Week 20 – Photos and Paid Parenting Leave

Posted November 1st, 2010 in Ume's Pregnancy 2 Comments »

This may sound like a joke, but it did happen.

I went to see my obstetrician the other day for a monthly check-up.  I couldn’t see bub’s face last week at Fetal Anatomy Screening, so I was hoping to have a peek at his face this time.

But!!!  As soon as the screening equipment touched my belly and the image showed up on the screen, he moved his hands toward his face again!

The image was taken above bub: the right side is the face covered with two hands, and the left side there’re two legs.  (can you see?)

I was glad to see he was fine, (well, I feel his movement very often now and I knew he was ok though) but is he that shy?  My friend actually told me that it happened to her as well.  Is this action (a fetus covering the face with two hands) common?

Yeah, and I’ve been thinking that it may be about time to finally announce my pregnancy to other people at work.  Yes, they don’t know yet.  My belly is not showing up too much at the moment.

I need to ask some questions about Paid Parenting Leave to the manager in the Sydney office (my company’s head office is in Sydney).  I need to confirm how many weeks of Paid Parenting Leave I can get (the maximum is 18 weeks), what the payment rate is (whether it’s same as the standard minimum wage that Centerlink pays), and ask her when I should (can) work until.  I’d like to work as much as possible if there is no problem.

I need to know which one is the better option for me: Baby Bonus or Paid Parenting Leave.  Although Paid Parenting Leave may seem to be higher amount than Baby Bonus, it is a taxable income so it will affect my tax and Family Tax Benefit later.  Baby Bonus, on the other hand, is non taxable income.

I don’t really like getting attention from other people while I work there, but I guess it’s a good thing.

So far I’ve put on 4.4 kg total, and been eating boiled broccoli a lot for snack.  The bub can now swallow the amniotic fluid to practice swallowing and digesting action (according to the baby book), and that’s why the baby tends to like the food that the mother was eating while pregnant.  (the taste  through the fluid) Which means, my bub may like broccoli and other vegetables when he is grown up!

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