The word is out at work

Up until now, work had been an oasis from baby talk since no one knew. I had been holding off breaking the news primarily because a co-worker just gave birth less than two weeks ago and I didn't want to steal the spotlight from her. I felt like it was akin to announcing my engagement at someone else's wedding.

My reasons for delaying the news ran a little deeper though. While Chris has already told some co-workers he's particularly close with, I feel that as the one who is actually carrying the baby, the situation is different and the stakes are higher. Although everyone was thrilled for me when I announced it at this morning's weekly staff meeting (after they were sure it wasn't an April Fool's joke), I was still nervous about how the news would really be taken by my bosses. My position has been a revolving door for women who've left when they've gotten pregnant. In fact, one of the first things my female boss said to me when showing me my desk on my first day is that I can't get pregnant. What a welcome. I had my job, because the woman before me went on maternity leave with the plan to return after three months, but never did. Sure the subsequent jokes about me not being allowed to have children were surely meant in jest, but the office culture left me dodging innocent questions from co-workers about plans for children.

Although everything turned out well, as I really did expect, only when I became pregnant myself did the notion that pregnancy could effect a woman's job security, even in 2009, finally seem real. And the current state of the economy has only helped full my paranoia. A friend of mine, who recently gave birth, was fired from her job when she was five months pregnant. She believed her pregnancy was the primary reason for her termination and the attorney she consulted thought she had a good case. I was roiled over the injustice, but now I really understand the hopelessness she must have felt about even interviewing for a new job when she's visibly pregnant. As my office went through layoffs recently, I did wonder what my options would be if I were to be laid off. I'd been thinking a lot about all this even before I saw the article "When the Stork Carries a Pink Slip" in today's New York Times.

Luckily, the experience my friend had seems to be the exception and my pregnancy has just given me more food for thought about workplace issues for pregnant woman. As it was to be able to tell my friends and family that I'm pregnant, I was really happy to finally be able to tell my co-workers and it feels good to have the secret out.