Here we go...

Two weeks to my due date and one week of work left.  Can't wait to meet Sprog after months of incubation and preparation.  So far its been relatively plain sailing- no major health issues, interesting commute to work with some good experiences and some not so good, preparations for work (or rather stopping work to go on maternity leave) have been relatively smooth- and I have enjoyed my time with Sprog as a constant companion.  He has certainly developed more of a personality as he has grown and the last few months have been quite good fun.  Being generally well and relaxed probably did help; having a partner that encourages and supports me to stick with my usual routine as much as possible certainly helped.  Life has stayed normal. 

I have been almost militant in my desire to stay as independent as possible, especially at work.  So far my only allowance has been a slight change in my work hours to avoid the worst of the rush periods, i.e. I have been going in later and staying at work till later to avoid the crowds.  I suspect the impediments for women with children to advance in work are much fewer these days but people, sometimes in their effort to be kind and helpful, sometimes because of lack of understanding or prejudice, do leave me with the impression that they think me helpless.  In my case that has been far from the truth and the pregnancy did not hinder my performance.  I have been fortunate in not suffering too much healthwise and understand that this may not be the case for every pregnant person, but then that is generally true of people anyway.  It is as if all pregnant women are the same and we all need to be treated in the same way; our individuality ceased when we fell pregnant.

My boss commented on my coming in later one morning as the start of things changing for me at work, insinuating that being pregnant and having a baby would lead to compromise of performance.  The fact that what I do depends solely on me and flexible working does not interfere with anyone or anything, provided I put in the same amount of effort, totally escaped him.  The fact that other colleagues have taken more time off due to sickness and other personal matters than I have throughout my pregnancy, or actually ever in my professional life, also conveniently escaped him.  The truth is that his way of management encourages presenteeism and not productivity, and he also has problems separating his private life from his professional life which is leading to dissatisfaction within the team.  These issues are more serious than a pregnant colleague who fulfills her work commiments, but it is convenient to pick on someone whose life is taking a different direction, even if that difference has no bearing on performance.  The organisation we are part of, on the other hand, has very enlightened practices that are designed to encourage women to stay at/return to work.  To succeed they need to identify and re-educate individuals like him so they can stick with the programme.  In any case I am determined to demonstrate that being female, pregnant, and/or having a child does not mean that one has to compromise professionally.  Let's see how this goes.