See those two snazzy kids in the background? That is my brother-in-law, Zach, and my sister, Noelle.
Doesn’t Cedar fit nicely between them? I think so. Next Christmas, they will have a babe that size!
In fact, their wee one shares the same due date as Cedar. What are the chances? I think they are so frugal they matched the dates to get all the right hand-me-downs.
Norah has already begun advising the happy parents-to-be on how to give birth. Complete with demonstrations. “It’s easy. You just squat in the water and Uncle Zach helps the baby swim to the top.”
I think I’m more excited about my one and only sister giving birth than I was about doing it myself! Noelle attended both of my births. I’m thrilled to be able to watch her begin her own journey to motherhood.
Stay tuned. More to come on the Noelle/Zach pregnancy! Well, unless they tell me not to blog about them…
ETA: One of the first things Noelle has learned is that US employers are not required to provide paid maternity leave. Employees are required to use sick/vacation days or go on short-term disability. The US is one of four countries that doesn’t provide paid leave to new mamas. The others are Swaziland, Lesotho, and Papua New Guinea. Want to do something about that? Check out momsrising.
Inexplicable Ways 
Noelle should see if she qualifies for FMLA. It is unpaid leave, but it protects job & benefits for up to 12 weeks.
(Ah, the perks of having a husband in HR.)
http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/index.htm
My Canadian friends are aghast at our non-existent maternity leave. They get a whole year! Dads can qualify, too. I didn’t qualify for any paid leave, but took FMLA to buy me the time to build up the courage to quit. 🙂
Congrats to your sis and BIL. Cedar is precious!
I was pretty shocked to find out (with Ivey) that I didn’t qualify for any maternity leave of any kind, except for 6 or so completely unpaid weeks and the promise that my job would probably still be there when I got back, unless they really needed to replace me. They weren’t required to do anything for me because I didn’t work enough hours. Working part time doesn’t mean those families need the jobs any less! I ended up quitting, but I’m so jealous of Canadians sometimes.
Congratulations to your sister! I can totally imagine Norah giving those instructions 🙂
I didn’t qualify for FMLA when Norah was born. Although I worked for one of the largest employer’s in our state, I hadn’t been there a full year. And I hadn’t had time to accrue much paid leave. It was terrible returning to work and I credit that transition for much of my postpartum depression.
Makes me want to move to Sweden.
Check out this article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-07-26-maternity-leave_x.htm
Pretty sad that our country doesn’t seem to care about moms/babies! I have a friend who was a midwife here who moved to Sweden (where her hubby is from) a year ago, and she can’t say enough good things about the place. Except… they don’t have chocolate chips.