job stress/preterm labour
Cynthia Faullin (cfaullin@uiuc.edu)
Thu, 28 Mar 1996 09:59:38 -0600
Okay, I'm going to make this really fast because I've got to get some work
done today. Mary, pin the blame on your boss. I was in the same situation.
My boss was and still is a real jerk when it comes to pregnancy. He made
some really politically incorrect comments (for which I turned him in to
personnel) and was just completely unfeeling. When I announced my second
pregnancy his reaction was "well what's going to happen with this one?" How
the hell should I know?! His concern of course was how the office would
keep running. I look after the records of 2000 students in the college of
Fine and Applied Arts at the Univ. of Illinois. We are an office of 4
people. Me, a secretary, an Assoc. Dean (my boss) and an Asst. Dean. I had
a lot of intermittent spotting and had to leave work on more than one
occasion. I always returned to work before I should have because he made me
feel so guilty about being away. When I had to leave work to go on
disability he actually had the gall to suggest that I resign instead. No
doubt so that he could hire a post-menopausal woman. I couldn't believe it!
The day after Trevor was born (1st pregnancy) he called me in my hospital
room to ask me what my password was and when I thought I'd be back to work.
I had just had a c-section and was still recovering from HELLP. Makes me
feel like bopping him right now just to talk about this. He's just in the
next room. An even more personal beef: My office sent me a card when both
Trevor and Trenton were born. Mike's office threw us a huge shower for
Trevor and gave us $200 when Trenton was born because they knew we were so
broke. Make's me sound like a bad employee. I'm not, I just work for a
dork. If I ever get pregnant again and am still working here, I'm not going
to tell him about it until my OB tells me to quit working. So there.
Cynthia Faullin
mom to Trevor and Trenton