Before this week I was a full time Physical Therapist Assistant at the Children's Hospital in our area. I've worked there since graduating college in 2010 and have absolutely loved my time there. I have a great boss, a great clinical supervisor and seriously fantastic coworkers that I truly love and have become good friends with!
Ever since graduating college I knew staying at home with my kids was my
ultimate plan - no matter how long that meant my career would last. It's the reason I chose the college path that I did. I fully believe that God has been laying the groundwork for my position change ever since my last semester of college, and I absolutely have to share this with you to give God the glory for the way things have worked out.
It was during my last semester that I received my wish for completing my last clinical internship rotation at the Children's hospital; after graduating in May the same hospital made me an offer to start there full time that July. I was ecstatic! I had fallen in love with treating patients there during my internship. Ever since then I have worked hard and learned a lot as a therapist and have prayed that when it came time for Mark and I to marry and eventually start a family I would be able to continue work there part time, though at the time there were no part time employees employed in our department. (As a healthcare professional I have to work so many hours in a 2 year period to keep my license current, so taking a break for a long period of time isn't possible if I ever wished to return to work as a PTA.) I knew ultimately that my first priority would be to stay home with my kids, but I also knew wisdom would suggest that maintaining the license I had gone to school for would be beneficial, should situations arise later in life that would require me to work. That is why I always prayed for the opportunity to continue working in some capacity after kids, and if possible, at the hospital. Over the last 4 years I've seen our clinic grow and our department hire more and more part time employees, as well as open up Saturday hours. I've always kept this in the back of my mind - excitedly praying that when we had a baby, I would be able to fill one of these part time spots.
Last year we hired a PTA who worked only 2 afternoons a week and then helped out Saturday mornings. It just so happened that she transferred to one of our other clinics last fall and her position at our clinic was left vacant. I prayed it would remain so as Mark and I began to "try" to start a family. This past February when I told my supervisor I was pregnant, we talked about what my plan would be following the baby's birth. I let her know then that I was hoping to take the part time position that had never been filled. She was very positive about it and felt that she could make that happen for me. I was thrilled!
Over the last several months of my pregnancy we have been trying to work out the details at work, and for a while we weren't sure if I would actually be able to be transferred to that position due to budget cuts and spending freezes that the hospital was undergoing. I was initially very stressed that it wasn't going to work out like I thought, especially after I had been bragging on the Lord for the way He was bringing it all about. But after Mark and I talked and prayed about it, we were given peace and decided not to stress about. We knew that if that position worked out then I would continue to work there, but if it wasn't going to be possible for me to take it, then I would stop working and maybe look next year for a part time position somewhere else. Because our first priority was for me to stay home with our little girl as much as possible.
The beginning of July it was confirmed that I would be able to take this very part time position and I was over the moon excited! I officially signed the papers last week!
I actually got to start my new position this week to enable me to prepare for the baby and not have to work full time my last 3-4 weeks of pregnancy.
So what does this mean for us now? Well instead of 40 hours a week, I now work 2 afternoons from 2:30-7pm. These are the hours I will return to following my 12 weeks of maternity leave, and at that time I will most likely add in 1-2 Saturday mornings a month working from 8am-12pm. Whats more - I will be working on Mondays, which is the day Mark works from home! So Reaghan will be able to stay with him. There is also a possibility that Mark can switch to working four 10 hours days, and if thats the case his day off will be Wednesday - which is the other afternoon I'll be working! This means Baby Reaghan will not have to be watched by anyone! However, if it doesn't work out for Mark to be home when I go to work, my sister will watch her - and she just happens to live literally less than 5 minutes from my work! Which, having an aunt watch you is the next best thing to staying with your parents ;).
Isn't it amazing how things fall in to place? God has been so good to us in this time of transitioning from just the two of us to a family of 3. I am confident that He has been at work the last 4 years preparing this to be a possibility for us. I am excited to continue working, because I love what I do, and I can continue to provide a small amount of incoming money to our family budget. But I am more excited that the majority of my time will be spent at home with my baby.
This past week it felt weird not to be at work every day, all day, but I am loving this start to the new season of our lives!
