Babies and business as usual

In my last update I told you that my wife Janny is pregnant and that she was scheduled to have her 20 week scan this month.  Well, it's been a week since the scan and I'm happy to report that all is going well.  Not only that, but we also found out the sex of the baby.  We're having a boy!!  We couldn't be happier.  Janny is especially pleased as she was hoping for a boy.  Our excitement is starting to build now as thoughts turn to baby names, planning a nursery, looking at prams, cots and everything else that we will need over the coming months.  My parents are exstatic and are becoming increasingly overprotective of Janny, constantly on the phone asking if we need anything.

Janny visited the dentist this week.  Her first appointment since she moved here.  Being pregnant she is entitled to free NHS treatment so we're making the most of it and she's booked in again next week for some minor treatment.  For anyone else in the same situation, all your wife need's to qualify for the free treatment is a form from her midwife or doctor.  We posted Janny's form but have yet to receive her exemption card.  But when Janny went to the dentist she just took along her documents from her various pregnancy scans and there was no problem. 

I also mentioned in my last post that I was due to start a new job this month.  The new job was for a competitor of ours, also owned by our parent company.  The transfer was to be much closer to home and a slightly higher salary.  Probably the biggest draw was the saving I'd make on my rediculous monthly fuel costs.  Anyway, word started to spread that I was to leave.  Each time I explained to my customers and colleagues where I was heading, I was met with concern.  They all seemed to think it was a bad move and not the most secure given the current climate.  I mostly dismissed those concerns, as the financial gain was too much to ignore.  In my view it was worth the risk, although I did have some doubts. 

Late Friday afternoon, about a week before I was due to start at my new place, my boss called me into his office.  From the start he had made it clear that he didn't want me to leave.  We had a long chat and he made me a final offer to stay.  He basically offered me an increase in salary, but more importantly the use of a company vehicle & fuel card for commuting to work.  That only really left the travelling time as an issue.  My boss told me he obviously couldn't do anything about that, but asked me to give him the extra time for all the years I'd worked with him.  He asked me to think about it over the weekend and give him an answer the following Monday.  I talked it over with Janny.  I was still tempted by the thought of being so close to home.  But with the new offer, increasing doubts about the security of the new place and knowing that we have a baby on the way, we dicided that it would be best if I stayed where I was. 

As for Janny's job.  Well, she has been on redundancy consultation for the past few months.  A couple of weeks ago she received a letter offering her the choice of taking redundancy or a reduction in hours.  Basically the loss of hours would hardly make it worth her working at all.  That and the fact that she had planned to finish for maternity leave soon anyway made it a simple choice and she will finish work next week.  Although she still wants to look for a new part-time job when the baby comes but we'll see.  My salary increase, fuel saving and the little I will be able to claim in child benefit will more than make up for what we'll lose in Janny's salary.

Other than that it's business as usual.  Janny is back to studying for her LITUK test, whereas I'll  no doubt be be brushing up on my decorating skills over the next few months :D

Cheers

Steve

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