A new start

As mentioned in my last entry, I have a new job. I am now working as a Senior Corporate Accountant with the Over Fifty Group, located just one block from where I worked at Treasury Group (TRG).

I made the decision to leave TRG in October last year. I had been hesitant to leave whilst trying to fall pregnant, because I thought that it would not make a very good impression on a new employer if I was to start a new job then have to ask for maternity leave if I fell pregnant straight away. I made the decision after a friend of a friend pointed out that even if I was to start a new job and fall pregnant straight away, that the new company would be so happy to have me working for them that they would definitely grant me maternity leave, because good accountants are pretty hard to come by at the moment.

I didn’t resign from work straight away because I was waiting to find out the outcome of some things that had been going on there, and I didn’t realize how stressed out I had been until after I got back to work after our holiday in late November. It was within two weeks of that initial decision that I actually fell pregnant, but I didn’t find that out until mid-December.

After Christmas I was feeling stressed again as soon as I returned to work. Now that I knew I was pregnant, and that stress wouldn’t be good for the baby, I finally started my search for a job, rather than just talking about it as I had done for so long. I decided not to tell my boss or other senior colleagues that I am pregnant, as I didn’t want to be stereotyped like “oh, so THAT’s the real reason you are leaving”. And it’s true, it wasn’t just that fact.

If everything goes well, I am planning to return to work when the baby is around three or four month’s old. My ideal job will be a full time role as a combined Financial Controller and Company Secretary, and over the past two years I have not done a lot of accounting work. As a stepping stone to that ideal job, I have decided to work in a full time accounting role, a contract role that we take me up until the end of June, so that I will be better placed for my idea role after having the baby. As a result, I told my boss and other colleagues that I was leaving for career reasons, but I also know that deep down my boss knew that I was also leaving because I simply could not work with one particular colleague any longer, an issue that I had raised with him a number of times over the past two years. I will call my old boss in a month or so to let him know my news, but he is still upset about the fact that I did what my contract said and only gave two weeks notice, when they wanted me stay longer after handing in my resignation.

One of my close colleagues has moved to Sydney with her husband and is still working with TRG. Initially, the boss gave the Financial Controller in Melbourne permission to hire two new accountants, but after the other two colleagues also resigned within a week of my resignation, the Melbourne office will now be closed, and the accounting function moved permanently to Sydney.

I will miss working with Su-Ann, Susan and Sherly, as we had a lot of good times working together at TRG and they have become close friends of mine. I just wish that I could’ve done more to help them out with some of the issues that they were facing there. We’ve all learnt a lot from our time at TRG, and I’m hoping that maybe one day we’ll have the opportunity to work together again.

Big news on my 30th

I turned 30 in late January, and celebrated with my family and friends on the night of Saturday 26 January, which was Australia Day. For those of you who were too far away to celebrate with us, here is part of the little speech that I made after cutting the cake:

Leah: “I’ve always said that 2008 is going to be a big year. In the first part of the year we have my birthday, our friend Amanda will be having a baby, our niece Liana will be baptized, and Adam’s sister Sarah will be getting married. There’s not a lot happening in the second half of the year, but my sister-in-law Beccy will also be celebrating her 30th. As for Adam and I….”
Family & friends: (squeals of anticipated excitement)
Leah: “……. well, we've both just gotten new jobs”
Family & friends: (sighs of disappointment that the news they are after did not come)
Leah: “….. and in the second half of the year, God has decided that we are going to be parents!”
Family & friends: (screams, applaud and lots of tears).

So there you have it. I am now sixteen weeks pregnant with our first child, and have started to develop a nice ‘pot belly’, or ‘bubble belly’ as someone called it today. I have been fortunate not to have experienced severe morning sickness, and have only had a mild afternoon queasiness which is beginning to subside.

We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time on Thursday, and because Adam and I agreed not to spend money on Valentine’s Day cards or gifts (I don’t like the commercialism of the day), he bought be a small flower arrangement in a heart-shaped box and wished me a ‘Happy Heartbeat Day’. So sweet!

It took nearly eighteen months and countless prayers to begin the start of our dream, and I am glad to say that we didn’t have to take the advice of one dear friend that we should be trying to fall pregnant whilst I was standing on my head (just like in that movie), although I was tempted to try almost anything at one point!