Word is starting to get around at work... the other day, I finally told my boss that I'm not planning to come back after baby gets here. I think he was surprised, but understanding, and also glad I gave so much notice. He's been calling me a traitor ever since. ;-)
I have such strange feelings about leaving my job. I wouldn't say "mixed-feelings" because that seems to imply second-thoughts about whether I'm doing the right thing. It's more just a sadness of knowing I probably won't see many of my coworkers again (and there are some really great people here), mixed with a twinge of guilt that I tend to get whenever I feel like I'm letting someone down (because now they have to hire someone to replace me). Plus a small amount of apprehension about the future, which I always feel when a big change is coming, even if I know it is a good change. (In fact, knowing what this particular change is, perhaps I am not feeling enough apprehension about it!)
Still, though I might be sad about leaving people behind, I have to admit I'm excited about the idea of being at home and figuring out what that entails. And the guilty feeling is lessened by the way the timing has worked out: I was asked last spring to take over one of our main systems, but due to circumstances (my wedding, the hip surgery that ended up not happening) the transition was postponed. Last fall, a new programmer was hired to replace me on my old programs, so I've been training him and clearing those out of my queue. My training on the new system just started, so there hasn't been time wasted on that; in addition, knowing that I'd be going out on maternity leave soon, they are already training another person on the new system as well, who was supposed to be my backup. So while they now have the added stress of needing to hire a new programmer, at least I'm not leaving them completely in the lurch. (Not to mention there are 9 weeks of notice here instead of the standard 2.) So all in all, the timing is really not that bad, I don't have a ton of things on my plate, and hopefully not a whole lot of loose ends that will need frantic tying-up.
Ironically, from the sound of things, my final project before leaving this place will be the first project I worked on when I came here. Maybe after 3+ years of tinkering (and endless meetings and discussions), it will finally get to see the light of day! Wouldn't that be something.
Earlier today I happened on an article about the rising cost of child-care, and I had to smile to myself. Adjusting to one income (and the lower one, at that) is going to be a challenge, there's no doubt about it. But I am glad that we won't have to spend a huge amount of money to pay someone else to care for our child. And I'm glad we won't have to worry about juggling schedules in quite the same way as many families where both parents work. Overall I know this is going to be the best thing for us.
Nine weeks to go. :-)