Welcome to our life!

Hi, I'm Allison! I'm a thirtysomething, freshly baked, stay-at-home mom. I'm originally from Connecticut, now living in Germany, hence the name of the blog. I live in southern Germany with my German husband and our baby boy. Life has turned out to be nothing I ever expected, and am so incredibly happy with it! We certainly do have a lot of laughs! I hope you will enjoy following our new experiences raising a little half American/ half German in a little German town.

Dienstag, 5. Juli 2011

A little "Erbse-imposed" glitch with work

Last week Monday, we got the blood tests results back from the doctor.  Everything looked great, except for immunity to Cytomegalovirus (CMV.)  I have no immunity.
I guess the amazing part is that in the past week, I have finally learned to spell Cytomegalovirus due to lots and lots of Google searches.  It turns out that up to 80% of the population in the US has had exposure to CMV.  Amazingly, not me.  It is a virus that stays in your body for quite a long time and is passed through ALL bodily fluids.  It tends to be particularly easily passed around among kids under the age of 3.  If a pregnant woman contracts the virus and she is not immune, there is a small chance that the virus can have devistating effects on the baby. 
Under German law, if you test negative, like me, and work with children under the age of 3, your workplace must find a new position for you during your pregnancy.  When we spoke with the doctor about the test results, she offered that I needed to speak with my boss because every workplace has a procedure in place for this.  I knew my workplace did not have such procedure.
On Wednesday, I met with my principal.  He was very congratulatory, and admitted that he also was uncertain of our next step.  On Thursday, I met with the HR lady at work.  She was surprisingly kind, and said simply, "you cannot avoid contact with bodily fluids with little kids."   Our final decision, which is still tentative, is that I will complete the school year in our classroom- after all, there are only a few weeks left.  But, next year, I will be given another position, no kids contact, for the three months before November 22, which is when my maternity leave is scheduled to begin. 
When I left the meeting, we agreed that both she and I would brainstorm potential jobs within the school.  Yesterday, I spoke with the school librarian, who offered me a potential position- cataloging home reading books in English and German.  She warned me that it was a huge job, but that she needed assistance, and also agreed it would be perfect, as I could do the job from the staff room without coming into much contact with kids.
It makes me very sad to have to go to work and have no cuddles, no hugs, and no gigantic laughs from the kids.  Three months in the staff room seems relatively lonely.  But then again, if it helps keep the little Erbse safe, then there is no question.  I will continue cementing this position next week, and write another update.

Keine Kommentare: