Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Whole Company Knows

I actually saved this IM Conversation with Mr. Mingle that occured on April 11, because I knew that eventually it would make it to my blog. Let me provide a little background about the chain of command at my company (BS). I report to Joker, who reports to Captain Dick, who reports up to Major Dick (or CEOD - Chief Exec Of Dicks). Oh yes...it turns out I work with a cast of characters again! But I digress...more to be shared on them later...

Mingle: hi! do you have a minute?
Mr. Mingle: sure
Mr. Mingle: what is going on
Mr. Mingle: ?
Mingle: we just had a company meeting with Major Dick
Mingle: there are 103 employees
Mingle: 75 of which work in my office
Mingle: 30 of which I actually may know
Mr. Mingle: ok
Mingle: yet Captain Dick put me on the spot to announce my pregnancy to the entire company
Mingle: "ta-da"
Mr. Mingle: oh, that is so respectful of him
Mingle: i know... and what is even more respectful...
Mingle: after I announced it, Major Dick made a comment to the effect of, "you're not saying that Captain Dick had anything to do with your pregnancy are you?"
Mingle: sexual harassment 101
Mr. Mingle: wow! that's um...wow
Mingle: yeah
Mr. Mingle: I'm sorry
Mr. Mingle: that's really rude
Mr. Mingle: You should reveal something about Captain Dick.
Mr. Mingle: Hey everyone Captain Dick just wants to say, he has a hernia

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Calling the Doctor

The day after taking a home pregnancy test and telling Mr. Mingle the news, I stood, stressed out, in an empty conference room at work, speaking quietly into my cell phone so no one could hear me call the Doctor's Office...

Receptionist: Hello?
Mingle: Hi, yeah um, I need to make an appointment?
Receptionist: In regard to?
Mingle: Well, um, I think I'm pregnant and I'd like to make an appointment.
Rec: Did you take a home pregnancy test and was it positive?
Me: Yes, and yes
Rec: Well, you are pregnant. Those are pretty accurate.
Me: oh. OH. huh...(thanks for the confirmation on the biggest news of my life Ms. Receptionist with no personality) so, can I make an appointment?
Rec: We don't typically see you until 10 to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, unless you are at risk.
Me: (how do I know if I'm at risk?) But where do I go for information in the meantime?
Rec: Try our website.

Honestly, we could all save money on doctors' appointments if the receptionist and websites can answer all the questions! I ended up changing doctors anyway because I needed to find one closer to the new job, but it still shocked me that most of them didn't see you until you were 8-12 weeks pregnant. I guess I thought there was something more magical that they could do to really confirm that I was pregnant. Instead, Mr. Mingle and I bought a book, "I'm Pregnant!" and hoped that that had the information we needed until the first appointment finally rolled around.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Diary of a Pregnant Mingle

Last December:
Mr. Mingle and I talked about starting to have kids in a year or two. I had decided to try to get into an MBA program this coming fall so we thought I'd give myself a chance to have at least one year behind me before trying to add kids to the Mingle household.

January/February:
Work was kicking my ass, travelling almost every week. One week in Seattle/Bellingham WA; then Salem, OR (where BeattieBeattieB asked me if we were going to have kids and I told her in a year or two); and then Ft. Worth, Texas where I was more tired at a client site than ever before. I was fighting every urge to lay my head down on the desk. I began to suspect something...

February 13:
Took home pregnancy test. Mini freak-out and then Mr. Mingle came home:

Me: "Hi...would you like to sit down and relax for a bit? Catch up on our day?..."
Mr. Mingle: "Umm...sure..."
Me: How was your day? (At which point I heard nothing he said)
Me: Well..I have some news...
MM: Okay...
Me: Oh, it's not bad! At least I don't think it's bad! Well, yeah, it's good; so um.. (he he he.nervous laugh) - how do I say this?
MM: WHAT? (he asks, a little frightened)
Me: Well...um.. I'm pregnant. atleastI'mprettysureIam.
MM: WHAT?! WOW!....How did that happen? Well, I mean I know HOW it happened.. but how did it happen??
Me: I'm pretty sure it was...
MM: ooh... huh.
...
MM: So, what do we do now?
Me: I DoNt KnOW (starting to panic). I don't have a doctor now since my Insurance CHanGed. I GUEss I NEED to find a DOCTOR to conFIRM. RIGHT?!
MM: Okay...do we tell people?
Me: Not yet. I definitely want to wait until we know for sure and I've heard 8 to 10 weeks is a good time frame.

And so, we waited. Blogging stopped. Much communication with friends and family stopped because answering the question of "What's new with the Mingles?" was just too hard to answer. Life has changed for us in a wonderfully surprising way, and now we are taking everything in stride. However, during the first couple of months we were certainly in a state of shock and just kind of wandered around in a wide-eyed state wondering, "what do we do now?", while trying to maintain the confident, "we're fine, nothing new here! ha ha ha" attitude when talking to others.

But now we are excited, and I am ready to blog about life again and the crazy things it deals us. Babies; Work; the Unexpected Random Events - I'm back!!