And the trials come...

You know that saying that when it rains, it pours? Well, my life is flooding right now... Sigh, within the past week, I have been hit with bad news about family member's health, had some pretty scary pre-term contractions that were going every 5 minutes (on meds to knock those off), had heavy stress from work (yelled at by crazy moms and kids going into crisis after crisis), am at risk for failing a course (that I previously had a 110% in) based on a technicality, and now Ben's got the stomach flu! I've been so overwhelmed that I didn't know where to turn.

Thank heavens for the wonderful support I have around me. Family has offered their support and help... Eddie was there at my doctor's visit to ensure I told the doctor everything and not minimize it. Because of the stress at work and my subsequent contractions, the doctor is now recommending that I begin my leave early... like end of next week early. Sigh. I guess that's both a relief and a stressor. Heck, I woke up this morning rethinking the newly assigned case managers to the kids on my caseload. Are they the right person? Will they be able to work with the family like I do? Am I abandoning these kids? And the questions go on and on. --Of course, HR was none too thrilled about me leaving work early and let me know on Friday that by beginning my FMLA next week, I technically have to return to work 4 weeks after my scheduled C-section, otherwise they cannot guarantee my job, my insurance, or my short-term disability pay. Nice, right? But don't worry, HR lady told me not to stress about it because "hopefully [I] could go into pre-term labor, have a pre-term baby, and then return to work just fine by mid-July." Thanks, HR. That's a great idea. Where do they find these people?

So now my job is to relax and get through the remainder of these trials without sending myself into labor again. Every time I start to worry and feel my belly getting tight and my back starting to cramp, I try to take a deep breath and let it all go. Huh. Relaxing might end up being more work than doing the work itself...