planned on taking off for 12 weeks, or 3 months. Assuming that everything goes okay, I will be released to come back to work at week 6.

At that point, my short term disability will end and then my FMLA will kick in. I will have at least 2 weeks of vacation that I will have to use, so overall, 4 weeks of unpaid leave.

An entire month without pay will suck really bad.

My boss was pretty taken aback by all of this. She went on to explain their maternity leave in France. Average PAID leave is 6-8 months. There is no short term disability or FMLA. The company directly pays for you to be off. The company then will send in some type of reimbursement request to the government and the government reimburses the company for a portion of the paid leave.

There is something, I guess comparable to FMLA, but it can guarantee a mother’s job for up to 3 years, but the majority of it would be unpaid. It just completely boggles my mind how horrible the maternity leave is here in the U.S. I realize I am going to be in a much better situation this time around; with Raelynn, I was self-employed and was only able to take off 2 weeks, but come on.

Maternity Leave

With all of that said, they are sending a temporary replacement for me from France.

It will be a young person, someone straight of out college. They actually are interning at the plant in France right now. So they are very familiar with the company in general. It’s narrowed down between 2 candidates and I think they are expected to be here at the end of December or beginning of January, so it will be cutting it close, regardless.

On top of everything else, I am having to ensure all of my procedures are up to date in case this person gets here and then I don’t have much time with them. I’m sure it will be a whirlwind, but I am happy that someone will be here to cover me while I’m gone. This person is going to be here for a year. They are going to help me implement all of internal controls I have been working on, so I think and hope it will be an overall positive experience.

Second Trimester CrossFit

It was an interesting week at CrossFit. Since my boss was here, I made myself get up and go to the 6am class.

KILL ME.

I only went 3 times, but it was better than not going at all. So I was happy.

Monday September 19

Strength
Bench Press
8@55%
5@65%
5@75%
3@85%
Max@95%

These still feel okay. I used my 1RM of 105#.

MetCon
5RFT
5 – Thrusters
15 – Reverse Bar Row
25 – Double Unders
#95/65

For being a Monday and a 6am workout and to have thrusters in a workout, I actually felt really good. I modified double unders to single unders because my bladder hates me. Plus, I couldn’t do double unders for a very long time because of my cyst, so I just kinda lost the rhythm. I can, however, still do them, just not well. I did 75 SU each round. Finished in a reasonable time of 8:22

Tuesday September 20

Strength
Back Squats
8@55%
5@65%
5@75%
3@85%
Max@95%

My back squats are continually on a decline and I hate it. They KILL my lower back. the highest I got up to today was 175#, last week was 185#. This used to be my strongest and most solid lift, so to see it decline just hurts my pride a little.

MetCon
3RFR
2min AMRAP
20 – KB Swings
10 – Goblet Squats
1min REST
#53/35

I actually RX’d this workout which makes me incredibly happy anytime I can do that anymore. Again with the lower back. FUCKING DEAD. The KB swings are pure torture. I am becoming accustomed to finishing in last place these days. So, I RX’d, but was bottom of the leader board with 128 reps.

Thursday September 22

I walked in and I was the only person there this morning. Not what you want to see at a 6am class..

Strength
Press
5@55%
5@65%
5@75%
3@85%
Max Reps@95%

I did really good on this today. I actually pushed out 2 reps at my 95%

MetCon
3RFT
400m Run
15 – Pullups
15 – Pushups

Even though I can run now, I just was not feeling it this morning. So I rowed. Modified pullups to ring rows and I started doing pushups from my knees. Finished in 10:44.