Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

24ta said:

Delurking, did you seek advice re the holiday entitlement while you are sick?  
extract from HMRC website

Sick leave and holiday

Statutory holiday entitlement is built up (accrued) while an employee is off work sick (no matter how long they’re off).

Sorry if you have already been advised, just don't want you to lose out

Thanks for that, @24ta, it's helpful and a quick search suggests there may be further angles I could take.

Cherryfudge

That was an eventful 24 hours! We had a phone call about 1.30 in the morning to say A and H had been advised to get to hospital as labour was progressing. We pulled our day clothes on and grabbed the bags I'd packed, and were with them in about twenty minutes.

I knocked quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping toddler and we let ourselves in, to a scene of light and action. H was having very strong contractions and getting the urge to push, and A was on the phone to someone, the ward I think, for advice. They told us to call an ambulance which I did, but after the first few questions I cut to 'she's in labour' as I knew she didn't need to be triaged for heart attack etc. Then I handed the phone to A as he could answer their questions better than I could. He left the other phone open so the ward could be in the loop.

It turned out the waiting time for an ambulance was two hours, and there was no way we had that sort of time, so they started to prepare us for a home birth and I was dashing round washing my hands, finding towels, safety pins and string while A rubbed H's back through the contractions and was talked through checking the progress of labour. I then slotted in by trying to keep H calm and breathing properly (purely on instinct and half remembered things) while DH sensibly retreated to the kitchen and rang a GP friend.

Anyway, H decided there was no way she was having the baby at home (which turned out to be wise) so within minutes they were in the car and they drove off, refusing either me in the car or DH following in our car. DH and I were left looking at each other!

We heard the rest of the story this evening: they made it to the hospital (in another town) in record time, abandoned the car outside the appropriate entrance and staggered in. The staff were prepared to screen off the corridor and have her give birth right there but she made it to a delivery room, supported by three midwives, and the baby was born safe and well.

That's not quite the end of the story as H has to stay in another day to make sure she's fully recovered. A is now back home looking after DGD who was with us all day and hopefully they can all be at home with both their little girls tomorrow night.

And it's made me realise that a bit of me misses that feeling of helping someone through an emergency. I'd never even seen it as a thing before: obviously there's adrenal rush and the rehearsing it afterwards, and it's a sort of stress, though not the humdrum sort. It was so good working with a team who worked seamlessly when there was a crisis. I miss that, yet how can I miss it when that was the beginning of the end for me in my job?

Cherryfudge

I realised I've only told one side of the story: I got little or no sleep last night, though I managed to rest. I know my Fitbit readings were wrong, partly because I was absolutely shattered by morning but also because they show me as sleeping while I was on my feet and active. Perhaps I need a tighter wrist strap!

DGD woke just before five with a cough but she seemed generally well through the day and did her usual activities. I read stories with her and got her breakfast when it became obvious she didn't need more sleep, then I dozed a bit while she watched her favourite programmes. DH had wisely gone home to sleep, so he was refreshed and took over for the middle of the day. I went for a walk to the shops to clear my head, then had a lunchtime sleep at much the same time as DGD had her nap.

Having had a very early breakfast, I bought more food and also a couple more gifts ahead of Christmas. In the afternoon we went to the garden centre to find a greetings card and they had some good quality plants marked down to 50p. I therefore have two trays of pansies (£1 total), a 'damaged' maranta (was £11, now £1) and a 'damaged' St Paulia (was £4, now 50p).

I also bought chocolate brownies for H, now she's allowed cake again.

Housekeeping approx. £17.50
Donation (we paid for tickets for the charity event we had been going to this evening, but called off) £20
Gifts £14.50 + £2 entry for DGD to her activity in the morning + card £3.25
Garden/houseplants £2.50

in_need_of_direction

So glad it all worked out and all are safe and healthy.

Sun_Addict

That's a 24 hours you all won't forget in a hurry! Glad everything turned out ok in the end. 2 hours wait for an ambulance is dire, thank goodness H was able to get to hospital in time by car.

Hope you get a nice restful day today and your new DGD comes home.

Floss

Oh wow, and congratulations on the eventful arrival of your new granddaughter.

Perhaps that feeling of helping in an emergency needs to be explored - are you having counselling at all?

Cherryfudge

Thanks all. A and I both caught up on our sleep last night so we both feel less spaced out today!

@Floss, I had quite a lot of counselling earlier in the year, mostly to decelerate from work anxiety, so not specific to this. I'd become habituated to that feeling on the alert, as management was sporadic for quite a while and those of us on the shop floor had to make a lot of our own decisions, including dealing with some tricky situations. My way of reacting to a crisis seems to be to calm things down, so I got kudos out of being the calm one, and eventually, being the calm one who was experienced and took charge. So there's a dichotomy: I needed to decelerate, but the feeling of coping with the crisis was also part of what made it a good job. Not intrinsic to it, but a sometimes-necessary part. To stress or not to stress? Eventually the balance went too far the wrong way, end of story.

I might go back to counselling at some point, but at present I'm just noting insights as they come up.

Today I need to be prepared for tomorrow's interview and continue with the training for my relief post. I might also browse the latest jobs, as there's no guarantee of getting tomorrow's one. It would have to be a pretty good other option to grab my attention right now as this week has enough change in it already!

Cherryfudge

I got very little done today: there were a couple of vaguely interesting jobs, a load of laundry and some groceries, but there was no mental energy left to do training courses that can wait till another day, or indeed any housework. I didn't even go out to my group this evening, but I've got together the documents I have to present and chosen my outfit (black trousers, shoes and bag, mustard coloured chenille jumper with matching scarf). I think the important thing now is sleep.

Oh, and the kettle packed up. I reached down the travel kettle that rarely gets used, only to find that's died, too. For £29.99 I've found one that looks as though it goes with the tiles, and it should join us on Saturday.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £8.85
Household £29.99

MS
A large chicken for £3.25, to cook tomorrow, and will make several meals. Also some frozen chicken now in the freezer.

Honeysucklelou2

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your granddaughter. What has DGD1 made of the new arrival?

Cherryfudge

Honeysucklelou2 said:

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your granddaughter. What has DGD1 made of the new arrival?

Thank you! A sent a photo of DGD1 pointing at her little sister with a big smile on her face, so I think they're got off to a good start.  

She helped her parents put the nursery together: I went in the other day to find this tiny soul expertly handling an alum key to put her sister's cot together! (Dad checked her work. )